Aphex 651 expressor (modded)

I really don't have anything to say, i just didn't want to have the only thread on the entire site with "0" replies

Is there that much of difference between the stock and modded 651? Has anyone compared them side by side? I've been curious about picking one up for a while...

Yes, definitely, i've compared un modded to modded. stock isn't bad at all, but the modded version gets a (thin)veil taken off, and it becomes really fast and transparent, i mean really fast and transparent, Jim has said the phase response is so close to the un affected signal, you can practically null it with the compressed signal and get no remainder?  i get that feeling when i usem, you have to knock the crap out of the settings to get obvious, but you can.

These are killer. Just look for some on Craigslist and buy it cheap. I think they range between 250 and 350 used depending on condition. They are great. The parts Aphex used originally are all high end parts and Jim takes them to a new level. They aren't tone boxes at all. Just clean leveling and they can be pretty fast as well.

Thank God...now I don't have to pick one up...

You can hear .002% THD and a very low .0005% IMD? Got to get you into Sterophile's record review section.
BTW, you are the only one in over 20 years that said it imparts a digital harshness. Are you using analog tape tracks or, perhaps a digital converter or DAW? It will reveal warts too. I suspect your converters may have higher THD specs than this compressor.

A guy at the Record Plant said it best:

"It's like there's a little man inside running a fader up and down who's smarter and faster than we are".

I use 5 here myself. a couple are rebuilt with large torriod power transformers,heavy heatsinks and very high current .9 nv noise opamps. I often insert them and ask if anyone can tell. They can't.

Have you heard the Distressor? That one sounds digital harsh to me. The Expressor is smooth as silk next to one of those.

Perhaps that Expressor had a misfiring opamp in it or the THD trims are off.

Yeah, my Expressor is almost like its not in the chain unless I am pulling over 6 db. Also, I usually have it set super fast more like a limiter so I would think I would hear it even more. I wonder if the Expressor you heard had something wrong with it? The only thing I ever notice is what seems to be a little loss of low end. But I think that is from the compression I am doing not the Expressor itself.

Jim have you ever measured it and seen any low end loss?

I certainly leave room for there being something wrong with the unit I had. But, I can assure you I'm describing something that was actually audible.

I agree.  I wish I did.  Maybe I can borrow one from a friend locally.  I honestly haven't done a head to head with a stock one.  I would love to have the chance to do that.

I think i hear a slight drop off on the bottom every time i plug  a piece in a chain, but i dismiss that as me being a giant PI my own A! ha! But in my experience(none w/distressor) my modded aphex's sound as invisible as any single piece of outboard gear i've ever used. I never liked, and would rarely use tracking compressors before these, only in a wildly uncontrollable situation, now I set a hard limit, hit the convertors harder than ever with no worries, taking up as much bit depth as possible, and feel like I'm getting away with something.. transients in tact!..he he he

Btw, that "digital" thing sic was talking about, I've heard often, in fact, i obsess over not getting it, i think it is caused by a generally blatant dismissal of phase coherency in the mixing process(parallel compression), I call it the modern day synthetic film. My 651's do not display this remotely, which leads me to believe something was wrong with sics unit? or maybe something as simple as a connector wired out of phase? I guess we'll never know?