applying compression after recording.

[GreasyKid]

hello.

i have a soundblaster card (w/ input, output, and microphone jack) i use cakewalk pro audio 9 to record tracks, and i've just gotten a presonus bluemax compressor.

i know that i could add the compressor to the signal path during the actual recording, but if i wanted to apply compression using the bluemax to a track which has already been recorded, how would i go about doing it? would i have to set up an effects loop of some kind?

[Doink]

Once something is in the digital domain, I like to keep there. Sounds like you want to take a signal, put it through an A/D converter, send it back out through a D/A converter, into the compressor, then again into an A/D converter.
You will lose resolution. IE, the samples won't "match up". You'll be sampling samples.
I say record dry, then find some compressor plug ins or Direct X compressors you like and compress it that way.
The only time I use a compressor while tracking is as a limiter on a kick and snare.
You also might want to look at getting a new soundcard. The converters on those Soundblasters really aren't meant for real recording.

[GreasyKid]

yeah, that makes sense. and you're right about the soundblaster converters; they're pretty bunk. what are some good compression plug-ins that i can use with cakewalk?

just as a side note, then, the bluemax is an analog device? (forgive me, i'm just learning this stuff)

[Soup Kitchen Studios]

Waves makes some great compression plugs. So does Bombfactory. I'm not sure if they are direct x compatible, but there are always vst wrappers.

[GreasyKid]

thanks

[Drew]

Even if you don't use the compressor for actual compression during recording (and I probably would myself, nothing too heavy of course, but just a light compression to tighten things up a little and keep the signal in the ideal dB range for a recording- you want it to peak about -3dB, and while it's not a HUGE deal if you're lower, the further below that point you go, the lower the resolution and higher the noise floor will be) I'd still leave it in the chain, set as a hard limiter to prevent clipping- nothing can destroy a take faster than digital distortion.