Ableton Forum

While I find all of the effects bundled with Live quite interesting and nice sounding, the compressor sounds just horrible. Actually, it's not all that bad, although I find the best use out of this compressor is when using the preset simply called 'compressor' and not touch it beyond that. If I try to set my own parameters, it just sounds like rubbish.
The moment you see any gain reduction on the meter, your signal has lost it's air. Raise the attack and it sounds like it's buried, raise the threshold and clipping occurs.

I've been using compressors for a few years and usually know my way around them but this one has me pegged. Perhaps you have some tips on using this particular one?

I use the compressor on acoustic guitars and it sounds very good. I am not having the problems you are describing but I also heard other users complaining about it. But again, I really like the sound of the compressor and for my acoustic guitars it sounds very smooth.

good luck. trust your ears, forget about technical blabla

I do trust my ears, and I do admit that it often sounds really good when not touching any of the parameters. I just wish it were a bit more flexible of a compressor, where 'pump' simply means 'pump', not 'kill'.
Cheers.

hi,

I can send you the patch if you want.