I decided to post here the two songs I mentioned on the original post.  Sorry, but I discarded the original mixes and these are the improvements.  The first is a song I wrote for my first wife who I lost to cancer in 2014.
https://johnbowen.bandcam...rack/through-the-storm
 
Second is a song called "Liner Notes" which is a look back to the LP covers of the 50s & 60s and the commentary about the artists on the back of the record cover.
https://johnbowen.bandcamp.com/track/liner-notes
 
I think I had both of these tunes posted here before so you might remember how crappy the original mixes were. If you don't remember the posts or never heard them, trust me, they sucked compared to these.  Comments of any kind are welcome.
 
JB

Johnbee58
You DO remember correctly.  It has a wet/dry as well as an input control. This is interesting.  You're telling me that the wet/dry control essentially makes this parallel compression?  Is it really that easy?
JB
 

Yes, it really is that easy.
 
Picture what's happening with parallel compression. First, you duplicate the original signal so you now have two identical signals in parallel. One of them gets compressed, the other does not. Then they are mixed back together.
 
So using the wet/dry mix control does exactly the same thing as using a parallel bus. Well, actually it's better, because you don't have to keep turning one down while you turn the other one up.
 
I should also note that this only holds true for conventional broadband compressors. Multi-band compressors and dynamic equalizers - even some static EQs - may also have wet/dry mix knobs, but they don't work the same way. That's because you can't just mix signals back together when one of them is phase-shifted.
 

Wayfarer
I don't always track with it. Like I don't have a need for it with my guitar synth or with a mic'ed electric guitar cab. If I want compression on electric, I'll use a stomp-box, but I seldom use one. Compression tends to sound lousy on classical guitar, so I don't use it there, plus there's just no need as classical guitars seem to have such an even sound without it. Steel string acoustic is hit and miss---depends on the guitar and how I'm playing it. I would tend to use it more on a dreadnaught for instance because they can be a little boomy. And with some steel string acoustics, compression really brings them to life, but I've had others where it didn't.
 
Also, DBX units all sound different to me. I don't think a 166 or 266 sound very much like a 160. I also had an old 163 decades ago and didn't think much of it. The 160 and its variants (I have the 160XT) was the great one in my opinion. I know there are compressors costing a few thousand bucks. I've never used anything in that league, so I don't know how they compare to something like a 160, but in the $500 and under range, I think the 160A or 160XT are hard to beat.
 
I also currently have cheapo Behringer Composer Pro-XL. It's a stereo compressor / limiter that I mostly use just once in a great while for limiting. It's not much of a compressor, but it's very quiet, and any limiter that's quiet and has a quick response time is fine with me. Limiting is easy---compression is hard.
 
Dang it. No world series game tonight....
 
Bill

I have a DBX 160XT. It has been gathered dust the last 2-3 years, but I recall tracking bass with it getting nice result.

Yeah, a lot of people use it on bass. I use a limiter on bass more often than not though.
 
John,
 
Both tracks sound fine to me.
 
Bill

Wayfarer
...DBX units all sound different to me. I don't think a 166 or 266 sound very much like a 160. I also had an old 163 decades ago and didn't think much of it. The 160 and its variants (I have the 160XT) was the great one in my opinion. I know there are compressors costing a few thousand bucks. I've never used anything in that league, so I don't know how they compare to something like a 160, but in the $500 and under range, I think the 160A or 160XT are hard to beat...

 
Yes, I have a DBX 166XL and I find that it's only good for use on electric guitar and nothing else really.

Wayfarer
Better yet, spend a little money on a good old DBX 160A (or two of them for stereo) and use it on your board's channel inserts so you won't overload the signal going into your DAW. Plus, compressors just sound better there rather than applying them after a track has already been recorded.
 
Bill

Very true.