FMR Audio RNLA 7239

This thing punches in a class way above its price point. You might not immediately appreciate its colour and release behaviours (the log release is very handy and musical for certain applications), but when you use it on a real life mix, it just works very well.

My SSL style (hw) bus comp was not working one day and I had to finish a mix for someone. I switched to the SSL plugin emulation, but then out of curiousity tried the RNLA instead. After adapting the settings to its particular personality, I preferred it to the rather excellent SSL plugin.

On the downside I really don't like the metering. I like my compression to be in the 2-3 db of gain reduction range, and its not a very helpful meter. Its always best to use ones ears, anyway.

Also, annoyingly, the connections are unbalanced. Thats important to know if your setup doesn't do well with that, you will be in for some irritation.

The general build is solid, otherwise. Really at this price point you are getting so much better than you expect.