23-12-2016, 06:40 PM
When the attack times get short, the big difficulty is usually sourcing current to charge the capacitor. Especially in the high-impedance environment that is the norm around valve equipment. It's possible that the mod involved an emitter follower. Especially if it wasn't practical to increase the resistance in the release time part of the circuit.
Also, this compressor is a feedback type. Most modern types are feed-forward. Diagram showing the difference is here: https://www.gearslutz.com/board/attachme...re-1-1.jpg
The trouble with feedback compressors is that they need the output to change before they apply gain reduction, so overshoot on transients is common. Yet another challenge in achieving a fast attack time.
While I'd be amazed if Lawrence didn't know (or couldn't work out from the diagram) what a compressor does, he might not appreciate their importance in the recording process. And of course, every FM radio station uses multiband compression at the output, prior to the transmitters (think: Optimod). They are powerful tools that, when used correctly, can really "make" a recording (or, in the case of FM radio, maximise the limited performance of the FM transmission medium). However, the history of recorded sound is littered with examples of badly applied compression, and a quick scan of the FM dial will give plenty of examples of badly configured Optimods. Such is life...
Also, this compressor is a feedback type. Most modern types are feed-forward. Diagram showing the difference is here: https://www.gearslutz.com/board/attachme...re-1-1.jpg
The trouble with feedback compressors is that they need the output to change before they apply gain reduction, so overshoot on transients is common. Yet another challenge in achieving a fast attack time.
While I'd be amazed if Lawrence didn't know (or couldn't work out from the diagram) what a compressor does, he might not appreciate their importance in the recording process. And of course, every FM radio station uses multiband compression at the output, prior to the transmitters (think: Optimod). They are powerful tools that, when used correctly, can really "make" a recording (or, in the case of FM radio, maximise the limited performance of the FM transmission medium). However, the history of recorded sound is littered with examples of badly applied compression, and a quick scan of the FM dial will give plenty of examples of badly configured Optimods. Such is life...
