Do you ever think compressors, suck?

[jens]

First you write 3db is nothing. Then i made a testsong to show you that 3db can good hear. I use in my testsong 3db setting. and then you write that it sound like crap with my settings. fact is 3db is not so much, that it is able to do something so bad, that it sound like crap. So you really should tell what speakers or headphones you use. you sound as you live in a fantasy world. You go from 1 extreme(3 db nothing to other extreme 3 db sound as crap as i use). thats really

Are you actually trolling? Or are you serious? Is it possible that you still didn't get it?

3dB is nothing depending on the circumstances

1) the material you use the compressor on

2) the compressor you use

3) the settings you use


You used a lookahead brickwall limiter, which is a very Special type of compressor. It applies latency in order to purposely catch all transients - for this reason it has a very different effect than a normal compressor. Yes, it IS a compressor but no, it is NOT a compressor in the way as was discussed here in this thread before you started to derail it.

Obviously you have severe problems to understand what it means if a limiter catches all transients and what that results in. Because of this, you used it wrongly and ended up destroying your material. That is not because compression sucks. Which is why your example is competely off Topic, as I mentioned pages ago. You used the wrong tool falsely in order to prove something, that in no way can be proven like this.

It's like coming to a thread that discusses car polish and show pictures of your car after you applied paint remover, claiming to prove with it, that car polish destroys the paint.

It still doesn't have anything to do with the thread, but if you insist on needing to know:

I am currently monitoring on M-Audio DSM2

[jens]

There are many folks I love who hardly use compression - and I deeply admire anyone who can mix largely without it and still produce very exciting, great mixes. Steve Albini and Infected Mushroom being 2 great examples.

FWIW, Steve Albini gets compression through tape saturation and other kinds of clipping. Even when using compression, clipping right before it is a great way to catch sharp, fast transients that most compressor don't do well with.

Yes, I'm aware there may be some kind of overall compression going on somewhere ie. recording to tape, but, compression, as far as I know, is not part of the 'process' for these folks.

but in a way it is after all - it doesn't really matter what device has been used to achieve the compression, because it will always be a conscious decision to use it in order to achieve a certain result and if compression is part of the processing the device applies, then it is a conscious decision to apply compression.

I don't use much distortion on guitar, but the more I use on a certain track/part, the less likely it will be that I add compression on top of that, as the distortion already results in compression. The kind of sound I am aiming for when I use strong distortion is a heavily compressed one. The compression is part of what I want to achieve,

[Hermetech Mastering]

Love compressors, love using them, my fave audio devices. Good compressor and experienced user can't be beat.

Yes, used properly they do things that would be incredibly hard to achieve other ways. One example would be 'glue'. I have 2 go-to compressors in mastering for gluing a track together. I don't know where I would be without them to be honest lol.

Yep, same with my Chandler Germ Comps, although rarely doing more than 1.5dB GR with them.

[camsr]

I gotta admit, I am completely guilty of abusing compressors. Usually I am doing upwards of 6dB of GR, searching for "effect". But that's with a parallel compression setup. Sanely, there's almost never a need to do more than 4dB.

And for magicmusic man, -4dBFS is a 37% reduction

With multiband or dynamic EQ, things get different. Since they shape sound more than "compress", there's a lot of room for subjective appreciation.

[magicmusic]

First you write 3db is nothing. Then i made a testsong to show you that 3db can good hear. I use in my testsong 3db setting. and then you write that it sound like crap with my settings. fact is 3db is not so much, that it is able to do something so bad, that it sound like crap. So you really should tell what speakers or headphones you use. you sound as you live in a fantasy world. You go from 1 extreme(3 db nothing to other extreme 3 db sound as crap as i use). thats really

Are you actually trolling? Or are you serious? Is it possible that you still didn't get it?

