What should I throw onto my master out 1-2 on logic for compression?

[tww47]

I have a few tracks, and they all seem to have just a very unmastered feel. I'm decent at eq'ing to my liking but as of know I really don't have a lot of compression experience and I've read if I just throw on a compressor without knowing what I'm doing chances are it will make my track sound worse. What would you suggest for putting onto my master output to glue the track together a little better? My mixes seem to all sound somewhat cold and lack warmth. Are there any good vst's, or anything good inside of logic that I can use? If it helps most of my songs are hip-hop/r&b type sounding. Thanks.

[Lagerfeldt]

If you just want a bit of glue and aren't very technically minded, then you could try the Sonnox Oxford Inflator.

It's a harmonic distortion plug-in that adds fullness and glue to a mix. It can work quite well at lower settings, i.e. 30% or lower.

You could also try my SSL presets for the Logic Pro 8/9 compressor:
SSL 4000 G presets for Logic 8 Compressor (download)

As a start, try selecting the ratio 2, 10 ms attack, 0.6s release preset. Set the threshold until you see about 2.5 dB of gain reduction on the meter in the compressor or less if you think it's too much.

This will not "master" your song but it could help achieving a bit of fullness and mix glue.

[miro]

mac or pc?
for a little warmth i personally recommend (mac only though) airwindows "channel" Airwindows Audio Unit Plugins ...you can select between SSL, Neve and API emulation settings with dry/wet fader. it will add a little low end for sure. best thing: it's even free! (among many others)
i also love "drive" used very gently for busses or possibly even for master out (maybe 25% drive) and with a 50/50 dry/wet setting.


these are not compressing but can help warming.

[Lagerfeldt]

Logic is Mac only, unless you're working on a very, very old 5.5.1 setup.

[miro]

ahm...yeah oooops...right..hahahaa!

[lerone]

Originally Posted by Lagerfeldt

If you just want a bit of glue and aren't very technically minded, then you could try the Sonnox Oxford Inflator.

It's a harmonic distortion plug-in that adds fullness and glue to a mix. It can work quite well at lower settings, i.e. 30% or lower.

.

Good shout on the inflator I will add though, I often find the inflator very useful at 100% effect, clip off and adjust the input to my saturation tastes. Depends on the source material and what you're going for of course.