Dangerous Music Compressor - Manual (Page 12)

8 | DANGEROUS MUSIC
Tip:
,
meter button
not working? Don’t panic. With the
vu
/
comp
button engaged (red), the meters will only display the amount
of
gain reduction
, thereby rendering the
meter button
inactive. Disengage the
vu
/
comp
button (unlit).
-6VU BUTTON
Feature: Reduce the signal present at the meters by -6VU.
Benefit: When the levels are hot, pinning the meter can damage it.
Note:
Does not affect
gain reduction
meter ballistics, just sensitivity (don’t blush).
5. STEREO BUTTON
[
stereo meter button pictured above
]
Feature: The
compressor
may be operated in either
dual mono
mode (button dim) or
stereo
mode (button bright).
dual mono
has two completely independent paths; for example, kick drum in one channel and snare in the other.
stereo
mode may
be applied to stereo instruments, stems or complete mixes.
Benefit: Many stereo compressors sum the left and right channels and feed that signal to one detector. Unfortunately, any out of
phase material will either not get compressed or will be under compressed. Furthermore, this will over represent mono
(content up the middle) and under represent panned instruments to the VCA, thus making the compressor overreact
to kicks, snares, and the lead vocal while not dealing with the panned toms, guitars and keys. The
stereo
button on
compressor
still uses both detectors to drive each channel’s VCA for a more musical experience.
Tip:
,
Please note: Both ratio knobs should be at the same setting when running in stereo. Also, the top Gain and Threshold
controls work both channels. This makes it quick and easy to alter the gain and threshold of both detectors. You get
the best of both worlds! Dual mono performance with the simplicity of a stereo compressor.
Tip:
,
The attack and release are still independent. This comes in handy if there are transients on one side (loud hi-hat or
guitar plucks) that you don’t want dunking the whole mix. Just set a longer attack time to cure this problem.