[pk_hat]

I was wondering if at any point in your musical path, you thought the sound was a little 'sterile', kinda cold and too digital sounding.
This happens once in a while on just a few tracks per song, say the synth line or the main drum loop, etc.
I thought buying an external processor could do a good job of warming things up a little, question is...which is the right one at a good price?
Things like DBX 386, 376, JoeMeek, etc...I know they're designed mostly for pre-amp/pre-Digi purposes, for one vocal or instrument at a time. Some have compressor and EQ built-in, some don't. Some have single channel, some don't, etc.
Since I've never used any of these devices, would they do a good job in a scenario where you just want to send your drum tracks, or synh trax to it?
Of course, there are plug-ins, but I'm thinking - CPU power conservation here - as the Bomb Factory p-i's are outstanding. The other reason I would like an external device to warm things up is the ability to route it through my mixer and use it with one than more program if I want to, eliminating the plug-in format wars.
So, any suggestions would be great (under $1000 would be best).

Here are a few models that caught my attention, now trying to get user's opinions:

-ART Tube MP - $130
-Focusrite Platinum series - various models under $700
-Joe Meek VCQ6 British Channel - apprx $500
-DBX Silver series 376 & 386 - both $500
-Behringer TUBE series - $379???? Hmm....

thanks to all...

pk