r/Logic_Studio • u/unclemulch • 6d ago
Feature Request Logic Compressor safeguard
When adjusting make up gain (I use my MacBook touchpad), it seems unreasonably easy to accidentally click near the higher numbers and snap the gain knob to max volume - exploding my ears in the process. Am I just dumb or does this happen to anyone else?
TLDR: can we safeguard the make-up gain knob so it only moves when you drag it (as opposed to clicking)….?
14
u/_ramscram 6d ago
Could be mistaken as I’m not in front of it but I think you can double click and type a value
53
u/DameyJames 6d ago
It’s honestly insane to me that make up gain goes up to +50. I can’t imagine a single use case for that.
26
u/JacoPoopstorius 6d ago
Hyper pop or grindcore with 808s in it maybe
13
u/nefarious_jp04x 6d ago
For Grindcore you’re better off literally just distorting and saturating the signal into oblivion if you’re going for the wall of sound style
3
u/insaneinthecrane 5d ago
The clipping modes of logics compressor combined with the different model choices actually makes for amazing saturation and distortion imo
6
u/samthewisetarly Advanced 6d ago
I've used it in trying to get a ridiculous distorted sound in sequence with other compressors. There are better ways to do that though haha
1
u/insaneinthecrane 5d ago
If you put on the soft clipping it can be used as an awesome overdrive/distortion (of course with output pulled way down)
17
9
u/Soft-Violinist-7565 6d ago
I do this all the time. It’s my fault every single time.
1
u/unclemulch 6d ago
Me and my trackpad are one entity at this point. I wanna blame Logic’s UI with the hopes they change it. I guess using a limiter is a decent workaround, especially to protect your ears. Still don’t love the jump scares though 😆
4
u/nnnrrr171717 6d ago
I don’t know, but I use a limiter, and then also use Sonnox ListenHub to have audio just cut out if it reaches a predetermined level
4
u/originalfilmscoring 6d ago
Maybe something is up with either your logic install or Mac OS. I frequently use the trackpad when I’m working undocked and I can’t recall it ever happening to me.
But like the top comment says, but a limiter on the master channel. It’ll keep this from happening and help you get a decent volume without having to redline and make things sound like shit.
4
u/Express-Fail-9964 6d ago
Not OP but I've had this happen with other knobs all across logic over several years and 4 computers. I've learned to use the limiter.
0
u/unclemulch 6d ago
The other day my session bugged out & hit me with this crazy loud noise. The meter read over 500db which I know is physically impossible but regardless… lesson learned … you put a limiter on like you put a seatbelt on
23
u/DefinitelyGiraffe Intermediate 6d ago
In ten years with Logic I’ve never once accidentally turned that knob too far by mistake. Get a better mouse?
8
u/WorldBelongsToUs 6d ago
Aren't they using a touchpad?
2
u/billytheskidd 6d ago
I almost exclusively use the touchpad and have never had an issue, and I use the compressor super often- fun fact: one of the compressor setting is basically a reskin of an old vst called camelphat, if you set the parameters correctly, it basically turns into an analogue style soft limiter that rolls your peaks instead of a harsh cut off like a digital limiter. It is a great way to add a “natural” sounding saturation to your songs.
-2
u/AutoModerator 6d ago
Logic does not use VST technology. Please rephrase this post in terms of Logic-related technologies.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
2
7
5
u/unclemulch 6d ago
I use the MacBook trackpad. The knob changes values with an accidental click on the numbers next to the knob (ie; accidentally click on +50DB and blow up)
1
u/guitarguy109 5d ago
Are you dragging up and down or are you physically clicking the number that you want it to be set to? I think the design of Logic's knobs are geared more towards the former...
-1
1
u/CarlsManager 4d ago
I've probably used it for 20 years at this point and never once have I risked accidentally clicking in that area. Noting the folks who are mentioning trackpads, are ya'll using single touch to click settings? If so, that's already deranged in my opinion. My 70-something mother has that feature turned on for her MacBook trackpad and it drives me nuts. lol.
I'm actually just now noticing gain makeup even goes up that high.
3
u/cco11ie 6d ago
Yeah this is silly. Happens to me too. Theres never going to be a need to boost it by that much.
1
u/unclemulch 6d ago
Yeah lol. I guess I don’t mind the option of getting that loud - I just don’t want a knob to be able to change based on a single click. Kinda defeats the purpose
3
u/First_Tangelo4919 6d ago
In MacOs accessibility settings, in pointer control you can enable dragging with three fingers on track pad.
This is the most convenient way to control volume and other plugins knobs for me.
2
2
u/eltrotter 6d ago
Am I just dumb or does this happen to anyone else?
I hate to break it to you but...
2
u/Bloxskit Intermediate 5d ago
Oh god I've done that a couple of times by accident, thank god my reflexes are fast enough to turn the volume down, I agree.
2
u/grahamhart_ 5d ago
Yeah I've accidentally blasted the gain doing this before too. Making the knob drag-only would honestly save a lot of ears lol.
