In addition, digital compressors usually offer incremental control of every parameter imaginable, as well as the ability to store settings for later recall. Perhaps the biggest benefit of working with digital compressors is the ability to stay in the digital domain. If you’re working with a digital audio workstation or digital mixer, there are strong arguments for not re-entering the analog circuits. Most importantly, by staying in the digital domain, you avoid the signal degradation and distortion caused by multiple conversions.

If you’re considering buying a hardware digital compressor, make sure it has great-sounding A/D and D/A converters. It’s also helpful if the software is upgradeable through user-installable EPROM, CD-ROM, or some other user-friendly method. In addition, you should insist on a box with a word clock input. Without word clock inputs, you will be limited to using only one digital compressor at a time.

The jack-of-all-trades Arboretum Systems Ionizer is a cost-effective plug-in for digital audio workstations that offers killer splitband compression.

The main reasons to buy a software digital compressor are easy upgrade capability and less hassles with dither and jitter—key considerations in yet another vast and controversial subject that I don’t have space here to discuss. Suffice it to say that working within a self-contained digital environment (such as a DAW)—as opposed to patching together peripheral digital devices—can simplify things a great deal.

The biggest concern with all digital compressors, of course—both software and hardware based—is audio quality. Quite frankly, until just a few years ago, most of the digital compressors on the market sounded terrible. They would just suck the air out of any audio they processed and then spit out dull, lifeless tracks with no top end or depth. That, however, is changing rapidly. Although there are still relatively few digital compressors to rave about, some truly singular ones stand out.

Because I usually work with digital compressors only when mastering, I can speak authoritatively in that context only. The compressors in the Alesis Masterlink ML-9600 Master Disk Recorder ($1,699) sound outstanding. In DAW, the Waves Renaissance Compressor (sold as part of the Renaissance Collection bundle—$300 for the Native version and $600 for TDM) and Arboretum Systems Ionizer ($499 for the MAS version) are extremely transparent compressors. Ionizer offers great splitband compression and other dynamics processing, as well as EQ and noise reduction.

Fresh Squeezed
Clearly, it’s important to choose the right compressor for the job at hand. One thing I learned from years of working with various compressors is it’s not so much the design but the execution of the design that makes a compressor good or bad for a specific application. Be wary of any generalizations about compressors. We’ve all heard, for example, that opto-electrical compressors provide transparent and natural-sounding compression—as if that were a given. But the fact is, some optos do and some don’t. As always in audio, it’s the sound that counts, not the hype.

Hopefully, this article not only opened your eyes to the wide, wonderful world of compression but also has helped you steer an easier course through the labyrinth of compressor types, features, applications, and models. Deft and artful compression takes time and experience to master, of course. Naturally, as with any other discipline, practice makes perfect. So go forth and squeeze!

Click on the following popup links for more information about
—"Quick Guide for Setting a Compressor's Parameters"
—"Settings for Great Sounds from Compressors"
—"Quick Reference Guide to Compressor"
—"Compressor Manufacturers Guide ".

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Reprinted with permission from Magazine, February, 2001
© 2001, Intertec Publishing, A Primedia Company All Rights Reserved