Style and character

Most compressors have the same set of classic controls, like Threshold, Ratio, Attack and Release. Yet they can sound very different, even when trying to match settings. This is because internally, all compressors work differently, using different detection algorithms, different topologies and different smoothing curves. And especially in analog/hardware compressors, there can be more factors that contribute to the sound, like transformers or tubes.

With Pro-C 3's Style and Character options, you can combine a variety of compressor styles with different types of analog coloring. So you don't just get one compressor, you get many!

The Style button selects the style or compression. Pro-C 3 offers 14 different styles, all with their own characteristics, divided into three categories.

Modern:

• Clean - An allround, low distortion, feedforward, program dependent style
• Versatile - As the name implies, works great on any material. It's punchy at longer attack times but tight and smooth at shorter times (new in Pro-C 3)
• Smooth - Designed to stay smooth at all times, especially suitable for gluing with low ratio and longer times (new in Pro-C 3)
• Punch - Traditional, analog-like compression behavior, sounds good on anything!
• Upward - Pumping, upward compression (increasing the level when it drops below the threshold), like Saturn's much praised Dynamics knob, but with more control over its behavior (new in Pro-C 3)
• TTM - To The Max multiband mayhem. The TTM style combines upwards and downwards compression on multiple bands, making the input signal louder when it's quiet and quieter when it's loud. In this style the threshold effectively becomes a target level. The knee then controls the blending between the two stages, allowing you to further shape the pumping behavior (new in Pro-C 3)

Classic:

• Op-El - Effortless opto-like tube compression, smooth and warm (new in Pro-C 3)
• Vari-Mu - A classic variable mu topology, offering smooth and colorful feedback compression (new in Pro-C 3)
• Classic - A vintage, feedback, very program dependent style
• Opto - A relatively slow, very soft knee, more linear opto style

Utility:

• Vocal - A very effective algorithm to bring vocals to the front of your mix. It works with automatic knee and ratio settings, so compressing your lead vocal is as easy as choosing the right threshold
• Mastering - Designed to be as transparent as possible, introducing as little harmonic distortion as possible, while still being able to catch those fast transients
• Bus - Especially great for bus processing, or for adding a pleasant glue to your drums, mixes or tracks
• Pumping - Deep and over-the-top pumping, great for drum processing or EDM

The Character button right below the Style button opens the Character panel with the following settings:

• Character mode sets the type of analog saturation, color and drift. You can choose between Off (disabled), Tube, Diode and Bright. All three options have their own character and introduce different harmonics and coloring. Try them!
• Drive sets the level at which the saturation circuit is driven internally which affects the amount of saturation and harmonics.
• Routing determines whether saturation takes place before (Pre) or after compression is applied (Post). By default, it's set to Post, which will nicely saturate transients that remain when applying compression with higher attack values. When set to Pre, the signal and peaks in the input will be saturated before compression, which results in a wholly different character.

Tips

• You can also use the mouse wheel when hovering above the Character button to toggle between the different character modes.
• The Character Drive slider is reverse-linked with the Threshold knob. This makes it easy to 'trade' compression for saturation in one movement.

Next: Side chain section

See Also
Dynamics controls
Using FabFilter Pro-C 3