JohnKenn
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free compressors...
Lots of energy flyin around about compressors, and for good reason. I’m in a minority and focus on compression for the first interface with the guitar before struggling downstream. Have no need for “transparent”. Want bells and punch and bite before the fuzz box. I’m thick as a brick and have limited knowledge about end point comp/limiting to master a mix. Heard somewhere they do this… DC freebie from Klagheim is good. Respect the new free comp from NI, just I can’t dig in and adjust the parameters I need to control. Most may already have this,so this post for those who don’t. Unique compressor. Free, colorful and gives you controls none of the others can offer for any price. Please update with higher advice if I’m wrong. All cyber ears over here if you got a better recommendation. Melda MCompressor. Doesn’t get much better than this. Can get it free with the bundle of other good units, also free. http://www.meldaproduction.com/plugins/product.php?id=MFreeEffectsBundle Is this elegant or what… Point to recognize is that many more intricate compressors deliver the standard knobs. Attack, recovery, threshold, ratio, makeup gain, whatever else. The comp may or may not be integrated into an X/Y graph to see what the knob is doing. Problem is however in fine tuning if you are confined with the knob. You’re stuck within the limitations of the knob. The GUI represents global and crude adjustments limited by where the dev fixed the knob to be.. Melda breaks the limitation and allows building a benzier custom curve for YOUR compression response. One advantage for instance would be diving into the initial noise floor of your axe and cutting the comp before the floor garbage is reached. Like having a customized noise gate personalized for your unique system. Not to mention, this response for a guitar is balls to the wall and anything but transparent. Cool unit worth checking out. Free IMHO best of all the freebies out there and better than most of the megabux commercial plugs. Blessed, peaceful, happy holidays to all of you. May all be blessed. John
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clintmartin
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Re: free compressors...
2013/12/22 22:15:11
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What is it with compressors...I have several very good comps, but I really don't use them that much. When I do it's for 1 or 2 db only. I don't know if this is a digital thing or not, but everything I do seems to be compressed anyway. Today I've been switching between Pro-C and DC8C on the master bus with 1db of gain reduction. Seems kind of silly, but then I'll try 15 others tomorrow.
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batsbrew
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Re: free compressors...
2013/12/23 10:41:27
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digital does not equal compression.
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JohnKenn
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Re: free compressors...
2013/12/23 18:54:50
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Clint,
Damned good question...what's compression about...
Don't know, but been a hard core compression freak before they had digital. Even have a coveted antique Gray Ross floor box with all the diodes not leaking.
My subjective experience if you play real real loud.. Once you cross the RMS value of an amp in a live setting, limiting and distortion clipping start to come into play. At extremes, you cross into compression.
Went to digital late in my game. All know we are trying to recreate the flaws of the tape era that the industry has imprinted upon. If we were robots, screw it all and render math perfection but we are not.
Input compression is a blessing and a curse that has to be balanced with the intervention of a noise gate. Got several pristine metal floor stomps and all the digital versions.
Do input comp for the definition of the guitar's note. Attack takes a few millisec if set right and accents the initial presence. Decay allows the ring and sustain. Bells with a bite if done right.
Melda's superiority is twofold in my book.
First an incredible compression machine.
Second, the ability to script the compression curve to your specific environment. If someone else can come close to this, please let me know.
Doesn't affect keyboard players, but us guitar bangers have every avenue of hum attack coming in if you even slightly compress. Battle in ancient.
MCompressor elegantly dives into the XY amplitude dynamic and allows subtle control over the noise floor and how it is managed. Means some independent vst noise gates, good noise gates have an all or nothing clip at some level that crackles harsh on and off. MCompressor manages the signal all in one drawing a soft transition.
Posting here to pass on maybe dumb and backwoord inspirations. Selfish motive is to get educated by better experiences and opinions.
Given compression and the noise collateral damage, anyone using a killer gate?. Nomad Liquid Gate is on the top of my list. Anything better than MCompressor's custom draw? Probably not.
Best,
John
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clintmartin
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Re: free compressors...
2013/12/23 21:07:07
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TheSteven
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Re: free compressors...
2013/12/24 06:22:45
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"Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils" Loius-Hector Berlioz  www.AgitatedState.com MenuMagic - plug-in management powertools! My Tunes
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JohnKenn
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Re: free compressors...
2013/12/26 20:05:39
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Can't believe such a critical and life saving, vital thread as this is almost off to the bottom of the bird cage..
Clint, Tokyo comp is excellent.
Unresolved problem is that the better the compressor, or maybe the more extreme the comp, greater the noise battle if you even pause for a second from maintaining input signal pressed to the max.
