I am very unversed in using a compressor. Okay, I know what a compressor does and what you can achieve with it. But I never achieved to use it in my own tracks in a reasonable way. For the moment, I just want to learn how to use a compressor as a mastering tool for "gluing" the mix (bus compression of the master channel).
Thus my question: Which one of the two Orion compressors would you suggest for mastering purposes? Or are they similarly qualified for this job?
I'd say they are equally suitable for the job, and both have their own distinctions.
Like you, I'm quite new in using compressors, never really used them before until it was pointed to me that I should. So, here I am, at the beginning
I like the CV-82's Detector EQ parameter, which adds quite a characteristic to the sound. Though you have to play with it to see if it works for the sound. In other regards it's very similar to RNA-160, with almost the same features. And they are both sidechain capable. Use RNA-160 if you need a quick and easy way to do the job. It is certainly a great compressor; hard-knee, with an added little feature for the ratio parameter that goes beyond inf:1. It also adds a little character to the sound, similar to the old compressors that it's emulating, so you can end up with a bit of analog sound with it
All in all, both are quite good to do whatever you want to do. If you're starting with compressors, like me, I'd suggest reading the help file that describes them, and some online articles as well that will bring you into the world of compressors.
Thank you for your answer. Good to know that I am not the only compressor "newbie" here . I alway get a little bit nervous when people write "compress this, compress that, compress them together, now compress everything twice, and don't forget to use a multiband compressor to compress the compressment out of the compression!"
HYPNAGOGIA wrote:It is certainly a great compressor; hard-knee...
Hmmm, I read somewhere that soft-knee compression is more suitable for mastering purposes. So I think I will give the CV-82 a go.
Whatever works I think it's a matter of taste. Some people prefer to have the surgical precision when tailoring the sound to their liking giving them much needed control. Others will just let it flow
Richard wrote:CV-82 and Brickwall Limiter should be best for mastering.
I had a go at using the Limiter to compress a track recently, and found it difficult to get a good result.
I usually use TRacks24 (standalone) to master, and i couldn't get a comparable volume level from the Brickwall Limiter without extremely audible pumping, even with the Release turned to maximum.
Is it just unreasonable to expect the Brickwall Limiter to match the output of commercial mastering software?
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Firstly, you shouldn't try and push a limiter too far (as you found out), you'll end up with pumping. A little bit of gain is ok, but you want it to be removing the peaks of the signal to reduce clipping and set an uppermost 'limit' to the signal. I usually set my limiters at about -3.
T-Racks (the standalone version) has a compressor, multiband limiter, eq, clipper and a gain section. You need to emulate all that in Orion.
I've never used Orion to master (I have an master chain that I use), but will give it a go for the Orion comp.
Richard made a good point above about how to create a mastering chain in Orion, try something like that. An eq, 3 x compressors inside the band splitter, and the limiter dead last in the chain. That should provide much better results.
harddisco wrote:I usually use TRacks24 (standalone) to master, and i couldn't get a comparable volume level from the Brickwall Limiter without extremely audible pumping, even with the Release turned to maximum.
I'll say in advance I'm a bit new to the whole compressors story, but have to ask... wouldn't high Release time be the reason for audible pumping, being that it controls the time for the signal to return to it's "normal" state after being compressed. I imagine high release would give it a slow return rate. If you just want to limit the signal, so you can push more through the limiter, try with short attach and release times... or shortest possible.
I gave it a quick go a few nights ago. I had the Brickwall Limiter set at default settings last in the chain, and immediately before it the Limiter, default settings with a boost to Input and Output gain.
Gave a noticeable gain boost, but didn't play with it anymore than that.
Last week I tried to use a compressor for mastering purposes (first time in my life). I put a CV-82 in the master bus, choosed a gentle ratio of 4:1 and Attack/Release settings at about 1 o'clock. The compressor is doing a gain of 2dB on average. I put a brickwall on top of it. You can listen to the result in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9341 (first track).