Compression

Ultimate Guide:
by Cymatics

A complete guide to understanding audio

compression
 Compression
Ultimate Guide:

Introduction
Compressors and limiters are amongst some of the most used tools by music producers on a
daily basis. Due to this fact, you could say that learning how to use them is a simple task, and to
be honest, it’s truly not that complicated.
We just believe that compression is a heavily misunderstood topic; That’s a better assessment of
the subject rather than saying that compression is a really complex topic.
So let’s get started!
One of the best ways to think about compression is as volume automation.
You may argue against this by saying that professional producers have found more complex
uses for compression based on how it alters our perception of the audio signal.
Some of these other uses may be gluing drums together, adding harmonic excitement,
fattening sounds, and even accentuating or adding groove.
All of this stands true and those are terms that you might have heard at least once if you have
been producing for a while. However, it gets really challenging trying to understand how that
happens when you haven’t even grasped the fundamental concept to begin with.
Try loading a raw drum loop from any sample pack that was recorded live. A raw vocal
recording might work as well, but drum loops usually work better to illustrate this concept.
If you listen critically, you will notice that some drum hits are louder and some are quieter
(Assuming the drum loop didn’t get processed previously, so it’s worth putting some
emphasis on the word raw).
You could do volume automation with the channel fader or a utility plugin to bring down the
really loud parts and bring up any other elements that may be too quiet.
That is actually a viable solution that allows for surgical precision, but it’s ridiculously time
consuming (as if creating a track from scratch wasn’t hard enough already).
But what if we told you that you could achieve this with a compressor and that this is one of its
fundamental uses?
It’s fair to say that a compressor is just a really smart algorithm that deals with volume, and it
yields similar results as doing time consuming volume automations everywhere where you
might need it.
But how does this algorithm know how to operate? Well, you need speak to it in terms of
volume, as its the only thing it understands. It’s really, really smart, just in that one area.
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Threshold
“When should the compressor start working?”
You should know by now that any audio signal can go from ‑∞ to 0 dBFS without clipping in the
digital domain, so this is the first fundamental question that you need to answer.
If you set your threshold at ‑20 dB for example. Your compressor will work on any signal that
exceeds that value.
We would like to put a lot of emphasis on making clear that the threshold doesn’t have any effect
on the signal itself, it merely tells the compressor where it’s allowed to work.
LEVEL TUPTUO

COMPRESSION
THRESHOLD

INPUT LEVEL
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Ratio
COMPRESSED “How much should the exceeding signal be brought
down?”
Anything below the threshold doesn’t matter, for the
compressor only anything that goes above the threshold is fair
game.
The solution engineers found to this problem was to use ratios
expressed in the form of input:output, as this would solve the
issue of having very dynamic input signals—such as drums—
where it doesn’t really make a lot of sense to have hard set
gain reduction values.
To exemplify this, a 2 1 ratio simply means that any input signal
that exceeds the threshold by 2 dB will only output 1 dB.
So having a ratio would bring different drum hits down
proportionally depending on how much they exceed the
threshold by, instead of just decreasing every single hit by a hard set value, for example, of 2 dB.
If the kick drum in your drum loop exceeds the threshold by 10 dB and your snare exceeds it by 6
dB with a 2 1 ratio, the output would be different and proportionate for both of them.
The compressor would only output 5 dB of the exceeding 10 dB for your kick drum, and it would
only output 3 dB out of 6 for your snare drum.
So, a 10 1 ratio simply means that any input signal that exceeds the threshold by 10 dB will only
output 1 dB above the threshold (9db total of gain reduction).
As you may be infering by now, both the threshold and ratio play major roles on how hard the
compression is.
As a decent rule of thumb, you can think about compression ratios in the following way:
3 1 and values below ‑ mild/soft compression
5 1 ‑ moderate compression
8 1 ‑ strong compression
20 1 to ∞:1 ‑ limiting
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Ratio (Continued)
Note: A ratio of 1 1 would have
absolutely no effect on the
11 input signal.
Now it’s a good time to talk
about limiting. You may have
21 noticed that even with
moderate compression ratios,
there’s still a small amount of
LEVEL TUPTUO

41 signal that goes through.

