gain meter jumps even with compression

[Riker]

Greetings.

I have scenario that I would like to ask some advice about. I am the sound engineer for a local band and I am using an SQ-6. The guitar player uses a Quad Cortex amp modeler connected to SQ input via XLR. I put his output volume at 80 (out of 100) and on the SQ-6 I have the preamp gain at about 10db in order to get the majority of the signal in the green, as close to 0 as possible. He uses quite a bit of compression on his sound (on the Quad Cortex), country chicken picking with a Telecaster. When he’s strumming etc. channel meter looks good, but when he leans in to the picking part the meter jump up to +10db in the Yellow, once in a while will even hit +12. If I reduce the gain, the singer complains he can’t hear the guitar. So, I also put a compressor on the guitar channel. 1176 style, with a 12-1 ratio, fast attack, fast release and just enough input to “catch the peaks”. The compressor does engage on those “picking” parts, but the channel meter still jumping like crazy.

So, am I doing something wrong, or that’s the way it is and don’t worry ? It does NOT clip but with significant compression at source, plus my own channel compression I would expect the meters to be stable and not jump more than +3 .. that is not the case. I know.. mix with your ears not your eyes but it bothers me to see the meter get so high.

Should I have his Quad Cortex, or any other Line Level device for that matter, set to 100 full volume and not use any Preamp Gain ?

Again, maybe this is all fine.. but I don’t like to see the channel meter jump to +10 or more, when the majority of the time it’s at 0 ish.

Thank you

[SQuser]

> gain meter
> When he’s strumming etc. channel meter looks good
> The compressor does engage on those “picking” parts, but the channel meter still jumping like crazy.

It sounds like you’re always measuring at the same source.
Could that be?
What are your gain meter and your channel meter?

Otherwise: You yourself write that you should mix with your ears.
Perhaps you should just allow the instruments more dynamics.
I could well imagine that perhaps these peaks in picking are the icing on the cake.

[SteffenR]

Picking is full of transients.
If the compressor on the Cortex is set with long attack, it will not affect the transient sounds of the picking.

[Brian]

According to the block diagram in the user manual, the input channel meter is located after all channel processing. Therefore it should reflect the effect of the compressor.

There are two things that I think are playing into the situation you are seeing……

First, you need to keep in mind that the compressor’s meter and the channel’s meter likely have different velocities, reaction times, and other internal settings that affect how they visually display the signal. This means the fact that the compressor might show a reduction of 10db doesn’t mean that the channel meter would also show the exact same 10db affect at the exact same moment in time. It could be the compressor meter is “behind” the actual output of the compressor – especially when the compressor is set with with very fast release times.

That leads me to the second point….. I think your compressor settings are such that it isn’t compressing hard enough and long enough for the channel meter to really be affected by it. The 1176 is a very fast acting compressor and with a “fast release time”, it could be that the compressor is releasing so quickly that the channel meter isn’t really being affected by the compressor. Combined with the fact that you are only trying to “catch the peaks” and that leaves a lot of room for the input to actually increase in volume. As a test, I suspect if you lengthen the release time and/or increase the threshold of the compressor, you will find that the channel meter begins to act more like you expect.

In the end, you have to realize that meters are just a tool. Furthermore, the meter’s velocities, reaction times, and other internal settings absolutely change how the meter reacts to a signal. Some of the higher end A&H systems allow a user to tweak some of these settings and you can wildly change how the meter looks/reacts to the same exact signal. Therefore your ears are the most important tool you have at your disposal and you should always trust your ears more than the meters. The meters are a helpful tool, but they shouldn’t be considered “perfect” by any stretch of the meaning.

[Author]

Posts