The best compressor.

[boobytrap]

How does a visual graph help you more than a gain reduction meter? I presume you mean a graph like the fabfilter pro C? Ironically, that is their worst plugin by far - it's a very average sounding plugin.. Point is, looks often means nothing.

It's A Matter Of Perspective. i just only looking some improvements beyond the theory. but i can assure you if some DEV make a RE like PRO-C, everybody will love it. like they did to GQ-7
i believe you are a Professional Producer, but you cannot deny the importance of visual feedback.

http://gizmodo.com/this-audio-illusion- ... 1593113324

don't trust your ears before your eyes

[Dante]

What happened to C670 ??

[zakalwe]

I have no idea i just have the FET.

it only seems to have one setting as well, which is ALL 10 o'clock 2'oclock and fiddle with the input for threshold control.

[normen]

http://gizmodo.com/this-audio-illusion- ... 1593113324

don't trust your ears before your eyes

Thing is when people get your music they also just HEAR the music and don't read anything. So psychoacoustics is something to work with as well - and that can only be achieved by listening. Something along the lines of the example you posted would be making a certain instrument just a bit louder when it sets in and then putting it back to the same volume - the listener will hear the instrument more distinctly as if it had the same level all the time. You'd still READ that the volume of the part is "too low" but you HEAR that it is perfectly audible now. So I still don't agree here

Same with your example, really - you will have to LISTEN to know this effect and could use it in your piece - take the hookline and put an effect like this on it - you'll have to LISTEN to know that its working as intended.

[Majestik Monkey]

I believe there's more magic created in a Mix by Careful Levels ,EQ' ing & placement/Pan law ' rather than Squashing or Pumping !
i have 4Dyne, C1Alpha , DcamBusComp , & i still use Mclass ! & even if i could afford Softube FETComp's doesn't mean the Mix will
be right by default . . . just because i own perhaps some of the best well known compressor's ....
I have for years been trying to mix without the aid of Comp's ' well at least as little use as is possible in a final Mix !
Every track has its different challenges, But if you don't EQ properly or make an attempt too or find full use of Pan law & Levels, its highly lightly you will run into big problems regardless of which compressor's you Own !

[boobytrap]

http://gizmodo.com/this-audio-illusion- ... 1593113324

don't trust your ears before your eyes

Thing is when people get your music they also just HEAR the music and don't read anything. So psychoacoustics is something to work with as well - and that can only be achieved by listening. Something along the lines of the example you posted would be making a certain instrument just a bit louder when it sets in and then putting it back to the same volume - the listener will hear the instrument more distinctly as if it had the same level all the time. You'd still READ that the volume of the part is "too low" but you HEAR that it is perfectly audible now. So I still don't agree here

Same with your example, really - you will have to LISTEN to know this effect and could use it in your piece - take the hookline and put an effect like this on it - you'll have to LISTEN to know that its working as intended.

ok, are you telling me that visual feedback isn't important. now i have to admit, 80's type 3 or 4 knobs only compressors are better than any of other VSTs. fabfilter Pro-C, iZotope Ozone 6, and rest of others are dumb ass, worthless devices. specially Pro-C Innovative compression displays are extremely dangerous Feature.......

[normen]

ok, are you telling me that visual feedback isn't important. now i have to admit, 80's type 3 or 4 knobs only compressors are better than any of other VSTs. fabfilter Pro-C, iZotope Ozone 6, and rest of others are dumb ass, worthless devices. specially Pro-C Innovative compression displays are extremely dangerous Feature.......

No, thats not what I said. I said that hearing is still the most important thing. Seeing makes you hear things that aren't there. Like a flashy UI might make you think a plugin sounds better.

[jfrichards]

My four favorite for the noticeable change in the sound and tone are RE-2A, Softube FET, Selig Leveler, and Kuassa Kratos2 I can get stunning new levels of musical beauty with these. They add/highlight certain smooth harmonics and EQ that fit perfectly with my styles of music (guitar and overly rich synth/piano/bass stuff). For transparent, I'm fine with the MClass compressor and maximizer. I love Pulverizer also, esp. for drums.

[selig]

ok, are you telling me that visual feedback isn't important. now i have to admit, 80's type 3 or 4 knobs only compressors are better than any of other VSTs. fabfilter Pro-C, iZotope Ozone 6, and rest of others are dumb ass, worthless devices. specially Pro-C Innovative compression displays are extremely dangerous Feature.......

No, thats not what I said. I said that hearing is still the most important thing. Seeing makes you hear things that aren't there. Like a flashy UI might make you think a plugin sounds better.

Ha!
+1 to this - I've seen it happen countless times in myself and others, and it seems the more experienced you are the less likely you are to deny it's happened to you!

[selig]

My four favorite for the noticeable change in the sound and tone are RE-2A, Softube FET, Selig Leveler, and Kuassa Kratos2 I can get stunning new levels of musical beauty with these. They add/highlight certain smooth harmonics and EQ that fit perfectly with my styles of music (guitar and overly rich synth/piano/bass stuff). For transparent, I'm fine with the MClass compressor and maximizer. I love Pulverizer also, esp. for drums.