COMPRESSION
THRESHOLD Limiting simply means that
∞:1 nothing is going above the
(Limiter)
threshold and the audio signal
is getting smashed against the
compressor/limiter. This isn’t
necessarily a bad thing, and
sometimes it’s necessary, but
INPUT LEVEL you definitely want to be
cautious with this.
It’s also worth mentioning that using compressor presets takes a little bit more of effort compared
to using synthesizer presets. But why?
Compressors are gain dependant plugins.
The engineer or producer that designed the preset doesn’t really know how loud the signal you
will be using it with is. It’s even possible that your signal isn’t loud enough and it’s not going past
the threshold, therefore not even having an effect.
It’s always a good idea to bring the threshold up to 0 dB and adjust it accordingly to your material
so you can proceed to analyze and come to a conclusion on why the other parameters were set
up that way.
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Knee
Most compressors have a
knee setting, and it’s also
another control that helps
dictate how hard the
compression is.
The knee setting simply sets
up how abrupt or how
gradual the compression is.
LEVEL TUPTUO

HARD KNEE
41
What does this mean?
SOFT KNEE A hard knee or a value of 0
makes the compression
binary. It either happens, or it
doesn’t. Anything below the
threshold isn’t affected at all,
INPUT LEVEL only parts of the signal that
exceed the threshold.
However, when you start
increasing the knee value, or have medium or soft knee settings, the compression gets eased
in. It’s just like a color gradient.
If you have an 8 1 ratio for example, mild compression starts to happen in the signal when it’s
below the threshold, with a 2 1 ratio for example.
Once it gets closer and closer to the threshold, the ratio increases until it goes well above and
it’s fully applied. It’s pretty hard to tell how the compression gets eased in with exact values, as
every compressor is designed differently and it depends entirely on the manufacturer.
Pro tip: It’s really good practice to stick to a few compressors in the beginning and
really learn how they sound and affect multiple signals with various settings.
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Makeup Gain
To have a solid understanding of make up gain, there’s one prerequisite. This prerequisite is
understanding the definition of dynamic range.
In a nutshell, dynamic range is is the difference between the loudest part of your song, and the
quietest part.
Imagine using a beard trimmer with the biggest guide comb available. If your beard is messy, it
will clip those long, messy, and unwanted hairs, but it will leave the rest unaffected.
That is the equivalent of reducing the dynamic range in a song.
Now, imagine you grab a smaller guide comb for your beard trimmer and proceed to cut some
more. Your beard should start getting about the same size pretty much everywhere, and this will
stand true if you keep using smaller and smaller guide combs every time.
This is basically what compression does to your audio with the help of make up gain, and it’s a
two step process unless you do not use make up gain.
UNCOMPRESSED COMPRESSED COMPRESSED
W/ MAKEUP GAIN

First, it will bring down—or cut in our analogy— whatever is going above the threshold, and the
make up gain will bring up in volume everything at the same time.
This is the reason why compression makes things perceivably louder.
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Makeup Gain (Continued)

The difference between the highest and lowest peak gets decreased and everything gets
brought up to the original volume level at the same time. Of course you can always add extra
make up gain that exceeds the original volume level, but this isn’t always the case nor necessary.
Many compressors have an automatic make up gain function. However, many professionals are
against it and prefer to setup this parameter manually as it becomes a little bit harder to assess
whether you’re benefiting your input signal or not.
This shouldn’t discourage you and make you avoid the automatic make up gain function though.
Some compressors like FabFilter’s Pro C‑2 actually have pretty good automatic make up gain
algorithms.

Attack & Release

The attack and release settings are pretty straightforward.
The attack simply dictates how long does it take for the compressor to engage and bring down
the signal once it has gone past the threshold.
The release setting simply tells the compressor how long should it wait to disengage after the
signal has gone below the threshold once again.
As we will explain briefly in a later section, some compressors are either faster or slower in nature
compared to others even though they may still have attack and release settings. This is simply
because of how they were designed, built, and programmed.
Fast attack and release settings and any of its permutations are useful in different scenarios.
There’s no rule on how to set up these parameters, you just need to know what you’re trying to
achieve.
Really fast and dynamic signals will usually go past the threshold and go below it once again in
quick successions, so it’s usually a good idea to let the compressor recover with a fast release
before the next transient happens.
On the other hand, fast attack settings can help tame really sharp transients and clicky sounds
that otherwise may be eating up your headroom or simply sound bad.
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Attack & Release (Continued)

