Useful compression settings

[jbuntz]

If you keep your patch points the same, you'll never have to mix again!

[Recording David]

Dude - it's a beginner's guide. That's why it's in Low End Theory.

[DrDeltaM]

Originally Posted by Recording David

Dude - it's a beginner's guide. That's why it's in Low End Theory.

FWIW, the Low End Theory isn't aimed at beginners really, but at ppl who don't wanna spend tons of money on gear but still want great results

The list can be usefull to some maybe tho. Obviously, the threshold setting is useless, it depends on your material. The most important for beginners is to understand what each parameter does. After that, you can easily reason what setting you'll most likely need, and in the end, it's only the sound that matters anyway. I'd advice beginners just to tweak for hours with a compressor on various material. You'll get the grasp of what does what

[SoSueMe]

Not to mention that one compressor's 2.5:1 setting can sound radically different than the next compressor's 2.5:1 setting.

[Recording David]

Originally Posted by SoSueMe

Not to mention that one compressor's 2.5:1 setting can sound radically different than the next compressor's 2.5:1 setting.

Like the first post says, it's just a guide. Nobody's saying it's hard and fast rules buddy. If it's not helpful to you, don't use it.

Thanks Dave!


D

[SoSueMe]

Originally Posted by Recording David

Like the first post says, it's just a guide. Nobody's saying it's hard and fast rules buddy. If it's not helpful to you, don't use it.

I'm not saying it couldn't be helpful to some people. I believe good starting points can be a good teaching tool.

[withintheflux]

I agree also that it is helpful. I think its at least a small shortcut for starters to get you in the right area where you can really hear how a compressor can help out a given signal.


thanks!

[Zooey]

It is impossible to set the threshold without knowing the volume of the input signal. Sorry, but it just is.

Let's take an example: Vocals - -4dBu/2.5:1

This may result in zero dB of gain reduction, or it may result in 20 dB of gain reduction. Somewhere in that general area...

[Blast9]

I learnt useful "beginner's stuff" from my extremely well-written Behringer Composer manual:

Helped me understand and actually HEAR the nature of comp and limiting...

Helped me not F up my quasi-mastering for my demos....

Helped me get a deal because my demo was "louder than anyone else's"



Eg

slow attack /slow release/low thresh/low ratio= leveling for program material

High thresh/high ratio/fast attack/slow release = program limiting.


BUT these settings vary from plug-in to plug-in/hardware to hardware;

Classic engineer's answer: "It depends"

[toolskid]

Originally Posted by Recording David

Focusrite (yuck) compressor

uhmm.... quite a blanket comment dont you think...... They made good gear as well as bad....

and I cant really see the value of posting compressor threshold settings aside from a very gear specific value that may possibly be a sweet spot for a certain application...perhaps...maybe...depends

[Recording David]

Originally Posted by toolskid

uhmm.... quite a blanket comment dont you think...... They made good gear as well as bad....

and I cant really see the value of posting compressor threshold settings aside from a very gear specific value that may possibly be a sweet spot for a certain application...perhaps...maybe...depends

OK, fair point. It's a Platinum Penta compressor - it ain't great!

[mgs0001]

Here's my post from a similar forum:

Well I found the first recommendations and their specificity to be quite interesting even though a fool would think there's one answer for this or that. I like to find these types of recommendations just for different ideas to investigate. I tend to learn a lot from it. And that process is exactly the same as any other process where you just keep trying whatever until it sounds the way you want. Experts aren't going to help you just like politicians will do anything to keep their jobs or win a job. And the other thing...I have people coming up to me all the time telling me about how my producer's work isn't as good as their's and how I should work with this person instead. I hate mix peddlers. Take your mix back to the alley. I'm good with mine. I've listened to a lot of different music...some of it sounds like total junk but I appreciate the art of it. It is true that you just have to "do it" but specific ideas are points of departure. Even if you're Tom Hanks with a studio on a deserted island in cast away you'll create you're own departure point. So what's the point of dismissing anything really? Unless maybe you don't have the discrimination to know if it works or not for you. See some people in this process are scared of other peoples ideas because it might change their routine that has been so successful. I try to observe without judgement but with intelligent discrimination so that no stone is left unturned. Besides there are so many infinite studios pumping out local music and popular music and it's all different. What's good? What's you goal? Underground art? Hyped Pop? Super-compressed hip-hop tracks? Death medal? Wow! Lot's of different ratio's and eq settings to deal with. In conclusion: anything can be a point of departure for learning even if it's wrong so when you see people disagreeing about these details and how to go about learning, just quietly observe knowing that you can learn more from both sides at once while they waste their time getting entangled in arguments.

[Puffer Fish]

Originally Posted by mgs0001

Here's my post from a similar forum:

Well I found the first recommendations and their specificity to be quite interesting even though a fool would think there's one answer for this or that. I like to find these types of recommendations just for different ideas to investigate. I tend to learn a lot from it. And that process is exactly the same as any other process where you just keep trying whatever until it sounds the way you want. Experts aren't going to help you just like politicians will do anything to keep their jobs or win a job. And the other thing...I have people coming up to me all the time telling me about how my producer's work isn't as good as their's and how I should work with this person instead. I hate mix peddlers. Take your mix back to the alley. I'm good with mine. I've listened to a lot of different music...some of it sounds like total junk but I appreciate the art of it. It is true that you just have to "do it" but specific ideas are points of departure. Even if you're Tom Hanks with a studio on a deserted island in cast away you'll create you're own departure point. So what's the point of dismissing anything really? Unless maybe you don't have the discrimination to know if it works or not for you. See some people in this process are scared of other peoples ideas because it might change their routine that has been so successful. I try to observe without judgement but with intelligent discrimination so that no stone is left unturned. Besides there are so many infinite studios pumping out local music and popular music and it's all different. What's good? What's you goal? Underground art? Hyped Pop? Super-compressed hip-hop tracks? Death medal? Wow! Lot's of different ratio's and eq settings to deal with. In conclusion: anything can be a point of departure for learning even if it's wrong so when you see people disagreeing about these details and how to go about learning, just quietly observe knowing that you can learn more from both sides at once while they waste their time getting entangled in arguments.

Please use paragraph breaks in the future. Your unbroken comment is difficult to read. I write this in the most sincere and honest way. I would like to read what you are trying to share with us, but it is visually taxing.

[GJ999x]

Epic thread recovery.... 8 months old

Sent from my GT-I9100P using Gearslutz App

[Bristol_Jonesey]

8 months?

The last comment was 8 YEARS ago

[GJ999x]

**** i didnt even check the year!!

This is almost as old as USB sticks lol...

Originally Posted by Bristol_Jonesey

8 months?

The last comment was 8 YEARS ago

[rocksure]

Old thread revival huh. Some basic ideas on setting up compressors/limiters and what they do, can be found in this article I wrote some time back. It may be helpful for people who are trying to learn to understand compressor settings to read:

Understanding and Using Compressors