There’s a plug-in compressor in Pro Tools that allows the user to set a maximum compression amount (“depth” in Avid-language), and I’d like to see that added to Nuendo’s compressor.
What it does is let you set the parameters of compression the way you normally would, but you also can set a maximum amount of compression the compressor will do, measured in dB. So to illustrate what it does here’s a simple example with input/output/reduction levels, with a 2:1 ratio, threshold at -20dBFS (ignore knee etc for the time being):
-20/-20/0
-16/-18/2
-10/-15/5
-4/-12/8
now with a compressor with a maximum ‘ceiling’ set to 4dB:
-20/-20/0
-16/-18/2
-10/-16/4
-4/-8/4
It’s a bit hard to explain what the audible effect of this is, but it allows for a still “dynamic” or “moving” signal while locking the maximum compression at a certain value which prevents ‘over-compression’ in a sense. In the above example 4dB reduction might be acceptable, 5dB debatable, and 8dB out of the question. With the compressor working harder as the signal increases you can’t avoid those 8dB without lowering the input or raising the threshold, but this way you can.