The Surround Compressor

One of the most starking things about this compressor aside from its excellent sonic performance, is the high degree of control over the very big feature set that is afforded. The THRESHHOLD can be regulated between -30dB and +20dB. Using the SHIFT knob, the threshhold for the surround channels can be offset by ±20dB.

The RATIO is adjustable from 1:1 to 1:20. Also for the advice IO attitude of the surround channels a SHIFT automatic controller with a range from 0 to 2 is present. The ATTACK ranges from 100µs to 30ms, and the RELEASE time can be regulated between 0.1 and 5 seconds.

In addition the compressor has an adjustable, 4-position CREST control, that allows adjustment of the characteristics of the RMS transducers. With this feature it is possible to adjust and regulate the attitude of the compressor as to wether it responds to the peak, RMS or a combination of both values of the signal. In position 1 the peak & hold procedure corresponds to a peak value rectification, and in position 4 an rms conversion occurs. Positions 2 and 3 represent transition stages. The impulse behavior of the compressor can be adapted by this switch to the program. However, it is to be considered that in positions 3 and 4 the fast attack is no longer possible because of the integration already taking place in the RMS transducer. In position 4 the shortest adjustable attack is about 2.5ms.

There is also a variable KNEE control which allows precise control and regulation over the knee characteristics. On position "0" the transition is hard, within approximately 0.5dB. On position 6 the regulation starts 3dB below the Threshhold and approaches the Ratio level with a +3dB adjustment. Thereby a higher compression ratio is possible. The adjustment between the front and Surround channels is the same as with the Expander. The CPLE control sets the regulation of all channels directly and the regulation ratio between the Front and Surround channels. Two 10 elementLED ladders indicate the gain reduction separately for front and Surround channels. The LFE SAVE switch prevents the compressor from processing the LFE channel.