Extensive compressor reviews and FAQ

 
Parallel (blended) compression:
 
You'll see some compressors with a "blend" knob, or read about certain recording engineers using parallel compression, and perhaps you'll wonder "what's the point?" since mixing the compressed signal with the original uncompressed signal essentially undoes some of the effect of the compressor. Fair question!
 
The idea is that sometimes you may want the thickening or increased sustain that can be gotten with compression, but you may not like the way it flattens your dynamic peaks. Sometimes those peaks are what gives your sound its "feel", its sense of depth, power, or vitality. So blending can be a good compromise.
 
One method is to use two mixer channels: take an aux loop send from the original "dry" signal, run it into a compressor, and run the output of the comp into its own mixer channel. Another approach is if you have an amp with a parallel effects loop. Such a loop may have an obvious blend percentage knob, but in some cases the only way to know if an effects loop runs in parallel is to read the manual. In either case, mixer loop or amp loop, be sure to choose a compressor that will operate correctly at the levels those specific loops were designed for.
 
The other method is to use a comp that has a blend built in. There are increasing numbers of those, especially in pedal form. Some, like the Barber Tone Press, blend the whole frequency range; while others, like the Seymour Duncan Double Back, have the option of blending in only part of the frequency range, like highs or mids. Some rack comps, like the Focusrite Compounder, blend in some uncompressed lows in order to make the bottom end sound bigger. Others may use a sidechain EQ for a similar effect, as with dbx's "contour" control.
 
Low frequency notes tend to have bigger amplitude spikes, so the trick is to let them be big enough to sound full and strong, while controlling them enough that they don't cause clipping in your amp or mixer. Compression is all about compromise, and blending is all about compromise; so the bottom line about blended compression is you have to experiment with it and find the right balance of compromises, to find out whether it suits your tastes and does what you want.

 
 
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