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What is Audiobus?Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.

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Blue Mangoo Compressor.

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Comments

  • Hello, I think there is a bug, if you close Daw and reload project with this compressor inside it's not active until you manually touch the output gain.

  • @Blue_Mangoo really interesting video. Thanks for making it. I would also love to see the NS2 compressor and the Tone Boosters compressor in Audio Evolution Mobile Studio.

    👍

  • Excellent video. much appreciated. ...bonus points for the clear and evenhanded presentation.

    will there be a Round II with a few more AU's and a couple more in-app comps from other DAWs ... BM3 ? ... Gadget ? etc

  • @cian said:
    Thank you for the video. As marketing efforts go I would like to see more of this kind of thing. You’ve sold me on your compressor and ethics.

    I do wonder about limits of the test. A big part of any compressor is the envelope characteristics and yours not really testing that with your test.

    Yes. It would have been good to discuss that because it’s important and there are huge differences in the way these compressors handle that. But that video was 28 minutes long and I was trying hard not to make it 40.

  • @Manou said:
    Hello, I think there is a bug, if you close Daw and reload project with this compressor inside it's not active until you manually touch the output gain.

    Thank you for reporting this. We will fix it.

  • @BitterGums said:
    Excellent video. much appreciated. ...bonus points for the clear and evenhanded presentation.

    will there be a Round II with a few more AU's and a couple more in-app comps from other DAWs ... BM3 ? ... Gadget ? etc

    I don’t have plans for round two yet. This was expensive to make and it took me a long time. I would consider it though if the response to this goes well. My main concern is that as an app developer I really shouldn’t be the one doing tests and reviews of other apps because I’m biased. In this case, I did it because I didn’t know what to tell people who ask what is the difference between our own compressor and the others on the store. We actually didn’t know how our own app compared to the rest until after we made this video. I learned a lot from looking at the other compressors; mostly things that I didn’t mention on camera. I am especially interested in Magic Death Eye because the way it turns a simple 20 Hz sine wave to a low frequency growl is amazing. If that could be done in a way that was gentler on the high frequency distortion it would be amazing.

  • @Blue_Mangoo said:

    Yes. It would have been good to discuss that because it’s important and there are huge differences in the way these compressors handle that. But that video was 28 minutes long and I was trying hard not to make it 40.

    I mean if you were to make another video on that I would watch it. I'm sure the audience for this is pretty niche, but I would watch every video like this that you made.

    Incidentally, and it's totally cool if you don't want to share this, any recommendations on resources for building/designing a compressor?

  • edited June 2019

    @cian said:

    I mean if you were to make another video on that I would watch it. I'm sure the audience for this is pretty niche, but I would watch every video like this that you made.

    Incidentally, and it's totally cool if you don't want to share this, any recommendations on resources for building/designing a compressor?

    Doing another video where we try to discuss every compressor plugin on the App Store is too time consuming. But now that you suggest it, I realise that we could do more tutorial videos on the subject of how compressors work, how to use them, and what to look for when testing them.

    The best resource I know of for getting you started with building a compressor app is this one: https://www.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/~josh/documents/2012/GiannoulisMassbergReiss-dynamicrangecompression-JAES2012.pdf

    If you search around the Internet, you’ll find that the authors of this paper have also shared c++ source code for their designs. As they say in the paper, there is a severe lack of good written documentation available about how to build a good compressor. That paper is a good starting point but I’m not aware of another resource that tells you where to go from there.

    *** edit ***

    Actually I do know one resource that tells where to go from there. It’s on our own gitHub account: https://github.com/sirhans/AudioFiltersXcodeProject?files=1

    That’s the XCode project that we use to develop and test our signal processing code. A large portion of the back end signal processing algorithms we use in our apps are in there and we share that code freely. Until now I don’t know if anyone has actually used it though.

  • @gusgranite said:
    @Blue_Mangoo really interesting video. Thanks for making it. I would also love to see the NS2 compressor and the Tone Boosters compressor in Audio Evolution Mobile Studio.