ATTACK ATTACK

RELEASE RELEASE

UNCOMPRESSED SIGNAL COMPRESSED SIGNAL

(BEFORE) (AFTER)

A slower attack will allow fast material to come through clearly, such as the aforementioned
transients, before the compressor engages and brings everything down.
This is usually something desirable with input signals such as kick drums. You don’t want to
smash completely the transient so it has a nice and clean attack, but compressing the tail can
yield amazing results.
Most modern compressors have an automatic release time setting, and people tend to agree that
this setting is usually a little bit smarter compared to most automatic make up gain settings.
This is usually a pretty nice starting point, as the compressor analyzes how frequently the signal
is going above the threshold, if there are low frequencies present, and some other variables.
From there, you can tweak and come up with a manual release time that brings you closer to your
desired result.
Pro Tip: Starting with a slow attack and a very fast release should help you come up
with optimal settings for most audio signals.
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Sidechain Compression
Sidechain compression is arguably one of the most famous techniques in electronic music
production, and even in music production in general across multiple genres.
What this allows the compressor to do is to analyze any audio signal other than the one that lives
in the compressors channel and apply gain reduction based on it.
You may be aware that low frequencies are somewhat delicate and that things can get muddy
down there really quick. Without going into many specifics, it’s fair to say that you can’t have your
kick drum and your bassline happening at the same time.
So, if you put a compressor on your bassline and sidechain compress it to your kick, this would
allow the compressor to analyze the incoming kick drum signal and duck the bassline out of the
way really quickly so your kick can punch through.
You can’t have an elephant and a hippo in the same room, at the same time. It’s one or the other.
There are multiple uses for sidechain compression, and even creative ones, but this is the most
common use for sidechain compression (and the best way to learn it in our opinion).
LEVEL TUPTUO

= PRE‑SIDECHAIN = POST‑SIDECHAIN = SIDECHAIN SIGNAL (KICK)

 CompressionUltimate Guide:

Types of Compressors
Now that you know about the underlying principles of compression, we can briefly mention
some of the most common types of compressors out there. Every single producer tends to have
its own preferences on how they use these compressors, or whether they use them at all.
This is primarily focused on shedding some light on how deep the compression rabbit hole can
go, as each type of compressor has unique intricacies that we could spend pages and pages
discussing and talking about.
This is without even mentioning that you will be able to find a plethora of compressors with
unique characteristics that are specific or unique to certain different manufacturers.
So let’s get started!

Tube Compressors Optical Compressors

Tube compressors are the oldest ones out there, as tubes Without getting too technical, optical compressors alter the
were pretty much the only solution available back then as dynamics of audio signals via a light bulb or a LED in conjunction
transistors and smaller electronic components didn’t even
exist.

with an optical cell.

Basically, higher amplitudes emit more light making the

They tend to have a unique sound once the tubes get hot,
and for this reason producers tend to use them as flavor/
compressor attenuate the output respectively.
colouring tool rather as a way of dynamic control (even One could assume that optical compressors would be fast
though it’s possible).
because of the speed of light, but they actually have a small

Tube compressors are pretty slow in general, both in their

delay because of this reason.
attack and release phases.
Their attack phase is generally sluggish, with a “quick two stage
release”. They let go quickly, but once there’s not a lot of light
they become slow to return to their full disengaged state.

FET Compressors VCA Compressors

“Field effect transistors” or FET compressors are basically “Voltage Controlled Amplifiers” use even more modern
the evolution of tube and opto compressors. They try to circuitry to achieve gain reduction, as they use solid state or
emulate their sound with modern electronic components, integrated circuits for this task.
transistors.
They are way cheaper than tube or opto compressors, and
Since these compressors are their “modern counterpart”, they’re also pretty much colourless (transparent in other
they are widely known for their ultra fast attack and release words).
capabilities. Making them a great choice to get over
compressed, smashed, yet musical sounds. They tend to have both really quick or slow attack and release
capabilities.
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Peak vs. RMS

