Waves VComp, higher ratio means increased gain?

[k4rrjin]

I am trying the Waves VComp on a very peaky snare that's hitting all over the place and to really clamp down on it, I increased the ratio to lower the dynamic range, right? When I increase the ratio to 4:1 and 6:1, not touching anything else, I can see the peaks hitting HIGHER judging by Logic's channel level-meter outside of vcomp!

I checked the manual but could not find anything about this. Is that a "feature" of the neve comp or what is going on?

[joninc]

i am not 100% positive how Vcomps ratios work but i have found that on 1176s and SSL comps - sometimes lower ratios are more "grabby" than higher ones....

seems counter intuitive but its true!

on my Mohog76 i tend to favor 8:1 over 4:1 for that reason. it's more subtle.

[Injured Ear]

As the VComp and the 2254 it's modeled after don't have adjustable threshold controls (much like the 1176 referenced above) it is possible that the threshold gets higher at higher ratios.

If you want more compression, dial in more input gain and back off the output gain.

[tjcasey1]

I've only had experience with software compressors/limiters, but I've noticed that some have separate threshold and gain knobs, while others automatically boost the gain as you lower the threshold. If the latter is occurring, you can simply back off the level of the track after the fact.

The actual peaks may be louder if your attack is set to a slow setting because the peaks may be getting through before the compression kicks in.

[Injured Ear]

Also, I feel the original poster's pain with regards to the "peaky and all over the place" snare. I have been there before and will be there sooner than I'd like, I'm sure.

Are you using the limiter in the lower left side of the V Comp as well? You can dial in some interesting combinations of compression and limiting using both sets controls.

Also, I would lean towards the fastest release times (100ms/400ms) on the V Comp as the longer (and auto) settings are generally more suited towards vocals and mix buss. (and I happen to like fast release times on my drum compressors)

[Nick Sevilla]

I am trying the Waves VComp on a very peaky snare that's hitting all over the place and to really clamp down on it, I increased the ratio to lower the dynamic range, right? When I increase the ratio to 4:1 and 6:1, not touching anything else, I can see the peaks hitting HIGHER judging by Logic's channel level-meter outside of vcomp!

I checked the manual but could not find anything about this. Is that a "feature" of the neve comp or what is going on?

The RATIO is how much the input signal needs to get louder, in order for a 1dB increase at the output to happen.

Case in point:

A 2:1 RATIO means that the input has to get 2dB louder for the output to get 1dB louder.

A 10:1 RATIO means that the input has to get 10dB louder for the output to get 1dB louder.

It has absolutely NOTHING to do with the signals' attack or sonic characteristics, only with how loud it is going into the compressor.

The VCOMP is an emulation of the venerated Neve 2254 compressor. I have used both for many years. They work identically, although the hardware units generally sound different, depending on the age of their innards.

You mention that the snare is "very peaky snare that's hitting all over the place" which I am going to translate into :

"an inconsistent drummer with loud and soft snare hits, which are unpredictable as to when they are loud or soft."

Is that more accurate?

In this case you will need TWO devices. One, a compressor, to bring consistency to the BACK END of the signal. And a LIMITER to bring the ATTACKS of the snare under control, but not too much that it becomes shitty sounding.

For this you can use the VCOMP, and before it, or after it, a limiter. I typically do NOT use the Limiter function of the VCOMP compressor, I prefer to use a more utilitarian thing, the Avid factory Limiter/Compressor. This way I can really dial in the limiting function in much better detail. You have Logic Pro, so it should have a native Logic compressor / limiter plug in. Use that to shape the attack envelope of the snare a little, until it is more to your liking.

Cheers