Logic Pro Compressor / EQ plugins

[LV426]

Speaking as a non-audio expert but a dabbler...

Are these plugins necessary for the inbuilt software instruments? I've fiddled around a lot and, frankly, they don't seem to make much of a difference. I can understand that applying these plugins to recorded waveforms can have a significant effect. But for the pre-built instruments?

Something else that confuses me a bit is that the videos I've seen on compression often talk about tightening up the mix so that signal levels are brought to similarly conformed levels. But I remember the early days of CD recordings, where great play is made of digital being able to reproduce huge dynamic ranges. So, for example, you could hear a pin drop in the same section as an orchestra crash. Isn't compression an enemy of huge dynamic range?

 

[BrianBaughn]

No…they are not necessary. I don't know why the instruments are set up that way in Logic Pro…defaulting to adding effects to the channel strip as well as adding a reverb channel and sends to that channel. It's not uncommon to add effects to instruments but what to add should be left up to the user.

What you should do is remove all the plugins and sends, save what you have as a channel strip preset and call that up in the future. Then you can alter the sound the way you want, if necessary.

 

[jchap]

Speaking as a non-audio expert but a dabbler...

Are these plugins necessary for the inbuilt software instruments? I've fiddled around a lot and, frankly, they don't seem to make much of a difference. I can understand that applying these plugins to recorded waveforms can have a significant effect. But for the pre-built instruments?

Something else that confuses me a bit is that the videos I've seen on compression often talk about tightening up the mix so that signal levels are brought to similarly conformed levels. But I remember the early days of CD recordings, where great play is made of digital being able to reproduce huge dynamic ranges. So, for example, you could hear a pin drop in the same section as an orchestra crash. Isn't compression an enemy of huge dynamic range?

Your ears should be the final determiner as to whether the plugins are “necessary” or not. Maybe the designer of those particular sounds was going for more of a limited dynamic range, as you said. Compressors can also help “smooth out” certain sounds, although this generally is most noticeable for sound with sharp attacks like drums, punchy bass lines, percussive hits and so on.

Heavy compression is at odds with huge dynamic range, like you said. It almost seems to me like a lot of sound designers use compression mainly to keep the overall levels even within a library, so that nothing sticks out and jumps at you when you change patches.

 

[Truben]

Your ears should be the final determiner as to whether the plugins are “necessary” or not. Maybe the designer of those particular sounds was going for more of a limited dynamic range, as you said. Compressors can also help “smooth out” certain sounds, although this generally is most noticeable for sound with sharp attacks like drums, punchy bass lines, percussive hits and so on.

Heavy compression is at odds with huge dynamic range, like you said. It almost seems to me like a lot of sound designers use compression mainly to keep the overall levels even within a library, so that nothing sticks out and jumps at you when you change patches.

I'm voice over talent and user of Logic Pro. I see your point. Having a home studio, I spent hours in the soundproofed booth reading scripts for ads or long audiobooks. Mouth clicking, transients, and plosives might ruin a take, not to mention sibilance.

I have an analog vocal chain and normally I use Oeksound plugins to clean up all that. Well, last Sonoma update for developers crashed these plugins, so yesterday I worked with Apple plugins instead.

My point is that I have to deliver my recordings fast and crystal clear. But while doing it, I try not to overwrite the sound wave with the 100 plugins of Logic Pro. Otherwise, the final result sounds cheap and phoney. Like the hideous artificial voices. You know, Siri and her cousin Alexa.