@basil:

i have heard just about all the french house guys, esp. the aformentioned daft punk guys used the (cheap) alesis 3630 compressor on the master. i think it's the weakness and cheapness of that special compressor which goes for about 115 euros new that helped to carve that sound. at the time it was supposedly what they could afford.

http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_daft_punk/

"In their own music, Daft Punk uses a number of different compressors. “We have a really small compressor, the Alesis 3630, which is $300. That's the main one we used on Homework and Discovery. The one we used the most is one of the cheapest ones on the market. It's really funny; it's the bricolage thing. Sometimes you don't have to have the most expensive equipment to make good music.”


i suppose you know someone with that piece of kit flying around, basil?

compression as an effect no to just calm peaks etc.



as a plugin disco dsp's nightshine is supposed to mimik the alesis 3630 compressor. there's plugin demos for this one here:

http://www.discodsp.com/fx/