I should say there are compressors that change tone by adding harmonics/saturation/distortion, such as the FET, and there are ways to intentionally distort a compressor with a fast release time.
Selig Leveler, as one example, is extremely transparent (in all senses of the word) unless you use ridiculously fast Response times or don't use look-ahead. What you "hear" as tonal changes with the Leveler is actually it's ability to bring up stuff that was already present in the original. I will assert that we are simply not used to hearing that much level change from a typically compressor, and I always suggest using a blend setting of 50% or less for most applications, as a 100% "leveled" track is rarely what one actually wants once you hear it.

I would not necessarily call the MClass compressor "transparent" because I reserve that word to describe a compressor where you do not hear any compression "artifacts", which can include distortion and also artifacts such as pumping and breathing. But everyone describes things differently, which is why IMO it's best to ignore what others say and what you see on the display, and LISTEN for yourself!

[boobytrap]

ok, are you telling me that visual feedback isn't important. now i have to admit, 80's type 3 or 4 knobs only compressors are better than any of other VSTs. fabfilter Pro-C, iZotope Ozone 6, and rest of others are dumb ass, worthless devices. specially Pro-C Innovative compression displays are extremely dangerous Feature.......

No, thats not what I said. I said that hearing is still the most important thing. Seeing makes you hear things that aren't there. Like a flashy UI might make you think a plugin sounds better.

Ha!
+1 to this - I've seen it happen countless times in myself and others, and it seems the more experienced you are the less likely you are to deny it's happened to you!

I'm totally agree with normen. i just wanted to leave the cave and get civilize.

[jfrichards]

...What you "hear" as tonal changes with the Leveler is actually it's ability to bring up stuff that was already present in the original. I will assert that we are simply not used to hearing that much level change from a typically compressor,...

That's why I love it, because it changes the tone by highlighting things you don't normally hear. True it is extremely transparent in your sense Giles, making next to no pumps, distortions and artifacts, and is especially great at this by leaving a whole bunch of other areas uncompressed (as set up by the user). My concept of transparent is that you hardly notice the compressor's existence, it's just doing its little utilitarian job. I find Leveler much more interesting than that, it is for me a way to bring out guitar tones that are almost non-existent even with many other compressors. I often go back over guitar and vocal tracks and find those tiny parts where there is something very cool that exists in a mid-gain region, razor clip that section, and raise the clip's gain to match the peak level of the track - Leveler does it by itself!!! I couldn't buy it at the end of my extensive trial due to finances, but it is high on my wish list for when some money falls out of the sky onto us pensioners (along with Echobode, RDK2, Chenille, 4MER, and a few others).

[Exowildebeest]

I use DCAM Buscump all the time for, well, busses. The Frog for general compression duty, and the MClass for sidechaining on individual tracks as I know and like how the release/gain reduction behaves in that scenario.

Regarding the visual feedback discussion: all I really want is a simple preferably numerical (like Selig Gain) input/output/gain reduction meter. Fancy visual stuff isn't that useful imo when it comes to dynamics - and even where it is, my experience is contrary to what people seem to think, I don't feel it's useful for beginners at all. It took me years to understand compression (I empathize with Selig on that) and only after that understanding came, could I interpret the fancy visual stuff correctly. If you don't really know what you're looking at, it's useless as visual feedback.

[Exowildebeest]

I also have The Leveler btw, and I like it, but I haven't found many instances where I actually need it. Most of my stuff is largely electronic, where I've already made things with the right dynamics at the source.

[xxASMxx]

[quote="Majestik Monkey"]I believe there's more magic created in a Mix by Careful Levels ,EQ' ing & placement/Pan law ' rather than Squashing or Pumping !
i have 4Dyne, C1Alpha , DcamBusComp , & i still use Mclass ! & even if i could afford Softube FETComp's doesn't mean the Mix will
be right by default . . . just because i own perhaps some of the best well known compressor's ....
I have for years been trying to mix without the aid of Comp's ' well at least as little use as is possible in a final Mix !
Every track has its different challenges, But if you don't EQ properly or make an attempt too or find full use of Pan law & Levels, its highly lightly you will run into big problems regardless of which compressor's you Own ! [/quote]

You're in good company Alan Parsons shared the same belief. I read somewhere that on the recording of Dark Side of the Moon, which by many is considered an audiophile master recording, Parsons insisted to producer Chris Thomas they use compression only (when needed) on just instruments and vocals but not on the drums. He was very much opposed to compressing drums. Parsons did not like the artifacts of compression. FWIW

[Yonatan]

Agree. Too limited list. But I guess these REs is what the questioner wanted to compare?
I am so interested in MCDSP C670, but did´nt hit the "buy"...so now will have to wait for a greater sale. Seems to be so handy that it is so efficient on the CPU compare to some other beasts. Agree with the RE-2A and also the SSL bus comp.
@Marco Raaphorst - Do you leave the SSL bus comp on all the way when mixing and leave it out when mastering or do you turn it off when exporting just to turn it on again in the mastering. Or do you double it?

