Specifications

Chapter 7: Focusrite D3 57
D3 Parameters
To adjust rotary controls, drag horizontally or
vertically. Parameter values increase as you drag
upward or to the right and decrease as you drag
downward or to the left.
Input Level
Input Level attenuates signal input level to the
compressor or limiter. The range of this control
is from –30 dB to 0 dB.
When you use the D3 plug-in in stereo, each
channel has its own separate Input Level knob.
To adjust input levels for both channels simul-
taneously, Shift-drag. Option-Shift clicking
(Macintosh) or Alt-Shift-clicking (Windows) ei-
ther Input Level knob resets both channels to
0 dB.
Output Level
Output Level adjusts the overall output gain. Be-
cause large amounts of compression can restrict
dynamic range, the Output Level knob is useful
for compensating for heavily compressed sig-
nals and making up the resulting difference in
level.
When you use the D3 plug-in in stereo, this sin-
gle knob controls the master output for both
channels. The range of this control is from
–12 dB of attenuation to +18 dB of gain.
Key On/Off
Key On/Off enables and disables side-chain pro-
cessing. As explained earlier, side-chain process-
ing allows the D3 plug-in to listen to the varying
amplitude of a separate reference track and use
it to trigger compression or limiting. Chapter 2
of this Guide explains how to set up and use a
key input in greater detail.
Key Listen On/Off
Key Listen On/Off enables and disables audi-
tioning of the reference track controlling the
side-chain. This is useful for fine-tuning the
compressor’s settings to the key input.
Meters
The meters indicate gain reduction (the top
meter) and output level (the bottom meter). The
Gain Reduction meter indicates the amount of
gain reduction in dB. The Output Level meter
indicates the output signal level in dB.
In Stereo mode, two Output Level meters ap-
pear, one for each channel. However, a single
Gain Reduction meter is used for both channels,
since the D3’s RMS detector uses a composite
control signal.
Input Level
Output Level
Key On/Off
Key Listen On/Off