easy explanation of compressions-bruce, tim brown, wally???

S

seriousturtle

New member
some of the experts in these posts talk about 2:1 compression and 4:1 or 20:1 compression. i would simply request some explanation for us newbies about the facts and fallacies of compression. what is it? what does it do (technically and non-technically)? how to use it? i think this would really benefit us beginners and will clear up some of the garbage that newbies ( i include myself) belief about this tool.

~the turtle
 
I'm also interested in this subject and I look forward to hearing what all the bright and intellegent people here have to say. But to get you started, here is a couple of articles, the first one (written by sonusman) explains what each of the buttons are on a compressor and what they do, very basic and easy to understand. The second is another great article (written by shailat) and it has audio clips on different compression techniques, more advanced and he expects you to have "some" knowledge of what the different buttons do. Both of these are excellent articles, I think you'll enjoy 'em.

http://www.geocities.com/Shailat2000/thecompressor.html

http://www.geocities.com/shailat2000/index.html

I hope that these articles help...and I look forward to seeing how this thread developes. ;)

-tkr
 
The 2:1 , 4:1 etc is called the Compression Ratio, basically it tells you how much compression you are applying. It refers to the ratio between the input and the output volumes. An uncompressed signal has a 1:1 ratio this means that a signal with a 'volume' of 1 at the input will be output with a 'volume' of 1, a signal input at 3 will output at 3 etc. With a ratio of 2:1 it means that an input 'volume' of 1 will produce an output 'volume' of 1/2 etc. 4:1 means that to produce an output volume of 1 the input needs to be 4.
 
how would you go about hooking up processors (such as a compressor) to a mixer? are there 1/4" jacks that go into an aux input of the mixer, and you route it back into the compressor from the aux out???

~the turtle
 
Compressors are usually wired in-line thru a mixer channel's inserts... routing thru Auxes will work if you don't blend in the dry signal (although that's a technique in itself to maintain some signal dynamics while still compressing).

Bruce
 
bruce, are you saying to go through the line outs of the compressor into the inserts of the channel(s) that i want to compress?? i thought i would have to go back out from the mixer into the inputs of the compressor or something like that? or am i totally off?

~the turtle
 
Channel inserts on a mixer usually comprise both a send and return as a single patch point, using a TRS connector (in an unbalanced configuration).

You use an insert cable that is a TRS at one end going to two TS ends. One tip will be the Send (going to the line-in on the compressor), the other tip is the Return (connecting to the line-out of the compressor).

Bruce
 
What about for........

compression with recording vocals? What are some good fundamentals? I've experimented with it, but, it was just experimenting.
Hope I didn't get 2 off topic.
 
Please pay attention

Hey I-AM,

If you go to the top of this thread and read the first post by Tekker, you will find the answer to your question along with everything else you wanted to know about compression but were afraid to ask.

Peace
Joe
 
If after you have read the articles you still have a problem...

email me with a specific question and I'll help you out.
 
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