Compressor as an EQ

[nowaysj]

Okay, so on some next level shits:

The usage of a compressors to do tonal balancing. I guess a common thing in the upper levels?

My quick q, and I hope this thread can spread out a bit to share further compressor knowledge, though these desires are almost always thwarted by stating them... neways:

What compressors are known to preserve highs?

What compressors are known to preserve lows?

[Aufnahmewindwuschel]

hm abletons multi compressor is not bad it has like compression in both ways you can raise the highs and bring them down even close to a noisegate same with the mids and low end. and it helps to move the freq around to find your perfect spot

[Jizz]

yeah ableton multiband is great, i use it as an eq all the time. i dont really use eq's actually lol, i hate going really precise on cutting/boosting frequencies, instead the multiband gives enough room to manipulate my sound without getting too technical

[nowaysj]

Looking for a nonmultiband, lllllaaaaaddddys.

Thats like, lad-y not lady.

[bennyfroobs]

posting because sounds useful to know


(i dont know)

[Jizz]

why specifically a non-multiband lad?

[nowaysj]

The frequency splitting in a multiband is essentially an eq.

[Aufnahmewindwuschel]

so you are looking for a compressor that is easier gentle/nice/ warm on the highs or the lows or both ?

[Aufnahmewindwuschel]

i heard some tend to unsharp the highs with minimal amounts of tube distortion etc maybe with the orginal on parallelwith a lower volume .
but yeah cant tell if you find big stuff in the free vst market i bet there are some pricey copies of old compressors which would get you what you want

[nowaysj]

i bet there are some pricey copies of old compressors which would get you what you want

Swhat I'm talking about. Like dbx 160variants keeping lows, 1176 preserving highs. Would like to hear for the golden eared amongst us.

[Aufnahmewindwuschel]

but yeah thats what i mean cant you maybe try to trick people into thinking you used some kind of old compressor by working around the stuff they did

there must be some kind of manual or sth which shows what they where about and i know its def not the real deal but maybe close enought o be happy about it?

[nowaysj]

i dont know man, tryin to not eq, thats all!

[Aufnahmewindwuschel]

hm i see have you tried the variety of sounds stuff?
http://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/


free and def useful (even if maybe not in this case)

[nowaysj]

oh yeah!

[Sharmaji]

in hardware land, the distressor, the api buss comp and the smart C2 all have internal sidechains that can let you bypass low-end info so that the lows stay big, and the rest gets compressed. really handy on bass guitar, kick, etc. neve 33609 might have this as well, can never remember and don't run into one all that often.

in software, the stillwell rocket, api buss comp and logics internal comp all come to mind.

the 2nd and 3rd order harmonic distortion on the distressor can help sweeten up a harsh source; it's not night/day, but it can def help.

the elysia compressors doe everything fantastically well too, in terms of tone shaping.

funny i tend to shy away from using my 160's on anything that will sound worse for being obviously compressed-- to me the low end gets noticeably smaller on 'em. but you gain a whole lot of SMACK, and can easily add the low-end loss in after that. (which, btw, the orban is stellar at for drums)

UAD has a 160 model, right?

[knobgoblin]

might also take a look at the valley people dynamite. it looses lots of high end when compressing, which can be very useful on some things...

[nowaysj]

Thanks sharma & knobby

A few years ago I looked at the valley people dynamite's ui - was crazy.

Is it just the detector circuit that imparts a tonal shift? I, basely perhaps, thought it was also due to the totality of the circuit.

can easily add the low-end loss in after that. (which, btw, the orban is stellar at for drums)

Do you eq after? Like subtract before, and add after the comp?

[outbound]

Sidechain EQ? or is that cheating as well

[titchbit]

I think i know what you're after NWJ. I've heard that you can use a compressor in a way where it pretty much acts like a highpass filter. It has to do with the attack and release times, and also the arrangement of your song. I am not an expert on this, but from what I understand, you can get a compressor to act like a highpass with a short attack time and longish release because the long wavelengths of low frequency sounds don't have enough time to get through before they are compressed or something like that, but the short wavelengths of high frequency sounds do, so they come through before the compression.

I've never tried to use this in my productions but I've heard that it can work. Just throwing this out there for anyone who's interested.

[Sharmaji]

Do you eq after? Like subtract before, and add after the comp?

on most things, unless there's a lot of low-end junk that needs to be filtered out or the compressor's gonna act all crazy, I try to do whatever EQ'ing after compressing.

depends on the source material though-- If i have something to mix that wasn't well recorded and has big resonance spikes all over the place, i'll eq and/or multiband comp it-- to make it sound at least good-- before I can go in and try to get it up to awesometown.