What is a compressor
- Thread starter Tchara
- Start date
Larry Sheehan
New member
Hi, good info on compressors at www.dbxpro.com/white.htm but here's a quick overview.
It is useful to think of a compressor as a sort of automatic volume control. When the signal being compressed exceeds a target level (the threshold), the volume is reduced by some proportion (the ratio). There are other controls which determine how quickly the reduction occurs (Attack) and how quickly the original volume is restored after the level drops below the threshold (Release).
Many/most compressors have another control to raise the average output level (Makeup Gain).
The most common application for compressors is to keep transient peaks (Volume spikes) from causing distortion due to clipping or digital overs.
They are also used to raise the apparent loudness of a track by reducing the difference between the loudest and quietest parts (the dynamic range).
Effects processors are used to add things like reverb/delay, etc. to a track.
In general there are three types of signal processing - dynamic processing (compressors/limiters/noise gates/expanders), Effects processing (reverb, echo, flange, etc), and EQ.
[This message has been edited by Larry Sheehan (edited 11-19-1999).]
It is useful to think of a compressor as a sort of automatic volume control. When the signal being compressed exceeds a target level (the threshold), the volume is reduced by some proportion (the ratio). There are other controls which determine how quickly the reduction occurs (Attack) and how quickly the original volume is restored after the level drops below the threshold (Release).
Many/most compressors have another control to raise the average output level (Makeup Gain).
The most common application for compressors is to keep transient peaks (Volume spikes) from causing distortion due to clipping or digital overs.
They are also used to raise the apparent loudness of a track by reducing the difference between the loudest and quietest parts (the dynamic range).
Effects processors are used to add things like reverb/delay, etc. to a track.
In general there are three types of signal processing - dynamic processing (compressors/limiters/noise gates/expanders), Effects processing (reverb, echo, flange, etc), and EQ.
[This message has been edited by Larry Sheehan (edited 11-19-1999).]
Larry Sheehan
New member
<Blush> Thanks.
Tchara, I can elaborate more if you'd like more info. De-Essing and Ducking are other useful areas. I tried not to overwhelm you with a PhD thesis level of info.
Tchara, I can elaborate more if you'd like more info. De-Essing and Ducking are other useful areas. I tried not to overwhelm you with a PhD thesis level of info.
cusebassman
Freakin' sweet
And what's better is that the guy who unearthed it has been a member since before the original posts were put up. How could you not remember reading this in the winter of 1999 for God's sake???
cusebassman said:
Yo, doods, it was a joke.
I unearthed the oldest, moldiest thread I could find to try and make a joke/point about newbies digging up and responding to old, dead, rotting threads from years ago started by members who no longer even post here--which has been happening a lot lately. Get it? For some laughs from the old days do a search for the Ken D. Webber thread or some old posts from S8-N. Those were the good old days.
