I just got the timeworks master comp duo (master comp hard, and soft), so I'd like to share my first impressions. Especially those of you who are interested in buying this package, read on.
First impressions: Easy maximization without obvious artifacts. Can score about 4-5 db gain without sweat.
Under the hood: There are 3 controls. Threshold, release, and output. The all act as you would expect them, just that by lowering threshold, you increase the overall response. (the louder it gets) Pretty straight forward.
I did smell some cheeze tho, with the release control. As I gradually increased the release from 1ms, through the entire range, I heard some obrupt changes in what appears to be the ratio. So, the release seems to be linked to the ratio, which changes obrupty at certain points. Most obvious change happens at 7ms for MC Soft and somewhere between 26.6 and 26.7ms for MC Hard, where the compression becomes very obvious, and from then on, things don't get better. I think most of time, you'll be moving within 7ms for MC Soft and 26.6ms for MC Hard for using on mixed material. Perhaps settings beyond 7ms are usefull for individual tracks.
So, generally, you're limited to a certain range of release time, and that means there's a limit as to how low your threshold can go. (how LOUD you can go) I found that 3-4 db works with most material, sometimes around 5-7db, but anything lower usually causes clipping. (provided that your material is already pretty loud) So don't think this is a "boost your material as far as you want" solution. Tho I wished there was one. With a knob that goes from "dry" to "punchy and loud, or a GOOD mix in general"
The usual problem in maximizing, is the low end of the mix. Such problems tend to throw MC off, and so you won't get optimal results. You'd want to fix up mixing errors first to get best results. Make sure you don't have superfluous bass frequencies that aren't critical and you should be fine.
All in all tho, there's nothing like this on Pulsar, so I'd definitely recommend it. Especially for those who want to do everything on SFP. The hard limiter in cooledit does a similar job tho.
Sound example of MC on mixed material:
http://www.iface.ne.jp/~ken/3test.mp3
The demo goes dry->mastercomp hard->mastercomp soft
Notice how mastercomp soft sounds a bit smoother because of the enhancements.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: kensuguro on 2003-07-16 02:55 ]</font>