I *love* my RNC. It is my favorite compressor out of that, my joemeek VC1Qcs, Symetrix 501, and my old dbx286a.

The guy (Matt, I think) will talk with you on the phone, too. He's a good guy.

Can't beat it for $175.

.nick

I have both!
I bought the RNP as an upgrade to my MackieVLZ pro pres and it was wellllll worth it. I was so impressed with the pre I went out and bought the compressor to go with it. It basically cost $650 for a stereo pre and comp package.
If you have been using a basically good preamp you may not appreciate the immediate difference that the RNP affords... until you start mixing and layering tracks.
The sound of the RNP was fullerbodied through the mids and lows without being hard on the high end. This translated to a more open sounding track without any mid grunge happening.Once you start layering tracks (multiple guitars or vocals) you will notice that the tracks stack up without a lot of cloudiness. You obviously have to take care at tracking to get a clean sound.
Anyway... my 2 cents. I will always keep my RNP even after buying something else like a Davisound TB-6 or the Toft ATC-2.

Thank you both so much. That's exactly what I needed to hear. The $650 is where my budget is. I have been using a POD as my pre amp and comp, so I think the FMR stuff will definately be a step up!
Beau.

While I don't have a RNP I do have three RNC's and I really like them. In 'normal' mode they behave pretty much like a good clean solid state compresssor and you can make the sound 'squashed' if you want to. However it's 'real nice' mode that is what the RNC has become famous for. Even with copius amounts of compression, the tone doesn't seem to change much or the sound become 'choked'.

In fact in 'real nice' mode it sounds more like my Aphex Compellor which origianlly cost about ten times as the RNC.

If you're looking for a compressor with a heap of 'attitude' and color then the RNC is not for you. However, if you want transparent, unobtrusive compression, then the RNC will do that for a shitload less than anything else around. ;)