I do all my productions with sony acid as my daw/vsthost/sequencer etc. im very familiar with and although i know some people don't like it, it works for me. if any of you use acid i think that would help answer this question alot easier, but i'm willing to do some work in other programs if neccessary
i've read all the sticky and compression tutorials on trance.nu and a few on other websites, i feel like i do understand the basics and the parameters and the processes to some extent, but have a few questions about how to utilize them.
i believe that i've already 'mastered' my track by assigning the db values on all the elements of my track (loops, percussion, softsynths etc.) to get the 'values' right. the mixdown sounds pretty good (as good as i can get it myself) the way it is.
usually at this point, i would just export this as a VBR mp3 file or wav, and then apply gain in a third party program to get it 'loud' enough... but i am understanding that's not really the most effective or professional way to produce and finalize an edm track.
when i finally have my mixdown ready to be exported, but want to compress the entire track, i am a little unsure about where and how to utilize the compression process.
i can create a bus for the entire project, or parts for the project, and route the mix through that utilizing a vst plugin for compression, or i can just assign a vst plugin to the 'master' bus that's already built in in acid, compressing the track before it's rendered at all. ( i believe that's what i'm supposed to do? )
alternatively, i could export the entire track the way it is and then reload it as a wav file in a new acid project after it's already rendered.
so that's the first part of my question above is which method is the most effective or preferred?
the second part is which compression vst plugin would be ideal for acid. i know i have at least a few compression plugins. i have a ton of vst plugins installed i probably only know about 1/4 of them by heart. in case any of the ones i have would work i have Waves Diamond, Ultrafunk, a few lesser popular 3rd party vst plugins, and obviously i am willing to buy whatever plugin is appropriate for doing this in case the ones i have are outdated or not sufficient.
ive searched this forum through and throughout for a compression tutorial for acid but had no luck... also no real luck on google apparently not of people use this program to produce. the only forum i've found for acid is some DNM forum with some helpful people but the website looks like it was created in 1979 and is do insanely difficult to search/post/read it's frustrating and it's hard to find this kind of info there
thank u for anyone who took the time to read this and reply i really am excited about making my first track completely professional sounding (for me anyway) i'm willing to do the work and the research but just have these few questions... thanks guys
