Dyn Iii Compressor - Avid Technology Eleven Rack User Manual

Dyn III Compressor

This effect is based on the Compressor plug-in
from the Dynamics III plug-in set that comes
with Pro Tools. It lets you control the dynamics
of your guitar signal, much like Gray Comp.
However, while Gray Comp emulates a classic
guitar-specific compressor pedal with a smooth,
liquid tone, Dyn3 Comp is more versatile, act-
ing more like an outboard compressor used in
recording situations. This effect includes the fol-
lowing controls:
Threshold Sets the level that your signal must ex-
ceed to trigger compression or limiting. Signals
that go above this level will be compressed. Sig-
nals that are below it, will not.
Attack Sets the attack time, or the rate at which
gain is reduced after the input signal crosses the
threshold you've set. The smaller the value, the
faster the attack. The faster the attack, the more
rapidly the Compressor reduces the signal's vol-
ume.
If you use fast attack times, you should generally
use a proportionally longer release time, partic-
ularly when the material contains many fast
peaks, (such as a staccato palm-muted guitar
part). Very fast attack times (especially below
1 ms) can produce undesirable distortion on
guitar.
Release Sets the length of time it takes for the
Compressor/Limiter to be fully deactivated after
the input signal drops below the threshold
you've set.
48 Eleven Rack User Guide
Release times should be set long enough that if
signal levels repeatedly rise above the threshold,
the gain reduction "recovers" smoothly. If the
release time is too short, the gain can rapidly
fluctuate as the compressor repeatedly tries to
recover from the gain reduction.
If the release time is too long, a loud section of
the audio material could cause an effect called
"pumping and breathing" in which quieter
parts of the signal are affected in ways that may
or may not be desirable.
Gain Lets you boost overall output gain to com-
pensate for heavily compressed or limited sig-
nals.
Ratio Sets the compression ratio, or the amount
of compression applied as your signal goes
above the threshold. For example, a 2:1 com-
pression ratio means that a 2 dB increase of level
above the threshold produces a 1 db increase in
output.
Knee Sets the sharpness of the gain curve the
compressor follows when reducing gain.
As you increase this control, it goes from apply-
ing "hard-knee" compression to "soft-knee"
compression:
• With hard-knee compression, compression
begins when the input signal exceeds the
threshold. This can sound abrupt and is ideal
for limiting.
With soft-knee compression, gentle compres-
sion begins and increases gradually as the input
signal approaches the threshold, and reaches
full compression after exceeding the threshold.
This creates smoother compression.