I have a dominator II not modded. I tried it several times on the mix buss but it sounded always horrible. It tends to scoop the midrange making the whole mix really thin.

A while ago I read post where John said that it can be pretty transparent if used in the right way (I read also that john owns a modded one)

Could a mod make it more usable or am I doing anything wrong when I use it?

As far as I can tell, the mods done to mine (which I don't know the specifics of) are more "quiet operation" mods. It's very transparent otherwise.

Admittedly, I'd love to bypass all the goofy crap -- The EQ's, the density control, etc.

I'm assuming you're not using the EQ controls at all and you're just "nipping" at the program material... ?

To tell the truth I've found the density and relase controls workable on the drum buss which is the application where I use it mostly but never used the EQ's so far... never needed to, actually.

Maybe should I try something different like a "soft limit" or.. no limiting at all ?