    👍

    I think we will do more videos but I don’t want to be the complete buyers guide to iOS compressors because that role should go to someone who is unbiased. Subsequent videos will focus on how to use compression and how to test these things for yourself.

  • @Blue_Mangoo said:

    @gusgranite said:
    @Blue_Mangoo really interesting video. Thanks for making it. I would also love to see the NS2 compressor and the Tone Boosters compressor in Audio Evolution Mobile Studio.

    👍

    I think we will do more videos but I don’t want to be the complete buyers guide to iOS compressors because that role should go to someone who is unbiased. Subsequent videos will focus on how to use compression and how to test these things for yourself.

    How about other videos focusing on things other than compressors? (EQ? Reverb?) I found your video very informative and helpful to understand. Usually not too interested in that kinda tech info - but for some reason I was quite compelled with yours.

  • @Halftone said:

    @Blue_Mangoo said:

    @gusgranite said:
    @Blue_Mangoo really interesting video. Thanks for making it. I would also love to see the NS2 compressor and the Tone Boosters compressor in Audio Evolution Mobile Studio.

    👍

    I think we will do more videos but I don’t want to be the complete buyers guide to iOS compressors because that role should go to someone who is unbiased. Subsequent videos will focus on how to use compression and how to test these things for yourself.

    How about other videos focusing on things other than compressors? (EQ? Reverb?) I found your video very informative and helpful to understand. Usually not too interested in that kinda tech info - but for some reason I was quite compelled with yours.

    Sure. We could do that. Thanks for the suggestion.

  • @Blue_Mangoo said:

    @gusgranite said:
    @Blue_Mangoo really interesting video. Thanks for making it. I would also love to see the NS2 compressor and the Tone Boosters compressor in Audio Evolution Mobile Studio.

    👍

    I think we will do more videos but I don’t want to be the complete buyers guide to iOS compressors because that role should go to someone who is unbiased. Subsequent videos will focus on how to use compression and how to test these things for yourself.

    I am not actually using your video as a buyers guide and I would warn others against doing so as well. E.g I think Woodman’s compressor still sounds great, especially with a bit of the extra tube saturation. If you cannot hear the highs aliasing in the mix then I don’t think it matters. If you can then filter them out, etc.

    However, I did find your video really interesting in better understanding the iOS compressors from that one angle.

  • @Blue_Mangoo would you mind if I started a separate thread with just your video and gave other developers a chance to respond? This thread is really about your compressor so it would be a bit of a different focus.

  • edited June 2019

    @gusgranite said:
    @Blue_Mangoo would you mind if I started a separate thread with just your video and gave other developers a chance to respond? This thread is really about your compressor so it would be a bit of a different focus.

    Sure, no problem. If some of them have criticism about the video; it would actually be a big help to the readers of this forum to let them discuss it, to balance out my obviously biased viewpoint. And I might learn a few things from reading their comments too.

  • edited June 2019

    @Manou said:
    Hello, I think there is a bug, if you close Daw and reload project with this compressor inside it's not active until you manually touch the output gain.

    We tried to replicate this in Cubasis and AUM, but we didn't see the error. Would you please tell us which DAW you are using?

    *** edit ***

    but we did find some other errors related to saving state. your error will hopefully be fixed when we fix the other errors. Please contact us if it still doesn't work after the next update.

  • @Blue_Mangoo said:

    @gusgranite said:
    @Blue_Mangoo would you mind if I started a separate thread with just your video and gave other developers a chance to respond? This thread is really about your compressor so it would be a bit of a different focus.

    Sure, no problem. If some of them have criticism about the video; it would actually be a big help to the readers of this forum to let them discuss it, to balance out my obviously biased viewpoint. And I might learn a few things from reading their comments too.

    https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/33292/blue-mangoo-s-take-on-a-compressor-shoot-out

  • @Blue_Mangoo
    Thank you! That's very generous. Going to dig in.

  • edited June 2019

    Hi @Blue_Mangoo
    Any chances that you include some kind of scale on the input and output, but most importantly on the Gain Reduction level indicator?

