These preferences are formed as much by how each of us use the compressor and what kind of impact we expect the compressor to offer to the mix. The tricky thing about 2-mix compressors (as in with things audio) is that everyone has very specific and often idiosyncratic preferences. What Makes for a Good Mix Bus Compressor? It may not be “magic”, but it can be pretty damn cool.īelow, we’ll take a look at a range of some of the best and most popular options available today, to help you hear the differences for yourself and pick your own favorites. Over time however, I realized that strapping a good compressor across the main mix provided a bit of sheen that I could not achieve by automating faders alone. My use (and love) of a good 2-mix compressor didn’t develop overnight, and in the beginning, it didn’t always seem to help in the way I expected it to. I am as guilty as any of sometimes relying on stereo bus compression as a crutch of sorts-though the benefits are undeniably real. It’s almost as if we can’t truly “complete” a mix until we’ve applied the magic dust that our favorite comp seems to impart. To many of us, the stereo bus compressor has become an important, if not indispensable tool in our mixing workflow. Mike Major has a new premium course out now called Mixing Drums: The Method to the Mix.

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