Peak vs RMS is a slightly tricky or slippery subject to understand, so we’ll try to break it down as
simple as possible.
The peak value is the loudest instantaneous moment in an audio signal.. That is a keyword to
remember, instantaneous. Load a drum loop into your DAW and check your channel meters, as
those are reading peak values.
Your channel meter will mark the loudest point in any given moment during the entirety of that
drum loop.
On the other hand, RMS measures average levels. It is a slow measurement that averages out
peaks and troughs of short duration to reflect the perceived loudness of your signal.
So following this line of thought, you may deduct that sustained sounds will have a much higher
RMS reading than percussive ones. This is because percussive sounds are just a brief spike of
energy.
Now that you have a better understanding of these concepts, we can explain that there are
compressors that have detection mechanisms that react either to peak values or RMS values.
Peak compression is usually way better to catch really fast bursts of unwanted energy or
transients that may be living in your mix.
On the other hand, RMS compression is way more useful to increase the perceived loudness of a
signal, as your compressors won’t be jumping up and down reacting to those peaks.
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Final Thoughts
Now that you have a solid understanding of how these dynamic processors work, you can dive
deep into some of the concepts that we initially mentioned on this book. Such as fattening
sounds, enhancing grooves, gluing drums together, and even adding harmonic excitement.
As you can see, it’s hard to explain those concepts or even try to set steps specific steps to
accomplish them, as it is fairly subjective and highly dependant of your input signal.
You now have a solid foundation and logical understanding of how to use compression to
achieve different results, compared to just doing it arbitrarily because some other producer
advised you to.
You now also have general knowledge about the different type of compressors so you can dig
deep and explore them as coloration tools rather than just a form of dynamic control.
After all of these, we hope that you understand why we believe that compression is a highly
misunderstood subject that has unbelievable creative potential, rather than a complex one.
We hope that you take this one step further and do research on your own and develop your own
compression techniques!
Best of luck and happy producing!
 Compressors
Best Plugins:

FabFilter Pro C‑2 ($179)

Popular for: Any type of compression.
Overview:
One of the most clean, versatile, and easiest to use
compressors in the market. FabFilter really outdid
themselves while designing this plugin, as it arguably
has the best UI out of all. If you’re on a budget and need
a third party compressor that will serve multiple
purposes, this should be your go to. It’s like having 8
different compressors in one.
Pros Cons
• Incredibly versatile, 8 different • Setting up the sidechain is a little bit
compressor modes. time consuming.
• Amazing user interface. • It doesn’t replace old analog
compressors that give colouring or
• Custom knee setting, smart auto gain character to your instruments.
algorithm, hold function, and smooth
lookahead.

FabFilter Pro‑MB ($199)

Best Used For: Anything from overall clean
compression to surgical cleaning tasks.
Overview:
FabFilter turned multi‑band compression into a really
simple task with this plugin. And as it is to be
expected from them, the UI is spotless and
incredibly easy to use. This multi‑band compressor
is loaded with multiple features that you didn’t even
know you needed, a benchmark in the market.
Pros Cons
• Unique and ultra clean dynamic phase • Bands have a limit on how narrow they
mode can be.
• Linear phase mode eliminates all
audible artifacts
• UI is so well designed that it makes
multi‑band compression simpler, also
works well as a single band plugin.
 Compressors
Best Plugins:

Ableton Live Compressor (Free*)

Popular for: Simple dynamic control tasks and
sidechain compression.
Overview:
Ableton’s stock compressor does a pretty good job even
though it may not be popular amongst many producers,
as it also lacks a flashy or eye catching UI. For both
beginner and expert producers, this compressor is an incredibly handy dynamic control tool that
you shouldn’t disregard. (*Included free with Ableton Live)
Pros Cons
• Free, included in all versions of Ableton • If you’re looking for coloration, this
Live. compressor isn’t really suited for that task
(this isn’t necessarily a con).
• Simple and quick to use.
• Sidechain compression can sound
• Has an RMS and Expansion mode, clicky sometimes.
which not a lot of other compressors
have. • Automatic make up gain algorithm isn’t
the best (compared with FabFilter for
example).

