GOTO Compressor?

[r00n]

I enjoyed the goto delay thread so much that i thought i would ask one about compressors. Which vst compressor do you find most functional?

I always have trouble compressing piano nicely.. I play it quite dynamically and when i compress it it can often distort and leave some pretty bad artifacts.

Which is your goto compressor?

[theBadger]

Good question!

There are plenty of goto compressors for other instruments... vocals, guitars, basses and all kinds of drums... as well as track slammers, bus compressors, multiband dynamics processors and kick drum transient designers...

But I know of no single compressor that works well, every time, on taming the dynamics of a piano.

The instrument can have such a wide tonal and dynamic range, whist being capable of delicate subtlety when played well, that I have yet to find a comp that does it justice.

If anyone here knows of a compressor that can gently lift the pianissimo notes, reign in the wildest fortissimo notes, and leave everything else sounding natural; I'd like to hear from you.

tB.

[theBadger]

After some research I have discovered that the best compressor for piano is.....

Just about any compressor, operated by someone who REALLY knows how to use one.

So, if you are an expert in compressors for piano then me (and probably roon) would love to hear from you.

[Audi01]

Compressors compressors...lol

I think in reality (aside from hardware options?) it's almost impossible to have a GOTO compressor. For me, it really depends on the signals I'm sending to the compressor.

For example, a kick drum:

Compressor choice1: I have a sampled kick drum. The quality is decent and I am using it in mono. For this I might use the Sonalksis CQ1 Mono, or Waves C1 Mono, or even the BlueTubes CP2S-3 or FA770-3.
Compressor choice2: Same again but this time it is in stereo and I want to create a slighty different sound. For this I might use the Waves C4 or the Sonalksis CQ1 Stereo

I think getting to know the compressors and what they can do is important so the right one for the sound is used.


All that said, if I had to have one GOTO compressor, I would choose Waves C4. The versatility of this compressor is too big to pass up. The CQ1 Stereo is similar here but I'm still getting to know this one so I can't put it in the same bracket yet. These multiband compressors can be used like a single band and C4 can deal with transients further using it's limiter.

I'd vote the C4 but if I was forced to use it for everything it would make things very difficult

[dope]

my goto compressor for recording live shit is the RNC cheap and nothing is going to sound as nice unless you get over that 1200 dollar mark.
once its in the box my go to software compressors are the PSP vintage warmer and the Softube Tube-Tech CL 1B

compressors are weird animals....
some dont sound like there doing shit... and there probably not.
some squash the living shit out of it and make it sound dead as hell.
the trick is to find what works best for you...

i dont think there is anyone that could be an expert with every compressor.
its just getting good with a couple of them that really counts.

[agex]

After some research I have discovered that the best compressor for piano is.....

Just about any compressor, operated by someone who REALLY knows how to use one.

lol, so true

I'm not a professiona aand i don't know if i use compressor correctly.
I like izotope ozone 5 (not only the compressor, but also the maximizer and reverb). IMO very good quality vst. Sounds great

I also like the ableton live compressor. It's different from other compressors I have used. With this compressor i have more control over the sound produced. I instantly hear changes. It's even great to modify samples to sound completly different. With this compressor i was able to create the best drum i ever had.

Greetz
agey