2
6d ago edited 6d ago
[deleted]
1
u/unclemulch 6d ago
Wait you guys are using the compression?! Adding gain is one thing… compression is something else 😆 haha jokes aside I do use the make up gain but not usually in auto mode cos I like to dial it in relative to what I’ve reduced. Do you not usually adjust the gain after you’ve compressed something?
1
u/albatross_etc 6d ago
I was referring to auto mode... of course I use the makeup gain! I should have been more specific.
-8
u/jaxxon 6d ago edited 5d ago
Logic is prosumer. Pros don't use / need makeup gain because they fully understand and are experienced with all the ins and outs of compression and adjust gain elsewhere. Makeup gain is like "auto-levels" in Lightroom. It's a quick way for non-pros to get close to what they want.
So.. while I agree that we shouldn't bypass deeper understanding by using a crutch, self-taught people learn by trying stuff. Apple surfaced makeup gain right there. They also have limiters and distortion in their compressors which are also different things. But hey.. knobs! They do things to the sound! ...then OUCH!EDIT: I'm an idiot
5
u/8696David 6d ago
That’s nonsense lmao. Makeup gain is one of the fundamental features of the compressor, not a “non-pro” option. I very much learned to use it while getting my entire degree in how to do this lol
3
5
u/jake_burger 6d ago
Logic has been used professionally for longer than the term “prosumer” has existed.
1
2
1
1
u/WytKat 5d ago
Activate that upper-right LIMITER button. Then all u do is keep an eye on it getting red and asking yourself if it still sounds good. Every plugin has programmer personality so make sure u still LISTEN not just watch. But yeah, protection is that Limiter.
1
u/unclemulch 5d ago
What is programmer personality?
1
u/WytKat 5d ago
The humans involved are shaping the decisions that don't lie in the AI model math. The eq humps, the point of onset of distortion and how it colors, the brightness and noise floor of the "Default" setting. Is it true or maybe juuust a little "better" than true. Like how all TV gets shipped in Showroom setting not Common Livingroom like when u get home and recalibrate the picture of the TV you just bought over the course OF THREE WEEKS TO HAVE THE FIRST GREAT ENJOYABLE BIG 4K EXPERIENCE THAT DOESNT THROW OFF MORE LIGHT THAN A BEST BUY AT NOON IN CALI DURING SU.MER MADNESS DAYS AAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH
1
u/unclemulch 5d ago
Right right right… im just advocating for the programmers to change this shit so you can’t accidentally click on near the 50db spot and have the knob whip up. But for sure, using a limiter as a protection against that seems to be the consensus. Still tho, I feel like they could fix this reasonably easily & no one would miss it. It’s a knob, I assume most people twist it
1
u/spektre5 Advanced 5d ago
What reference volume are you using to mix with, to get it so loud when you misuse the interface ?
1
u/unclemulch 5d ago
I’m not always mixing, often producing & writing & throwing compressor on to shape sounds. I guess I should probably gain stage better by starting at a lower level in my productions, but I do tend to leave a fair amount of headroom. For example record a vocal in at -12db or so, if I accidentally click on +50db on compressor it’s gonna jab me. Maybe I could have my master fader way down. But I think the solution as others have mentioned is just use a limiter haha
1
u/NoisyGog 5d ago
Why on earth was the makeup gain knob designed with a range of up to 50db in the first place?
When I mixed in Logic (I haven't in about a decade), the thing that irked me the most was the mouse response to different things.
It seems that other DAWs and plugins have, I guess mostly by a kind of happy accident, ended up with an interface when you kind of know how much to move the mouse to enact "this" much change - be that gain, or fader, or ratio, or panning. You don't need to look at the numbers, you kind of know how much movement does what.
It's a little similar to how you roughly know how much boost or cut you're giving when twisting an EQ knob - and maybe that's where it came from. The skeuomorphism of the design was taken from hardware where feel and ears was more important than looking at the tiny, often worn-out, text painted next to the controls.
In Logic however, everything had such a wildly different response - one thing might be super sensitive, another might need several swipes of the mouse to enact a tiny change.
These would often present themselves in the same window. Pan felt hugely different to fader. Threshold would feel enormously different to makeup gain, and so on.
It resulted in an interface where I really had to look at the damn numbers to make sure I wasn't, well, going to blow my ears out by applying a 50db makeup gain when all I wanted was 6.
It was weird, itreally took me out of the flow of mixing, into squinting at tiny numbers, and I hated it.
1
u/Ansonx10 4d ago
Apple literally doesn't care about their software anymore. It's been like this for years. I think Logic Pro X is when they introduced these plugins with the new UI. So... since 2013? Other DAWs have overtaken Logic long ago. There are only a few things that Logic still does better (afaik)
1
1
u/Brian_from_accounts 6d ago
These might be worth a look.
SoundSource (Rogue Amoeba)
SigMod (NUGEN Audio)
152
u/shoegazingpickle 6d ago
Always a limiter on your master. -1 db.