Following up on Mike Thornton’s recent article on plug-in presets, I thought it might be fun to focus on Logic, and Logic’s compressor in particular. The usefulness of presets, in general, is a contentious issue. But when you narrow the question down specifically to compression, the value of presets in any specific given context becomes even more dubious. Compression, like EQ, undoubtedly requires the most program-specific values of any effects processing. There is no one size fits all setup that is equally applicable to all mixes. There is no way a preset named "killer snare drum crunch" will work on any snare drum. Therefore, are Compressor presets useful at all? 

I've asked a couple of my Logic Pro colleagues to offer their thoughts on this question. Chris Vandeviver, from why logic pro rules deals with Logic clients of all levels and has seen more than his share of Logic projects delivered to him for mixing. Edgar Rothermich, arguably one of the smartest Logic users on the planet. Edgar is well known for his graphically enhanced manuals on Logic as well as Pro Tools. He is an educator skilled in the art of teaching Logic. I have done several video tutorial series on various aspects of Logic over the years at groove3.com, and, so, come to the question from that angle. Having received many questions and seen many user projects over the years, I also have seen firsthand how compression presets are used and abused. 

Chris Vandeviver

This is a tough question for me to answer. The fact is, I can only count on each hand all the times I've turned to Compressor's preset list!

I know there was a time I turned to the plainly labelled "Toms" preset for a quick suggestion for compressing toms. And there was that other time that the "Studio Clipper" preset piqued my interest. I was attempting a faux mastering effort of a whole mix, and I knew clippers were one way of shaving drum transients. 

But truth be told, when it comes to "utility" plugins like EQs or Compressors, I almost never venture into their preset lists.

My argument against presets has been one often pointed out online. How can any developer possibly estimate the right compression settings for your application? Can that "Rock Kick" preset be the best fit for that rock kick your mixing right now? Will the "Rap Vocal" preset deliver the goods for your rap vocal today?

I always assumed these presets existed for beginners to help them along their way. Which is great when someone's starting out mixing music. Trying to hear the effects of compression can be one of the most difficult things to discern early on. Let alone dissecting what the heck a knee or a ratio is!

But these days I feel a bit foolish for not giving the presets more of a try. Because who doesn't want a free clue or suggestion? And it seems like I read about pro mixers often enough who lean on presets for quick decision-making. And the results sound great! So it makes me wonder - who am I to write off presets? 

Some of the most celebrated compressors around are kind of "presets" in their own right. The LA2A offers its users just about no control over the circuit. No attack or release. No knee or ratio. You just drive the signal into the limiter until it sounds good. The dbx 160 offers a bit more control with its auto attack/release and ratio. But not that much more. 

(And in fact, that's the reason why I love Logic's Classic VCA circuit so much. It sounds great and requires no effort.)

The handful of times I've turned to Logic's Compressor presets, they've helped me in a pinch. If for nothing more than a quick point of reference to start and fine-tune from. It’s like seeing into the mind of another mixer. And in fact, I plan on trying them out more often in my mixes in the future.

Edgar Rothermich

I don't have a favorite Compressor Preset. Experienced engineers know how to adjust a Compressor and for beginners, I actually find them somewhat questionable for two main reasons:

Presets - What For?

Plugin presets are extremely useful for Software Instruments and Effects Plugins. For example, with synth, you are looking for a specific sound (or want to be inspired by sounds), and by stepping through the presets, you can preview many options very quickly. A big advantage is that you don't even have to know anything about the synth and how to program its parameters. Presets for FX Plugins, i.e., Reverbs or Delays are similar. You want to preview different options that might produce a specific sound or effect. Again, no prior knowledge is required about the details of those plugins.

However, the main purpose of a Compressor (and its related cousins Limiter, Expander, and Gate) is no to create a cool sound or effect. This can be easily overlooked because they are listed together with all the other FX plugins in your DAW. A Compressor, with its basic functionality, is just a volume fader that is controlled by its input signal (or side chain signal). I wouldn't consider a volume fader an effects tool. The key element of a Compressor is that its functionality is dependent on the input signal (mainly the level and frequency range). However, preset settings don't know anything about the signal that you are using it for. Maybe a preset doesn't do anything or maybe it does something bad to your sound (that an inexperienced user might not notice).

