Thoughts on the mix buss compressor

[landtitles]

Is it worth it to shell out the cash for a solid mix buss compressor? ie; vintage warmer, the glue etc.  Or even the stillwell one for considerably less?

Not for the idea of "slamming" the mix, but more for just gluing things together.

Any thoughts regarding this important issue?

[billygomberg]

yes it is.

[s_hamann]

I agree with Billy, very useful thing to have/learn to use.

The Glue is a pretty excellent compressor, too.

[Le Berger]

I have no clue what that does or how useful it is, but i would trust Billy with someone else's life.

[taylordeupree]

there are a lot of great mixbus compressors out there, i tend to use one when i'm writing... just make sure you put it on at the beginning of the process and write into it.. and don't hit it very hard.

use it to tidy things up a bit, not for volume.

if you're on a budget, i'd try the Stillwell stuff or DDMF... great plugs from those companies...

[pascal savy]

i know there are no hard rules but as a starting point, would you go for a low threshold and low ratio so you knock off 2 or 3 db on a nearly permanent basis or would you go for an occasional 2-3 db gain reduction using higher threshold and ratio ie you don't hit the compressor all the time?

[taylordeupree]

really depends on what the track calls for, but i'd tend to go for the latter... a couple dB off the top is usually a good bet.. but, the kind of music i typically write doesn't call for heavy compression.. so i'm just looking for a smoothness. i usually treat anything that causes peaks on the mix level with EQ or volume automation, so my compressors don't have to work as hard.

keep in mind that if you're sending your music to get mastered the mastering guy may compress as well, so don't overdo it on the mix.

i know there are no hard rules but as a starting point, would you go for a low threshold and low ratio so you knock off 2 or 3 db on a nearly permanent basis or would you go for an occasional 2-3 db gain reduction using higher threshold and ratio ie you don't hit the compressor all the time?

[Le Berger]

keep in mind that if you're sending your music to get mastered the mastering guy may compress as well, so don't overdo it on the mix.

Definitely not to be overlooked.

Had a "sub par" experience with that lately.

Tried to be as forthcoming as possible pre-mastering so there wouldn't be any surprises, alas....

[landtitles]

So i just picked up Statson buss console emulation thing, lots of great things have been said about this thing over on GS, some saying a poor man's version of the slate VCC others saying just a different flavor.  Anywho, this is suppose to recreate some of the sound of mixing through a actual console, you know "glue" those tracks together...

Definitely subtle , but this is kind of the way these things work i guess.

Still thinking there is a compressor on the horizon but this is doing the trick for now. Might have to pony up and get the stillwell buss comp.

[taylordeupree]

i like the Satson.. i've been using it on everything lately... i'm not 100% sold on it, or any of the other console emulations yet.. as they are SO subtle. and i'm looking for something not as subtle..

someone, at some point, will release the really killer one with a lot of control.. maybe UAD.. who knows...

i tried nebula.. even bought it.. but simply can not get past the horrible interface and user experience.. never tried slate...