UsetheAttackandReleaseknobstodialinthedesiredtimes.Thisisthebiggestproblem
usersofconventionalcompressorsareconfrontedwith.Toremedyit,theT-COMPworks
withatypeofprogram-dependentcontrolfortheattackandreleasetimes,afeaturethat
youcanactivatebypressingtheAdaptivebutton.Theattackandreleasetimesthatour
engineerschosearefastenoughtohandlepercussivematerial.Ifcertainpartsofasignal
fadeinandoutslowly—inotherwords,ifithascertainpassageswithlengthyattack
andreleasetimes—theT-COMPwilladaptitsattackandreleasetimesaccordinglyto
ensurethebestpossibleprocessingresults.
WhereastheAdaptivecircuitmayatfirstglanceresembletheautomatedmodeofsomeof
themorepopularautomaticcompressors,intermsoffunctionality,itactuallyout-performs
thesebyaconsiderablemargin.Whenyou'redealingwithanautomaticcompressor,the
controlsgoverningattackandreleasetimesaredisabled.WiththeT-COMPontheother
hand,thesearealwaysenabledandatyourdisposal.Thismeansthatyoucansetthe
attackandreleasetimesmanuallysothatthedevicewilldeliverexactlythekindof
compressionyouhaveinmind.Inaddition,T-COMPautomaticallyfine-tunesyoursettings
tomatchthegivenmusicalmaterial.Thecompressorgivesyouthebestofbothworlds:
Youhavethecreativeleewaytodefinethecompressionasyouseefit,whileatthesame
time,theautomatedfunctionalityfreesyouoftedioustechnicalconsiderations.
Youcanfocusonthemusicthatyou'reworkingwithandthecreativeprocessofshaping
itviatheT-COMP.
1.4 Filter
TheFilterbuttonactivatesacertaincompressionmodeinwhichtheamountof
compressiongeneratedbythedevicedependsonthefrequencycontentofthesignal.
Afilterisinsertedintothecontrolcircuit,usuallycalledasidechain,ratherthanthe
signalchain.Itcompelsthecompressortoresponddifferentlytodifferentfrequencies.
Thefilterisnotinthesignalpathitself,andsoithasabsolutelynoinfluenceonthe
frequencyresponseortimbreofthesignal;insteaditjustgovernshowthecompressor
responds!Whilewewereintheprocessofdesigningthisfilter,welistenedcarefullyto
theinputofprofessionalsoundengineers.Theymadethepointthatintherealworld,
bass-heavysignalstendtoevokeexcessivecompression.Forthisreason,wetunedthe
filtersothatthecompressorrespondslessaggressivelytolowerfrequencies,thereby
deliveringresultsthataremuchclosertotheway thehumanhearnaturally
"compresses"signals.
Whenthefilterisactivated,youwillnotethatthecompressionseemsmorebalanced,with
silky,shimmeringhighsandimprovedtopendresponse.Thefilterwasoptimizedforvocal
signals,butifyouexperimentwithacousticinstruments,youcan alsocomeupwithgreat
results.Italsoworkswondersforcomplexmastermixes.
1.5Tubes
Thetwoonboardtubesdefinitelymakeupwhatcouldbecalledthe"soul"ofthe
compressor;theyhaveaconsiderableinfluenceonitssound.UsetheTubeSatknobtodial
invariablesaturationlevels.Thisknobgivesyouprecisioncontrolovertheamountof
overtonesthatthetubesgenerate.Inthelowerendofthecontrolrange,fewovertones
aregenerated.Asyouturntheknobclockwise,theovertonecontentincreasesslightly,
whichallowsyoutomakeextremelysubtleadjustments.Onceyouturntheknobbeyond
thetwelveo'clockposition,thetubes reallystarttogotowork.Whenyouturnitwide
open,you'lldefinitelyhearsomedistortioninthesignal.Normally,ifyoucompressa
signalheavily,itslevelisdecreased.Lowerlevelsdon'tdrivethetubeashard,leavingit
withoutthematerialitneedstoworkitsmagic.Wecompensatedforthisphenomenonby
installingacircuitwherethecompressedsignal,dependingontheThresholdsettingthat
youdialin,isautomaticallyboostedbackuptoasuitablelevel.
