Single Band Compressor Causing Glitches

[DutchProd]

Since upgrading to V10 (CC2017) I'm having big problems with the single band compressor in multitrack projects. It's producing horrible slipping type sounds whenever it is working on a clip. I have upgraded to 10.0.1 and this is exactly the same.

I've never had this problem with previous versions and it's certainly not the source audio as many clips have been tested.

Is anyone else having this problem or can anyone suggest a workaround? I've tried applying the effect via a bus, but it doesn't change anything.

Thanks!

[Bob Howes]

Is there any particular preset you use that causes this or perhaps a favourite you've set up for yourself?

FYI, I use the Single Band Compressor quite a lot, many on voice overs, with my own preset based on the "Voice Over" preset but with a few of my own tweaks.  So far I've not noticed any problems.

I suppose I should also ask for some details about your system (Win or Apple) and how many tracks you're using etc.

One thing to try perhaps is to pre-render the track (the little lightning bolt symbol right at the bottom of the effects rack) in case something with this effect is causing you system to try and work too hard.

[DutchProd]

Hey Bob, thanks for the reply.

This is happening on a brand new project with only one track and the compressor is the only effect. I'm running Mac with OSX 10.12 and just using the standard analogue audio out with no additional hardware.

I tried the pre-render but get the same result...

I've rendered out a small segment of the voice showing the problem. The audio was originally recorded in camera and the source has a max peak of -2 and average peaks of around -8.

Dropbox - example_clip.wav

I had Adobe tech support on the phone yesterday and they cleared preferences etc. (all the usual culprits) but with no luck. They also said they'd send me an email shortly with an update... still waiting

[Bob Howes]

Hmmm...I have to say that, despite what you say about peaks at -2, levels could be a issue here.  An original recording at -2dB(FS) is pretty hot--roughly equivalent to +16 on a VU meter and analogue system.  Add in that, in digital recording, because of the way he samples are converted to  smooth waveform, there can be brief transients that go above the displayed levels (which are based on samples.

Does the original track play back okay before the compressor?  If so, I'd try backing off all your levels by 5 or 6 dB before compressing to see if that cures the problem.  If it does, you can always add make up gain by normalising to whatever level your client specifies once you've played with the level setting

I'll add that the built in audio interface on a Mac is not the highest quality and is indeed lacking in headroom--when it starts to clip, you know it.  (This isn't me being anti Mac--I'm equally scathig about built in sound cards on Winows computers!  )

[DutchProd]

I know what you're saying but I don't think that's the issue, for a few reasons.

• I've always recorded audio in this camera at roughly the same levels and have never had even a sniff of distortion
• If I apply the single band compressor to the actual clip instead of the multitrack, with the exact same parameters, it works perfectly.
• The distortion is very severe and is also a problem on clips with lower sound levels (albeit with different compressor settings to target the lower peaks).

The original track plays back perfectly before the compressing. If I drop the source levels back, and then alter the compressor threshold to suit (and still get the same amount of compression), the distortion is exactly the same. It seems to be being generated by the compressor itself.

Yeah, the audio isn't the best, but for the sort of work we're doing it's never been a big deal. We're mostly producing for TV so the final mix is around -10 which helps...

This is a tricky one! and more than anything, just frustrating. Unfortunately it seems most updates lately have fixed one thing only to break another...

[Bob Howes]

Okay, work round time.

Until an Adobe developer comes on line, have you ever played with the Multiband Compressor?  That's the other one I use for some voice over work--start with the preset called Broadcast then experiment until you get the sound you want.  It can sound very nice on male voices.

[ryclark]

Assuming that the Multiband Compressor doesn't do the same? Perhaps a good test for the system would be to try it and other similar effects to see if any of them react in the same way.

[DutchProd]

Thanks Guys,

Just tried the multi-band and.... perfect. No distortion whatsoever, even when I push it pretty hard (substantially harder than I was pushing the single).

I suppose this as least rules out the source clip as being the fault.

I haven't seen any dramas with other effects, however will certainly keep an eye out.

Be great to get someone from Adobe to look into it. I'm still waiting on the email they were going to send me three days ago...