Topic by Jake Johnson

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  • Jake Johnson
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Topic: Amplitude and the Compensation\Level button on the Mics page

Experimenting with the Steinway D Jazz preset, I was struck by how much turning off the Level compensation increased the overall amplitude and presence. I've of course been aware of this feature for some time, but I'm just now slowing down to fool around with it and undertand it better. It is a compressor? It seems to take the signals from all of the channels and compress them by reducing the highest amplitude levels of the freqs near each mic and raising the amplitude of the freqs that are distant from each mic, if I am hearing it correctly. But it doesn't then do what many compressors do, or at least have a separate slider for doing--raise the overall amplitude.

Some random thoughts:
Should the Level button be a slider instead of a button, giving more control to the amount of compression?
Should the near freqs be lowered so dramatically? Or should there be a slider to raise the overall volume to compensate for the reduction?
Should there be settings that allow the user to determine the ratio or balance--the degree to which loud freqs are reduced and softer, more distant freqs are raised?

I'm not sure that I'm seeing a large problem, really. But I do like the large boost in volume that comes from turning off the Level compensation, and worry that it shouldn't reduce the freqs near each mic quite so much.

EDIT: Of course, the Level compensation button affects the volume in some presets more than others, depending on the mic placement and their levels. But do listen to the effect on the Steinway D Jazz preset to hear what I mean.

Last edited by Jake Johnson (12-10-2017 16:49)

Reply by scorpio

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Re: Amplitude and the Compensation\Level button on the Mics page

I have been playing with the level compensation too.  I have been messing with how the compensation (on or off)
interacts with reverb, specifically WAV impulse files.  Which setting is best?

I have observed the same, that with level compensation OFF, volume seems to increase.  It seems opposite
to what I expect, "When level compensation is switched off, the volume of each microphone decreases with
the distance to the piano." 

I am glad that you brought this up, as I do not understand what is really happening.

Reply by scorpio

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Re: Amplitude and the Compensation\Level button on the Mics page

Jake Johnson wrote:

Should the Level button be a slider instead of a button, giving more control to the amount of compression?

Is this not controlled by changing the level parameter for each microphone and output?  Essentially it is a slider with an on and off switch.

Reply by Jake Johnson

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  • Jake Johnson
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Re: Amplitude and the Compensation\Level button on the Mics page

scorpio wrote:
Jake Johnson wrote:

Should the Level button be a slider instead of a button, giving more control to the amount of compression?

Is this not controlled by changing the level parameter for each microphone and output?  Essentially it is a slider with an on and off switch.

I've experimented with turning the Level on and then adjusting the invidivual mic levels, with good results. But the Level button is still always making the same adjustments to the sound. I'm not sure that the result is the same as that which could be achieved if the Level button was a slider. If we raise the level on one mic, won't the Level button respond by lowering its volume? I do like the results of making adjustments this way. I'm only saying that a slider for the Level button might give us still more control.

(As a slider, it would have no effect at its 0 setting and at its maximum it would raise the amplitude of the most distant and softest freqs the most and lower the near and thus loudest freqs the most. Not sure if that final result is ideal--the result might be more of a compressed dynamic range than I would want. That's why also listed a way to change the ratio of soft freq increase to loud freq decrease.)

But I may not be thinking correctly about these things.

Last edited by Jake Johnson (12-10-2017 20:42)