Iacopo San Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 I have a MXR M87 Bass Compressor. I understand the Ratio, Release and Attack controls, but I struggle to understand how I should use the Input and Output controls based on the compression metering (leds at the top). I guess you adjust the Output only based on the volume you want the pedal to give you, but how do you adjust the Input? Should it be so that when you play the leds are normally in either the green, yellow or red area? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolo Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 The input decides how loud you want to be when hitting the threshold and start compression. The output makes up the gain loss from compressing, and is usually set that your overall sound is equally loud with the comp on or off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cattytown Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 How many LEDs to light? it depends! The LEDs say it's doing some compression. The more LEDs the more compression. If you want a more extreme compression, head into the yellow. The red is pretty much hitting a limiter. Nothing wrong with that if that's what you like. Do what sounds right to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iacopo San Posted March 13, 2018 Author Share Posted March 13, 2018 2 hours ago, Bolo said: The input decides how loud you want to be when hitting the threshold and start compression. Sorry, I still struggle to understand this. Does it mean that at a lower input the compressor will start working at a lower volume, or vice versa? Or i guess I can just use the metering leds to figure outat what volume it starts working? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 I adjust the input control so that I’m lighting most of the green LEDs with normal playing and hit the yellow (maybe even creep into the red) once or twice in a set when I really wallop the strings. Once that’s set, adjust the output so that your volume is roughly the same whether the pedal is on or off. Essentially the output is used to regain any volume “lost” by the compression. That’s how I understand it anyway. YMMV, of course. If you want less compression for a given ratio, just adjust the input control so that you’re lighting fewer LEDs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Iacopo San said: Does it mean that at a lower input the compressor will start working at a lower volume, or vice versa? Or i guess I can just use the metering leds to figure outat what volume it starts working? As soon as you light even one LED, your signal is being compressed (I think - it’s been a while since I read the M87 manual as my pedal broke recently). If you turn the input up, you are more likely to hit threshold at which the compressor kicks in. Lower the input and you won’t hit the threshold (or will hit it less). Edited March 13, 2018 by Johnny Wishbone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iacopo San Posted March 13, 2018 Author Share Posted March 13, 2018 Great, I guess I get it now. Thank you all for your answers, very clear! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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