This may be off topic, but reading this thread once again reminded me that there is no "easy button" (sorry Staples) for recording, mixing, mastering, using plug-ins in general, etc. I have to admit, at one time I was guilty of this. I started out analog and did indeed use some guidelines when twisting the knobs, but that stuff got burned in and in a lot of cases became automatic. When I first jumped into DAW based recording, I was constantly on the lookout for the "ultimate" EQ setting, the "best" ratio/attack/release for vox, etc. etc. etc. Was I really doing anything different than the old analog days? Not really, just the knobs were now pictures on a monitor and not a physical thing I could grab (I do everything in the box - soon to change). If you look at the world as we know it now (or at least my view of it), just about everyone has a computer of some sort. They get the "itch" to record their music, run to Guitar Center or Sam Ash and buy a $150 audio interface that comes with a free copy of Cubase lite and *poof* instant multitrack studio. I may be dating myself, but I remember the analog days where if you could buy a decent desk and multitrack for under $7500 you were lucky... never mind outboard gear, mic's, monitors, etc. Now you can basically buy a turnkey "recording studio" for less than $1000. In the "old days", if you were going to drop the cash on equipment you HAD to know what the hell you were doing. Now it's more of a "buy it and figure it out later" mentality. So enough rambling from the whacky old guy in NJ... here's the steps on how to get THE setting for whatever it is you're trying to set:
1. Understand what the hell it does (or is supposed to do) in the first place. This means RTFM.
2. Listen to your track
3. Listen to a track from a band you like in the same genre
4. Listen to your track again
5. Turn the little knobs - be they on a physical device or computer screen - until your track sounds good to you. If it sounds good, it is good.
6. Forget about finding an "Easy Button" on recording forums.
Off my soapbox....