I should have made a note of this, but I thought I saw somewhere that it was included with the Audacity install at some fairly recent (later than 2023). I run a team of people who use Audacity to record and publish podcasts of my chorus rehearsals and I need to update my instructions for a new volunteer. At this point I don’t know if she has Windows or a Mac; I’m running Windows 11 and will probably have to upgrade Audacity myself soon; last September when I updated my instructions I had 3.4.2. I know my volunteer has enthusiasm, I’m less sure of her technical skills and I’d like to give her the simplest explanation possible. Will she have to get the Nyquist installer as well as the latest Audacity, or can she just install Audacity?
The Nyquist plugin installer is built into Audcaity … Nyquist Plugin Installer - Audacity Manual
Once you install a Nyquist plugin you have to restart Audacity3 for it to appear.
Old Nyquist plugins can be in the “n/a” folder in the effects menu …
The latest version of Audacity comes with a new & improved compressor:
it has presets and can be run in realtime … Compressor - Audacity Manual
Thanks for the explanation. However, I’m still confused. I have a link to the site where I used to be able to download the Chris Capel Dynamic Compressor, but it has turned into a “how to do a podcast” site and I can’t find where to download a recent edition of the Nyquist plugin. When you say there is a “new and improved compressor”, does that mean I should use that instead of the Chris Capel version? Is Daniel Lewis still maintaining the Capel version? We really liked the way it handled our vocal music rehearsals. The last versions of the .ny plugin files which I have are version 1.2.6, dated 2020, which I’m still using. Advice would be very helpful, I have to understand this before I can train my newbie on it!
As of Audacity 3.7, the Chris Capel Dynamic Compressor is included, so no need for a separate install. Just updating to the latest version should be enough.
Thank you very much, that makes my documentation much simpler.
The latest I have is v3.7.0. It comes with 2 compressors, but neither are Chris’s compressor.
If you specifically want Chris’s Compressor you’ll have to install it.
Thank you, Trebor. I wondered about that. Since my system has been doing this for years, when I upgrade Audacity it picks up the plugin from the previous version, I haven’t had to install new for some time. I’ve established that I have the latest version of Chris’ compressor, which is 1.2.6, and I know how to install it. I’ve also found that my newbie uses a Mac, which I’ll just have to figure out.
The Nyquist plugins, (like Chris’s compressor), are Audacity specific, not platform specific:
they should run on in Audacity on Windows, Mac, or Linux.
The “Nyquist plugin installer” should be in the tools menu …
I run a team of people who use Audacity to record and publish podcasts of my chorus rehearsals and I need to update my instructions for a new volunteer.
You may give the default compressor (found in Effect → Volume and compression) a try. It comes with factory presets for both podcasts and vocals which you can access in the “presets and settings” button. If you’re going for lowest barrier to entry, that may be exactly what you need.
Thank you, I’ll take a look and compare the two.
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