InterComp user guide

The input meter shows what arrives. INPUT trims the level into both halves at once, for a hotter or quieter source. Auto gain takes it back afterwards, so it changes how hard the halves work, not how loud the result is.

The fast half, for catching peaks and adding bite. RATIO is a row of buttons; All is every button in at once. DRIVE sets how hard it compresses and how much colour it adds, without changing the level after the half.

ATTACK runs from 800 µs to 20 µs and RELEASE from 1.1 s to 50 ms, fast on the right. Each half has its own ACTIVE pill and a white gain reduction meter.

The left half can be IW-76 or IW-DS, a punchier, more colourful character compressor that goes from gentle levelling to all-out squash. Click the dim name in the half's title to switch. The switch crossfades, so it works while playing, and each model keeps its own settings for comparing.

2 is the gentlest ratio, for levelling a vocal before IW-3A; NUKE is the brick-wall setting. DRIVE is level-neutral, as IW-76's is; ATTACK and RELEASE are fast on the left. DIST adds warm second-harmonic distortion, SAT adds saturation, thicker in the low end, and WARMTH softens the top.

The swap button on the divider between the halves reverses the order, so the slow half levels first and the fast one catches what is left. During playback the swap crossfades briefly between the two orders. Each half keeps its settings.

The slow half, for smooth levelling. PEAK REDUCTION sets how much it works.

COMP | LIMIT under its title switches the mode: click the dim word. LIMIT starts working at the same point but holds peaks down much harder, at roughly 6 to 9:1 instead of about 4:1, and lets go a little faster. The switch crossfades, so it works while playing, and auto gain follows the mode.

MIX blends the untouched input with the compressed signal, for parallel compression without a send: 100% is fully compressed, 0% is the input as it came in. OUTPUT trims the result, after auto gain and the mix. The output meter shows what leaves.

Keeps the output about as loud as the input, so you hear the compression and not a level change. It is worked out from the settings, not measured, so it moves only when a knob does and never rides the music. Switch it in the settings menu on the preset bar; the footer shows the makeup it is adding.

ACTIVE in the header bypasses the whole plug-in. Each half's own ACTIVE pill bypasses just that half, which keeps running so it comes back settled.

The preset bar across the top saves, loads, steps through and deletes presets. A preset holds everything, and its name gains a star when you change something.