The Studio VCA has potential to do a lot of useful saturation when you push it, but adds no additional noise artifacts. Some places on the Internet label this as a very clean algorithm, but that's not quite true. The only other circuit type that has this function is the Vintage Opto, which has a (sort of) RMS approach to detection.įirst of all, this is an example of why it's prudent to examine an algorithm and not make too many assumptions. RMS uses an averaged window in the detection circuit which means it's potentially a good choice for smoothing out overall levels rather than shape or control peak energy. Platinum Digital is the only circuit with selectable RMS/peak detection. This means it's good at pulling up low level information under certain circumstances, mainly in peak mode since the RMS mode is offset quite a lot. Something similar can be seen with the Waves Renaissance Compressor in Electro mode. The Platinum Digital appears to have a non-linear release time that lets go more quickly of the signal at lower levels of gain reduction. In that case you'll need something like the FabFilter Pro-C2. However, a the lack of an adjustable look-ahead parameter in the Logic Compressor can be problematic when doing instant external side-chain ducking. For the same reason it can work well in peak mode for external side-chain applications where you don't want to hear the sound of the compressor itself. Overall, the Platinum Digital is very clean and obviously a good choice if you want things un-colored. Of course I could have done separate waveforms for all the spectrograms, but I was lazy. This is clearly visible on the spectrograph instead. However, there's sustained (and again, expected) 3rd harmonic saturation, but it's obscured by the waveform in the spectrogram. The spectrogram shows a short initial burst of distortion which is not surprising on the transient of the test bleep when the compressor is doing a fair amount of quick compression. The first one below is a good example of why I've included both the spectrogram (1 kHz) and spectrograph (50 Hz). While I did test the RMS mode in the Platinum Digital it's quite different and has a large offset which means it needs to be examined separately. My initial interest in doing this was become someone claimed there were no discernible differences between the algorithms. The compressors have been set up to match each other as closely as possible, both by sound and especially by measurement, not by nominal values, which can be misleading due to offsets. These test have been done by using a baseline and by measuring null test residue. Spectrographs = Show the harmonic saturation in a different way (peak energy) and where it isn't partly obscured by the waveform in the spectrogram. Spectrograms = Show the waveform envelope + a spectrogram reading which shows the harmonic saturation (over time) and its relation to the amount of compression. For now, here are some screen grabs that could help you understand the info in the PDF better. I'm working on the graphs, but that could take some time. if you find anything wrong, difficult to understand, unclear or a typo. I'm very interested in comments, especially critical comments, i.e. This way I can always keep things updated, if necessary. Please don't upload this PDF anywhere else, but feel free to link (directly) to it on my server or to this thread. This PDF won't replace your ears, but if you wonder what's going on in the different circuit types in the Compressor then you might find a clue in this PDF. It's a fairly technical "cheat sheet", more of an overview of what goes on in the algorithms behind the scenes, really.Īs far as I know there are no resources anywhere on the Internet (or in the manual) that contain these specific details about the LPX Compressor. A lot of experimenting, null testing and comparing. I did this by measuring harmonics using a spectrograph and a spectrogram as well as analyzing the waveform envelope. I spent some time measuring and experimenting with the different circuit types in the Logic Pro X Compressor.
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