User Manual

THE MAIN MIXER
357
Master Compressor section
The Master Compressor is perfect for providing the final “fairy dust” to your mix. It can add punch and cohesion, and
generally make the mix sound bigger and more powerful. The compressor is very straightforward in operation and
features make-up gain as well as program-adaptive Release.
The Master Compressor can be applied pre or post Master Insert section - see “Master Inserts section”.
The parameters are as follows:
|
Parameter
|
Description
|
Range
On button Activates/deactivates the Master Compressor.
Meter The meter shows the amount of gain reduction in dB. 0dB - 20dB
Threshold This sets the level at which onset of compression occurs. The lower the Threshold,
the more compression will be applied.
-30dB to 0dB
Ratio Ratio specifies the amount of gain reduction applied to signal levels above the set
threshold. A 2:1 compression ratio effectively means that a signal level 2dB above
threshold will have a signal gain of 1dB.
Fixed Ratios:
2:1 / 4:1 / 10:1
Attack This governs how quickly the Master Compressor will react when signals rise above
the set threshold.
Fixed settings (in ms):
0.1 / 0.3 / 1 / 3 / 10 / 30
Release When the signal level drops below the set threshold, this determines how long it
takes before the compressor lets the sound through unaffected.
If set to “Auto”, the Release time will be program adaptive, so if longer peaks occur
the Release time is automatically increased.
Fixed settings (in s):
0.1 / 0.3 / 0.6 / 1.2 /Auto
Make-Up Make-Up gain compensates for level reduction caused by compression and helps
maintain a steady output level.
-5dB to 15dB
KEY button/External
Side Chain
When a cable is connected to the Sidechain inputs on the back of the Master Section
device, the KEY button is activated automatically and the Master Compressor will
now be triggered by the external signal instead of the master bus signal. When a
sidechain source is connected you can turn the KEY button off to monitor the side-
chain signal.
See “Using compression sidechaining” for a description of how sidechaining can be
used.