Karaoke Forums

Just curious for karaoke SINGERS out there.....
Would you want to sing with a compressor or not, and why?

The wife and I got into a discussion about it, and her opinion,and I tend to agree with her, that is she prefers NOT to sing with compression.

I know, as a KJ, that it makes life A LOT easier, but I am looking for singers input.

As a singer I prefer compression - provided it's adjusted properly. It can bring out some dynamics of the voice & help control the overall volume of it. I know how to use mic control when needed and have sang on systems without compression. Those systems just do not sound as tailored as a system with proper compression.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Interesting question!
I have to agree with Lonman although my experiance of singing at shows using compression is pretty limited (most here do not have it), I do have it (if only on my Yamaha mixer) and I can certainly notice the difference, more so on the soft vocals, but none the less it does help.

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Music speaks to the heart in ways words cannot express.

I prefer to sing without the help of a comp. Working the mic is my preferred style.

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

I really don't care, and I'd bet it doesn't even kick in when I sing.....cept if I'm a little over juiced, and get a bit stupid(doesn't usually happen, but can't say it hasn't).
Now what I'd really like to see compressed is the length of some of the songs some KJs let people sing. I don't care how many singers they got, I don't want to hear anybody sing a song over 4-4:30....it's just not fair....compress that... of course, that's another thread, right......
ps.....did you ever notice, there are people who sing long songs just about every time they're up?

I prefer compression, but I still work the mic by habit since there are so many shows which don't have it.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Anyone who claims they don't like their voice with compression, or claims to be able to hear a difference...has been singing with improperly setup compression.

This is like asking a singer if they prefer to sing with or without a subwoofer. If the KJ is using it correctly, they shouldn't notice.

But would realize when it wasn't there!

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

I couldn't register a vote, because you need some more choices.... How about, "I don't know what the difference is."

I don't know if I could tell the difference.... or, for that matter, if I've ever sung on someone's system where they used compression. I know how loud I can be at times, and tend to know when to pull back on the Mic.

My PA/Amp is the Mackie 408S, and what it will do is cause the music and vocal to go silent for 2 or 3 seconds if someone screams into the Mic.

Baza sort of went to the same point I was going to make. That is if the person behind the controls knows anything about how to use a compressor, you'd never know it was there. Additionally, just because their is compression doesn't mean you can't use normal mic technique instead. Compression does not prevent you from using dynamics (again unless the compression is being completely over-used).

As a singer, I always prefer to know that I've got compression on my channel. It allows me to really get on the mic without worry of magic smoke pouring from the PA or the goofball behind the console turning me down and resulting in my vocals being inaudible when I get to quieter passages.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

that sounds like a different problem Cue. Tony may be able to pinpoint it better, but that sounds like overload protection. maybe a yell is just enough to push it to overload? at 4 ohms it is only 200w /ch.

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

A little light compression goes a long way to taming plosives and sibilants. No matter how good they are at working the mic, a lot of singers have never learned how to avoid "p" poppin' and Parseltongue hissy esses. Properly used, neither the singer NOR the listener should notice the processing.

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Dave's not here.

Up until recently I knew little about compression and what it was for, so I pretty much ignored it. But thanks to the tech forum here and the gracious contributors, I gained a little more understanding of it. Enough to actually want to try it. So I did!

And even though I am only using the preset FX on my Behringer mixer for compression, I found it extremely worthwhile. I find I can utilize the proximity effect of the Shure mic far more effectively and as Moonrider stated, I find it far easier to control the 'plosives'.

I'd be the first to admit that I wouldn't have the foggiest idea how to set up compression properly, and so the preset FX helps in that respect. As far as karaoke venues are concerned, I really wouldn't know which one uses it or not... but I'm sure my ears are happy that some probably do!

Don't use it much. It's there, just lightly. I like to work the mic, I've tought others.

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

The 408S does have a "compressor" based speaker protection. It is applied to the whole mix and the behavior you describe could be consistent with that protection circuit kicking in. That "compressor" as Mackie refers to it is a little different than having dynamic processing on individual mic channels. It's definitely a good idea for you to keep that engaged on your 408S as it will save the amps and speakers.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

I have to agree. I only recently (w/in the past six months) started using compression as it is on my new mixer. I have a couple of singers who can really project and compression has made it easier for me to control their output with less effort on my part. I’ll also agree with Lonman that the lack of it would be noticeable; kinda’ like effects. It should be used sparingly only to the level that a singer might sense something was missing if it weren't there.

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EveningStar Entertainment & Events
JR & Michele LaPorte
Peoria, AZ

Remember guys/gals, Twan was asking from a 'singer' perspective. I think we are taking it more on a kj side.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

From a singers point of view the vocals seem clearer wihout compression. I guess I like the sibilance.

From the KJ's point of view I use a DBX266XL compressor and I'm glad I have it due to the screamers.

Properly set compression will never be noticed by the singers. As a singer I perfer it as a KJ it is a must have, in the studio you can't do without it.

If a compressor (those that have it) is set up as soft knee and the ratio is properly set along with input and output gains (I like between 1:4 - 1:6 for ratio, 1:6 for me personally) or for those compressors that don't have hard/soft knee settings then you have attack and release times to adjust as well, a little more complicated for the novice user but not rocket science.

A compressor can also be setup for "ducking" on the Host mic for announcements etc. causing the overall sound (other than the host mic) to drop to whatever DB level below the host mic you choose to set it. Pretty simple to setup.

There are also compressor/limiter/gate/enhancers that will gate the mic so there is no output below the floor noise level (that you set), Limit on the overall DB level from that mic (someone beating on the mic, dropping it, or screaming into it with the ball cupped etc.) Enhanced on the lower level vocals as well as compressed on the upper levels.

Cueball,

A compressor on the vocals will do your system a world of good because you can set it to catch those screamers before they activate the protection circuits on your amp.

Just to clarify, because there will be those that will look at their compressor and say "but I have both a knee and an attack control, what's the difference". Attack specifies the amount of time it takes for the compressor to engage the gain reduction. Knee specifies how the gain reduction is applied. Attack is pretty easy to understand, it's a specification in terms of the number of milliseconds it takes to achieve a specified amount of gain reduction. Knee on the other hand describes how the gain reduction is applied dependent on the signal level. In hard knee compression, the gain reduction is applied at the specified ratio regardless of signal level. Soft knee compression increases the amount of gain reduction (up to the specified ratio) as the signal level increases. The result is that for things like vocals and instruments, soft knee sounds more natural and less noticeable. Hard knee compression is typically employed in limiter functions.

Hope I'm not being pedantic here, but like I said I could already "see" the potential confusion on people's faces.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke