On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 11:01 AM, mark hadman <markhadman@googlemail.com> wrote:

That aside, there's a much easier way to preserve transients - just
slow down the compressor's attack time....


This is still quite different than parallel compression.  One can have fast attack times with high ratios yet still have the transient response of the dry sound.  Parallel compression is a fundamental audio engineering 'trick' responsible for massive drums sounds (Bonham 'When the Levee Breaks', the snare sound on Bowie's 'Let's Dance', etc).

Unfortunately,  DSP compression is absolutely horrid compared to analog boxes like an API 2500 or ADR Compex - let alone the old tube gear like a 176.