    The way I usually use a compressor is to raise the threshold knob until I get a gain reduction of a certain level, which is approximate the same gain increase I’ll have to apply at the output to compensate the compressor effect and make the input peak level comparable to the output peak level in the mix. Then I can A/B the dry with the wet signal to actually hear what the compressor is doing to the RMS level. A visual aid is very important to quickly do this and not waste time guessing the levels. This is not so critical in Auria Pro where I have very detailed metering indicators but very critical in other DAWs such as Cubasis where there’s almost no visual aid available.
    A visual indication of the current settings on the knobs would be great too, otherwise I need to touch the knob to actually see the values.

    By the way, impressive compressor, you’ve done a great job.

  • @Rodolfo said:
    Hi @Blue_Mangoo
    Any chances that you include some kind of scale on the input and output, but most importantly on the Gain Reduction level indicator?

    The way I usually use a compressor is to raise the threshold knob until I get a gain reduction of a certain level, which is approximate the same gain increase I’ll have to apply at the output to compensate the compressor effect and make the input peak level comparable to the output peak level in the mix. Then I can A/B the dry with the wet signal to actually hear what the compressor is doing to the RMS level. A visual aid is very important to quickly do this and not waste time guessing the levels. This is not so critical in Auria Pro where I have very detailed metering indicators but very critical in other DAWs such as Cubasis where there’s almost no visual aid available.

    By the way, impressive compressor, you’ve done a great job.

    I was expecting someone to request that, and would be happy to add it. Because I want to keep the design as clean as possible, have you any suggestion about the minimal amount of markings we need to add to make it work for you? Specifically, is there a way we could make it work with less markings than what is normally used by other compressor plugins?

  • @Blue_Mangoo said:

    I was expecting someone to request that, and would be happy to add it. Because I want to keep the design as clean as possible, have you any suggestion about the minimal amount of markings we need to add to make it work for you? Specifically, is there a way we could make it work with less markings than what is normally used by other compressor plugins?

    I'll get the plug-in after I get myself some more store-credits but initially...
    ...add 'value read-outs' under the meters (Input Level, Gain Reduction, Output Level) and knobs for starters.

    Maybe tap on the 'meter values' to change between different metering modes?

    I know this will use more 'space' and make it harder to scale down the UI...
    (So maybe hide the values when there's not enough room in the current view).

    An alternate method would be to replace the knobs with value fields when editing?
    (And then just swipe up/down on the value to change it?).

    This is just loud brainstorming...

  • edited June 2019

    @Blue_Mangoo said:

    @Rodolfo said:
    Hi @Blue_Mangoo
    Any chances that you include some kind of scale on the input and output, but most importantly on the Gain Reduction level indicator?

    The way I usually use a compressor is to raise the threshold knob until I get a gain reduction of a certain level, which is approximate the same gain increase I’ll have to apply at the output to compensate the compressor effect and make the input peak level comparable to the output peak level in the mix. Then I can A/B the dry with the wet signal to actually hear what the compressor is doing to the RMS level. A visual aid is very important to quickly do this and not waste time guessing the levels. This is not so critical in Auria Pro where I have very detailed metering indicators but very critical in other DAWs such as Cubasis where there’s almost no visual aid available.

    By the way, impressive compressor, you’ve done a great job.

    I was expecting someone to request that, and would be happy to add it. Because I want to keep the design as clean as possible, have you any suggestion about the minimal amount of markings we need to add to make it work for you? Specifically, is there a way we could make it work with less markings than what is normally used by other compressor plugins?

    Well, there are basically two tendencies on the most used compressors on the desktop, detailed markings with values on the vertical level meters or just a minimalistic value read-out under the meters.
    I believe that the ProTools stock compressor is maybe the cleanest in terms of markings, just a few horizontal marks on input and output but some numbers on GR (the most important indicator for a compressor).
    In the case of Logic Pro it uses just a value read-out below the sliders and no markings, that’s probably the minimal info I believe it should be shown. But again, GR has a detailed metering with markings.

