Waves Audio Renaissance Compressor User Guide

Renaissance Compressor

Table of Contents

Chapter 1......... About the Renaissance Compressor .... 2

Chapter 2 .........................................The Controls .... 3

Chapter 3 ................................Waves ARC system .... 7

Chapter 4 ..................................... Factory Presets .... 8

Mode, Behavior, Character buttons ............ 3

Threshold............ 4

Ratio, Attack, Rekease, Gain............ 4

Gain reduction/expansion meter............ 5

Input/Output Meters ............ 5

Limiter ............ 5

What the auto-release control does ............ 7

Global tips ............ 8

Presets details............ 8

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Chapter 1 • About the Renaissance Compressor

Renaissance Compressor is a classic warm compressor and expander, with a simple, optimized interface. It combines
technologies from the C1-Compressor/Gate and the famed L1 Ultramaximizer with Waves groundbreaking ARC
(Auto Release Control) technology. An ideal compressor for mastering or tracking, the ARC algorithm is also capable
of delivering significantly greater RMS levels (lower peak/RMS ratio) for heavier compression levels. Classic 5-

control setup is at the core of the interface, supplemented by a Release Mode button (ARC/Manual), plus the gentle
Character control (Warm/Smooth), and the Behavior control (Opto/Electro).

New to the processor is dithering for the final output. TDM output is dithered to 24-bit (fixed point); native output
is dithered to 32-bit (floating point). In both cases the signal is "handed back" to the application being used. In TDM,
the internal resolution is 56-bit fixed point; in native, it is 64-bit floating point.

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Chapter 2 • The Controls

How to adjust

We suggest you read the WaveSystem user guide to learn all the interface shortcuts and controls. You only have
to learn them once because they are common to every Waves plug-in.

Using the Renaissance Compressor is very simple while providing exceptional flexibility. Select the Mode, Character, and
Behavior you want, then adjust the standard 5 compressor controls: attack, release, threshold, ratio, and gain.

Release Mode

This button selects between Auto Release (ARC) and Manual.

ARC mode uses the Waves auto-release technology. You set the release time as an overall scaling factor and ARC
varies it from there depending on the input signal. Its character is similar to very responsive vintage program
compressors but also works extremely well for individual tracks.

Manual mode is fully manual, with no ARC (Auto Release Control).

Compression Behavior

Electro (the original mode of the v1.0 software) has a release time behavior that is increasingly faster as the gain
reduction approaches zero, but only when gain reduction is less than 3dB. When GR is above 3dB, the release time
becomes slower, behaving more like a leveler in high gain reduction situations. Therefore, when used with moderate
compression, the Electro mode produces a great increase in RMS (average level), and is ideal for "loud" applica­tions, such as voiceover and certain genre of music.

Opto is actually the inverse of Electro. Opto-coupled behavior always "put on the brakes" as the gain reduction
approaced 0dB, i.e., the release time gets slower as the "needle comes back to zero". As in Electro, this is true only
when the GR is less than 3dB; when greater than 3dB, the release time is faster. This is the vintage emulation that
sounds so great for drums and more!

Character

This button chooses between Smooth and Wa r m low-frequency characteristics, which certainly can also affect
wideband character, depending on the source material.

Wa r m adds low frequency harmonics as deeper compression is applied (greater gain reduction).

Smooth avoids adding such harmonics, keeping the sound as close as possible to the original.

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