How Is A Rack Compressor Used w/ PC Recording?

  • Thread starter Thread starter CudBucket
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Hardware vs. Software Compressors

"Most modern sequencers have software compressors these days. These come in many diffterent styles and types and many of them sound quite good. However, these are mainly for post-recording. You apply them to an audio track or soft synth as a plugin, after the recording has been made. Software compressors do not help as you record, so they cannot limit the peaks coming off the microphone through the preamp and into the converter. Hardware compressors, on the other hand, when setup correctly, modify the signal before it is recorded, thus preventing the overloads that can ruin a take. If you don't want to use a hardware compressor here you simply have to be careful about overloads. With 24 bit recording you can record at a lower level to avoid overloads, however, it is a great idea to have the protection of a hardware compressor all the same."

My Waves comps sound better than my hardware compressors, but you are feeding the original poster the wrong info. Anyone who tells you it's just about turning down gain or adjusting mic levels etc does not have a clue. This is not an argument like "which sounds better, a tube amp or solid state". This is common knowledge. You are right you don't NEED a compressor, but if you want to increase the quality of your recording then you do.

Enough said ;)
 
orson198305 said:
"Most modern sequencers have software compressors these days. These come in many diffterent styles and types and many of them sound quite good. However, these are mainly for post-recording. You apply them to an audio track or soft synth as a plugin, after the recording has been made. Software compressors do not help as you record, so they cannot limit the peaks coming off the microphone through the preamp and into the converter. Hardware compressors, on the other hand, when setup correctly, modify the signal before it is recorded, thus preventing the overloads that can ruin a take. If you don't want to use a hardware compressor here you simply have to be careful about overloads. With 24 bit recording you can record at a lower level to avoid overloads, however, it is a great idea to have the protection of a hardware compressor all the same."
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Sounds like that came right out of a compressor venders sales literature
orson198305 said:
"modify the signal before it is recorded."
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Enough said ;)
 
OK, orson, you've convinced me! I'm going to stick an Alesis 3630 in between my Great River MP2 and Delta 44. Now my recordings will sound professional. :)
 
Come on, it was the first site i came to, ahem...DBX compressors available at all major music retailers. The classic 160 (i'll stop) :D
 
albini quotes

The current trendy thing is compression, compression by the ton, especially if it comes from a tube limiter. Wow. It doesn't matter how awful the recording is, as long as it goes through a tube limiter, somebody will claim it sounds "warm," or maybe even "punchy." They might even compare it to the Beatles. I want to find the guy that invented compression and tear his liver out. I hate it. It makes everything sound like a beer commercial.
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The minimum skills required to do an adequate job recording an album are:
• Working knowledge of all the microphones at hand and their properties and uses. I mean something beyond knowing that you can drop an SM57 without breaking it.
• Experience with every piece of equipment which might be of use and every function it may provide. This means more than knowing what echo sounds like. Which equalizer has the least phase shift in neighbor bands? Which console has more headroom? Which mastering deck has the cleanest output electronics?
• Experience with the style of music at hand, to know when obvious blunders are occurring.
• Ability to tune and maintain all the required instruments and electronics, so as to insure that everything is in proper working order. This means more than plugging a guitar into a tuner. How should the drums be tuned to simulate a rising note on the decay? A falling note? A consonant note? Can a bassoon play a concert E-flat in key with a piano tuned to a reference A of 440 Hz? What percentage of varispeed is necessary to make a whole-tone pitch change? What degree of overbias gives you the most headroom at 10Khz? What reference fluxivity gives you the lowest self-noise from biased, unrecorded tape? Which tape manufacturer closes every year in July, causing shortages of tape globally? What can be done for a shedding master tape? A sticky one?
• Knowledge of electronic circuits to an extent that will allow selection of appropriate signal paths. This means more than knowing the difference between a delay line and an equalizer. Which has more headroom, a discrete class A microphone preamp with transformer output or a differential circuit built with monolithics? Where is the best place in an unbalanced line to attenuate the signal? If you short the cold leg of a differential input to ground, what happens to the signal level? Which gain control device has the least distortion, a VCA, a printed plastic pot, a photoresistor or a wire-wound stepped attenuator? Will putting an unbalanced line on a half-normalled jack unbalance the normal signal path? Will a transformer splitter load the input to a device parallel to it? Which will have less RF noise, a shielded unbalanced line or a balanced line with floated shield?
• An aesthetic that is well-rooted and compatible with the music, and the good taste to know when to exercise it
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http://www.mercenary.com/probwitmusby.html

