First of all your patch bay looks as messy as mine. heh
I don't have the schematic in front of me but there are 2 patch points that are dedicated for the side chain.
On my patchbay(which the labeling has worn off after constant abuse)i marked with a piece of tape.
Mixman 499 has a modded SSL obviously.
He probably has patchpoints directly to the patchbay for the inputs and outputs of the quad comp bypassing the master fader altogether.
This is a common mod.
You can purchase an outboard fader if you like.
I have a very transparent outboard fader as well.
Hi Thrill,
Hmmm. I can't find it. I enclosed a PDF file of my patchbay. Tell me where it is!?
What benefit has it to get rid of the masterfader with a mod? Is it not just a automated & reversed Gain MakeUp for the compressor. At least that's what I always thought.
When you say outboard fader what do you mean? Is it still automated or really out of the board?
sometimes when i find the 384 sucking out the bass, i use the sidechain and filter out the bottom. seems more effective than using auto release. although i'm wondering if that might be because i tend to use 10:1. i didn't know that the slope gets steeper at higher ratios. thanks.
david
This is a very strange way to use this comp on two buss
Says who? My usual starting attack setting is 1. I dont hit it that hard and I start the mix with it in, so I'm hearing whats happening as I mix. The thing I tend to fool with is the attack settings more than anything else. Usually I leave the ratio at 2:1. Lately I do alot of retro stuff, some rock , some r&b usually real instruments hardly anything sampled. I also do a fair amount of jazz. I have done dance stuff in the past but for me at least that scene dried up a few years ago.
Says who? My usual starting attack setting is 1. I dont hit it that hard and I start the mix with it in, so I'm hearing whats happening as I mix. The thing I tend to fool with is the attack settings more than anything else. Usually I leave the ratio at 2:1. Lately I do alot of retro stuff, some rock , some r&b usually real instruments hardly anything sampled. I also do a fair amount of jazz. I have done dance stuff in the past but for me at least that scene dried up a few years ago.
I really find that this comp is "grabing" too much with fastest attack rates.
I'm not saying you can't mix with it, but my experience showed me that I had to constantly "deal" with the comp doing so. Slower attacks give me needed glue without forcing me to constantly ask myself if I was not messing with usual compressing artifacts.
That allowed me to focus on more important things in the mixing process
If I was mixing more dance music or hip hop I think you can go with slower settings since there are less transients. If you have more real instruments there will be more transients uinless you are really smashing the individual tracks. I dont really hit anything very hard individually unless I'm going for something. I also dont hit the ssl compressor that hard, so I find I can get all the glue without worrying about compressing the life out of the track. Usually before I start doing passes I screw around with the attack one last time to see what works best.
It's whatever works for you.
I just bought a used grey-faced G384 and am very impressed in general. I generally have been starting with slower attack and faster release, mostly 2:1, sometimes 4:1. Sometimes auto-release, but so far I've only tested by strapping it across something I've already mixed. I'm sure the results would be very different mixing into it.
It seems to have a nice, low-mid, focused crunchy punch when the comp is only dropping a couple of db off the meter.
[QUOTE=mixman499]i have a 4056 g console....LOVE the quad bus comp....modern rock stuff is almost always attack at 1....auto release....squash to taste...i like to bypass the master fader and patch the quad comp after the st out of the ssl...that way i can hit the master bus as hard as i want to get some heat...and then hit the quad comp before hitting tape.....it works for me..
But isn't the MF's VCA connected directly to the Quad Comp? So patching into the Quad isn't really bypassing the MF.....and according to Gearge H. for SSL in LA there is NO way to separate the MF from the Quad Comp