Presswerk - Mid/Side compression - how?

[yehno]

I'm reading through the Presswerk manual and I've got to the part about M/S compression which I want to try. It says channel 1 is for the mid and channel 2 is for the side. It also says

Dynamics processing in M/S mode is independent of the selected EDIT mode. Even with Link, the channels will still operate independently unless you set Channel Link to maximum.

However, I have tried with 'Channel Link' set to 99% or lower but the channels are not independant as long as the Link button is active. When I change the settings on one channel, the other mirrors it. That's not the behaviour described in the manual, is it? Am I missing something here?

This is my first time trying M/S compression and my first time using Presswerk so I'm a bit confused..

Hopefully someone can clear this up. Cheers.

[Ploki]

Link button is for linking PARAMETERS, channel link knob is for linking PROCESSING.

from the manual:

Channel Link
By default, the two channels are linked together 100%. The detector derives its control signal from the maximum of the two audio signals (the loudest channel ‘wins'), ensuring that the spatial integrity required for most stereo-source processing is retained. Linked setups usually work best with coherent material at moderate to high compression ratios.
The opposite effect is brickwall limiting, where maximum loudness and overshoot protection is required and where linking the channels would result in giving up valuable headroom. When 0.0% linked (i.e. unlinked), sudden gain reduction can lead to a momentary ‘tilt’ of the audio to one side.
Tip: If your audio material is difficult, it’s worth spending some time and effort on finding the best intermediate settings.

Presswerk can operate on two channels independently. However, the standard mode is Link: the stereo or dual-channel signal is then controlled by a single set of parameters consisting of all sec- tions on the user interface except those with red borders.
GLOBAL PARAMETERS
Link is the best choice for most jobs, as it ensures spatial coherence with a minimum of tweaks. If in- depth adjustments are necessary, however, you can disable LINK and activate CH1 and CH2 to adjust the individual channels independently. Remember that Channel Link (see the previous page) ultimately deter- mines how independent the channels really are.

Those two links are not actually related. Channel Link will work regardless of whether Link is enabled or disabled. You can have linked paramaters and still have independent M/S or L/R processing.

[yehno]

Ah... got ya. Sorry, I was pretty sure it'd be something simple I'd missed. I didn't realise the differences between Channel Link and Link. Thanks for clearing it up

[lunardigs]

Hey, btw, if you're not aware, you might wish to start with the Special View "M/S Program Compressor". Click "INIT VIEW" in the Data Display and you'll be able to select it there.
Afterword, you can click the Home button (labelled "Main View") and you'll be taken back to see how the main interface was set by the Special View.

[yehno]

Hey, btw, if you're not aware, you might wish to start with the Special View "M/S Program Compressor". Click "INIT VIEW" in the Data Display and you'll be able to select it there.
Afterword, you can click the Home button (labelled "Main View") and you'll be taken back to see how the main interface was set by the Special View.

Yes, I have just been playing with those views actually. They're a nice starting point to get things rolling quickly

I've just been through the entire manual and there's only a couple of things about Presswerk that I'm unsure of now, but I will get there. Now it's time to just have fun using the thing!

Cheers!

[lunardigs]

Yeah, Presswerk is great. In fact, it was my first U-he plugin. It was only afterword where I became interested in playing with U-he synthesis--I'm a guitar/vox guy mostly.
Fast forward to now, and I have employees in their twenties who've been showing me Neurofunk, Dark Step, etc. Suddenly, I have a renewed appreciation for electronica/EDM.
No matter what though, a compressor like Presswerk is an essential tool. I hope U-he continues to give it love.

[yehno]

Yeh I've never seen a compressor with so much control and so many applications. It's like a toolkit to create different compressors with, but u-he just decided to give us the whole toolkit so we can make our own. I couldn't ask for more.. It'll take me a while to master all of the different controls though. But as it's so versatile and adaptable to different needs, I can see me just using Presswerk for everything and generally not bothering with any other compressors now. I like that because I love to just have a small amount of versatile tools that I've mastered the use of, rather than having many tools which I'm just OK at using.

[Ploki]

I've seen one, the new Tone Projects Unisum.
But it's a different set of "controls" and completely different flavour of compressor. They actually complement each other very nicely.

I love Presswerk tho, it's been my favourite compressor for a while now