I think when referring to compressors that color the sound, people usually mean that the device is changing the frequency content (like a built in, fixed EQ). Sometimes they mean it in a good way, sometimes in a bad way. I’ve used the rnc and didn’t feel that it colored the sound much at all (it was “transparent”), and for the money I think you’d be better off using a plugin (gasp) like the Waves RComp and messing with the attack and release settings for different sounds. Can’t comment on the rnla. Gooey is probably a worthless term from one person to the next–the only thing you can really glean from that is that the compression is audible. Another term for this that I prefer is “grabby”… ie you can hear the compressor grabbing the transients at the beginning of each note or hit.

What doesn’t make sense is when people say that a mic or a preamp “colors the sound”. It doesn’t make sense because all recording signal paths must have a microphone and a preamp–there is no “default” or “neutral” sound to be colored except maybe your own ears approximation of what most mics sound like. So it’s relative: a mic that colors the sound would be a mic that sound very different from other mics, frequency wise. Which tells you almost nothing since mics are so different. Hm… someone should write something about this topic…

Keith