Art TCS Twin - Getting the most out of V3

ART TCS Twin Compressor System
 Manual – this is a general all-purpose setting, which gives you
maximum flexibility; it uses a gate for noise reduction.
 Percussion – this setting is intended for percussion
compression on single instruments such as snare, kick, etc,
and includes a gate for noise reduction.
 Bass – this setting is intended for more aggressive bass
sounds and includes a gate for noise reduction.
 Stack – Sometimes it just sounds better to have two compressors
doing less work, then one doing all the of work. In this setting both
the VCA and the opto-isolator perform compression in series
giving it a distinct character. Please note in this setting the ratio
setting is effectively doubled.
 Sustain – this setting is intended to squeeze out sustain and
includes a gate for noise reduction.
 Nice – this setting is for when you want extreme compression,
it includes a gate for noise reduction.
 Guitar – this setting is intended for instrument compression
includes an expander for noise reduction to maintain the
natural decay of the source.
 OPL – In this setting the TCS uses the opto-isolator for
compression and the VCA acts as a limiter on high signal levels.
 Leveling – this is intended for smooth optical compression with
a VCA limiter, and includes a gate for noise reduction.
 Mix – this is for mixed based material and uses an optical
compression with a VCA limiter and an expander. Ideal for
mixing to digital media to prevent digital clipping.
 Vocal – this is intended for vocals primarily in the live capacity
with a limiter on top of the compression. Also, has a de-esser
and an expander for NR.
Getting the most out of V3
The best way to become familiar with the V3 settings is to experiment. The
presets are intended as a starting place, and are not necessarily set in
stone. One hint is to run your program material into the TCS, set the attack,
release settings to about mid-point, set the ratio to about 2:1, and gradually
increase the threshold until you can see the VU meters reducing gain by
about 6 dB. From there, step through the compression settings until you find
one that works best for you. After that, tweak away on the controls to
customize the sound to your taste.
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