This was my response in another forum, the question was how to get the vocals sitting above a dense rock mix:
<I usually run two comps - a dBX 160VU set at 3:1 and 3-4 dB of GR. Then into an ART Pro-VLA, set to limit and giving as much GR as I need (6-9dB) until the vocal sits nicely.
This sounds a little extreme, but it works well and you can't really hear the compression in the mix. The key is to use 2 comp/limiters, altho I've used my RNC set to "stun" on lots of vocal tracks, w/no problems/complaints.>
When tracking, I'll use a little at 3 or 4:1, fast atack, to take the edge off the peaks, and increase my signal to "tape" or whatever the heck you call it nowadays... <g>
Mark Gifford