SSL Bus Comp - higher comp with lower ratio !?

1

Hi everyone
Quick question here because I’m confused about the behaviour of the SSL Bus Comp.
I put it at the end of my chain, to compress my mix.
Slow attack, fast release, ratio 10 -> I’m getting 1,2 db reduction.
Slow attack, fast release, ratio 2 -> I’m getting more reduction ! And can hear it too !

Am I missing something ?

ratio2
ratio2451×673 223 KB
ratio10
ratio10452×674 244 KB

2

I think you’ll find it is the shape of the knee, either side of the threshold.

3

Hi @Gggreggg welcome to the Waves Forum! :slight_smile:

@mattrixx is right.

The gain reduction meter of the SSL G-Master Buss will show more reduction when set to 2:1 than when set to 10:1 (or 4:1).

This is because it exercises a soft knee at lower ratio values and a hard knee at higher ratio values.

This is not exclusive to this compressor. Many comps are designed so the lower the ratio the wider the Knee so more of the signal will pass the threshold.

In the following picture, you can see a hard knee and a soft knee compression curves, as you can see the threshold point is lower in the green soft knee curve.

image

:slight_smile:

3 Likes
4

Yeah what Omry said.

The way the SSL knee works is a bit different. Changing the ratio affects the knee shape, but it also affects the threshold I believe as well. It always pay to adjust the threshold when comparing and use the A/B function to compare.