Native Instruments Supercharger GT ($99)

Best Used For: Enhancing, driving/saturating,
and shaping your sounds.
Overview:
The Supercharger GT is Native Instrument’s
take on modern tube compression. More than a
form of dynamic control, this compressor excels at sculpting and adding character to sounds.
And it just doesn’t end there, as this compressor also has a saturator with 3 different modes
available that take things to the next level.
Pros Cons
• Thanks to its multiple settings, it creates • Tube compressors are a little bit slow by
a pretty wide spectrum of tone shaping default, so this isn’t fitted to control really
possibilities. dynamic signals (this isn’t necessarily a
con).
• Pretty intuitive UI
• Mid/Side compression setting available
 Compressors
Best Plugins:

NI Vintage Compressors ($199)

Popular for: Anything from dynamic control to
coloration.
Overview:
If you’re looking to get started at exploring compression
beyond the usual dynamic control, this bundle is an
incredible choice as it includes a FET compressor, an
optical compressor, and a VCA compressor. You’re
getting the best out of all worlds with these incredible
analog emulations developed by Native Instruments.
Pros Cons
• Decent emulations with added • Some people argue that emulations
improvements on the original hardware done by other manufacturers are more
units. accurate. However, they’re also more
expensive.
• 3 different compressor types in one
bundle • UI’s could definitely be better.

iZotope’s Neutron 2 Compressors ($129‑499)

Best Used For: Any mixing task that needs to be
done, as the advanced edition is basically an entire
mixing suite.
Overview:
The Neutron 2 mixing suite is arguably iZotope’s
most popular plugin. It includes six different
processors, including two compressors. These
compressors are extremely versatile, as they can be
incredibly transparent, but they also have available
a vintage mode for colouring purposes. If you use Neutron 2 in conjunction with Ozone 8, all your
mixing and mastering needs should be covered.
Pros Cons
• You get more than compressors with • If you’re only looking exclusively for
any edition. compressors, dedicated single plugins
might be a better choice as they’re not for
• Offers both transparent and colouring sale individually. You need to buy at least
compressors. one of the three editions.
 Compressors
Best Plugins:

Waves CLA Classic Compressors ($599)

Popular for: Used in multiple hit records for
years, they’re widely known for their unique
character both subtle and extreme.
Overview:
The Chris Lord‑Alge classic compressors are
Waves take on the legendary 2A, 3A, and the
1176. These analog hardware units have stood the test of time for a reason, as they’re incredible
coloring and dynamic control tools. Unlike the Native Instruments bundle, you could say that the
Waves bundle includes an “extra” fourth classic compressor, as the 1176 comes both in the
“black” and “bluey” edition. However, the differences between these editions aren’t big.
Pros Cons
• Great classic emulations • Extremely expensive even for
professional producers. Waiting for a sale
• Three different compressors in one is a good option.
bundle

Cytomic The Glue ($99)

Best Used For: Any mixing task that needs to be done, as the advanced
edition is basically an entire mixing suite.
Overview:
This compressor is one of the best emulations of the legendary SSL bus
compressor, with a slight modern approach. Ever heard of the term gluing
elements together? Well, the SSL bus compressor is the one that
basically originated this term. A must‑have plugin in your toolbox to
finalize any kind of mix, regardless of the genre.
Pros Cons
• One of the best glue compressors/SSL • No automatic make up gain. Some of
emulations in the market the emulations developed by competitors
have this function.
• Better UI compared to other
competitor’s emulations
• A free version made by Cytomic comes
with some versions of Ableton Live (Glue
Compressor)
 Compressors
Best Plugins:

Image Line Maximus (Free*)

Popular for: Maximizing audio levels
Overview:
Maximus is Image Line’s stock compressor/limiter/
maximizer plugin for FL Studio. It has 3 bands
available plus a master band, which applies even
extra compression to the final output. This plugin is
extremely powerful and it shouldn’t be overlooked
just because it wasn’t developed by a third party
company. (*Included free with FL Studio)
Pros Cons
• The fact that this plugin is incredibly • The workflow and UI may look a little bit
powerful and functional, yet free, makes it outdated compared to other maximizers
one of its biggest features. in the market.
• Great tool for the “loudness wars”

Xfer OTT (Free)

Best Used For: Heavy OTT‑type compression, sound design
Overview:
OTT was developed by Xfer Records and it’s basically a multiband
compressor that does specifically over‑the‑top compression. OTT
is a famous type of compression used by many dubstep and
electro producers and it has a very characteristic sound.

Pros Cons
• If you’re going for straight OTT • Can be a little bit harsh on the high end
compression, this plugin is designed It’s a very focused tool (OTT
specifically for it. It’s quicker than using compression), so it has fairly limited
any other multi‑band compressor. tweaking options.
• Incredibly intuitive in comparison to
other multiband compressors that have
OTT capabilities.