[sdiy] compression and noise gate

[Andre Majorel]

On 2006-06-21 20:03 -0700, Tavys Ashcroft wrote:
> On 6/21/06, Spencer Johnson <marxspeakstruth at gmail.com> wrote:
> >i'm building a compressor/limiter as well as a noise gate for my
> >system. when i implement these, would the best tone be achieved
> >through series or parallel usage? if series, which should precede the
> >other?
>
> I like to gate first, compress second.  That way the gate will
> eliminate your low level noise floor before you squash things down.
> Otherwise, you'll bring up the lowest level background hiss to a more
> noticable level if you compress first.

I *think* the best way to do it is to put the gate *after* the
compress but triggered by the pre-compressor level.

              _______________________
             |                       |
             |                       v
  Input  >---x---> Compressor ---> Gate --->  Output

That way, you also gate the self noise of the compressor.

I have the schematics of the Audio Logic MT-66 on my page if you
want to but frankly, you'd better start with a more competent
design. Seb pointed me to a VTL5C9-based design that sounds good.

  http://www.geocities.com/m_natsume/what_compressor.html
  http://dt.prohosting.com/hacks/what.html

I like my Boss RCL-10 too.

-- 
André Majorel <amajorel at teaser.fr>
http://www.teaser.fr/~amajorel/