Btw, to the original poster and topic, here is my response on a similar topic in the Mic forum. The topic was on the issue of when compression is too much (particularly for the voice). It turns out that the original poster could hear/perceive what the compression was doing to the vocals. Here's my answer.
At
https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=129034
"Great replies so far. I've found the most critical areas of compression are the attack and release settings. Many people (including myself a while ago) mess up stuff with bad settings on the attack and release, even more than ratios that are too high.
If you want a really nice test to understand what compression is doing start with a bass (either an electric or a keyboard/sampled electric bass) patch it through to the compressor. Start with a ratio of maybe 4:1 or 6:1. Start bringing down the threshhold till you're getting about 6 to 10 dbs of gain reduction on the meter. It doesn't matter what the attack and release settings are now.
Now, start playing with either the attack or release settings (one at a time). I bet you will notice the most with the release settings. At higher release settings you should notice the sound thickening up bit. It's kind of hard to descibe, but it feels like the envelop of the sound is ending longer/slower. Notice at lower release settings, the effect of the compression ends quicker and the envelop faster. use the bypass switch and you'll notice at faster release times the compressor is actually changing the sound to be more percussive than the original. At a certain point, pumping will occur because it will sound like the compressor can't keep up with the sound (because it's leaving the sound earlier than the sound is sustaining).
Try this and also play with the attack. Think of the attack as when (in time) the compressor engages. At slower attack times, not much of the sound is passing through the compressor. Faster times, the compressor starts up a faster with the sound. Compare faster attack times with slower attack times, you'll notice a dulling of the high frequencies at lower (faster) attack times. Focus on the high end of the bass when doing the comparison of the faster and slower attack times. I've found electric bass is a more useful sound for learning compression. Once you learn on this, you'll better understand what compression is doing on the voice."
There are other helpful responses on compression as well.