How to change "Comp" type in MB32C V8 CUE?

[PBuryk]

Greetings, All -

In MB32C V8 - 
How does one change the "Comp" type in the CUE channel strip?
All channel strips I see are set to "Comp" and do not respond to a left or right mouse click.
Their "counterpart" channel strips, in the MIXER page, are all "Leveler" and can be changed so I'm suspecting this is a bug?

Thanks! and...
Cheers!
Patrick

[johne53]

An interesting find... well spotted !

I suspect it might be a Comp bypass button but either way, it doesn't work :-(

[Ben@Harrison]

@PBuryk,

It was an intentional omission to remove the compressor on/off, mode selector, and 'speed' knob. We needed to save a bit of space to fit on smaller monitors, and we knew we needed to preserve the threshold, makeup gain, and metering.

The 'Comp' text just serves as a label for someone who is new to Mixbus and is looking at the cue page ... it's a clue that the slider and gain-redux. Perhaps I should have labeled it "Dyn" or something that couldn't be confused with one of the 3 modes. Or perhaps left it off, altogether.

Would it be better if we allowed right-clicking to choose the compressor mode there? Perhaps.

This is one of those cases where you have to choose 'something' and perhaps I could have chosen better. But I'm unsure if it's worth changing, now.

-Ben

[PBuryk]

@Ben -

This is one instance that I'm going to state my disapproval and quietly stand by to see where others join in.
If the channel strips in the CUE page are truly associated with the real audio and MIDI channels on the EDITOR and MIXER pages then, rather than the way the "Dyn" section
is currently laid out, I would recommend that the "Comp" widget, if it cannot be selected and changed, simply reflect the setting for that channel on the MIXER page.

Then comes the matter of having a working Makeup Gain control but not a Speed or Ratio control. Other than actually having that extra knob on the channel strip you simply
have a kludgy implementation of that portion of the channel strip. I'd recommend claiming more space from the Plugins area. I understand the part about new users and
smaller monitors. But the way it is now requires your more mature users to switch back and forth between the CUE and MIXER pages to adjust their dynamics. THAT might
be seen as a big inconvenience. 

Ok, I've had my say.

In the meantime, you might want to change the CUE WINDOW OVERVIEW page in the manual. It currently states:

Dynamics Controls: The slider sets the threshold of the dynamics control, which can be selected as Compressor, Leveler or Limiter. The makeup gain knob adds post-dynamics gain to the signal. The bar graph meter displays the amount of gain reduction.

Very respectfully submitted,
Patrick

[johne53]

Would it be better if we allowed right-clicking to choose the compressor mode there?  Perhaps.

Or maybe combine both buttons into a single one - i.e. Compressor / Limiter / Leveler / Bypass ?

Though I guess when 'Bypass' is selected it mightn't be obvious what's bypassed... 

[Dingo]

Would it be better if we allowed right-clicking to choose the compressor mode there?  Perhaps.

Or maybe combine both buttons into a single one - i.e. Compressor / Limiter / Leveler / Bypass ?

Though I guess when 'Bypass' is selected it mightn't be obvious what's bypassed... 

It's not three independent dynamics processors just a choice of one or other

[PBuryk]

@johne53 -
I think you're on the right track...

I've always thought the current top-placed "Comp" button was a waste of space.
As you brought up - Why not use THAT button as a type selection button: Leveler/Compressor/Limiter/Off ?
I would also recommend applying (4) different user selectable colors to the actual button "Fill" instead of the current marginally visible LED.
This would give the user an immediate visual summary of exactly what type of processing is applied across the whole MIXER (and CUE) pages.

An alternative to the above, in terms of actual layout, would be to eliminate the top-located "Comp" button and move
the rest of the section upwards, like what was done on the CUE page. I like the layout there where the "Trim" and "Makeup Gain"
knobs are together, presenting that whole area as a "Gain adjustment area". Then, under the Gain Reduction LEDs, you have the
current "Attack/Ratio/Release" knob and newly "improved" function selector button. Go even further by making this button look
like the "Mute" & "Solo" buttons. Notice, they change their color when active. Just apply a different color per function selection on this one.

Cheers!
Patrick

[Ben@Harrison]

@PBuryk:

Personally I think it's important to retain an in/out button in addition to the 'mode' selection. You want to be able to preserve your compressor mode (Leveler/Comp/Lim) and still turn it on/off. So we can't combine those into a single control.

Regarding the 'whole button color' approach: Mute and Solo buttons are assigned a higher level of priority (in the GUI) than the compressor 'in' indicator, so they get a fully colored button whereas the processors are typically assigned a circular 'led' indicator on the button. It is the case that the LEDs can get quite small if you have to reduce your font scale or mixer-strip-scale settings, but I'm not convinced we must redesign the whole gui for that situation.

I hope I don't sound like a naysayer here; I greatly value your input. But at the end of the day, a GUI will always be subjective and someone has to make these choices and defend them

Best,
-Ben

[PBuryk]

@PBuryk:

Personally I think it's important to retain an in/out button in addition to the 'mode' selection.  You want to be able to preserve your compressor mode (Leveler/Comp/Lim)  and still turn it on/off.  So we can't combine those into a single control.

Regarding the 'whole button color' approach:  Mute and Solo buttons are assigned a higher level of priority (in the GUI) than the compressor 'in' indicator, so they get a fully colored button whereas the processors are typically assigned a circular 'led' indicator on the button.  It is the case that the LEDs can get quite small if you have to reduce your font scale or mixer-strip-scale settings, but I'm not convinced we must redesign the whole gui for that situation.

I hope I don't sound like a naysayer here;  I greatly value your input.  But at the end of the day, a GUI will always be subjective and someone has to make these choices and defend them 

Best,
-Ben

Yup! Your "In/Out" button reasoning makes a lot of sense.
I'm don't understand the part about "higher level of priority" as far as function selection goes. That sounds like an interesting topic for discussion later.
Naysayer? Not at all! 
Just kickin' around the can!
Cheers!
Patrick

[Ben@Harrison]

@PBuryk: I've tweaked the text on the Cue Page "compressor section" to hopefully make it more obvious that the Comp is just a label and not a control.