Focusrite Sonible Fast User manual

1Focusrite Fast Compressor Manual
Manual

2Focusrite Fast Compressor Manual
Contents
Introduction 3
Feature Overview 4
User Interface Overview 5
FAST And Detailed View 6
Learning and 7
Automatic Compression
Fine Tune your Sound 9
Global Control Section 12
Settings 13

3Focusrite Fast Compressor Manual
Introduction
FAST Compressor is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered
plug-in that finds the most appropriate compression param-
eters for your audio tracks in just a few seconds.
With the ability to learn from your input signal, the plug-in
assists you in your mixing tasks. Like all plug-ins of the FAST
family, FAST Compressor has been designed with a simple
goal in mind: Get great results, FAST!

4Focusrite Fast Compressor Manual
Feature Overview
AI-powered Compression
FAST Compressor uses AI technology to find the right compression parameters for your audio
material within seconds in order to get the best out of your tracks.
FAST View and Detailed View
The user interface has two view modes: FAST View provides the customised controls you need
to keep in the creative flow while Detailed View provides deeper control over parameters.
Flavour Buttons
Three Flavour buttons allow you to quickly select a Soft, Neutral or Hard compression style.
Spectral Balancing
With Spectral Balancing enabled (available in Detailed View), FAST Compressor dynamically
keeps an eye on the tonal balance of your input signal.
Profiles
Different profiles allow you to tell FAST Compressor what kind of instrument or voice the
plug-in is dealing with. This ensures a perfect adaption of the processing to your audio material.

5Focusrite Fast Compressor Manual
GUI Overview
Learn Button
Start the learning process
Compression
Control the intensity of the
compression
Visualiser
Monitor the Compressor’s
influence
Meter
Monitor your output level
FAST/Detailed
Switch GUI between FAST View
and Detailed View
Flavour Buttons
Profile Dropdown
Select a profile that best
matches your audio material
Input
Set your Input Gain
Output
Manually set your Output Gain
A button
Enable the automatic Output
Gain (Makeup Gain)
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Compressor DisplayLearn Section
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6Focusrite Fast Compressor Manual
FAST And Detailed View
The user interface of FAST Compressor has two view modes: FAST View provides the
customised controls you need, based on the content of your material. Detailed View
provides deeper control over parameters, to adjust settings to your own taste.
You can easily switch between FAST
and Detailed View by clicking on the
two buttons in the upper left corner
of the Waveform Display.
FAST View is designed to give you optimised controls to keep
in the creative zone. In this mode, you only see the controls
you need, so you can make tonal tweaks and keep moving
thorough your music-making process.
This is the default View when opening the plug-in.
Detailed View is designed for users who want to have maximum
freedom to make changes as they see fit. All parameters can
be freely modified and allow you to go crazy (if you want to).
FAST View Detailed View

7Focusrite Fast Compressor Manual
Learning and Automatic Compression
Learning new Compressor Parameters
• Choose a profile that best matches your input signal. If you don’t find a suitable profile, simply select “Universal”.
• Start the playback in your DAW. Make sure to select a segment where the audio source you want to process is audible.
• Press the Learn button to start the learning process. Now, a progress bar inside the Learn button indicates the
progress of the learning process.
• Done! Once learning is completed, FAST Compressor automatically applies a well-balanced compression to your signal.
You can now see the input signal (grey) and the compressed signal (red) in the interactive Waveform Display .
If you want FAST Compressor to learn from a different section of your signal, you can simply start the audio playback from there
and click the Relearn button. Note that you don’t have to click the Relearn button when switching between Flavours or Profiles.
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The heart of FAST Compressor is its ability to automatically find the most suitable compression parameters for your
signal. Therefore, choosing a profile and starting the learning process will typically be the first thing you want to do when
working with the plug-in. The learning process will not only automatically set all compression parameters, it will also
activate the Spectral Balancing feature in FAST View.