Yes, if a preset is named "Bass ..." or "Vocal..." they might be optimized for some type of signal, but again, the value for the threshold setting might be too low or too high for the signal you are feeding into, and you have to know what values to change and how. This leads me to the next point.

Presets vs. Knowledge

As I just mentioned, you can preview presets for synth or effects without knowing anything about those devices. You hear a cool sound or effect, you like it, and you use it (tweaking optional). Using a Compressor, on the other hand, requires that you know its basic functionality. Just selecting a preset is not an excuse not to do your homework and learn what a Compressor does and how to use it. The good news, it is not rocket science, and there is plenty of educational material on the Internet.
Threshold - Ratio - Attack - Release. Once you understand that basic concept and adjust those parameters, then you are much faster with much better results than stepping through the 158 Compressor Presets in Logic. Even better, every time you adjust a parameter and listen to what it does to that specific signal, you gain valuable experience that you can apply to your next track or project.
Just make sure you understand how the time value Attack and Release relates to the time value of the frequency of the signal. As you can see on the simplified diagram, if the frequency of a Bass signal is 100Hz, then one full cycle of that waveform takes 10ms. However, if the Attack time is set to less than 10ms, then the Compressor turns down the amplitude mid-cycle and, therefore, changes the waveform. That means, it create new harmonics, which is another word for distortion. This is something to avoid, unless you want to create an effect, i.e., enhance a kick sound of a dull bass drum. But now you would use the Compressor as an effects processor to change the sound of a signal and not only the volume and the dynamic.

One more thing ... Skins

One cool feature of Logic's Compressor is the various "Skins." But wait a minute, these are not the typical skins that you use in DAWs or Plugins to make them look cool. By selecting one of those seven buttons, the look of the plugin changes to indicate that the Compressor Plugin is emulating a specific (vintage) Hardware Compressor. I mentioned earlier that Compressors are not rocket science, but here, it gets a little bit deeper and requires some understanding of electronic circuitry (VCA, FET, Opto) and how that effects the "sound" or operation of a Compressor. Remember, "with great power comes great responsibility". Read up a little about that topic and use your time, experiment on how the same parameters have a different effect on different signals when using those FET, VCA, or Opto based Compressors. Time much better spent, than stepping through Compressor Presets ... I think.

Eli Krantzberg

I am reluctant to label any aspect or tool used in audio production as inherently good or bad. I have seen users creatively use relatively poorly developed tools and others hopelessly lost with the best plug-ins and hardware money can buy. I think the value of Compressor presets ultimately comes down to the user's experience and knowledge and their willingness to invest some time learning the parameters' functions.

For inexperienced users, the Presets Logic offers can be a trap. They believe they are using compression effectively by applying the appropriately named preset without adjusting any of the parameters to their mix elements. At the absolute least, the threshold must be adjusted to work effectively with the incoming signal level. I have seen projects with Compressors in place with no threshold at the default 0.0 dB value. In addition to not even triggering the Compressor at all, I have witnessed settings with the default 1.0:1 value, resulting in no audible compression. If you are a novice user, the presets are of no use until you understand the basics of the underlying parameters involved. 

Once you know the basics, the presets can be a great start, pointing you in the right direction. Calling up a supposedly suitable preset can give you an idea of attack and release settings and which modelling to use. Of course, you have to experiment. The attack, release, and model might be way off for what your material needs. Then again, it might work wonderfully once you set the threshold and ratio to reflect your signal levels.

On more than one occasion, I have pulled up one of the vocal or drum presets and been surprised at the immediate results. It's not that they were necessarily good; it's more that they were not what I would have thought of as a starting point based on their intended use. Sometimes they are interesting to explore. Sometimes not. My point is that with experience, they can be interesting, if not helpful. Without an underlying understanding, they can either give you a false sense of competency or, worse, guide you down the completely wrong path. 

There is one context in which I find Compressor presets to be invaluable. When mixing multiple songs with the same artist, I like saving as presets the settings that I decide to use. This way, I can easily recall them for the artist's following songs/projects. I sometimes save entire channel strip settings in this scenario. But custom presets are great when revisiting the same performer recorded in the same environment and mixing multiple songs with similar instrumentation. 

Let us know what you think in the comments below.