Cover of track Look-ahead compressor using StereoEnhancer by Inavon
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Look-ahead compressor using StereoEnhancer

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Using the chorus to delay the signal isn't perfect because the dry signal still exists. So I used StereoEnhancers instead. The StereoEnhancer works by delaying either the left or the right channel. Using two StereoEnhancers at equal "stereo width" and a minimixer, I created both delayed left and delayed right channels and mixed them together. Then I had to set the attack time of the compressor equal to the delays of the StereoEnhancers. The problem with that is that the Mono/Stereo knob is in percentages. So I used a very clicky sample of mine and recorded it as it went through the StereoEnhancer at different settings. These were my findings:

 

mono/stereo %   | offset (samples) | offset (ms)

0+             | 220           | 5.0

10             | 220           | 5.0

20             | 220           | 5.0

30             | 220           | 5.0

40             | 221           | 5.0

50             | 226           | 5.1

60             | 244           | 5.5

70             | 292           | 6.6

80             | 404           | 9.1

90             | 641           | 14.5

100            | 1102          | 25.0

 

Using a regression calculator at xuru.org, I fitted an equation to the data, where Y is the delay in ms and X is the Mono/Stereo %:

Y=((2.741·10^(-2)X - 5.580·10^(-2))^6.865 + 220)/44100

If not divided by 44100, then the sample offset would be off by no more than 2 for each of the recorded values.

This example is at 90% "stereo" with the observed 14.535 ms offset. For the first 16 bars, it alternates between look-ahead/non-look-ahead per 2 bars. Every 4 bars the compressor threshold is set to 70%, 60%, 50%, 40%, respectively. I tried to set the make-up gain so that each setting is at about the same perceived volume. Last 8 bars are uncompressed.

Notice that the look-ahead doesn't have the transient at the kick drum. I set the volume so that the output clips at some of the peaks. Notice that the transient causes the non-look-ahead to clip much more. Template:

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