Compressor
The Compressor evens out a deck’s level: it turns the deck down when it gets louder than the threshold, then adds makeup gain to bring the whole thing back up. Use it to glue a beat together or make scratches hit harder. It is the fourth unit in the effect rack. Its faceplate is the VC-2 VCA Compressor, with a VU-style needle that shows how much the compressor is turning the deck down.
Controls
Section titled “Controls”| Control | Range | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thresh | -48 dB to 0 dB | -18 dB | Level above which the compressor starts turning the deck down. |
| Ratio | 1:1 to 20:1 | 4:1 | How strongly it turns down sound above the threshold. 1:1 does nothing; 20:1 is close to a limiter. |
| Speed | 0 to 100% | 40% | How fast it reacts. Low values clamp and let go quickly; high values react and recover more slowly. |
| Makeup | 0 dB to 24 dB | +6 dB | Gain added after compression to restore the level. |
| Mix | 0 to 100% | 100% | Balance between the dry deck and the compressed sound. |
The compressor uses a soft knee, so it eases in around the threshold instead of switching on abruptly. It responds to the louder of the two stereo channels and turns both down together, so the stereo image stays put.
The strip’s readout shows the current gain reduction in dB.
Using it
Section titled “Using it”- Glue a beat. On the beat deck, start from the defaults and lower Thresh until the needle moves a few dB on the loudest hits. Set Makeup so the deck is about as loud as with the compressor off.
- Punchy scratches. A higher Speed reacts more slowly, so the start of each scratch gets through before the compressor clamps down, which makes cuts snappier.
- Even out a quiet sample. Lower Thresh and raise Ratio so quiet and loud parts of a scratch sample come out at a similar level.
- Parallel compression. Squash hard (low Thresh, high Ratio) and bring Mix down to blend the dense sound under the natural one.