TL Aggro Bass Compensation Controls
The Bass Compensation section of TL Aggro affects the compressor’s side-chain circuitry. By default, Bass Compensation is enabled as indicated by the illuminated green light. To disable, toggle the switch in the section by clicking it. The green lamp will turn off to indicate that Bass Compensation has been switched out of the side-chain signal path.
When Bass Compensation is enabled, the compressor becomes less sensitive to bass frequencies in the input signal. This models the sensitivity of the human ear, which is also much less sensitive to low frequencies. For most signal sources, enabling Bass Compensation will reduce the total amount of gain reduction that TL Aggro induces, but the result will often be more natural sounding with less pumping and breathing. For example, Bass Compensation sounds great on bass guitar or when you have TL Aggro on your master fader as stereo bus compressor.
Additionally, TL Aggro provides a cutoff frequency control to tailor the sound of the bass compensation. This acts as a high pass filter and the values indicated above the Bass Compensation slider are in Hertz. As the slider increases from left to right, the compressor will be even less reactive to low frequencies.
For example, place a stereo TL Aggro on a full stereo drum mix. Set the compressor for moderate to high gain reduction levels, enable the Bass Compensation, and slide the frequency control from left to right. As the cutoff frequency is increased, you will hear more and more of the kick drum “punch” through the mix and become louder relative to snare or cymbals.