Specifications

Chapter 7: Focusrite D3 59
Ratio
Ratio sets the compression ratio. If the ratio is
set to 2:1 for example, it will compress changes
in signals above the threshold by one half. The
range of this control is from 1.5:1 (very little
compression), to 10:1 (heavy compression, bor-
dering on limiting).
Threshold
Threshold sets the threshold level. Signals that
exceed this level will be compressed. Signals
that are below it will be unaffected. The range of
this control is from 0 dB to –48 dB. A setting of
0 dB is equivalent to no compression.
Attack
Attack sets the compressor attack time. To use
compression most effectively, the attack time
should be set so that signals exceed the thresh-
old level long enough to cause an increase in the
average level. This helps ensure that gain reduc-
tion doesn’t decrease the overall volume. The
range of this control is from 1.0 ms to 150.0 ms.
Release
Release controls how long it takes for the com-
pressor to be fully deactivated after the input
signal drops below the threshold level. In gen-
eral, this setting should be longer than the at-
tack time and long enough that if signal levels
repeatedly rise above the threshold, they cause
gain reduction only once. If the release time is
too long, a loud section of the audio material
could cause gain reduction that persists through
a soft section. The range of this control is from
25 milliseconds to 2.5 seconds.
Auto Release
Auto Release enables the automatic release func-
tion. In this mode the Release control has no ef-
fect on release time. Instead, the D3 uses a re-
lease time value that is program dependent and
based on the audio being processed.
Ratio
Threshold
Attack
Release
Auto Release