Compression is covered overkill in our choices what to use. Comp vst's are everywhere and even some of the SynthEdit units are cool.
Final nail in the compression coffin is with a noise gate (or lack of...). Melda benzier customization address the issue okay where nobody else in the industry has a clue or inspiration to address the problem,.
Still wondering if anyone out there has a recommendation for a noise gate that can top what Melda or Nomad Liquid Gate can deliver. Bleak landscape for the next conceivable decade or so. Anticipating no replies since there is nothing out there.
Drowning in noise on the coast south of Seattle. Best of the holidays to all. May you, your families be safe, secure, in peaceful spirits and blessed.
John
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backwoods
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Re: free compressors...
2013/12/26 20:21:52
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Fabfilter gate is comprehensive. ImageLine do a comp where you draw in the curve. Flux. Not sure that the next decade is looking bleak. We'll see more "from the future" type plugins- Melodyne, RMix, Zynaptiq- that allow us to do things that are impossible today.
post edited by backwoods - 2013/12/26 20:28:38
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JohnKenn
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Re: free compressors...
2013/12/26 22:04:25
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Backwoods,
Thanks for the advice. Never knew Fabfilter had a gate or Imageline a drawable compressor. Can't go wrong with either company, so looking for demos to see what they have to offer.
Hope you are correct about the next decade. I can get country twang and bells, or Santana smooth overdrive until the note dies down. Then the noise. Devil on the threshold demanding payback for the initial sound. All we have currently are means to crudely respond to voltage without distinguishing between musical notes and background noise
Anticipate that the next generation of noise gates will work real time in the same way as the noise reduction filters in programs like Adobe Audition. 2 seconds of silence from the input and the background noise profile can be analyzed and moderately effective extracted from the composite signal without too much damage to the music. Maybe some of us will still be alive to see it happen.
John
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Eddie TX
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Re: free compressors...
2013/12/27 00:45:12
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I haven't used this gate on guitar, but found it works nicely on vox. And it's free, part of a nice little bundle: http://www.eareckon.com/en/products/freebies.html They sell a more full-featured version for a fair price, too. Might be worth a demo. Cheers, Eddie
Sonar X3 Producer / Win 10 The future exists in all directions.
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TheSteven
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Re: free compressors...
2013/12/27 01:57:46
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Not just compressors, GVST has a whole variety of different plug-ins. GVST "they are designed to be simple, light-weight and efficient" 32/64 bit & free http://www.gvst.co.uk/packages.htm http://www.gvst.co.uk/downloads.htm Here's a screen shot of GComp  or GComp2  The only problem these have is that they don't have a sexy GUI and a marketing department behind them.
post edited by TheSteven - 2013/12/27 02:05:11
"Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils" Loius-Hector Berlioz www.AgitatedState.com MenuMagic - plug-in management powertools! My Tunes
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clintmartin
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Re: free compressors...
2013/12/27 07:00:32
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+1 for Gvst! I love the Gclip.
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JohnKenn
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Re: free compressors...
2013/12/27 15:56:14
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Jeez, forgot about Earekon freebie pack. And GVST has a good gate. Still have to download backwoods recs. Amazing resource here from collective experience. Why I love this place. One of my most go to comps is Vitamin C from Distorque. Was modeled after the Orange Squeezer comp. Dev said it was diode for diode. There were flaws in the metal stomp design but he wanted to keep the original like it was. Orange was a rebirth of the Gray Ross patriarch (hushed moment of reverent silence...) and supposedly used by the Dire Straits guys, Santana and others. Has an enhanced set of controls not in the original Orange. This thing is cool and can easily hear why the pros use the floor box. http://distorqueaudio.com/plugins.html I was a big fan of the ellusive Ross. My hardware boxes are now a Keeley 4 knob, another Ross rebirth. Use an MXR Custom Comp which is better IMHO than the classic MRX 70's comp. Then have a super, only one in existence custom design comp that cannot be purchased for any amount of money anywhere. Eat your heart out guys... Boss CS-3. Floor box everyone loves to hate, but one of the best sounding, colorful units available. Problem is the noise and the chugging as it ramps up. Good friend, published musician had a Boss and three giant German Shep dogs. One of the dogs went nuts on a chewing rampage in the studio. Hundreds of dollars damage. One casualty was the Boss. Hard to think how much bite strength was there to warp the metal. Boss was toast. Owner was about to throw it out but I asked for the carcass. Was able to straighten out the damage, rewire some broken connections. Got it working and the dam dog redesigned the tolerances so the chugging and noise was gone. Convinced the owner not to shoot the dog since he could be hired out as an engineering consultant for Boss. Best, John
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