There are some compressors that are more general and allround workhorses, and then there are those ones that are more for colouring or good at specific tasks (like VP Dynamite). Just like with microphones, often its not "good or bad" but which one fits the taks of painting or sculpt the sound I want to bring forth. The same with EQ´s, they behave and are good at different things. And then also the user interface (looks do matter to certain degree) determines how you work.

You could theoretically use only a few or even just one of each, one microphone, one standard EQ, one decent compressor, one standard reverb-unit etc. And you could still be able to bring out your ideas and songs in many different ways with some experiment and awareness. But the more you know and have trained to listen and are somewhat of a "sound nerd", the more useful it is to have a rich palette of different devices, both in software and hardware. It´s not necessary or the critical factor to make something professional or good, it just gives you more fun and creative options if you know what you are doing or if you are blindsearching for a unique flavour. There is bigger chance to come up with a interesting twist if you got a lot of gear. But it could also make you go lost and waste time in details that ordinary ppl anyway wont hear on their earphones. So there is a balance. The critical factor is in the craft itself and the listening and having an imagination how you want it to sound. Stock devices may sometimes get you stuck with the same. But other times, that same limitation can also boost your flow as trying to bring out whatever capable of them, which can be more than we had thought possible. Then we realize that often times it is our own consciousness and mind that is the most important factor of all. Our inner state can bring love or hate, no matter environment. But the environment and tools at hand is not to be neglected, they can inspire and make it easier or harder to bring about what piece of art or idea we want to manifest.

[Spryx]

Softube FET... by a landslide. Their products are expensive, but worth the price. I also like the McDSP ones for their individual characters.

[motuscott]

The FET (and I own it) is popular but I'm not gonna forsake the Russian iconography of the C1-L1 just cos Putin tramples on a few individual liberties to achieve that sweet soviet compression.

[motuscott]

Can someone explain the DCAM bus love> I have it but it never gets chosen. Do you know something I don't, well obviously you do.

[Tincture]

Can someone explain the DCAM bus love> I have it but it never gets chosen. Do you know something I don't, well obviously you do.

I like that it has a mix knob so you can easily use it for parallel compression. Try the preset PCRoomyDrums on a drum bus. Adjust the threshold til you're getting 6 or more dB of gain reduction (The mix is at 48% so it's ok ). I then turn the makeup gain down til its outputting at the level I want, try adjusting the release down from 1.2 to 0.6, try adjusting the attack up a bit then if I like the new settings ... adjust the threshold back so I'm getting the amount of GR I liked before.

[Theo.M]

Can someone explain the DCAM bus love> I have it but it never gets chosen. Do you know something I don't, well obviously you do.

it depends on the source - for me it's a must cause the ssl bus comp is the best for edm and it more or less nails it - the props is good too but with the dcam you have parallel compression built in - heck i don't even know if that's possible with the factory ssl even with spiders and fancy routing.

If you don't do EDM there are others that will do the job better for you in certain cases.

Also it has the invaluable high pass filter - no more compression ie "dancing" to the kick drum. Now i don't need to set up fancy routing to high pass the factory reason ssl to do this.

Basically it makes master bus(edm especially) compression dead easy with the one plugin. I use it gently, and mix into it from the very start, I never add it at the end.

ratio of 2, and an attack of 0.3 or 1. you don't want to go to 0.1 as it will crush the transients of your mix.. a high pass of 200 usually does the trick to stop the kick pumping compression - and i let the release be automatic, it works every time.

[dvdrtldg]

I like the DCAM comps a lot.

I'm fascinated with compressors, got probably more than I need but I love experimenting with them in various situations, slowly learning how they work and starting to get a better idea of what works best from one application to the next. DCAM bus comp on drums is very nice indeed.

[nikolafeve]

Re-2A best musical comp on every kind of signals (he's the king for vocals btw). Big character and always great results instantly.
FRG great efficient comp for regular uses (and sidechain) because it's very cpu friendly and zero latency. No color or special character on this one

[xxASMxx]

Re-2A best musical comp on every kind of signals (he's the king for vocals btw). Big character and always great results instantly.
FRG great efficient comp for regular uses (and sidechain) because it's very cpu friendly and zero latency. No color or special character on this one

I agree, the Re-2A is a very versatile and unique comp and surprisingly not talked about as much in the forums - well I should say that I am aware of. If you like that Daniel Lanois type of production this RE will deliver. It's great for taming loud ringing snare drums e.g. The Wallflowers 'One Headlight' Matt Chamberlain snare sound, good for ambient miking situations for loud drums and guitar amps, and as mentioned above very nice for vocals.

I have the FET as well.

[gak]

It's important to own ALL the compressors, it's the only way to be sure

I admit, I love me some compressors. Unless it's an effect/squishy (which is cool as heck), I try not to overdo it.

Wouldn't be surprised if I've fallen for "wow, that looks cool" but who cares? What business is it of anyone else?