Live7 Compressors - are they the same?

punkdISCO · Post by **punkdISCO** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 3:23 pm

Hi all - are the 3 compressors bundled with Live the same? I know only I and II can have sidechaining but I cant find any information about their actual sound/characteristics. Are they different?

Thanks

PS: Only upgrade a few days ago and very impressed!!

Lo-Fi Massahkah · Post by **Lo-Fi Massahkah** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 3:47 pm

The section on Compressor in the manual is rather good. I learned quite a few things when I read it.

-M

punkdISCO · Post by **punkdISCO** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 6:21 pm

Lo-Fi Massahkah wrote:The section on Compressor in the manual is rather good. I learned quite a few things when I read it.

Yes, the manual was the first place I looked (obviously) but it only has one line on the models:

"The latest incarnation of the Compressor effect merges the functionality of the former Compressor I and Compressor II devices into a single unit, and adds additional functionality such as external sidechaining, adjustable knee, more EQ options, an improved peak mode, and a new feedback model, which is lovingly based on some classic hardware compressors."

So, is it literally just one single compressor but the browser has Compressor I and II presets? Or are they actually 3 different engines? Im pretty sure it’s the former and Live has one compressor that is now in its third incarnation (as stated in the manual), after all they do all look the same and even have the same title. But (and I should have mentioned this) dropping, say, the 1976 preset onto a track and this version has the Sidechain option greyed out slightly. It still works but its just a different colour..

Its probably just a slight GUI hitch..

Machinate · Post by **Machinate** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 6:26 pm

Hey

The legacy Compressor I and Compressor II really did sound differently, due to different algorithms. Also, the new FB feedback mode is in there too, for a total of three.

A good thing is that you can now do A/B testing just by switching back and forth between modes.

I find Compressor I to be quite harsh and brutish (which I like), so I use that mode for squashing.