mothershout Posted September 15 Share Posted September 15 Perhaps this is off-topic, because it's not necessarily a request for help... I'm putting a stock Logic compressor in place. I set the ratio and threshold, and then tweak the make-up gain. As a check, I look at the input and output levels to see that they're pretty much the same. And I'm reminded that I really dislike the way that the level meters are on opposite sides of the damn compressor window. This is possibly an age thing; I'm 58, and my vision isn't as sharp as it was. I also need a moment to focus when I rapidly switch my gaze from one point to another, and those factors mean that it's really quite difficult to watch the levels on those two widely separated meters. I sometimes fall back to putting level meters ahead and behind the compressor and stacking them next to each other on the screen, but that's really overkill for what should be a simple operation. Does anyone have any other solutions that they use for this? (And yes, I can already hear the comments of learn to use your ears, but sometimes you really do want to match the levels better than I can hear a 3-4dB difference on brief transient sounds!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
des99 Posted September 15 Share Posted September 15 (edited) Maybe you should invest in one or more third-party compressor plugins that more closely matches your requirements, instead of using the Logic one, if it's really a workflow impediment, and turning the compressor on/off and watching the single channel meter doesn't suffice? The market isn't short of them, and I'm sure people will recommend some if necessary. Edited September 15 by des99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mothershout Posted September 15 Author Share Posted September 15 Sure, I could spend some money to work around this, but the stock Logic compressors are pretty good, except for this one UI issue that bugs me, and I'd like to continue using them. Bypassing the compressor and watching the track level is something I've tried, and on a track of long sustained notes it works well enough, but for transient notes of different levels it's trickier. But thanks for the suggestion! Another workaround is to use a GainMatcher (which I already own) to tell me the level difference from before to after the compressor, and tweak the makeup gain so that the matcher reports no difference. Which is really what I'd like to be able to do with my own eyes 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
des99 Posted September 15 Share Posted September 15 (edited) 26 minutes ago, mothershout said: Sure, I could spend some money to work around this, but the stock Logic compressors are pretty good, except for this one UI issue that bugs me, and I'd like to continue using them. The point I was making is that if the Logic comp really is causing a workflow issue, and the comp's design can't be changed, your only real options are to find a way to live with it, or use something else. Or use your ears better (I know, I saw your disclaimer! 🙂 ) - you should be able to tell level differences pretty well by toggling in and out of bypass. And if the difference is such that your ears can't tell - does it matter? Unless the point is to be a bit OCD about the number ("oh no, the compressed version is reported 0.3dB quieter, what to do!" etc). A real problem these days is that we have so much visual feedback, it's really easy to prioritise this over the *point* of the work, which is how it sounds. Anyway, there aren't real easy solutions to this. Spending $30-50 or whatever on a comp that works for you and has workflow benefits may well be a good investment. Or maybe you find you don't really care 50 bucks-worth about it, when it comes to the crunch..! 😉 Edited September 15 by des99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mania Posted September 16 Share Posted September 16 The needle shows you the gain reduction amount. You don't necessarily need to compare the input/output level. If you have a good amount of reduction and you are satisfied with the sound, the job is done. Doesn't matter what the input/output level shows. Later you will use the fader on that channel to mix in the signal with other elements in the song. Maybe i am missing something, but level meters before and after the compressor is pretty much useless to me. The goal is to even out the sound source without clipping within the compressor. (Watch the in and out so it is not in the red/gain staging). Later you just mix in the sound with other elements of the song that are also evened out by other compressors. I think the Logic compressor is quite good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
des99 Posted September 16 Share Posted September 16 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Mania said: The needle shows you the gain reduction amount. You don't necessarily need to compare the input/output level. If you have a good amount of reduction and you are satisfied with the sound, the job is done Yep, this is what I generally do. If I'm hitting up to 3dB of gain reduction, I'm usually adding ~3dB of makeup gain, trimming it a little by ear if I feel I can get more in the ballpark of where I want to be by toggling bypass on/off. I'm virtually never comparing input and output meters, generally, although I might check them to adjust input and output levels if I want to better gain match a signal on the way in or out. Edited September 16 by des99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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