Compression.

DJJohn

New member
Hello, can someone please explain me exact what a audio compressor does? I've read 10 forums about it and watched a lot of videos but still it's very hard to understand... thank you
 
someone here will probably explain it. But my advice is unless you can hear what something does there is no point in understanding it. The day will come after enough production and you will hear what a compressor does, you will then be able to actually know when to apply a compressor oppose to try and compare it to some knowledge someone has learned.

with patience you'll learn what you need to when you need to, and not accelerated knowledge
 
someone here will probably explain it. But my advice is unless you can hear what something does there is no point in understanding it. The day will come after enough production and you will hear what a compressor does, you will then be able to actually know when to apply a compressor oppose to try and compare it to some knowledge someone has learned.

with patience you'll learn what you need to when you need to, and not accelerated knowledge

Hey Wapiti, thanks for the reply. I produce for years now... i do use compressors but, just so it can make my sounds harder... but i don't know why to use the, release knob, attack, and how to use the threshold. I do know threshold stands for, compressor starts working once your sound hits the dB as set in your threshold. Thanks
 
In the simplest possible terms, a compressor simply turns down the volume when it rises past a certain point.

The parameters of a compressor mostly have to do with what that "certain point" is (threshold), how much it's turned down (ratio) and how quickly the compressor "reacts" to the volume going above the threshold (attack) and falling back below it (release). There can be a bunch of additional settings as well, but those are the fundamental ones.

The confusing part is probably that people often talk about "making things louder" with a compressor - but technically it does the exact opposite: it makes things more quiet. But in making the loud parts not so loud, it enables you to turn the whole thing up more. Many compressors also have a make up gain knob, which you can use for this purpose - to make up for the volume lost in the actual compression part.
 
A compressor is a device used to control and reduce the dynamic range of a signal in a controlled manner

-> uncompressed audio signal
-> if it exceeds a threshold level compressor turns on
-> reduces output of the signal above the threshold according to the ratio that is set e.g. a 2:1 ratio means for every 2 db above the threshold only 1 db is allowed through, 4:1 means for every 4 above the threshold 1 is returned and so on
-> some compressors allow you to add make-up gain to the returned signal, bringing all aspects of the signal up by the same amount. this means even teh noise in the signal gets raised by the same amount
-> compressed audio signal

attack and release times allow you to control how quickly the compressor turns and off; i.e. how long after the threshold is crossed does the compressor start to compress the signal and how long after the signal falls below the threshold does the compressor stop compressing the signal

short values generally tend to make the compressor "pump", you can hear it turning on and off, longer times tend to make the effect less noticeable and more musical
 
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A compressor is a device used to control and reduce the dynamic range of a signal in a controlled manner -> uncompressed audio signal -> if it exceeds a threshold level compressor turns on -> reduces output of the signal above the threshold according to the ratio that is set e.g. a 2:1 ratio means for every 2 db above the threshold only 1 db is allowed through, 4:1 means for every 4 above the threshold 1 is returned and so on -> some compressors allow you to add make-up gain to the returned signal, bringing all aspects of the signal up by the same amount. this means even teh noise in the signal gets raised by the same amount -> compressed audio signal attack and release times allow you to control how quickly the compressor turns and off; i.e. how long after the threshold is crossed does the compressor start to compress the signal and how long after the signal falls below the threshold does the compressor stop compressing the signal short values generally tend to make the compressor "pump", you can hear it turning on and off, longer times tend to make the effect less noticeable and more musical
This is truth
 
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