The Surround Compressor, based on the Compressor, is specifically designed for compression of complete surround mixes. It is commonly inserted in a surround output channel strip, or in audio or aux channel strips—busses—that carry multichannel audio.
You can adjust the compression ratio, knee, attack, and release for the main, side, surround, and LFE channels, depending on the chosen surround format. All channels include an integrated limiter and provide independent threshold and output level controls.
You can link channels by assigning them to one of three groups. When you adjust the threshold or output parameter of any grouped channel, the parameter adjustment is mirrored by all channels assigned to the group.
The Surround Compressor is divided into three sections:
The Link section at the top contains a series of menus where you assign each channel to a group. See Surround Compressor Link Parameters.
The Main section includes controls common to all the main channels, and the threshold and output controls for each channel. See Surround Compressor Main Parameters.
The LFE section on the lower right includes separate controls for the LFE channel. See Surround Compressor LFE Parameters.
The Surround Compressor’s Link section provides the following parameters:
Tip: Press Command and Option while moving the Threshold or Output Level slider of a grouped channel to temporarily unlink the channel from the group. This allows you to make independent threshold settings while maintaining the side-chain detection link necessary for a stable surround image.
If Max is chosen, and any of the surround channels exceeds or falls below the Threshold, that channel (or grouped channels) is compressed.
If Sum is chosen, the combined level of all channels must exceed the Threshold before compression occurs.
The Surround Compressor’s Main section provides the following parameters: