Re: Yamaha M.Comp
I use this comp all the time for my main/lead vocals. I hate being without it!
It tames boominess when the talent is talking, it tames 2.5-3kHz gak when singing, and it de-esses much more efficiently than the hopeless de-esser in the M7 and LS9.
I usually set it up on either a split FOH-channel or on a bus returning to a channel, if f.inst. there are more than one lead vocal. I also mostly use 2 of them for musical theater work - one for lead vocal bus and one for ensemble/choir bus (in stereo). I don't put them where they'd go in to stage wedges - or at least not the wedges belonging to the same talent. I may sometimes put them in other wedges far away on stage, to even out vocal levels for the others in the band.
My starting point settings are something like:
Threshold: -30 dB on all bands
Output gain: -20 dB on all bands
Ratio: 1:4
Knee: 1
L/M X-over point: 500 Hz
M/H X-over point: 6 kHz
Attack: 2 ms
Release: 70-100 ms
It's true that it's not perfect. The auto gain thing is annoying as heck, but neverless I love the thing. I cannot count the times I have had to start with little or no sound check, and the lead vocals just sound great from the start because of this thing automatically taming whatever needs to be tamed. And after a little tweaking you get a huge lead vocal that is always on top of things, sounding larger than life, never shrill, never boomy, never sticking out, never drowning but always perfectly blending with the music. I often hit 12dB gain reduction or more especially in mid-band.
If others don't like the thing - their loss, for all I care.
