i peronaly use a out board Ballari tube comp. in line with the inital recording. this way i get that worm tone. if your concerned about getting a dry(no comp.) and wet(w/ comp.)aux out to the comp. and rec both( if you can spare the tracks). if you are tring to comp. with out out board fx that i have no other ideas. if you find a better PT comp. plaese let me know.

COMPRESSOR DELEMMA

THE PROTOOLS COMPRESSORS ARE A BIT WEAK TO SAY THE LEAST, IF YOU CAN TRY DOWN LOADING WAVES PLATINUM. THEY ARE BY FAR MORE USEFUL AND FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND WILL WORK. THE PT COMPRESSORS ARE MORE SLANTED TOWARDS THE EDGE OF THE COMPRESSION RANGE FOR A PARTICULAR INSTRUMENT. I HAVE FOUND THAT BRINGING THE THRESHHOLD AND ATTACK LEVELS OUT OR UP ALITTLE AT A TIME WILL GIVE YOU A GOOD STARTING POINT FROM THE ORIGINAL SETTING.

i choose my comp depending what i´m gonna do...for example, for the kick i prefer the RenCompressor and for the Drum bus (yes, i compress the kick twice) i prefer the BF1176...there are others and you have to find what you would use...

i use different ones for different things but here are some of my faves:

on vocals i like the waves renaissance or the LA-2A (then possible an 1176 to catch more dynamic sections ie. "belting").

on snare drum often the renaissance or mcdsp compressorbank (liking this one more and more)

kick drum often the 1176

drum room mic or drum sub- fairchild 670 (KILLER!)

acoustic guitars LA-2A

Electric guitars- 1176 maybe la-2a

bass- LA-2A or Renaissance

all these are the plug in versions, not hardware (that's the stuff with all the wires right?)

waves or bombfactory could cover you in full pretty much, i believe

-mckay

mine may have wires but yours dont have tubes!!!!!

i put some NOS GE tubes on top of my stack of firewire drives and i'm convinced that my compressors use much fuzzier math ; ) next i'm gonna upgrade my mac usb hub with burr-brown op amps and put Jensen transformers behind my spacebar...

okay, i know distressors really rule but we're talkin' about plugs here. mmmmkay?

over.

I agree , those compressors (PT bundle) are quite weak. But
usable for certain things, in acertain manner. I use meek comp
on instuments sometimes, but for vocals I like BF comp better.