CONTROLS & CONNECTIONS
6
•
Attack
Attack
sets the speed at which the compressor ‘
acts
’ on the
input
signal. A
slow attack
time (
fully clockwise
) allows the beginning envelope of a signal (commonly referred to as
the initial
transient
) to pass through the compressor uncompressed, whereas a
fast
attack
time (
fully counterclockwise
) immediately subjects the signal to the
Ratio
and
Threshold
settings of the compressor.
*The Attack control is only active when the Auto button is not pushed in. When
the Auto button is pushed in, the compressor automatically determines the
appropriate Attack time for compression.
•
Release
Release
sets the
length
of time the compressor takes to return the
Gain reduction
back
to zero (
no gain reduction
). Very
short Release
times can produce a very choppy or
‘jittery’ sound, especially in low frequency instruments such as bass guitar. Very
long
Release
times can result in an overly compressed signal, sometimes referred to as
‘
squashing
’ the sound. All ranges of
Release
can be useful at different times however
and you should experiment to become familiar with the different sound possibilities.
(Refer to the
applications
section of this manual for some ideas.)
*The Release control is only active when the Auto button is not pushed in. When
the Auto button is pushed in, the compressor automatically determines the
appropriate Release time for compression.
