how not to over compress? :(

  • Thread starter Thread starter jerberson12
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jerberson12

mucis procedure
everytime i compress my vocal , it always sounds overcompress. i lowered my ratio and thres but still it sound too harsh maybe from 4khz up, is it from the mic or preamp? or my dx compressor? mic placement?

heres my chain
mxl v67g --> roland mmp-2 with built-in EQ and Comp ---> Yamaha MX12/4 Mixer ---> delta 44 ---> EQ and Comp again using Sonitus in Sonar.
 
My normal route of dialing in is that once you can actually hear it, it's too much.

I hate to suggest using your eyes instead of your ears, but what kind of gain-reduction are you showing?
 
jerberson12 said:
everytime i compress my vocal , it always sounds overcompress.
Click to expand...


If I were to tell you that every time I eat a hot dog, there's always too much mustard on it ... and I asked for your advice, what would you tell me?
 
chessrock said:
If I were to tell you that every time I eat a hot dog, there's always too much mustard on it ... and I asked for your advice, what would you tell me?
Click to expand...
Eat a hamburger next time? ...
Sorry, couldn't resist. :eek:
 
Learn to record without compression first.


Then everything thing after that is more obvious. Remember compression was invented to fix a problem not be the problem. You never will learn to ride a bike until you take the training wheels off :)


SoMm
 
The MXL Mic's are not very good. Try a good cond ie... Rode, AKG Neumann and a good preamp ie... Avalon use good cables ie... monster, prolink etc. Don't use any processors before your recording device & you'll get good results. :)
 
I'm going to have to respectfully disagree...

Get a good sound first. Worry about the mic selection later.

A crappy sound will sound crappy through a SM57 or a U87 - Maybe a different flavor of crappy, but still crappy.

I'd rather have good core sounds and a bunch of mediocre gear than mediocre sounds and Manleys.
 
aljam said:
The MXL Mic's are not very good. Try a good cond ie... Rode, AKG Neumann and a good preamp ie... Avalon use good cables ie... monster, prolink etc. Don't use any processors before your recording device & you'll get good results. :)
Click to expand...

The V67G works great for me, of course there're better mics out there but for the money I like it a lot on some sources. Maybe you need to work on your mic technique?

If good quality gear alone guarantees good results then I'm gonna stop practicing now and just wait til I have the money for some decent gear. :D

This doesn't relate directly to your question Jerberson12 but do you really need the mixer in between your mic and your soundcard? That extra circuitry is doing nothing but degrading your signal.

I personally just go mic-pre-card.
 
Vocal Compression

I found this site via E-BAY where I was looking for an Aphex compressor, and having read your question I thought I would respond .

I have been a studio engineer for over thirty years and always compress a vocal on the way to tape, (or now hard disc.) Firstly. I NEVER limit anything! As I am sure you know the final result is dictated by the weakest link in the chain so buy the best equipment you can afford. This does not mean you have to spend fortunes on vintage tube gear, there are some great "budget" mics around. Personally I use an AKG 414 and Two DBX 160 compressors. I set up the recording chain as follows: Set the level of the mic, with no compression on it, so that it is just peaking on the loudest parts of the vocal. Only when this is done insert the compressor into the chain. I set the ratio of my first DBX at about 2:1 and adjust the threshold until the unit is compressing 3 or 4 db. and then adjust the output so that the vocal is back to peaking on the loudest parts. I then send the output of this first DBX directly into the second DBX, the ratio of this one is set to about 5:1. Again set the threshold so that the unit is compressing about 4 db on the peaks and finally adjust the output gain to get the desired level to tape. That is the basic idea, you would have to experiment with your own gear to get the best results, but it has always worked for me.

Hope this helps

John Burns
 
jerberson12 said:
everytime i compress my vocal , it always sounds overcompress. i lowered my ratio and thres but still it sound too harsh maybe from 4khz up, is it from the mic or preamp? or my dx compressor? mic placement?

heres my chain
mxl v67g --> roland mmp-2 with built-in EQ and Comp ---> Yamaha MX12/4 Mixer ---> delta 44 ---> EQ and Comp again using Sonitus in Sonar.
Click to expand...

My first response would be to look at your attack settings. To fast attack or unnatural release give easily an overcompressed sound.
 
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