17 Jan
2010
17 Jan
'10
10:27 a.m.
I'm going to be mixing a record in Ardour on Linux (yay).
Can anyone recommend a good, efficient (low CPU usage) mono compressor for use on
individual tracks? I've tried the CALF compressor, which seems good, but it's
stereo and seems to use a good deal of CPU.
Perhaps one might say: "Try them all out and use the one that sounds best to
you". Well that won't work, because no compression sounds good to me. Compression
fatigues my ears very quickly, and makes everything sound like a beer commmercial (wait,
those are the same thing).
But if we want a hit single, then we'll have to just crush every track with
compression, I'm sure. Anyway, any compressor preferences would be greatly
appreciated.
-ken
17 Jan
17 Jan
10:31 a.m.
Hi Ken!
Try the sc* compressors from the swh LADSPA plugins. Now, that I've worked
with them a bit, I'm OK with them. sc2 is a mono-compressor. So should be
either sc1 or sc3.
Kindest regards
Julien
--------
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======== FIND MY WEB-PROJECT AT: ========
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10:33 a.m.
I have always had great luck with Steve Harris's sc-4 ladspa plugin.
On Jan 17, 2010 7:27 AM, "Ken Restivo" <ken(a)restivo.org> wrote:
I'm going to be mixing a record in Ardour on Linux (yay).
Can anyone recommend a good, efficient (low CPU usage) mono compressor for
use on individual tracks? I've tried the CALF compressor, which seems good,
but it's stereo and seems to use a good deal of CPU.
Perhaps one might say: "Try them all out and use the one that sounds best to
you". Well that won't work, because no compression sounds good to me.
Compression fatigues my ears very quickly, and makes everything sound like a
beer commmercial (wait, those are the same thing).
But if we want a hit single, then we'll have to just crush every track with
compression, I'm sure. Anyway, any compressor preferences would be greatly
appreciated.
-ken
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11:02 a.m.
On Sun, 17 Jan 2010 07:33:07 -0700
Daniel Joshua Worth <pipemanmusic(a)gmail.com> wrote:
I have always had great luck with Steve Harris's
sc-4 ladspa plugin.
Add me to the list that likes Steve's sc-* compressors. Compression
doesn't have to sound like a beer commercial, and shouldn't! Use it
properly, then let the radio stations compress the life out of it.
--
======================================================================
Joe Hartley - UNIX/network Consultant - jh(a)brainiac.com
Without deviation from the norm, "progress" is not possible. - FZappa
11:35 a.m.
Daniel Joshua Worth wrote:
I have always had great luck with Steve Harris's sc-4 ladspa plugin.
> On Jan 17, 2010 7:27 AM, "Ken Restivo" <ken(a)restivo.org
> <mailto:ken@restivo.org>> wrote:
>
> I'm going to be mixing a record in Ardour on Linux (yay).
>
> Can anyone recommend a good, efficient (low CPU usage) mono
> compressor for use on individual tracks? I've tried the CALF
> compressor, which seems good, but it's stereo and seems to use a good
> deal of CPU.
>
> Perhaps one might say: "Try them all out and use the one that sounds
> best to you". Well that won't work, because no compression sounds
> good to me. Compression fatigues my ears very quickly, and makes
> everything sound like a beer commmercial (wait, those are the same
> thing).
>
> But if we want a hit single, then we'll have to just crush every
> track with compression, I'm sure. Anyway, any compressor preferences
> would be greatly appreciated.
>
> -ken
I've also found a mild dosage of TAP Dynamics (mono & stereo) quite ok.
Tapani
11:18 a.m.
I'd second, or is it third by now, the SC4. Not that I'm in any way
particularly experienced with compressors or compression, but I find the
visual feedback on the amount of gain reduction to be useful.
Compress by all means, but crush, no. If there is little or no dynamic
range in the mix, the mastering engineer has nothing to work with and by
the time broadcast engineers have slapped all their processing on things
it will sound loud but weak. As Bob Katz says, it's not how loud you
make it, it's how you make it loud. Lots of little bits of compression
will sound better than slamming everything hard to try and get the mix
to compare with a mastered and broadcast piece.
Personally I don't have an issue with compression, it's an important
tool for certain things, like getting a nice fluid, sustaining guitar
solo sound, or evening out a bass part so that doesn't disappear from
the bottom of a busy mix, getting toms to boom and so on. Although that
is all from a rock perspective.
But yes, I find the OVER-compression, heavily brickwall limited, "what
this music REALLY needs is to be a square wave!" approach incredibly
tiring on the ears.
