bumping to top so people see this!!!! lol!!

My most used is McDSP compressor bank. Usually sounds good enuf, nicely incorporates some eq bands, and saves bundles on DSP. Very economical.

If that doesn't work, then what I use depends on the sound and the desired effect. Could be BombFactory, Waves, TC, etc. Even sansamp, ampfarm, L1, lo-fi, duy tape, etc, might give the desired squish. It always depends.

Least used / least fav: Digirack

I have two surefire compressors that I really like.. When tracking, I'll usually tame things that need it with an RNC. Mixing (digital) will run through a Renaissance compressor more often than not. I tend to shy away from Waves' C1 and others; if I need a 'cheap' compressor during mixes I'll just default to the built-in Cubase dynamics processor: it's easier on my processor than just another mid-range soft-compressor. Usually I'll bounce it down with a Ren. compressor, anyway, however.

The renaissance compressor seems to get a little squirrly when you start to push it input gain up past 14dB or so; I've often had to compress the vocals twice to get them to a workable volume. I *do* find the C1 compressor or Cubase dynamics to be a little bit better when I just need to pump up the volume on something.

The bass tracks I've worked with all seem to do really well with a ratio between 2.5:1 & 4.0:1 and around a 4-6dB boost. The threshold I use simply depends on the song: I'll work it 'till it's tame enough, but I leave as much room as possible. I tend to use RenComp's Optocompressor / Smooth on bass.

Vocals really varies. I've used about every setting under the sun, for the same style of music, depending on the song.

I like the optocompressor / smooth settings, when I can get away with'em. Screaming rock vocals tend to do better with a electro / warm compressor, of course.

Drums I tend not to compress too much...most of my drums get recorded with 3-4 mics and recorded down to a single stereo channel. They'll often get an electro/smooth setting, with a 2-6dB increase, and enough of a threshold to tame them. The drummers I've worked with will 'make me' tweak the drums until they're just about screaming in agony if I don't comp them to a stereo channel ASAP.

I haven't mentioned the attack/release times yet...they usually work well on default. If it just...doesn't sound right...I'll lower the settings (starting with the attack) until I like the way the little meter moves. How scientific is THAT? Nah, sometimes (mostly with drums or loooong vocal sounds) I'll give it a fair amount of judgement.