ProTools 3.0It is possible to generate the system entirely in software using ProTools with TDM. The main advantage is that the DSP compressors add far less noise and distortion than their analogue counterparts. The only disadvantage is that limited gain reduction is available on the gentler slopes.Two mono tracks are used as a stereo pair and are fed to two stereo auxiliaries which run in parallel . Because the compressor takes a finite amount of time to implement in DSP, one must be inserted into each of these auxilaries to ensure there is no time delay between them. Setting the faders is very simple. Set the attack and release at 5 mS and 300 mS respectively, the threshold at -56 and the ratio at 2:1. The output is set at +8. This means that the dBsc scale is 8 dB higher than in the analogue implementation. The aux channel fader's set-point for 1 dB of Side Chain compression is -10 dB. The master is set at -1 dB. These settings give 4 dB of boost at a -32 dB threshold. The main signal path can be limited or compressed if you need to control the absolute peak level. It is also possible to feed input to output through the two aux channels. This allows real time processing of digital or analogue sources. The effect as set up appears in the output path and can be monitored during recording to assess its effect and then altered later if required. |