Of course, there are ways and means of compressing things without
damaging the transients and the subtleties of attacks.
Q
PS In the time it's taken to write this I'm now on to fourthing the SC4
and I've been beaten to the call about broadcast processing!
Ken Restivo wrote:
I'm going to be mixing a record in Ardour on Linux
(yay).
Can anyone recommend a good, efficient (low CPU usage) mono compressor for use on
individual tracks? I've tried the CALF compressor, which seems good, but it's
stereo and seems to use a good deal of CPU.
Perhaps one might say: "Try them all out and use the one that sounds best to
you". Well that won't work, because no compression sounds good to me. Compression
fatigues my ears very quickly, and makes everything sound like a beer commmercial (wait,
those are the same thing).
But if we want a hit single, then we'll have to just crush every track with
compression, I'm sure. Anyway, any compressor preferences would be greatly
appreciated.
-ken
2:04 p.m.
söndag januari 17 2010 15.26.03 skrev Ken Restivo:
I've tried the CALF compressor, which seems good,
but it's stereo and seems
to use a good deal of CPU.
I totally agree that the CALF compressor is really good and I was very excited
after testing and running the repository version(s) some days ago, awesome!
However, I'm sad to say that the up and coming CALF compressors are stereo
only as well, making them only half usable in a mixing situation. It's a pity
because the (git version of the) CALF compressors and also the EQ, filter
stuff and other CALF stuff are - IMHO - some of the best things that happens
in the Linux plug-in world this days. They are proving that LV2 can compete
with VST and other non Linux plug-ins.
Unfortunately, I do probably not have skills and time to transform this
wonderful plug-ins to mono versions, is that something that's hard to do?
Graphical centered mono versions of a lot of plug-ins are IMO needed and
missed.
So what's the mono alternatives? Probably the very good sc* as many other
people suggest.
Compression fatigues my ears very quickly, and makes
everything sound like
a beer commmercial (wait, those are the same thing).
I really hate the way compression are used in many circumstances - like
fucking up masters and fantastic voices, flattering out all dynamics, making a
song sound like some terrible noise starting from total silence to full war in
a nanosecond to total silence again after 3 minutes or something.
After my rants against compression, people probably believes that I hate
compression, but that is not the case. I dislike the lack of dynamics with
passion, but that said, I do use compression for almost everything - even
live. It's the loudness war I don't like and its total lack of dynamics. When
used with care, it brings the best in every drum item to the surface, and
makes one hear all the important information in the music in the mix.
Jostein
2:47 p.m.
Excerpts from Ken Restivo's message of Sun Jan 17 15:26:03 +0100 2010:
I'm going to be mixing a record in Ardour on Linux
(yay).
Can anyone recommend a good, efficient (low CPU usage) mono compressor for use
on individual tracks? I've tried the CALF compressor, which seems good, but
it's stereo and seems to use a good deal of CPU.
Perhaps one might say: "Try them all out and use the one that sounds best to
you". Well that won't work, because no compression sounds good to me.
Compression fatigues my ears very quickly, and makes everything sound like a
beer commmercial (wait, those are the same thing).
But if we want a hit single, then we'll have to just crush every track with
compression, I'm sure. Anyway, any compressor preferences would be greatly
appreciated.
-ken
Ken, one thing I learned from a thread on the reaper forums and
subsequent playing with compression is that it doesn't have to
crush everything but can have very different effects.
When I tried to achieve the same effects as with reacomp with calf and
invada compressors I failed, possibly because reacomp is a lookahead
compressor.
Point is, it doesn't need to sound like a beer can. Personally I'd try a
few and see what you can get. Double-blind test if possible. Use it only
when it makes sense, only as much as makes sense.
I don't know whether it is feasible to use calf in an external host
(calfjackhost) and only connect one channel. Hiding the GUI might
decrease the cpu usage significantly. In my experience it behaves badly
at very extreme settings, but that might have improved in the meanwhile.
One thing I only heard of but not tried yet is a comp currently worked on
by Sampo Savolainen. He seems to put quite some effort into it, so it
might be worth checking out.
Regards,
Philipp
5619
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linux-audio-user@lists.linuxaudio.org
7 comments
8 participants
participants (8)
-
Daniel Joshua Worth -
Joe Hartley -
Jostein Chr. Andersen -
Julien Claassen -
Ken Restivo -
Philipp Überbacher -
Q -
Tapani Sysimetsä