  • @Samu I hadn’t seen your comments, I was writing at the moment you posted.
    I like the “tap on the meter values to change between different metering modes” idea.

  • edited June 2019

    @cian said:
    Incidentally, and it's totally cool if you don't want to share this, any recommendations on resources for building/designing a compressor?

    This video might be helpful:

    We show some of our envelope follower prototypes running in Mathematica and explain a bit about how they work.

  • Thank you @Blue_Mangoo and everybody else for creating an Audiobus greatest hits thread. The detail and analysis here will help make apps more awesome for years to come.

  • @Blue_Mangoo said:

    @BitterGums said:
    Excellent video. much appreciated. ...bonus points for the clear and evenhanded presentation.

    will there be a Round II with a few more AU's and a couple more in-app comps from other DAWs ... BM3 ? ... Gadget ? etc

    I don’t have plans for round two yet. This was expensive to make and it took me a long time. I would consider it though if the response to this goes well. My main concern is that as an app developer I really shouldn’t be the one doing tests and reviews of other apps because I’m biased. In this case, I did it because I didn’t know what to tell people who ask what is the difference between our own compressor and the others on the store. We actually didn’t know how our own app compared to the rest until after we made this video. I learned a lot from looking at the other compressors; mostly things that I didn’t mention on camera. I am especially interested in Magic Death Eye because the way it turns a simple 20 Hz sine wave to a low frequency growl is amazing. If that could be done in a way that was gentler on the high frequency distortion it would be amazing.

    I loved that video greatly!
    Many thanks for that.

    Do you know any iOS App that allows to make such graphical analysis?

  • @tja said:

    @Blue_Mangoo said:

    @BitterGums said:
    Excellent video. much appreciated. ...bonus points for the clear and evenhanded presentation.

    will there be a Round II with a few more AU's and a couple more in-app comps from other DAWs ... BM3 ? ... Gadget ? etc

    I don’t have plans for round two yet. This was expensive to make and it took me a long time. I would consider it though if the response to this goes well. My main concern is that as an app developer I really shouldn’t be the one doing tests and reviews of other apps because I’m biased. In this case, I did it because I didn’t know what to tell people who ask what is the difference between our own compressor and the others on the store. We actually didn’t know how our own app compared to the rest until after we made this video. I learned a lot from looking at the other compressors; mostly things that I didn’t mention on camera. I am especially interested in Magic Death Eye because the way it turns a simple 20 Hz sine wave to a low frequency growl is amazing. If that could be done in a way that was gentler on the high frequency distortion it would be amazing.

    I loved that video greatly!
    Many thanks for that.

    Do you know any iOS App that allows to make such graphical analysis?

    There are many apps that do spectral analysis but I haven't seen any that does it in an audio unit; most are designed to be connected to external audio sources. Perhaps others on this forum know better than I about what apps are available.

  • edited June 2019

    Has anyone checked out Wavescope? That’s the only auv3 I’ve heard of.

    WaveScope by Solaria SRL
    https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wavescope/id1456540213

  • tjatja
    edited June 2019

    I tried around a bit:

    It's not in the time domain, but still, you can see the harmonics added by Rough Rider.
    Sadly, you cannot see the aliasing.

  • tjatja
    edited June 2019

    Even more clean than Blue Mangoo Compressor seems to be Amazing Noises Limiter:

    Would like to see this as spectral comparison in the time domain.

  • @tja said:
    Sadly, you cannot see the aliasing.

    You can catch it in 4Pockets Analyzer with these settings, but it's very fast moving in the logarithmic sine sweep.

    presets: log (line)
    averaging: none
    gain: 0dB
    trace: off
    Weighting: None

    The way to spot it is to watch for peaks that move downward when the rest are moving upwards, right at the end of the sweep:

    It is easier to catch it if you use a steady sine tone, rather than a sweep. You can get one in a .wave file from this site and play it in the AUM file player: https://www.audiocheck.net/audiofrequencysignalgenerator_sinetone.php

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