Doctor Mix: Compressor Demo with the Creme (Video)
- 04.12.2020
- Julian Moreth
- Creme
In the first episode of his “Compressor Demo Series” Doctor Mix introduces our bus compressor and mastering EQ Creme.
You may already be familiar with Doctor Mix from his video about our Konnektor. Now the mix and mastering engineer started a new series on his YouTube channel where he introduces the various compressors he uses in his studio and online mastering service "Doctor Mix".
He is particularly keen on the combination of the transparent and gentle VCA compressor with the passive Pultec-style equalizer.
What Happens in the Video
Claudio Passavanti – the man behind Doctor Mix – goes once across the whole front panel in a good eight minutes: side-chain low cut (120 or 60 Hz), the EQ-before-compressor / compressor-before-EQ switch ("this is the way I like to use it": compressor first, then EQ), threshold, attack, release, ratio, plus low and high boost and the output as gain compensation. He then deliberately drives the Creme too hard on one of his own library tracks to make attack and release audible – fast attack grabs the transients, slow attack lets them through – and afterwards sets it the way he actually uses it: ratio 2:1, slow attack, "just gently kiss the needle", about 4 dB of gain reduction. Finally the Pultec-style EQ: bass at 100 Hz, highs between 10 and 16 kHz.
What Doctor Mix Says About the Creme
"The Tegeler Creme is a compressor and equalizer at the same time. It's a stereo unit, so it's very well suited for mastering." – Claudio Passavanti (Doctor Mix), video, April 2020
"It's quite transparent, it gives you quite a bit of volume without you feeling too much the presence of the compressor. And this is why I like to use it on more like acoustic material, you know, something like jazz or acoustic music, that kind of stuff." – Claudio Passavanti (Doctor Mix), video, April 2020
"The Tegeler in particular is quite transparent and gentle on the compression side [...]. I really like that unit." – Claudio Passavanti (Doctor Mix), video, April 2020
The Pultec-style EQ he calls "one of the bits that I like the most about this unit" – the highs at 16 kHz "super crispy, super nice".
What the Creme Is – and Why It Sits on the Mix Bus
The Creme is our bus compressor and mastering equalizer: a passive Pultec-style EQ and an SSL-style VCA bus compressor in one 2U unit. The order is switchable – EQ before the compressor or compressor before the EQ. On the mix bus the compressor pulls the separate parts into one whole, almost inaudibly at a 1.5:1 ratio, with a rhythmic signature of its own at higher ratios and faster timing; a side-chain filter keeps frequencies below 60 or 120 Hz out of the control circuit. The EQ offers a bass boost between 20 and 200 Hz and a high boost between 10 and 24 kHz, each 0–5 dB, every value on a rotary switch – which is why every setting is exactly reproducible. If you want plug-in recall, the Creme RC with motorized pots has it: Amazona.de reviews our Creme RC.
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Doctor Mix's Website: https://www.doctormix.com/
Related: Doctor Mix: Routing at the Push of a Button with the Konnektor · Claudio Passavanti Expands His Studio with the Konnektor · Streaky Reviews the Creme
