ART Pro Audio ProChannel II - Manual (Page 9)

8
Attack Control
The ATTACK control sets the time it takes the Compressor/Limiter to respond to increases in signal level (by
reducing gain). You can use this control to shape the “front end” of the dynamics envelope.
One example is to listen to a snare hit and adjust the attack control. A short attack makes the snare sound
“thin”. As the attacks go longer (and the knob is turned clockwise) you should hear more of the thump in the
compressed snare. The downside is that this creates an overshoot, (a large transient), the length of which is
the time set by the ATTACK control.
Overshoots less than 1 msec are very hard to hear even when they are clipped. If the attack is set too fast,
the gain may be reduced too much and thereby create a “pumping” sound 1
Release Control
. One way to eliminate this is to use
the LOW CUT filter to remove plosive sounds in vocals that can make the detector overreact.
The RELEASE control sets the time the Compressor/Limiter takes to increase the gain after the input level
drops.
Longer settings maintain the dynamics of the input signal, while shorter settings reduce the dynamics.
Shorter settings will also increase the apparent reverberation, and at extreme gain reduction settings, lead to
“breathing” artifacts 2 .
Compressor Output Control
The Output control can provide from10dB of gain recovery to fully muting the output. It adjusts the output
level provided to the COMP output jack.
Gain Reduction LED Meter
The GAIN REDUCTION meter displays the Compressor's attenuation action. The meter covers a very large
range while offering high resolution.
1 “Pumping” in a Compressor/Limiter sounds like the processor over-reacts to the increase in level and has reduced the volume too
much.
2 “Breathing” is the sound of the Compressor/Limiter turning up the gain so quickly you can hear breathing noises between words
during vocal processing.