Different compressor settings.

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BSharp810

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Can you guys tell me a good compression setting to lower the peaks?

Can you guys tell me a good compression setting to Boost Lowest peaks?

the reason i am asking for this, is if you guys can give me the settings for these given tasks...ill be able to beter understand the different adjustibles for compressors. Yes i am aware that there is no magic presets...that is not what im looking for. Im looking to see threshhold, ratio, attack...ect...and understand what each knob is doing during these two tasks.
 
Here's my way of setting compressors, and I can't really give settings because they all have different numbers and guides. 1) set ratio super high, attack and release as fast as possible, then find the threshold where you want the compression to kick in. 2) now that the threshold is set, adjust attack so whatever amount of transient you want to hear gets through. 3) adjust release to smooth out when the compressor kicks off. 4) set ratio to where it sounds right. steps 1-3 will sound like crap, but they are just to isolate the one aspect you are trying to adjust and to be able to hear that best. Play with this, and you'll learn a TON about how to use a compressor and won't need anyone else's settings because you'll make your own and know when to use what.

Now, for specific tasks...slow attack, medium release will let some transient through and sound pretty percussive (nice on acoustic guitars and snares). Fast attack, fast release knocks down just the peak (good for rock vocals). Fast attack, slow release smoothes out the entire track (nice for acoustics sometimes, and electrics that have become too rhythmic).

So to lower the peaks, fast attack (6ms or less), fast release (15ms ?). To boost the lowest peak, that's not really what a compressor does. It will push down the highest peaks, so if you turn up the make up gain the lower parts will become louder, if that's what you mean.

Hope this helps.
 
cool cool, thats kind of what i was looking for. So the threshhold needs to be set around where the audio is peaking. Attack is how fast it is effected. Release is how long the compression lasts... The ratio is how much above the threshhold is compressed?..am i on the right track?
 
Can you guys tell me a good compression setting to lower the peaks?

Can you guys tell me a good compression setting to Boost Lowest peaks?

Im looking to see threshhold, ratio, attack...ect...and understand what each knob is doing during these two tasks.

The Compression 101 manual helped me.

Find it here:

ftp: (forward slash twice)ftp.dbxpro.com/pub/PDFs/WhitePapers/Compression%20101.pdf
D
 
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almost. The ratio is how much closer to the threshold peaks are brought.

If your threshold is -10 and your peak is at 0, a 2-1 ratio will make your peak be -5.

For every 2db over threshold, the comp brings it back 1db.
 
Thank you for the compression manuel. I read it and it was helpful. Steena, I get what your saying...but what happens in that same equation when the ratio is infinite
 
Thank you for the compression manuel. I read it and it was helpful. Steena, I get what your saying...but what happens in that same equation when the ratio is infinite

Then it requires infinite level above the threshold at the input to get 1dB over the threshold at the output. In other words, the signal will not go above the threshold at all, except if you set the attack to something slower than 0ms.
 
Here's a great compression setting to start with:

Threshold: 0db
Ratio: 1:1
Attack: 0ms
Release: 0ms

From this setting, you can play with all the parameters and listen to what happens. A little tip, start with the ratio because nothing else will sound like it does anything if the ratio stays at 1:1.

:D
 
Did a session not to long ago using no compression and I kinda liked the out come at the end ..... makes me rethink the whole compression thing.
 
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