Settings for A/B UAD-1 Compressor Comparison

[mark4man]

People...

If I wanted to compare the EX-1's compressor to say...the LA2A or the 1176LN...

...how would I do that...in terms of duplicating referrenced values ???

EX-1 sports the typical controls:

Threshold
Ratio
Attack
Release

LA2A & 1176 run via program-dependent compression; & are set up with simple Gain & Peak Reduction controls; with the dial values being percentages as opposed to dB's.

Is there some way to convert between the two systems...or do I just have to tweak the LA2A & 1176 until it sounds like the same compression settings as the EX-1?

Thanks,

mark4man

 

[Paul Woodlock]

I compare things like this by getting the best out of each one I can with a reference audio track, and then choosing which one does the job the best.

For most jobs I haven't found anything else ( uad-1 or native ) that is as good as the 1176.

I love the damn 1176. Alone it makes the UAD-1 worthwhile


btw - the same goes for EQs. It's difficut to set up the same settings between EQs too ( in a lot of cases. ). Yuo've kinda gotta see through the curve and listen to the sound quality.

 

[mark4man]

Thanks, Paul...

I wanted to actually utilize both the EX-1 & the 1176LN on this vocal track...as there were passages that sounded tits with the 1176; & there were passages that sounded harsh with the 1176. EX-1 has a smoother sound.

So I set them both up & tweaked unitil they sounded about as similar as my ear could make them. On the EX-1, I was using settings borrowed from sonitus:fx's dbx165 preset (.40ms attack, 200ms release), with a -20dB threshold, 3:1 ratio & +3dB output dialed in. Believe it or not, the Gentle Vocal Comp preset on the 1176 was very close to that, to my ear. I bounced the vocals once using the EX-1 alone & then once using the 1176 alone; & now I'll use the nicest sounding passages from each to put together a final composite print.

(reason I went thru all of this was because some of the lyric lines were already close to the edge of harmonic distortion.)

Thanks,

mark4man

 

[Arys Chien]

Hi mark4man,

I second to Paul's suggestion. Don't try to make the two sound the same and compare them. You're not getting the best possible result this way.

Tweak the EX-1 til you think it sounds the best, and then rest for a while, then come back and work with the 1176LN.

You'd be surprised.

------

As for the 1176LN sounding harsh and EX-1 smoother, in my humble guess, the harshness might come from your recording or bad eqing. The 1176LN doesn't make thing \"harsher\" than it should be.

If in this circumstances, you found the EX-1 smoother, chances are that the EX-1 is killing more than it should, ie the valuable \"sheen\" along with the \"harshness\".

I strongly suggest you check your \"source\" again. If the harshness is there already, fix it first.

------

As for vocal compression, one suggestion:

Don't over compress! Keep the valuable transient so you can \"see yourself singing\" in the middle of the sound field. Over compressing kills that and makes the vocal flat and not touching at all.

If you can't tame the vocal with extreme settings, try work it out with vocal track volumn automation so that you don't need to drive the compressor harder.

 

[MsM]

Arys Chien - well said!

 

[mark4man]

Arys...

The problem is in the original recording...not the compressor...I understand that. I have two problematic vocal tracks that are right on the edge of harmonic distortion, with a scratchy, hollow ringing sound at the strongest passages.

I'm trying to wash that out & still keep some high end clarity.

As far as not squashing vocals goes...you'll notice that the smallest ratio permitted by the 1176LN is 4:1...even when you use a preset like \"Gentle Vocal Comp\". 4:1 takes too much of the natural dynamics out of my vocals. If I could find a way to lessen that with the 1176, I would.

mark4man

 

[Ashermusic]

Arys...

The problem is in the original recording...not the compressor...I understand that. I have two problematic vocal tracks that are right on the edge of harmonic distortion, with a scratchy, hollow ringing sound at the strongest passages.

I'm trying to wash that out & still keep some high end clarity.

As far as not squashing vocals goes...you'll notice that the smallest ratio permitted by the 1176LN is 4:1...even when you use a preset like "Gentle Vocal Comp". 4:1 takes too much of the natural dynamics out of my vocals. If I could find a way to lessen that with the 1176, I would.

mark4man

I much prefer the LA2a for vocals personally.

 

[tkingen]

Arys...

The problem is in the original recording...not the compressor...I understand that. I have two problematic vocal tracks that are right on the edge of harmonic distortion, with a scratchy, hollow ringing sound at the strongest passages.

I'm trying to wash that out & still keep some high end clarity.

As far as not squashing vocals goes...you'll notice that the smallest ratio permitted by the 1176LN is 4:1...even when you use a preset like "Gentle Vocal Comp". 4:1 takes too much of the natural dynamics out of my vocals. If I could find a way to lessen that with the 1176, I would.

mark4man

Mark,

I had a similar problem once and was able to isolate the hollow ringing with a multiband compressor and lower the volume of it. Then, with automation I was able to have the multiband kick in only when the objectionable ringing happened.
Wasn't a perfect fix but it made the track usuable.
Of course, YMMV.

 

[Akis]

A dynamic EQ might do the trick with the hollow ringing sound.