FMiguelez wrote: ↑Tue Jan 17, 2023 6:10 am
James Steele wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 3:23 pm
FMiguelez wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 3:15 pmBy true duck mode I mean it would reduce the level without
compressing the signal but simply lower it to a set amount (say -3 dB) as if you were manually riding the channel fader. For certain applications, it sounds better and more natural.
Funny you say this. Your comment just posted as I was posting my last comment pretty much arriving at the same conclusion. In some cases, a more basic level adjustment is going to sound better. When I tried using Kirchhoff EQ dynamically, in my particular application, I could here the EQ notch "returning to zero" and that "movement" became distracting once I listened carefully and became aware of it. As I said in my post... might be better in certain cases to use a static EQ and notch certain frequencies and use bypass automation so you don't hear the "travel" as the EQ curve changes.
Exactly. Once you hear the effect it's hard to un-hear it. Did you still hear it too much in the context of the full mix or soloed? These effects are usually best when they are used just a little, as a polishing touch, and even in stages. Anything more than a few dB of reduction and they become obvious.
I could hear it even in a full mix. Of course, you're right... even you scroll back and look at my screenshot, I was using a full 9db reduction of those frequencies, so the "return to zero" was audible. Again...
once you hear it, you can't un-hear it!
Ducking (pure level instead of compression) is much more transparent for something like this.
Indeed. It might be worth investigating to see if a combination of the two can be used. For example, just picking random numbers if I'm going for intelligibility of a lead vocal, maybe just straightforward ducking alone would require lowering the guitar bus by 5db, but if I apply only a
small amount of dynamic EQ at the same time I might need to duck by only 3.5db? Might be worth looking at.
I have notice that Trackshaper does seem more transparent and I don't hear a "return to zero" type effect.
James, I wonder if for your application you can switch your plugin to Opto mode? Supposedly using that mode makes your preset release time "slow down" as it approaches and returns to zero. Could that make the effect a little less obvious for you?
That's a great idea, and I was trying to find a setting that would do that. I would increase the release time, but that only delayed the moment that it would return to zero... not the rate at which it did. After a while of trying to do that with release time, it becomes apparent that there's also times when just using a static EQ and notching the frequencies (old school) would work better. If that damages the sound of the guitar too much when the vocal is not present, then use bypass automation and switch it off near the end of the last note of a vocal to mask the change perhaps?
I will look to see if there's some sort of Opto setting in Kirchoff, but since it's more an EQ than a compressor they might not have a setting to adjust that.
Thanks for all the great suggestions.