Okay, is compression necessary

[CaptainStrat]

When recording vocals straight to a Sound card if you're using a tube preamp? I use ART's Tube MP ... some folks say "add compression to prevent clipping" others say the tube will "soft clip" before the signal reaches the sound card, "don't colour your vocals more than they need to be by patching in a compressor" ...

Confused ... which is it?

 

[Massive Master]

You use compression when the dynamic range of the source is too wide for your purposes - That's it in a nutshell.

Here's ME in a nutshell... "Oh my! Help me! I'm trapped inside this giant nutshell!"

Anyway - The easiest and most versatile thing to do would be to simply lower your input level until there is no chance of overloading / clipping. Especially if you're working in 24-bit audio. Get a "good" level and go. You can always add compression later.

 

[xstatic]

Personally, I would never use a compressor to avoid clipping. Thats when you just simply turn it down a little. Compressors should be used for what John said above, to narrow the dynamic range, or to change the tonality of a signal.

 

[Middleman]

Reasons for compression or limiting

To control transients (mainly limiting)
To reduce dynamic range (also has the effect of bringing the most compressed frequencies to the front of your sound)
To color a track with the sound of a particular compressor (even if no compression is used sometimes)
To get a track to pump the sound (You can make the speakers actually pump air in time to the track)

There must be some reasons I missed, that's all I can think of.

Oh, Multiband compressor - specific compression applied to selectable portions of the frequency range. Like having multiple compressors applied to low, mid, and high ranges. Used in mastering or with troublesome sound sources.

Often, compression while tracking is just not required in some forms of music. You can hand limit on the loud parts of a song which was a traditional method from the past.

 

[The Axis]

Compression required ?

No.

 

[Cave Dweller]

Compression required ?

No.

is compression often desirable?

YES

 

[Warhead]

is compression often desirable?

YES

Hey don't mess with that guy, he's got a certain look in his eye.

War

 

[xfinsterx]

I compress and eq on the way in when it comes to vocals, guitars, bass, and drums.

Specificly for vox i might use
some light 2:1 comp. to keep the peaks at bay.
And maybe sweep some 700 to 900hz because my room adds some hype in those areas.

It really depends on what, who, and where you are tracking at the moment.

I like my source material how i like it.
If your not sure how youd want it, then id suggest reading Massive Masters post.

 

[Riverdog]

Agreed

xfinsterx, I use very little compression as well...
Mostly to smooth out the performance - A 2:1, too...

But the input as "Massive Mastering" says is also recorded at a low level...
Sometimes I'm not even sure the compression is doing anything...
But, It's usually because I only want the very loudest "clips" to be controlled...

One other interesting caveat I've also found is that I seem to have a 'goodly' fair amount of headroom when recording at 24bit input... It nearly negates the need for compression at the input stage...