Whenyoudialinhigherlevelsofsaturation,keepthisinmind:although theTubeSatknob
settingandthresholdplayamajorroleindeterminingtheamountofharmonicsthatare
generated,signallevelplaysakeyroleaswell.Inordertoachieveaconsistentovertone
structurewhen thesignalisonthevergeofclipping,youshouldexperimentwithhigher
compressionratiosinorderto"prep"thesignaloptimallyforthetube.Whenyoudialin
theappropriatesettings,compressionandtubesaturationmeshtoahomogeneouswhole,
whichwillgiveyourtracksjusttherightsheen.
Thelight-emittingdiodelocatedbelowthetubewindowgivesyouagoodvisual reference
fortheeffect.Whenthetubeentersthesaturationzone,thecolouroftheLEDwillchange
fromgreentoyellow.Whenyoustartpushingthetubeharder,theLEDwillturnred.Ifat
thispointyoudrivethetubeevenharder,itwillgenerateaudibledistortion.
IftheRatioknobissettothefarleftposition,thedynamicsofthesignalarenot
processedatallbecausethecompressionratioremainsat1:1.Inordertodeactivatethe
compressorfully,youmustalsoturntheThresholdknobtothefarleftposition.Although
ataratioof1:1,thecompressorindeedhasnoeffectonthecharacteristicsofthesignal,
thecircuitmentionedearlier—theonethatbooststhesignalbeforeitisroutedtothe
tube—remainsactive.
Obviously,themoreconvenientoptionfordeactivatingthecompressoristosimplyswitch
theCompOnbuttonoff.Thisisagoodhabittogetinto:Whenyouleavethesettingsas
theyare,youcanswitchthecircuitryoffandonandgetagoodA/Bcomparisonbetween
thecompressedanduncompressedsignals.
2 Control Features
Withtheexceptionoftheinputselectorandthelevelmeterbuttons,eachoftheT-COMP's
channelsisequippedwithasetofdedicatedcontrols.
2.1 Input and Output Sections
DigiIn:Thisbuttonactivatesthedigitalinput.
IftheoptionalDI-MODdigitalinterfacehasn'tbeen
installed,thedigital inputisofcourseunavailable.
InputGain:AdjusttheinputleveloftheT-COMPhere.Thisknob'ssettingaffectsallinputs.
LEDLadder:ThisLEDmeterindicatestheleveloftheinputoroutputsignal,dependingon
thestatusoftheOutputtoDisp.button.TheyellowLEDsindicatetheheadroomofthe
T-COMP,theredLEDstheamountofdistortion.
OutputtoDisp.:Thisbuttonswitchesthelevelmetersothatitdisplayseithertheinputor
outputsignal.
CompOn:TurnstheT-COMP’scompressioneffecton.Whenyouswitchtheeffectoff,the
inputsignalisrouteddirectlytothedevice'soutput.
OutputLevel:Controlstheoutputleveloftheprocessedsignal.Whentheeffectis
switchedoff,thisknobhasnoinfluenceonthesignal.SincetheknobOutputLevel
influencesthewetorprocessedsignalexclusively,youcanuseittosettheprocessed
signaltothesamelevelastheunprocessedsignal.Thebestpossiblewaytojudgehow
thecompressorisaffectingthesignalissimplybyswitchingtheeffectsoffandonand
comparingthedryandwetsignals.
TubeSat:Controlstubesaturationwithinthecompressorforallsignalswhichexceedthe
thresholdvalue.Thehigherthisknobisturnedup,themoreharmonicovertonesare
generated.
SatLED:ThistricolorLEDindicatesthetubesaturationstatus.Innormaloperation,itwill
lightupgreen.Assoonasthetubeisdrivenhardenoughsothatitisslightlysaturated,
theLEDchangesitscolortoyellow.Whendriventoohard,thetubeproducesaudible
distortionandtheLEDturnsred.
MindPrintT-Comp
