Compression 101 - excellent video

Another fantastic in-depth tutorial from J. C. Concato, this time on compressor basics. This is excellent for beginners confused about compression but even if you know the basics he really helps solidify the concepts. As usual J. C. Concato has a talent for explaining concepts in a very helpful and understandable way. I really enjoyed watching this. 
 

thanks for that.
 
Man you gotta go watch this again with the closed captioning turned on. Whoever it was that was typing along with the lecture, they get a big gold star for creativity.

This is a terrible video for many reasons.  Firstly neither of those guys should ever be talking on a video about anything. The guy on the right is very hard to understand and the guy on the left with the accent is even worse.  (turn on the captioning for sure!!!)
 
In some ways dealing with tracks is harder than a whole mix.  I would practice on mixes first rather than tracks.
 
When pulling the threshold right down so the compressor is working all the time very low ratios should be used. Well under 2:1.  Even 2:1 can be violent under these conditions.
 
Read this, it is far better.
 
http://forum.cakewalk.com...properly-m2116921.aspx
 
I believe there is a very definite order to set things up in a compressor.  Something this video totally fails to address.  The Attack setting is one area where many go wrong.  Many have it too fast and the compressor will always ruin your sound because of it no matter what all the other settings are.  That is why you should set it first.  Then Release then Ratio and finally threshold.
 
ARRT

Had no problems with their accents either.
 
There is a seminar by a guy called Fab Dupont I really like, I enjoy the content, don't mind his accent, but his stuck up French condescending attitude does him no favours (proper loves himself).

Hey guys I could understand those guys but it was hard and I had to waste too much energy doing it.  That is what I mean by terrible speaking skills.  Should not be that way really.  People should be easy to hear and understand.  Simple as that.  Then no energy is wasted trying to figure out what they are saying.  You can use that energy to absorb what they are in fact talking about instead.
 
Attack times are not so much related to the BPM of the track but related to how you want that leading transient to sound.  That is why it is good to practice setting Attack times on a mix rather than a track.  On a mix you will hear the attack transients being smashed a lot easier.
 
Release is one of those parameters that is a bit elusive and harder to set.  To say it is not related to BPM is ill advice.   I agree it needs to be fine tuned but the BPM is a great place to start.  As we know the release time is the time taken for the compressor to recover ready to do its thing again once compression has been initiated.
 
So if our tune is say 120 BPM that puts each crotchet (the pulse of the music) at 500 ms.  So you can always start with a 500 ms setting.  If a tune has a four on the floor kick groove going on and a kick hits the compressor we know we want at least to be back to normal by the next kick so 500 ms would be a good place to start.  I do agree it does need to be fine tuned more for feel then from that point on.  I find multiples often work after that.  500ms might be a bit slow so try 250 ms instead.  And if you don't like that try 125 ms. 
 
When compressors are set for limiting fast release times often work better too.  eg I would try 60 ms after that etc..
 
It does not hurt to know the time between the crotchets or pulse of your music at all.  It is a very useful parameter to know.  (eg delays etc..)
 
Mixing involves art and science.  You can all carried away with the art of it and forget the science.  Keep an eye on the science part too.

Looks like you edited your post, because the email notification has you asking for a step by step guide how to enable it. Did you figure it out? If not, check out this to see how to turn on the waveform preview:
http://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=SONAR%20X2&language=3&help=Mixing.22.html
 
I'll try to clarify it a little more..  
1. Create a project with one track and import a wav file on it.
2. Display the master bus in track view and turn on the waveform preview.
3. Make the height of the track and master bus the same size (as large as possible for the best view).
4. Play the song. The waveforms in the track and the master bus preview should look the same.
5. Insert a compressor on the track.
6. Play around with the compressor. The track still shows the original waveform and the master preview shows how the compressor is modifying it.
 

Yes, I figured it out after I posted...sorry.