KVR Audio

contrary · Post by **contrary** » Wed May 25, 2011 12:50 am

So I've been using Compassion some more and have some observations..

First off , I do hope that Dave is working on a more elegant way to navigate around the advanced section ... Tabs are needed !! I'm also looking at allot of unused space on the release parameters section ; there are two adjust boxes and major real estate surrounding that ... Why not put the 3 ones that are auto -release section here as they all have to do with release ??

It would also be nice if for instance , the adjust slider boxes had labels for the adjustment being made ...for instance , on the release type slider , to the left a label for "release to zero " and on the right a "release to level " label .....; This would save bouncing over to the manual or having to rote remember it .....

Also , For the PDR ( program dependant release) , I found that it seems to be Dependant on level and not duration ... I made some test files and the tones were longer for duration as the file went along ... I couldn't get the release to lengthen this way . Only did it when the same file was given ascending volume increases ....

I'm not positive as there are 5 adjustments that seem to be involved with PDR ....

I read earlier in this thread were Dave said he didn't want this effect to be strictly a tweak fest , and that's pretty much where I was living with it !!! Trying to get your head wrapped around all the many possibilities is time consuming ......

I started just using the character mods and going from that as a starting base ...

contrary · Post by **contrary** » Wed May 25, 2011 12:59 am

I also want to know more about those named but not really named character mods ...

Any body want to help figure out which comps Dave is ( not wanting to get sued !!) hinting at with the names used ...

This could help

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep09/a ... essors.htm

Match them up !!

1.) Classic FET ............. 1176?
2.) Classic opto .......... LA2A
3.) British type 1 ........... SSL ?
4.) british type 2 ............. SSL ?
5.) Alchemy ?
6.) Large potentiometer?
7.) S-curves??
8.) Very moo .......... vari-mu ( tube)
9.) Fabulous??
10.) Smoooth ........... DBX 160's ?

Dr.Gunjah · Post by **Dr.Gunjah** » Wed May 25, 2011 11:02 am

contrary wrote:I read earlier in this thread were Dave said he didn't want this effect to be strictly a tweak fest , and that's pretty much where I was living with it !!! Trying to get your head wrapped around all the many possibilities is time consuming ......

same experience here...

Compassion became my go-to for sidechain-compression because it's so flexible and for some special effects(heavy pumping e.g.) it's also great but for normal tasks I just get stuck within all those parameters.

I'm also hoping for some more mods which emulate famous compressors.

Cheers,
Doc

bezusheist · Post by **bezusheist** » Wed May 25, 2011 11:49 am

it's pretty easy to make your own mods if you know why your favorite compressors sound the way they do...really...
i don't think the point of having all this control over the compressor is to make it sound like some other compressor you probably should have just bought instead..?? this compressor opens up new doors to sound processing and can be a very powerful/useful tool in making your music sound "better" and "different". i look to the future, not the past. i never liked the sound of all that old junk anyways...

Dr.Gunjah · Post by **Dr.Gunjah** » Wed May 25, 2011 12:19 pm

yeah it is easy if,
a) I have technical understanding of those comps or analyse their behaviour
b) I have full knowledge of the parameters in COMPassion and there relationship to each other

It might be easy for you, but from my perspective it is hard work.
Learning this things needs much time which I don't have because my main goal is making music

Although it might not be the only purpose to recreate the design of other compressors, I very well had the impression that it definitely is one purpose after reading posts like this http://blog.dmgaudio.com/?p=68

Cheers,
Doc

bezusheist · Post by **bezusheist** » Wed May 25, 2011 12:27 pm

Dr.Gunjah wrote:It might be easy for you, but from my perspective it is hard work.
Learning this things needs much time which I don't have because my main goal is making music

yes, well, hard work is the easiest way to achieve your goals...

a great man once said..."it's a long way to the top if you wanna rock-n-roll..."

bezusheist · Post by **bezusheist** » Wed May 25, 2011 12:37 pm

Dr.Gunjah wrote:yeah it is easy if,
a) I have technical understanding of those comps or analyse their behaviour
b) I have full knowledge of the parameters in COMPassion and there relationship to each other

a). the internet is a great learning tool
b) once you have a technical understanding of compressors, the parameters are self explanatory...

Dr.Gunjah · Post by **Dr.Gunjah** » Wed May 25, 2011 2:39 pm

Well, the internet is full of ... everything.
Finding the right information for this stuff is another task that takes time.
This all sums up and finally keeps me from making music.

