Presswerk Channel Link Question

[joe_04_04]

When the channels are linked in Presswerk, I'd assume both sides are compressing equally the same... and whichever side is louder is going to 'win' and cause the compressor to compress both sides based off the reduction of that one. I noticed the gain reduction meters are not totally even for the compression on both sides when the compressor is set to linked 100 percent. I can see little inconsistencies between the L and R channels compression.. this is what I would expect to see when the sides are unlinked. Yet, when they are linked, I'm still seeing small subtle differences. Is this part of the 'analog' style coded into the meters, where the meters aren't meant to be super accurate? or is it a bug? Does the compressor still compress evenly 'under-the-hood' even when the meters aren't the same?

I only ask because if the compression on a stereo source is even slightly off between the channels, the panning is going to change for a split second. If one side gets compressed harder than the other, the audio will shift towards the side getting compressed less... and that's something I generally don't want if I'm compressing with linked sides.... If I want to compress with unlinked sides, that's a different story.

I just cranked the settings in the photo attached to make the difference more noticeable

Anyway, Just curious. Thanks.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/512 ... sue%3F.png

[sascha]

Regardless of linked or unlinked state (or anything in between), the GR meters don't show the 'control voltage' (as this is the case on many hardware devices, often just for design simplicity). Instead, they show the deviation (the delta) between input and output. This has the advantage of capturing every nuance along the way that leads to gain reduction, such as saturation or other nonlinear processes. Also, 'gain-reduction through CV' metering would not be able to show action in feedback mode correctly.
In a nutshell: WYSIWYH (what you see is what you hear)

[joe_04_04]

Ok that makes sense, they aren't just show compression gain reduction, but literally every single difference between input and output. Thanks, that makes total sense..

So if I'm seeing one side compress slightly harder, my stereo image is indeed shifting and I should probably reduce the saturation if I want it totally even on both sides?

[sascha]

Probably yes. But nonetheless you could encounter saturation pushing meters downward while the perceived image shift isn't that dramatic. This can be because saturation - while lowering peak-to-peak excursion - enriches the spectrum so that the added harmonics can probably compensate to some extent.

[joe_04_04]

Thank you very much, that clears that up for me.