3dB is nothing depending on the circumstances

1) the material you use the compressor on

2) the compressor you use

3) the settings you use

You used a lookahead brickwall limiter, which is a very Special type of compressor. It applies latency in order to purposely catch all transients - for this reason it has a very different effect than a normal compressor. Yes, it IS a compressor but no, it is NOT a compressor in the way as was discussed here in this thread before you started to derail it.

again, where are your facts. maybe you bring a link to a VST compressor demo that have a db slider.(i did not know a compressor with db slider, so i guess its clear that i with db slider mean limiter setting). so i can move the slider to hear that 3db are nothing. then your next wrong, that i use the limiter wrong. its need to avoid clipping distortion and make btw the mix louder, because 3db work ok. its used in the master effect after reverb and it bring btw more dense to the reverb and make all sound a little fuller. I like the sound of course only when not use much. so i use only 3db.if you not like can reduce the db value. but most sound better and fuller. thats the way a limiter is used. And how do you suggest a limiter should use ?

And about your speaker, its now hard to believe, because wy you not before on my 1. ask you tell what speaker you use. but now you answer and its also clear that you not measure your speaker in your room. and so it happen maybe that your speaker together with room bring too much bass. many rooms boost around 100-150 hz. this must often reduce so it happen that today cheap surround reciever have a measurement too. for this there need no expensive measure microphone.

[Lesha]

B.t.w.: one importnat point that has not been mentioned yet is, that compressors help increasing the dynamics of a mix.

Could you elaborate?

I know about expanders, but compressors?
I'm all ears.

[camsr]

B.t.w.: one importnat point that has not been mentioned yet is, that compressors help increasing the dynamics of a mix.

Could you elaborate?

I know about expanders, but compressors?
I'm all ears.

Think about the time that the envelope has to work with. While above the threshold, the signal begins to diminish. Then as both the signal decays towards silence and crosses below the threshold, GR is already applied to the decaying signal. And during the release stage, the signal is amplified to unity gain, keeping energy where there would normally be a decay of energy.

[jens]

B.t.w.: one importnat point that has not been mentioned yet is, that compressors help increasing the dynamics of a mix.

Could you elaborate?

I know about expanders, but compressors?
I'm all ears.

Without compressors, your mix tends to be all over the place, so to speak...
compressors help you to tame your signals and reduce dynamic where it doesn't belong, in order to be able to instead put it where you want it. They help you to shape the dynamics of your mix in a precise, controlled way.

Keep in mind that any unwanted/undesired dynamic range reduces your headroom.

[Lesha]

B.t.w.: one importnat point that has not been mentioned yet is, that compressors help increasing the dynamics of a mix.

Could you elaborate?

I know about expanders, but compressors?
I'm all ears.

Without compressors, your mix tends to be all over the place, so to speak...
compressors help you to tame your signals and reduce dynamic where it doesn't belong, in order to be able to instead put it where you want it. They help you to shape the dynamics of your mix in a precise, controlled way.

Keep in mind that any unwanted/undesired dynamic range reduces your headroom.

So, they are *decreasing* the dynamics, right? Not increasing.

I am well aware how they work, you might want to edit your previous post.

[jens]

edit my post - certainly not - why?

I wrote they "help increasing the dynamics of a mix" and I think I just explained you in what way I meant this. I don't think there is a need to get snarky on me by the way.

[Lesha]

Sorry if I came out that way. But I still think you've got the increased dynamics thing wrong.

[jens]

What I meant is: with uncompressed tracks, your mix will most likely consist of a number of individual elements which have a broad dynamic range and you need to turn their volume to a relatively low level in order to avoid clipping your master.
This will neccesarily reduce your possiblities to control the dynamic structure of the whole mix, i.e. the individual sections and also the individual elements within a section relative to each other - you will e.g. have problems to get less busy sections really sounding relatively quiet (i.e. relative to the other sections) because of the wide dynamic range of all your material.

[jens]

When the final guitar-solo comes in at around 5:05 this gives and enormous push - without lots of compression on the individual tracks you would not be able to achieve such a dynamic arragement - the lead-guitar could not possibly cut through like this - the mix would simply lack the space for it.

[Lesha]

Ok, I get you now. You're talking about the whole relation of the louder and quieter parts of the song/track within the context of a mix, not the actual real-time effect of the compressor.

[jens]

Yes, exactly - that is what I meant indeed! Sorry if I didn't manage to bring that point across earlier.