All I want to say is, that IMO COMPassion is more a tweaker tool and not the one-to-rule-them-all solution I was hoping for.
Maybe something like a user library could help, where people with deep compressor knowledge can share their mods.

Cheers,
Doc

trmupstage · Post by **trmupstage** » Wed May 25, 2011 3:22 pm

I'd have to agree. At the fear of sounding like a simpleton, I'm finding that I always reach for the tool that gets a specific job done the quickest. Maybe I'm getting old in my thinking, but I'm much more interested in getting recordings completed and much less interested in tweaking. I think that is one reason why the 1176, LA-2A and CL1B are so widely used. It's super fast to use them. I have a lot of Voxengo products too and I have to admit that it's one of the drawbacks to using those tools. I have to work fast and if I'm going to spend days figuring out what specific obscure parameters are doing, I'm far more likely to grab another tool.
I understand Dave's thinking and I'm sure with the right modes, this could be the ultimate compressor. I just don't have the time or desire to tweak it for hours when I can get comparable results within seconds by using something different.
As always, this is just my opinion. When I was young, I loved to sit for hours and tweak gear. Now, I just want to get songs recorded as well and as fast as possible.

zvenx · Post by **zvenx** » Wed May 25, 2011 3:38 pm

trmupstage wrote:I'd have to agree. At the fear of sounding like a simpleton, I'm finding that I always reach for the tool that gets a specific job done the quickest. Maybe I'm getting old in my thinking, but I'm much more interested in getting recordings completed and much less interested in tweaking. I think that is one reason why the 1176, LA-2A and CL1B are so widely used. It's super fast to use them. I have a lot of Voxengo products too and I have to admit that it's one of the drawbacks to using those tools. I have to work fast and if I'm going to spend days figuring out what specific obscure parameters are doing, I'm far more likely to grab another tool.
I understand Dave's thinking and I'm sure with the right modes, this could be the ultimate compressor. I just don't have the time or desire to tweak it for hours when I can get comparable results within seconds by using something different.
As always, this is just my opinion. When I was young, I loved to sit for hours and tweak gear. Now, I just want to get songs recorded as well and as fast as possible.

I couldn't have said it better......I still reach for other compressors for the exact same reason....
more mods will help tremendously..although I do admit as I spend more time with it, I am saving my own presets and that helps tremendously too, but I still dont' understand half of what the parameters do... hopefully one day there will be video tutorials.

rsp

abbot dervish · Post by **abbot dervish** » Thu May 26, 2011 9:16 am

DaveGamble · Post by **DaveGamble** » Thu May 26, 2011 11:24 am

I'm here. I'm listening. And as a result I'm starting to chase people up

Edit: I'm also waiting for Compassion v1.03 and EQuality v1.14 to come back from QA, and working on an update to the DMGAudio site, which will make adding these things easier

Edit2: And video tutorials are a Go too. But not for a couple of weeks yet... new to all this... takes some time!

S4410 · Post by **S4410** » Thu May 26, 2011 12:21 pm

Another excellent plug-in from DMGaudio .I just bought it to benefit from the discount that soon ends.I 'll use it ,as Equality, in my projects between pc and macbook,as my main go-to tools.No dongles,no fuss.Sure,not the easiest effects to use but they cover all the basis.More mods are welcomed.

(Also,i am waiting for a fix in Wavelab 7,can't use it as vst3)

christianmusicmaker · Post by **christianmusicmaker** » Thu May 26, 2011 2:50 pm

Not sure if this has been mentioned before but Compassion appears to have been a big hit with CMM (Computer Music Magazine) they gave it 10 out of 10 (in issue 166 / July). "It's the most configurable dynamics plug-in we have encountered" "Excellent sound quality"

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Thu May 26, 2011 3:07 pm

DaveGamble wrote: Edit2: And video tutorials are a Go too. But not for a couple of weeks yet... new to all this... takes some time!

I VERY HIGHLY recommend you hire Dan Worrall (aka IIRS) to do tutorials. He is a master of this art. Very clear, easy to follow voice and awesome knowledge when it comes to technical stuff. I'm sure he'll figure out Compassion in a few minutes and whips up a great tutorial video!

Examples of his work:

http://www.youtube.com/user/IIRs

Cheers!
bManic

DMGAudio Compassion (Launched)