It seems that Mark McQuilken's (FMR) RNC (Real Nice Compressor) design using an analog VCA and a general-purpose microprocessor with code to generate a control voltage has been around for decades now, and it seems to have been VERY successful (How many products are still going strong with the same design, right?).
So, I just got to wondering why, on this Sunday afternoon, I haven't seen much discussion of software strategies to create a great-sounding compressor for various special purposes with a software-based calculating engine running in one of these cheap microprocessors? Or at least my searches haven't turned up a thing based on the various key words I've been able to think up so far.
Or has all that seeming fertile ground been passed over as everyone stumbles over themselves to write the newest software-based compressor "plug-in" for digital recording software, which, by definition, can only act on audio after it is already digitized?
Sure, Mark is clearly an exceptional guy who came up with what I'm guessing is a truly original concept (a side chain using a digital microcomputer for deriving the VCA control voltage), and developing a truly great implementation into his product, which seems to serve quite well in the typical roles for a compressor in recording (drum tracks, vocals, bass), and it is especially appreciated in the non-megabuck studios. But there are clearly some other really brilliant engineering-type people around these here parts - many of whom seem to hang out around here quite a bit - and yet I haven't see any discussions of the merits of various computations tweaks, strategies, software switches, etc., to use in DIY software-based designs for compressor side chains.
Seems to me that the analog VCA-based compressor still has an edge over the software gain-varying variety with respect to noise in many instances, and you can adjust it by ear. 8)
There are clearly lots of people around here who love to build and tweak compressor designs, to add side chain insert circuits to serve special purposes (witness the "thrust" filter, various bass cut filters, loudness-based filters, inverse 3db/octave filter, etc.), discussions of multiple time-constant auto-release circuits, EL panel 'afterglow' emulation, using this particular rms detector circuit in some old unit somebody one had vs. the compressors they have access to now, etc., etc.. So wouldn't this be of interest around here?
Or does the divide between analog-circuitry-savvy people and microprocessor-programming-guru people just not have enough overlap for stuff like this to get any traction?
Perhaps I am the only one pondering such issues and wondering what other heights of compressor design greatness might be crammed into a $1 PIC - enhanced side chain. Or are there other proprietary designs around or going on (that I'm just oblivious to) that people need to keep mum about?
Is this fertile ground for a DIY discussion, and maybe even a crowd-source compressor project?
Ciao,
mr coffee
So, I just got to wondering why, on this Sunday afternoon, I haven't seen much discussion of software strategies to create a great-sounding compressor for various special purposes with a software-based calculating engine running in one of these cheap microprocessors? Or at least my searches haven't turned up a thing based on the various key words I've been able to think up so far.
Or has all that seeming fertile ground been passed over as everyone stumbles over themselves to write the newest software-based compressor "plug-in" for digital recording software, which, by definition, can only act on audio after it is already digitized?
Sure, Mark is clearly an exceptional guy who came up with what I'm guessing is a truly original concept (a side chain using a digital microcomputer for deriving the VCA control voltage), and developing a truly great implementation into his product, which seems to serve quite well in the typical roles for a compressor in recording (drum tracks, vocals, bass), and it is especially appreciated in the non-megabuck studios. But there are clearly some other really brilliant engineering-type people around these here parts - many of whom seem to hang out around here quite a bit - and yet I haven't see any discussions of the merits of various computations tweaks, strategies, software switches, etc., to use in DIY software-based designs for compressor side chains.
Seems to me that the analog VCA-based compressor still has an edge over the software gain-varying variety with respect to noise in many instances, and you can adjust it by ear. 8)
There are clearly lots of people around here who love to build and tweak compressor designs, to add side chain insert circuits to serve special purposes (witness the "thrust" filter, various bass cut filters, loudness-based filters, inverse 3db/octave filter, etc.), discussions of multiple time-constant auto-release circuits, EL panel 'afterglow' emulation, using this particular rms detector circuit in some old unit somebody one had vs. the compressors they have access to now, etc., etc.. So wouldn't this be of interest around here?
Or does the divide between analog-circuitry-savvy people and microprocessor-programming-guru people just not have enough overlap for stuff like this to get any traction?
Perhaps I am the only one pondering such issues and wondering what other heights of compressor design greatness might be crammed into a $1 PIC - enhanced side chain. Or are there other proprietary designs around or going on (that I'm just oblivious to) that people need to keep mum about?
Is this fertile ground for a DIY discussion, and maybe even a crowd-source compressor project?
Ciao,
mr coffee