Chris's Compressor

Hey guys, I’ve been using Chris’ Compressor plugin for quite some time now and I’ve never really been able to figure out what is causing the issue that I’m running into.

I run it on typically 3 different sets of audio tracks from 3 different people speaking in different places. So suffice to say, they’re all using different equipment. I’ve noticed that with one of the guys, every time he finishes talking, the volume amplifies at the very end of whatever he has to say. This doesn’t happen with any of the other audio tracks, so I assume it’s just his voice and how he finishes off his thoughts each time. In any case, would someone be able to suggest which setting or settings I should be adjusting with the plugin to prevent the end of his speech pattern from over amplifying? Again, this only happens at the end of his thoughts while the rest of his speech sounds fine and level.

Although this plug-in is frequently recommended on this forum (because it’s a pretty good compressor), it is not “our” product, so it is not officially supported. Sadly, the person that created this plug-in died a few years ago, so no support there either, but we will try to help if we can.

It is a common problem for dynamic range compressors to have difficulty with the end of a file. The usual workaround is to temporarily add something to the end of the track, apply the compressor to the track (including the “added something”), then trim off the “added something”. Try just generating 1 second of the default “440 Hz Sine Tone” from the Tone Generator (http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/generate_menu.html#tone)

Hi Steve,

I appreciate the quick response. I was actually referring to the results that I get throughout an entire audio clip (an hour long). There are two hosts for this podcast and when it comes to one of the hosts, every time he stops talking, the last second of his speech gets overamplified, almost like a fade in effect, except for it’s fading in from the normal volume so it gets much louder. Previously, I was fixing the issue by using the fade out effect for the last bit of his speech before the co-host chimes in.

In any case, I thought I’d further explain in case anyone else had this problem. I ended up messing with the settings more and was able to correct the issue.

I adjusted the Compress ratio to .700 (noticed that even at .750 it was still increasing in volume just a bit too much and the end of his talking). I also adjust the Compress hardness to .100.

The end result has me at the following settings that works for my audio, and more specifically, just that one host’s voice.

Compress ratio: .700
Compress hardness: .100
Floor: -30
Noise gate falloff: 2.0
Maximum amplitude: .950