CONTROL EXPLANATIONS
There are two main gain controls on the compressor; the input gain control and the output gain control. The input gain control is a stereo-ganged control that sets the audio gain of the front-end amplifier. At maximum, the gain of the unit is about 26dB. This is more than adequate for compression and allows enough gain for the compressor to be driven by stereo musical instruments, keyboards and computer cards. If you set the gain to say 10dB and wind in compression until the output is back at 'zero', you have 10dB true compression. The output gain control is to set the output to a comfortable level for the equipment after the MC2. CAUTION. The MC2 has high gain, and a high output capability. If you hear signs of overloading it's likely that your mixer insert point, or whatever you are feeding into is being overdriven it's very unlikely that you are overdriving the compressor: Try turning down the output volume. 'COMPRESSION' simply adds gain to the compression side chain. In simple terms this changes the 'threshold' of the compression although with this compressor the 'threshold' is not clearly defined; the compression starts very gradually and the compression ratio changes with programme content and amplitude. For practical purposes, winding up the compression control increases the amount of compression. In use you will find that musically, all controls are interrelated. It's recommended that the compression control is operated at or near maximum when heavy compression is needed. 'ATTACK' sets the time that the compressor takes to act. At minimum (fastest) it's possible to make it 'overshoot' on some percussive programme material: This means that the compression electronics are driven hard before the gain has been controlled by the light cells. The cells catch up and over compress momentarily giving a tiny dip immediately following the start of the 'note'. This is best demonstrated by using a drum track and setting the attack and release to fastest. Used sparingly this can contribute to musical drive. Slower attacks are used where the compression needs to be less obvious. 'RELEASE' sets the time during which the path gain returns to normal after compression. Generally, the longer the time, the less obvious is the compression.
