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#1
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Compression using spaced pair - channel insert or post fade insert?
If I am recording using a spaced pair micing setup and I want light
compression on both mics, would the serious studio engineer use two seperate compressors as inserts on two seperate channels on the mixing desk or are there compressors out there capable of dealing with two inputs and which have two outputs? Or would you somehow send the post fade stereo signal into one compressor before sending it to whatever recording medium you are using (in my case the hard drive)? I'm confused about how to apply compression the best. |
#2
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karambos wrote:
If I am recording using a spaced pair micing setup and I want light compression on both mics, would the serious studio engineer use two seperate compressors as inserts on two seperate channels on the mixing desk or are there compressors out there capable of dealing with two inputs and which have two outputs? Or would you somehow send the post fade stereo signal into one compressor before sending it to whatever recording medium you are using (in my case the hard drive)? I'm confused about how to apply compression the best. You need a 2 channel compressor that has the ability to "link" the two channels. In this configuration, gain reduction is applied equally to both channels, so as to maintain the stereo image. -- Eric Practice Your Mixing Skills Multi-Track Masters on CD-ROM www.Raw-Tracks.com |
#3
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"karambos" wrote in message
om If I am recording using a spaced pair micing setup and I want light compression on both mics, would the serious studio engineer use two seperate compressors as inserts on two seperate channels on the mixing desk or are there compressors out there capable of dealing with two inputs and which have two outputs? There are definately compressors that have two independent sections that can be easily linked. However, two questions - what's the context, and what's the goal? For example, are other mics being used? What's the source? Vocal, instrumental? What's the purpose of the recording? When recording to hard disk, this implies the use of a DAW, and DAWs generally have compression of their own. Or would you somehow send the post fade stereo signal into one compressor before sending it to whatever recording medium you are using (in my case the hard drive)? Generally, post fade is a suboptimal place to do compression because the faders are there to introduce level changes that the compressor is there to make go away. That's an over-simplification, but perhaps it conveys a useful idea. You push the faders down, and the compressor tries to bring the levels back up until you slip below the lower (noise gate) threshold. Then, plunk! You push the faders up and the limiter tries to bring the levels back down, but makes things sound like mush in the process. None of this is very pretty to listen to. OTOH, my only use of compression is post fade, driving a cassette recorder. I use an inexpensive Behr DSP 1424 stereo compressor to keep the levels up on cassette tapes I make of worship services. This is all post-fade, involving about a dozen or more mics and other sources. In this case excess dynamic range is a bad thing because of the recording medium and the intended use. The DSP 1424 is probably a POS, but so is cassette as a high performance audio medium. I'm confused about how to apply compression the best. What's the context, and what's the goal? |
#4
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"karambos" wrote in message
om... If I am recording using a spaced pair micing setup and I want light compression on both mics, would the serious studio engineer use two seperate compressors as inserts on two seperate channels on the mixing desk or are there compressors out there capable of dealing with two inputs and which have two outputs? The serious engineer would use a stereo compressor or a dual-mono one that allows you to link both channels. Or more rightly said: since you're recording to digital, the serious engineer might not even use a compressor at all going in, unless he was looking for a specific manner in which to affect the tonality of the sound... IOW, if it's just "light" compression you're going for, you could probably save it until mixdown. Or would you somehow send the post fade stereo signal into one compressor before sending it to whatever recording medium you are using (in my case the hard drive)? Do you mean in addition to a direct signal without compression? If so, it couldn't hurt anything. -- Neil Henderson Saqqara Records http://www.saqqararecords.com |
#6
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karambos wrote:
If I am recording using a spaced pair micing setup and I want light compression on both mics, would the serious studio engineer use two seperate compressors as inserts on two seperate channels on the mixing desk or are there compressors out there capable of dealing with two inputs and which have two outputs? If you compress a stereo pair, you need either a stereo compressor (and the RNC is a good example of this), or a pair of compressors with "link" connectors so that the control paths can be tied together. If you don't have the two channels linked, the stereo image will shirt around a lot as the compressors operate. Or would you somehow send the post fade stereo signal into one compressor before sending it to whatever recording medium you are using (in my case the hard drive)? I'm confused about how to apply compression the best. Personally, I wouldn'd compress at all in most cases, but that's just me. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#8
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"karambos" wrote in message If I am recording using a spaced pair micing setup and I want light compression on both mics, would the serious studio engineer use two seperate compressors as inserts on two seperate channels on the mixing desk or are there compressors out there capable of dealing with two inputs and which have two outputs? If you're mixing those two inputs with others, I'd say a stereo (or linked mono if necessary) compressor on the applicable channel inserts of your mixer. Or would you somehow send the post fade stereo signal into one compressor before sending it to whatever recording medium you are using (in my case the hard drive)? If these were my only two mics for the mix and I felt they really needed compression, I'd place the compressor directly in the path between the mic preamp or mixer outputs and the recording device. I'm confused about how to apply compression the best. Don't be.... there's a number of different ways to approach compression and seemingly infinite parameters to it's adjustability and usefullness of purpose. -- David Morgan (MAMS) http://www.m-a-m-s DOT com Morgan Audio Media Service Dallas, Texas (214) 662-9901 _______________________________________ http://www.artisan-recordingstudio.com |
#9
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"ScotFraser" wrote in message
Am I the only looney tune that often runs 2-mixes through unlinked compression? No. Linking the detecters is not really necessary if you don't have a lot of signal exclusive to only one side of the stereo, & if you're not hitting the compressors very hard. I've never heard my Red 7's pulling the image one way or the other when using them on an ORTF signal, with rather minimal gain reduction. Not to pick at words, but wouldn't unlinked compressors be unlikely to pull the image to the L or R. but rather tend to narrow it? |
#10
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Not to pick at words, but wouldn't unlinked compressors be unlikely to pull
the image to the L or R. but rather tend to narrow it? I think narrowing would be the less extreme result & image shifting to the opposite side the more extreme result. I've never intentionally mis-set unlinked compressors to the point that would demonstrate the effect, though. Scott Fraser |
#11
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Arny Krueger wrote:
Not to pick at words, but wouldn't unlinked compressors be unlikely to pull the image to the L or R. but rather tend to narrow it? No way they could. The issue is that a loud something in one channel can lead to a ducking of the other channel that is more audible than the brief image shift. Kind regards Peter Larsen -- ******************************************* * My site is at: http://www.muyiovatki.dk * ******************************************* |
#12
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karambos wrote:
If I am recording using a spaced pair micing setup and I want light compression on both mics, This depends on the context, but the general answer is "no, you don't" in case of a purist style recording. would the serious studio engineer use two seperate compressors as inserts on two seperate channels on the mixing desk or are there compressors out there capable of dealing with two inputs and which have two outputs? Stereo is best compressed with a stereo compressor if relevant. However even if the stereo pair in question is a room or audience pair, then you still do not want to have compression on them in recording because the compression will cause imaging and perspective changes. There is probably some exception to this ... I'm confused about how to apply compression the best. There is no such thing as "best way" to apply compression, it is about the context and about what problem you want to solve by applying it. You do not want to apply it unless there is a problem it solves. Any treatment of the sound causes deterioration and loss of clarity, it is a trade-off and you do not want to give quality away without getting some solution of some problem in exchange. The fewer stages the better and the less processing the better. Digital or analog .. no difference, processing causes loss of clarity and openness. Kind regards Peter Larsen -- ******************************************* * My site is at: http://www.muyiovatki.dk * ******************************************* |
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