KVR Audio

griffin · Post by **griffin** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 7:09 pm

It's been bugging me today so i've got to ask but what is the difference between input gain and threshold by this i mean i know what each does and so what im asking is what is the difference in just lowering the theshold a bit more rather than increasing the input gain and vice verser i guess.

politcat · Post by **politcat** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 8:10 pm

input gain is the level of original material put into the comp before any processsing by the comp. that's nothing to do with the threshold, stricktly speaking.

threshold has to do with how much of that comp processing is applied to the original input.

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 8:33 pm

The threshold is the level at which compression starts to be applied.

http://www.harmony-central.com/Effects/ ... mpression/

politcat · Post by **politcat** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 8:37 pm

whyterabbyt is trolling

griffin · Post by **griffin** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 8:40 pm

Lets see if i can explain it better say the source material going in is at -10 db and you want 6 db of gain reduction, forget the ratio and attack & release settings, so i set the threshhold at -16 db and get a 6 db gain reduction reading. Now if i was to increase the input gain 6 db and set the threshold to -10 db i would again get -6 db of gain reduction wouldn't i? So i'm guessing that the input gain is perhaps for low level source material. The reason i ask is because i've seen tuts in computer music were the source material is at ample volume and they seem to use a mix of input gain and threshold rather than just using the threshold. Does that make sense?

politcat · Post by **politcat** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 8:42 pm

sorry whyterabbyt, quite right.

i was a bit stuck in the recent kvr past.

we're saying the same thing in 2 different ways.

Genetic_Junk · Post by **Genetic_Junk** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 8:42 pm

I don't think there is really much of a difference. The compressor in T-Racks for example doesn't have a user definable threshold, it just gives you the option of driving the signal (increasing the input gain) so it reaches the pre-defined threshold.

Though maybe my understanding isn't correct?

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 8:43 pm

Yeah, sure.

If your definition of 'trolling' is "answering the question and providing the original poster with a link to a thorough explanation" Except that that's not actually the definition.

politcat · Post by **politcat** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 8:45 pm

damn it dude i apologized

snooky · Post by **snooky** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 8:46 pm

politcat wrote:whyterabbyt is trolling

politcat · Post by **politcat** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 8:49 pm

snooky wrote:
politcat wrote:whyterabbyt is trolling

it has to do with some other thread in "off topic"

as i said, i apologize

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 8:53 pm

You apologised while I was writing my reply.

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 9:18 pm

Kjaerhus Classic Compressor. Zero cost.

politcat · Post by **politcat** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 9:40 pm

imho. Kjaerhus stuff is good, generally speaking, but not the compressor.

Aleksey Vaneev · Post by **Aleksey Vaneev** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 4:01 am

Technically speaking, there is usually no difference between input gain and threshold in most compressor designs. Threshold is used to adjust the volume of the key signal used to drive compression schematics without changing the actual input gain whereas In Gain adjusts the input signal before it is transformed into key signal.

So, usually having both is not reasonable.

Comp question