Compressor V2

Smooths out the dynamic range of an audio signal by automatically reducing the volume of loud parts so the quiet parts don't get drowned out. Useful for keeping voices consistent over a long recording, taming peaks before downstream processing, or giving an overall "tighter" feel to a mix. Provides full broadcast-style controls — threshold, ratio, attack/release, knee, makeup gain, look-ahead, and a choice of detector — plus live gain-reduction meters and a clip indicator.

Compressor V2 - Settings

Compression

Compression — the main controls that shape how the compressor reacts.

Property	Description
`Threshold (0dBFS)`	Level above which the compressor starts working, in decibels relative to full scale. [min=-48, max=0, default=-18]. Audio louder than this gets reduced by `Ratio`; audio quieter than this is left unchanged. Lower (more negative) values catch more of the signal; values close to 0 only catch the loudest peaks.
`Ratio (1:1 - 20:1)`	How strongly audio above the threshold is reduced. [min=1, max=20, default=3.5]. Expressed as N:1. 1:1 is no compression; 2:1 means every 2 dB above threshold becomes 1 dB at the output (gentle); 4:1 is a typical broadcast setting; 10:1 or higher acts like a limiter.
`Makeup gain (dB)`	Extra gain applied after compression to compensate for the level reduction. [min=0, max=24, default=0]. Compression always lowers the overall level; makeup gain brings the perceived loudness back up. Set so the compressor's bypassed and engaged levels sound roughly equal.
`Attack time (ms)`	How quickly the compressor reacts when the signal exceeds the threshold, in milliseconds. [min=0, max=200, default=8]. Short values catch fast transients (drums, hard consonants) but can sound "squashed". Longer values let initial peaks through before the gain reduction kicks in, preserving punch.
`Release time (ms)`	How quickly the compressor stops working after the signal drops below the threshold, in milliseconds. [min=0, max=500, default=150]. Short values let the compressor recover quickly (more transparent on speech); long values keep the gain reduction smooth across phrases.
`Knee width (1-8 dB)`	Soft-knee width around the threshold, in decibels. [min=1, max=8, default=2.8]. Controls how gradually the compressor engages near the threshold. Low values give a hard, punchy onset (good for limiting); high values give a soft, gentle engagement (good for vocals and music).

Advanced

Advanced — detector type and look-ahead time.

Property	Description
`Compressor mode`	`AudioCompressorDetectorMode` — how the compressor measures the input level. [default=Rms]. `Peak` reacts to instantaneous peaks (more aggressive on transients). `Rms` reacts to the smoothed loudness over time (more transparent on voices and music).
`Look ahead (ms)`	How far ahead the compressor "looks" before applying gain reduction, in milliseconds. [min=1, max=8, default=4]. Lets the compressor anticipate transients so the gain reduction engages right when they arrive instead of slightly after. Adds a small constant amount of latency equal to this value.

Warnings

Warnings — clip indicators that flag when the signal is too loud.

Property	Description
`Signal overload`	True when the compressor's output signal has clipped (read-only). Lights up when the combined effect of compression and `MakeupGainDb` pushes the signal above full scale. Auto-resets after 2 seconds. Reduce `MakeupGainDb` if this trips often.
`Peak Overload (dB)`	Highest level reached during the most recent overload, in decibels (read-only). Updated whenever `SignalOverLoad` trips, and auto-resets after 2 seconds.

Output

Output — live gain-reduction meters showing how hard the compressor is working.

Property	Description
`Gain reduction Left (dB)`	How much the left channel is being attenuated right now, in decibels (read-only). Smoothed over 300 ms for a stable readout. 0 means no compression is happening; more negative values mean the compressor is working harder.
`Gain reduction Right (dB)`	How much the right channel is being attenuated right now, in decibels (read-only). See `GainReductionMeterL`.

Actions

Actions — one-click commands.

Property	Description
`Reset`	Reset all settings to their broadcast-style defaults. Restores threshold, ratio, attack/release, knee, makeup gain, look-ahead, and detector mode to a sensible starting point for general-purpose compression.

Inherits from: AbstractAudioOperator, AbstractOperator, AbstractAudioMetering.