How do I avoid distortion when using a compressor?

that's really a huge question.  first, make sure that the output of the compressor is not driving the signal of that track over 0dB as I had shared with you in the other thread about digital distortion for "overs".

next, understand that the VC64 has dual compressors, dual EQ, etc.  notice the E1/E2 buttons and the C1/C2 buttons (I think that's what they are, I don't have it up in front of me right now).

next, understanding how compressors work is one thing but understanding how 2 of them work in parallel (which is the way the VC64 is set up) is another.

go to my website in my signature and go to the recording help section and find the section about using compression.  that will be a start.

you might want to consider using only one simple compressor to begin with until you understand better how to use something like the VC64.  the sonitus compressor is a great little compressor for simple compression.  I like the visual compression graph it has on it for feedback.

I don't really understand how you have your mix routed.  Usually, you have tracks routed directly to the master, unless they are going to another bus for control (drums/guitar/backing vox - so you have overall volume control via one fader or similiar fx treatment - reverb/comps etc).  Those buses are then routed to the master.  The master is then routed to your hardware output so you can hear it.  Your hardware controls the volume level that you will hear (interface plus amp/speakers). 

IF your vocals are distorting you have to trace the signal chain back to there.  Your volume could be too high on the track, or overloading an effect somewhere.

Compressors are basically automated volume controls and compress the level difference between the softest and loudest levels.  The typical purpose is to "sit" a sound in the mix, so it doesn't overwhelm the rest of the sounds and then fall off the soundstage.  Learn on the Sonitus comp - the VC is a channel strip with two compressors.  The Sonitus will show you graphically how the sound is affected by which controls - volume spikes slow down as they pass the threshold.

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Thank you Beagle re VC-64.  I will definitely visit your site and do some quick learning.  You are right re sonitus, it is a lot easier to understand visually.  Saying that, I do prefer the sound/presets that the VC-64 has to offer.  Re the master track, I'll wait for your reply on the other thread, i.e. should I use only Ozone on the master track or should I use Ozone in conjunction with VC-64 or Sonitus.

Thank you so much.

D from London

I have a feeling it isn't and that I should re-assign the output on all the vocals tracks to the Mackie Spike external soundcard. 

no.  I guess I didn't convince you? lol?  only ONE bus should EVER be assigned to the soundcard.  if you don't do that then you will be summing your tracks and buses at the soundcard instead of in the project.  if you sum at the soundcard you can and likely will have digital overs because you can't control the summing on the soundcard, only in the project.

why are you sending all vocals to 2 buses?  this isn't necessarily wrong, I do it all the time, but do you know why you're doing it?  In that scenerio I would have 2 vocal buses, one for reverb and parallel compression and the other for volume control and direct compression.  the reverb/parallel compression bus would not be a full 100% output of the vocal tracks, but would be sends with levels based on where I want my vocals to be placed in the front to back field.  the reverb would be 100% wet and the send level would be higher for further back in the field and lower for more "up front" (less reverb). 

the other bus would have compression and volume envelopes to control the volume levels of the vocals.

Here's where I'm confused: shouldn't the sound from the track be going through the bus and then to the master?  If I'm outputting the vocal direct to the master and also sending it to these two buses which are also outputting to the master, am I not overloading the master with the signal twice over, hence the increase in volume/distortion??? 

you don't necessarily need to send the vocals directly to the master AND to 2 other buses unless you have a specific reason to do so.

in the scenerio I posted above, 2 buses for the vox, one for reverb, the other for level control, I would NOT also send the vox tracks directly to the master.  they would go to the 2 buses and those buses would output directly to the master (but NOT to the soundcard).

OR if you don't need 2 buses for the vox, just send them all to ONE bus and then that ONE bus goes to the master, but nothing should ever go to the soundcard directly EXCEPT the master and all buses should route to the master and you shouldn't need to send the tracks to other buses AND to the master, send them to one or the other but then all signals eventually get to the master if you route all buses to the master.

Beagle has it right.  Think of a mixer.  Separate audio tracks are effected - say 1-16.  these are sent to either a bus or the master/monitor bus.  The master bus is the output for all sound coming from the recorder and is sent to your monitoring system.  For digital computer music, the SONAR master bus is sent to your interface's master - what you plug into your monitoring system.  It is a little confusing since you have SONAR and its mixer as well as your hardware interface, which also usually has its own mixer.  It takes an extra step to wrap your head around that.  What interface are you using?  A stereo interface is pretty easy to set up.  So, if you send your tracks directly to your interface, not SONAR's mix bus, it is easy to overload the interface's digital to analog output since it isn't made to "mix" several streams of audio.

Sends in SONAR are practically the same as buses, where a lot of other routing problems can arrise - but you can keep them straight by thinging, again, of an analog mixer.  Sends tap off the signal going through the track.  Using a send on each track allows you to send different amounts of level than from the track fader.  This is useful if you want to send several different tracks at differnent volumes to an effect like reverb.  It is also useful for making headphone mixes - the vocalist might want more guitar while the drummer needs more bass.  The send mixes are sent to diffferent buses which are then routed to differnet interface hardware outputs and next to separate headphones.  You can have as many headphone mixes as you have interface outputs.

If you open the SONAR mixer page there are track channels, followed by a bus section followed by an interface section.  This last section is where you can see what hardware outputs are available from your interface to SONAR.  So, track goes to bus, bus goes to master (except if you want to use separate outputs for headphone outs), master bus goes to your monitor out (which will go to your amp/speaker).

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