Why are my levels so high on my compressor?

B

bobbo

New member
I'm using a behringer composer pro compressor and use the channel inserts on the back of my mixer using a "y" cord with the "tip/ring" going into the input and output channels of the compressor, one Y cord for each side of the compressor (or left and right mono channels of the compressor). The ring goes into the output and the tip goes into the input for each mono channel on it, or instance.
When I send a stereo signal from my soundcard (delta 1010) via ntracks software, and send it back through the mixer, I send the left side of the stereo signal back through channel one of the mixer (panned hard left), and the other right side of the stereo signal back through channel two of the mixer (panned hard right). Channel 1 and 2 both have the channel inserts connected to the compressor with the "Y" cords.
When I playback the song, I'm trying to set the compressor, but the signal seems too hot most of the time. I will even set up the compressor to act as a limiter with the threshold at 0 dB, ratio at infinity, attack and release at highest settings (I think this is what I'm supposed to do), gain output set at 0 dB, and the limiter is set to turn on at 0 dB. I have my levels really low going into the mixer, as well as the pots and faders on the mixer, but the compressor still shows like 6 dB gain reduction and it still shows that its hitting the limit which would mean that its clipping.
Am I doing something wrong here? I hope I'm making myself clear here, I'm still kind of a beginner with all of this.
 
you should check at what levels the different pieces of gear in your system operate at. That is, are they operating at 'pro' level (+4dbu) or at 'consumer' level (-10dbv)? The compressor should have knobs on the back to switch the modes. The Delta1010 can also be switched via its driver (actually, the standard setting is a 'in-between'-setting that, according to m-audio, should work 'in most cases'.

So I suggest you check the operating level of your mixer, as this is probably the piece of gear that can't be switched, and check, whether the comp and the Delta are operating at the right levels.

Apart from that, the insert point should be directly behind the trim pot, so the channel fader doesn't influence the level going into the comp, only the trim pot.

Hope I could make myself clear,

David.
 
Thanks David,
I believe I have everything set to +4 on the soundcard, mixer and compressor. I'll check again to make sure when I get back home, but I'm pretty sure they are all set for that.
If the trim pot is set really low, like hardly any gain, would that affect the quality of the recording? I think I can get it down so there's not much clipping on the compressor when I barely turn the trim nob, but it just doesn't seem right to me. In my software its barely getting above -9 dB in most cases when its leaving that and going back through the mixer.
Its strange, but I'll check I'll check again when I get back home from work.
Thanks.
 
Actually, it is the trim pot with which you should adjust the signal that's going into the comp. I said the above based on my assumption, that you already set the level on the trim pot very low.

So send the signal out to the mixer and adjust the level going into the comp via the trim pot, if it's too high, lower it down using the meters on the compressor, so that it ends up where you want it to be. The trim pot might actually have a setting labeled as 'line' or 'line level'. Try that. If the operating levels are all adjusted, the level you get in the comp should be the same that's leaving the soundcard.
 
Not only do you need to set all your gear to the same +4 level, but you should
run a 1k test tone. through them all and achieve what's called
Unity Gain, so all of your meters read "0" when given the same level of signal.

jef
 
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