I do not understand what this means; can someone clarify it for me?Contextual Info wrote:Attack
Attack defines the attack time, that is how quickly the level detector increases the measured input level. When the input peak level is higher than the current level measured by the detector, the detector moves into the attack mode, in which the level is increased depending on the input signal. The higher the input signal, or the shorter the attack time, the faster the measured level rises. Once the measured level exceeds the Threshold then the dynamics processing (compression, limiting, gating) will start.
Attack shape
Attack shape controls the shape of the attack stage. The shape mainly affects the ratio between pumping and distortion, which simply cannot be avoided. Note that the attack time parameter is quite dependent upon the mode, so you may expect differences in the actual attack time between different modes of the Attack shape.
Slow modes usually produces more pumping, but less distortion. Conversely fast modes reduce pumping, but cause more distortion. The type of the distortion is different between modes. You may actually profit from the distortion caused by some modes as the generated higher harmonics may enhance the audio. The default fast mode provides a good compromise between distortion and pumping.
There are also 2 custom modes available. With these modes you can actually draw the shape. Note that what you draw is NOT what you get. The custom shape graph converts the difference between the input level and the drawn envelope value into the speed of level detection.
For example, if you set the default graph to show 100% across the X axis, then the results will be similar to the Slow mode. If you then move the point on the right upwards to say 400%, it will mean that, if there is a big jump in the audio, the envelope will initially follow it 400% faster than it normally would. The closer the envelope is to the current audio level, the lower the speed-up. Similarly, if you take the point on the left and move it downwards to 0%, it will slow down the envelope as it approaches the audio level.
. Just make test signal from say a sine wave modulated using a rectangle and check what it does - it will essentially control the attack/release curves.