The compressor in AA continues to be one of the most confusing things they offer. I solved the problem by abandoning it and buying a third party plugin. I'm assured by people that know how to use it that the AA compressor produces really good results, but the thing is that you have to know how to use it first, and almost nobody outside of Geek Central knows that.
The core of the confusion is in the Attack/Release section, with its Gain Processor/Level Detector options. Every other compressor I've seen has ONE set of attack/release times. AA has two. Incredibly confusing, and way more variables than are necessary. About once a year I study the Help for that sucker, and once a year I fail to understand it. For most people, it's way too confusing.