Applications - Samson C-com opti Owner's Manual

Applications

Leveling a Vocal Track
When recording a vocal track, the vocalist may change the distance between them and the microphone, or they
may naturally have a lot of dynamic range in their performance. In either case, the sound engineer must decide
how much compression should be used to balance the natural performance and printing a good level to tape or
disk. Set up the C com opti with a medium attack and release time and a ratio of 4:1. . Now adjust the Threshold
level so that the Gain Reduction meters show 6 to 10 dB of gain reduction. Adjust the Ratio control if necessary.
Leveling a Guitar or Bass
Guitar and especially bass guitar can have a lot of level change between strings and even frets on the finger-
board. Using compression when recording guitars and bass will even out these differences. Set up the com-
pressor section of the C com opti with a medium attack and release time and a ratio of 4:1. Now adjust the
Threshold level so that the Gain Reduction meters show 10 to 12 dB of gain reduction. You'll notice that the each
note is at the same loudness and the overall sustain is increased.
Compressing Drums
Adding compression on drums can make a boomy kick drum tighten up, almost as if you were tightening the head
of a drum. Set the C com opti to a fairly quick attack time and use a ratio of 6:1. Set the Threshold so that the
Gain Reduction meter reads 12 to 15 dB. Adjust the Ratio control if necessary. You can use the same basic set
up on snare and toms as well.
Getting a Track to Sit in the Mix
By using a heavy amount of compression you can get the effect of the vocal suspending in the mix. While this
may be a bit radical for some, the effect can be dramatic especially if the vocal is mixed without any reverb or
delay. Set up the compressor section of the C com opti with a medium attack and release time and a ratio of 6:1.
Now adjust the Threshold level to so that the Gain Reduction meters show 7 to 10 dB of gain reduction.
Speaker Protection
There are several ways to use a compressor to protect a speaker system and many considerations can be made
including whether the speaker system is crossed-over actively or passively.
If the speaker system is stereo using a passive crossover, then the line output of the mixer or equalizer is run
directly into the C com opti inputs. The C com opti should be last in the chain before the power amps with its
outputs feeding the inputs of the amp. Adjust the Threshold and Ratio so that the system's entire dynamic range
is under control.
When using an active crossover, multiple compressors can be used to compress each section of the PA. For
example, if the PA is using an active crossover to run a four-way mono system, two C com optis' can be used for
four band compression. By compressing each output of the crossover, you can maximize the output level while
minimizing the gain to sensitive speakers like the mid-range. Run the low and low-mid frequencies into the first C
com opti and the high-mid and high frequencies into the second C com opti.
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