Five band compressor

The multiband compressor splits your audio into five frequency bands and applies independent compression to each. This gives you precise control over the dynamics of different parts of the frequency spectrum.

The Five Bands

Crossover Frequencies

You can adjust the four crossover points that divide the bands using the crossover controls in the centre column. Moving these changes where each band's processing applies in the frequency spectrum.

Per-Band Controls

Each band has five controls:

• Threshold (dB) — the level above which compression starts. Lower values mean more compression. Range: -60 to 0 dB
• Ratio — how much the signal is reduced above the threshold. 1:1 = no compression, 20:1 = heavy limiting. Range: 1 to 20
• Attack (ms) — how quickly the compressor responds to loud signals. Fast attack catches transients; slow attack lets them through. Range: 0.1 to 100 ms
• Release (ms) — how quickly the compressor stops compressing after the signal drops below the threshold. Range: 10 to 1,000 ms
• Makeup (dB) — gain added after compression to restore overall level. Range: -12 to +24 dB

Tips

• Start with a preset — factory presets provide well-tested starting points for common use cases
• Watch the gain reduction — the GR Timeline display on the right shows how much compression is being applied to each band over time
• Use the transfer curves — the Transfer Curve display shows the compression curve for each band with a live indicator of the current input level
• Gentle ratios for music — ratios of 2:1 to 4:1 work well for music. Higher ratios are useful for speech or aggressive broadcast processing
• All changes are real-time — you can hear the effect of each adjustment immediately