Given the omnipresence of compression on today's recordings, particularly in grunge rock, it's perhaps surprising to find he doesn't actually like compression very much. "I'm not a fan of the sound of compression and I try to avoid it. I've used stereo buss compression on one of the hundreds of records I've made, and that was an experiment and I learned what I needed from that. There will occasionally be compression on individual instruments in the mix, but not often. I don't normally try to get rid of wild dynamics. I try to incorporate them. If it sounds good, it sounds good, if it doesn't, it doesn't. When I can hear compression working I'm kind of irritated by it. It bothers me because it seems like I'm hearing this machine rather than the band."
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good albini interview

personally, i think albini's recordings sound perfect much of the time. the idea of sticking a dbx compressor in your chain is not the product of common knowledge amongst engineers in general - only engineers that are looking for a radio friendly/trendy sound. that said, compression does have its place, but it shouldn't be for hot recording/clipping prevention imo.

:eek:
 
Think what you will, just because some engineers end up using too much compression (which is easy to do, it can be quite addictive). Doesn't mean it's a bad thing. I hate in your face harsh sounding records, I know how to use a hardware compressor correctly because i have been taught how to and know when to stop. People who disagree about the need for compression, do not know how to use it and are probably "preset freaks" who use patches because they don't have the ability to create their own sounds. There is also the additive safety net with software if you compress it too much you can undo it. woops i made an arse of that, lets try another preset.

Thread starter, i plead with you - buy a book about compression, you'll find no answers here, just arguments.

Now, Tube Amps Vs Solid State, oh dear, no not starting that.
 
Given the omnipresence of compression on today's recordings, particularly in grunge rock, it's perhaps surprising to find he doesn't actually like compression very much. "I'm not a fan of the sound of compression and I try to avoid it. I've used stereo buss compression on one of the hundreds of records I've made, and that was an experiment and I learned what I needed from that. There will occasionally be compression on individual instruments in the mix, but not often. I don't normally try to get rid of wild dynamics. I try to incorporate them. If it sounds good, it sounds good, if it doesn't, it doesn't. When I can hear compression working I'm kind of irritated by it. It bothers me because it seems like I'm hearing this machine rather than the band."

I think this proves my point, "the sound of compression" when compression is used correctly you cannot tell if it has been compressed or not. Unless you are wanting to use it as an effect or to hear it pumping with a groove eg Michael Jackson "Billie Jean" Read the article about that (I think that one is still on the sound on sound website)
 
when compression is used correctly you cannot tell if it has been compressed or not. Unless you are wanting to use it as an effect or to hear it pumping with a groove eg Michael Jackson "Billie Jean"
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in the "how does compression color sound? thread, i argued this exact point, so in that sense we agree. but i argue that compression isn't as absolutely necessary as you seem to think. i use it, and i know how to use it. my main objection to what you have said is your advice that putting a shitty compressor in a chain of good equipment is not right - a 3630 implemented to prevent a hot signal from clipping is a bad idea, period. that's all.
 
pitchfork said:
in the "how does compression color sound? thread, i argued this exact point, so in that sense we agree. but i argue that compression isn't as absolutely necessary as you seem to think. i use it, and i know how to use it. my main objection to what you have said is your advice that putting a shitty compressor in a chain of good equipment is not right - a 3630 implemented to prevent a hot signal from clipping is a bad idea, period. that's all.
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What he said... Not arguing the merits or need for compression for some sources... just the blanket statement to compress everything... as a peak limiter... whether it needs it or no...

And I personally think there's been a lot of very valuable insight that you won't find in book sprinkled thoughout this thread... (especially my comments :rolleyes:, but also yours)
 
I agree that MANY professionals use compression when nessecary when tracking. If you find a vocal chain for a pop artist example...a lot of times an avalon will show up in there. I've seen it in pretty much every listing of vocal chains of seen (maybe not the avalon, but something...1176, etc). Granted you can say it's overcompressed and a trend and what not...but it boils down to that many professionals use compression while tracking. Period. A couple weeks ago there was a thread in the drum forum defining what a professional drummer was, and it was stated anyone that makes a living off of it. These engineers making bubble gum, overcompressed pop music, make much more money than any of us doing it, there for...they are professionals. And by equivication, it is acceptable to use compression during tracking to recieve professional results (or closer to professional results since few of us have neve consoles, u47s, 1176s, la-2s, years of experience and training, etc). It's all a matter of when and how you use it. It's just as viable as not using it. It's an option like everything else and should not be written off because of 24bit headroom as it has in so many posts.
 
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