Help me understand what the knobs do?

insonicbloom · **Posted:** Sun Mar 20, 2011 5:02 am

it's one of the least elusive things I have come across! you want to get into filter design - that is elusive!
these things don't have specific rules which is why you get ambiguous answers to these questions the only real way of figuring these things out is to much about with it, when you get a sound you like dial it back a bit and you're there because as a rule of thumb when you really like the sound of something it is too much.

coolhand · **Posted:** Sun Mar 20, 2011 9:35 am

Here are a couple of things from Keith about the attack control.

byoc wrote:

That statement only applies to the dynacomp/ross based compressors. I believe the misuses of the terms stemmed from the Ibanez CP-x's that were basically clones with a "release" mod, but they labelled it "attack". Since then amost all the mass produced and boutique clones that copied this mod, continue to label it as "attack". About the only time you will see someone correctly label the mod as release is if they've also got a proper attack mod as well and the proper attack mod is usually a switch that changes out a capacitor value.

byoc wrote:

Nothing has changed with the "attack" mod between the 3 knob and 5 knob compressors. And the "attack" mod really controls the release. But through the years, all the dynacomp copies (and even the custom shop mxr compressor) have labelled this parameter as attack. So I figured it best to leave it named something that people are familiar with.

Also, here is the control description from the build intructions:

LEVEL: Controls overall volume
RATIO: Controls the mix of dry & compressed signal. Clockwise = more compressed
signal. Counter Clockwise = more dry signal
SUSTAIN: Controls the amount of sustain and sensitivity of the compression
ATTACK: Controls how quickly the compressor reacts to pick attack
TONE: Clockwise = less bass. This is a bass cut tone knob used to add ´jangle´. So full
turn counter clockwise would be the closest to your original signal. Full turn Counter
Clockwise will not add bass. Nor does turning it Clockwise add treble

GreenAsJade · **Joined:** Sat Mar 27, 2010 11:01 pm **Posts:** 41

Thanks for stepping back in definitively.

Can you confirm that the "attack" means what this picture says it means:

Also, the description "the Sustain controls the sustain", I think you have to admit, is not especially descriptive

Can you help us understand what the actual thing being controlled by the "Sustain" knob is, related to that diagram?

Thanks again!!

GaJ

coolhand · **Posted:** Sun Mar 20, 2011 5:38 pm

GreenAsJade wrote:

Thanks for stepping back in definitively.

Can you confirm that the "attack" means what this picture says it means:

That is a true attack and release control.

GreenAsJade wrote:

Also, the description "the Sustain controls the sustain", I think you have to admit, is not especially descriptive

Can you help us understand what the actual thing being controlled by the "Sustain" knob is, related to that diagram?

Thanks again!!

GaJ

coolhand wrote:

The Sustain actually controls the level of compression. The more you turn it up, the more it compresses. The is usually percived as as sustain increase becaue the the signal is boosted by the comp circuit.

GreenAsJade · **Joined:** Sat Mar 27, 2010 11:01 pm **Posts:** 41

Thanks - I got it now!

So the "Sustain" controls the "Output level" in that graph, and the interesting thing is that the lower you make the output level on that graph, the more the sustain... it's possibly not intuitive, and it would certainly be clearer if the graph showed the decay of the input signal.

Maybe I will do a different graph and post it here for your confirmation, but at least I understand it now ... I think.

Thanks again!

GaJ

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