You said vocal earlier. 10ms attack is likely completely after a snare transient. So the peak could be well above the threshold, but it's too fast for the attack.Yea, so I'll have the threshold set to -20 and nothing, then to -10 and it does, then I was trying to add compression to a snare and it only became compressed when I lowered the threshold, back to -30, -40. I don't get it. Maybe the volume was too low?
Are you kinda saying just set the ratio to not too extreme a number and then play with the threshold, and the compression will kick in and I'll hear it and can go by ear, regardless of understanding it? ..
A good exercise would be, with a snare and again with the vocal, 10ms attack, set the threshold so it's just starting to show reduction (visual for now), now start decreasing the attack, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1ms.
A lot of the action is in the attack.
Then do it at 2:1 ratio. Still lots of action just in the attack..