Understand Compression | Dialing in The Release Time of a Compressor

Although a compressor’s release time might not seem as important as its threshold and ratio, it’s actually quite significant. It can have a considerable impact on the response of a compressor. If your compressor has an auto-release, it’s tempting to use that, almost exclusively. Although that can often yield the most useful setting, it’s important to understand how the release time is impacting the compression process, so that you can set it for a specific type of response when needed. The same is true with attack time, the other so-called “Time Constant.” In this excerpt from “How To Listen: Serial Compression Edition,” Fab demonstrates how an overly fast compressor release time can create distortion. Read more: Wanna learn what’s not on youtube? Join the largest community of producers and engineers. Produce, Record, Mix & Master with pureMix 💬 Get feedback on your mixes and music: 🎧 Train