Compressor needs better parameter options

[jimmyhosen]

I believe that the built-in lookahead "Compressor" effect needs better parameter options.

Most of my points have already been made at the following post:
http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 46&t=87589
(Don't worry: Problem is described concisely. Also contains a link to proposals organized into a few spreadsheet tables.)

I was asking for help, but it appears that there is no help for v2.1.1. It seems that I would have to create my own help by modifying and recompiling Audacity.

~ jimmy

[Trebor]

I believe that the built-in lookahead "Compressor" effect needs better parameter options.

Audacity comes with another compressor called "SC4" which has plenty of parameters to tweak ...
http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/sc4.html

[Robert J. H.]

I believe that the built-in lookahead "Compressor" effect needs better parameter options.

kAudacity comes with another compressor called "SC4" which has plenty of parameters to tweak ...
http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/sc4.html

But it has no look ahead which is a big minus.

Robert

[jimmyhosen]

Yeah, I also really like the SC4 (have used it enough), but it serves other purposes. For example, today I mastered a song and used SC4 to achieve something because I did NOT want a lookahead compressor for the particular manipulation that I needed. For general purpose Spoken Word situations, I really like the regular Compressor, as long as the necessary parameters are available. Without them, it is useless.

[jimmyhosen]

Of all things I have ever used in Audacity, I think the standard Compressor is the central feature. This effect needs to absolutely kick butt. If it did kick butt, then I think it would turn a lot of heads and make life easier for a lot of people.

Right now the Compressor is very disappointing. From 2.0.6 to 2.1.1, it has gone backward. It needs its mojo back. Please, please, please give its mojo back in the next release of Audacity.

[steve]

From 2.0.6 to 2.1.1, it has gone backward.

Please explain.
The only functional change that I'm aware of since August 2009 is that the Attack/Release time now allows smaller values (the maximum value is unchanged).

[jimmyhosen]

Hi Steve!
Thank you for replying. Please see my first post and its link for the explanation. I think it would be redundant for me to try to explain everything all over again.

[steve]

lease see my first post and its link for the explanation.

Have done.
I don't see any problem in providing lower compression ratios in future versions. In fact we could probably have that in Audacity 2.1.3
(feel free to remind me after Audacity 2.1.2 is released)

Rather than providing extremely small attack times, my preference would be to include a separate "limiter" setting that is capable of very fast attack. The advantage being that there could then be an option for using the compressor with or without lookahead (or variable lookahead).

[jimmyhosen]

(I edited this reply 60 minutes after my original posting of this reply.)
(Edit: I'm not trying to be an arse here. I'm just trying to make points regarding my perception of how things work. Please, if you have examples that show evidence contrary to what I am proposing, then share them. I would rather learn that be stuck in ignorance and not be able to take advantage of more advanced techniques.)

Rather than providing extremely small attack times, my preference would be to include a separate "limiter" setting that is capable of very fast attack. The advantage being that there could then be an option for using the compressor with or without lookahead (or variable lookahead).

I think a separate "limiter" setting would be pointless. There is already the "Fast Lookahead Limiter" effect.
I think an option for no lookahead would also be pointless. There is already the "SC4" compressor effect.

I believe that people need a low-ratio (< 3:1) lookahead compressor with "regular" attack times. The current attack times, which are all more than 100 ms, make absolutely no sense to me.

What is one example of how an attack time of 100 ms or greater could be used? I'm having trouble thinking of one.

[steve]

What is one example of how an attack time of 100 ms or greater could be used? I'm having trouble thinking of one.

Let's say that you have a recording that has a very large dynamic range, perhaps classical music or jazz, and you want to listen to it in a non-ideal environment, such as a car. Chances are that either the quiet bits will be too quiet to hear over the ambient noise level, or the loud bits will be just too loud. What is needed in this situation is a slow moving compressor to reduce the dynamic range "transparently". Radio stations do this as a matter of course.

I think a separate "limiter" setting would be pointless.

Running compression without lookahead maintains "transients", but you can't then use "make-up gain" because sounds with sharp attack (such as snare drums) "slip under" the compressor. The solution is to limit the peaks. This is a very common technique in studio recording and most hardware compressors have this facility.