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Adapt the Amount of Compression
You can use the Compression handle to control the amount
of compression. Moving the handle up will reduce compres-
sion, while moving the handle down will increase it. You will
instantly see the impact on the waveform of the compressed
signal in the Waveform Display.
Choose a Flavour
You can use three Flavour buttons to quickly change the
character of your compressed sound. Once you settled on
a Flavour you can further fine-tune the results using the
Compression handle in FAST View or the additional parame-
ter available in Detailed View. Read the section Fine-tune your
Sound in Detailed View on page 9 for more details.
Resetting a Flavour
If you manually modified a Flavour using the Compression
handle or other compression parameters, you will see a small
asterisk next to the chosen Flavour. If you want to reset this
Flavour to its default settings, just hover over the Flavour
button and click Reset.
Change Profiles
You can always change the selected profile, without the need
to restart the learning process. But please note, that manually
made adaptions with Flavour Sliders or filters will not be
adopted. So, changing your profile will reset all parameters to
their default value!
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9Focusrite Fast Compressor Manual
Fine Tune your Sound
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Input Gain
The Input Gain controls the level of your input signal. You can increase the Input Gain if your
signal has a very low level or you decrease it if the signal is already very loud.
Output Gain
Since compression reduces the maximum level of a signal (all signal components above
the threshold are compressed), the output gain (often called make-up gain) helps bring the
average overall level back up. FAST Compressor will automatically set the right make-up
gain when Auto Gain is enabled.
Auto Gain
If Auto Gain is enabled, the plug-in automatically sets the output gain (make-up gain) to
compensate for the level reduction caused by compression. After finishing the learning
process, the Auto Gain will become more precise and matches the RMS levels of input and
output signal.

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Working in Detailed View
In Detailed View you can freely modify all compression parameters. This allows you to adapt every detail of the compression
process to your style.
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Threshold
The Threshold defines the level of the input signal at which
the compression effect is engaged. To trigger compres-
sion, you have to make sure that the peak levels of the
input signal are above the Threshold.
Ratio
The Ratio determines how much compression is applied to
any signal that goes over the Threshold.
Attack
The Attack defines the time it takes for the signal to
become fully compressed after exceeding the Thresh-
old level. Increasing the attack time leads to more tran-
sient signals, since the compressor reacts slower to level
changes.
Release
The Release defines the time it takes for the signal to
recover from its compressed state to its original state.
Increasing the release time smoothens out dynamic
changes.
Hint: When hovering over the Release slider, all signal
components that are compressed (due to the chosen
release time) are highlighted in blue inside the Waveform
Display. This helps to easily identify the impact of changing
the release time.

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Knee
The Knee defines if the compression starts gradually (low
value, soft knee) or abruptly (high value, hard knee) when
the signal exceeds the Threshold. The softer the knee, the
slower the compression approaches the defined ratio as
the signal level increases.
Dry / Wet
The Dry/Wet control allows you to blend between the wet
(compressed) and the dry (original) signal.
For example, at a setting of 0/100 your will only hear the
compressed signal, while a setting of 50/50 leads to a mix
of 50% compressed signal and 50% dry input signal. This
makes it very easy to apply parallel compression tech-
niques without any additional routing.
Spectral Balancing
Spectral Balancing gives your track the best possible defi-
nition and maximum transparency. When Spectral Balanc-
ing is enabled, FAST Compressor dynamically smoothens
out tonal imbalances and ensures a consistent tonal as
well as dynamic balance at all times.
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Global Control Section
Bypass
Undo/Redo
Save and Load Presets
To save a preset (all parameter values), click the Save button
in the Control Section. To load a saved preset, choose the
respective preset name from the preset dropdown.
If you want to delete a preset or change its name, go to
the preset folder in your local file explorer. You can also
easily share your presets among different workstations.
All presets are saved with the file extension *.spr to the
following folders:
OSX: ~/Library/Audio/Presets/Focusrite/FASTCompressor
Win: Documents\Focusrite\FASTCompressor\Presets
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Settings
Click the small cog wheel to access the settings page
of FAST Compressor (e.g. to restart the Guided Tour or to
check your subscription status).

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Settings
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Show Detailed View on Startup (Global Setting)
If you prefer working in Detailed View, enable this setting.
FAST Compressor will now start up in Detailed View by
default.
Show Tooltips (Global Setting)
Disable this option if you want to hide tooltips.
Use OpenGL (Global Setting)
If you are experiencing graphic problems (e.g. rendering
problems), you can try to disable the OpenGL graphics
acceleration.
Take Guided Tour
Click this button to restart the guided tour. Please note
that all parameters will be reset to their default values
when a new tour is started!
User Settings

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License Information
This section shows the license information for your plug-in.
Help Center
Visit the Help Center to e.g. manage your subscriptions or
download new plug-ins and the latest updates.
License Management