Universal Audio SHADOW HILLS MASTERING COMPRESSOR - Manual (Page 5)

The Mastering Compressor
p. 5
OPTICAL SECTION
The
Optical
Section
is
the
first
gain
reduction
circuit
in
the
Mastering
Compressor.
The
compressor
is
characterized
by
its
very
musical
compression
circuit
featuring
a
slow
attack
and
a
two-­‐stage
release.
The
initial
eighty
percent
of
compression
is
released
very
quickly,
whilst
the
remaining
twenty
percent
takes
over
a
second
to
recover,
varying
slightly
with
the
amount
of
attenuation
applied.
Modeling
the
Optical
Section
with
its
unique
electro-­‐
luminescent
optical
attenuator
was
certainly
the
biggest
challenge
during
the
production
of
the
Mastering
Compressor
Plugin.
OPTICAL
GAIN
This
control
provides
post-­‐compression
make-­‐up
gain
or
attenuation
using
a
24-­‐position
rotary
switch.
The
gain
control
provides
greater
accuracy
around
unity
gain,
which
occurs
roughly
at
position
“7”,
and
offers
coarser
adjustment
towards
more
extreme
settings.
OPTICAL
THRESHOLD
This
control
determines
at
what
input
level
compression
begins
to
occur.
The
compressor
operates
with
a
fixed
ratio
of
2:1,
so
compression
is
achieved
by
lowering
the
threshold
into
a
range
in
which
it
begins
to
attenuate.
Minimum
compression
occurs
at
“1”
and
maximum
compression
occurs
at
“24”.