Development Articles, Tutorials & More

Makeup gain, input gain and output gain all live on a compressor and all do different jobs. Here’s what each one is for.

Attack and release control how a compressor reacts over time. Here’s what they do, how they change the sound, and how to set them.

Vari-mu compressors are the oldest design and still the smoothest. Here’s how the tube circuit works, how it sounds, and where to use it.

The knee decides how gently a compressor starts working. Here’s the difference between hard and soft knee, and how to set it for each source.

How to pick the right compressor and settings for any source, with a quick-reference list of starting points per instrument.

Optical compressors are slow, smooth and musical. Here’s how they work, what they sound like, and when to reach for one.

Threshold decides when a compressor starts working. Here’s what it controls, where to set it, and how it interacts with ratio and gain.

VCA compressors are the clean, precise workhorses of mixing. Here’s how they work, how they sound, and where to use them.