What is the sonic difference between output comp in amp block and comp block after amp?

Philip34

Experienced
I've been using anywhere between 1-2.25 in the Output Comp of the amp block, in order to keep my levels tighter in most of my presets.

How is this different from using a compressor block (studio, pedal, or the new optical) after the amp block?

I can't imagine it would be much different, so maybe there's something I don't know that everyone else knows.
 
Since an IR is like an extremely detailed, passive EQ, I would think it should be the same difference you'd hear on a live mixer, when flipping between EQ->Comp vs Comp->EQ on a particular channel. I'd think that, being mostly EQ cuts (IR, that is), however wide or narrow, using a compressor after Cab would compress more evenly across the spectrum, reducing the necessity for a multi-band compressor. Of course, that would all depend on how the low resonance changed inside the CAB block, since that would likely trigger the compressor long before the other frequencies. This is why the LA-2A works as a post-effect so well, but only because what the engineer feeds it is a very nicely balanced signal, so that as many of the frequencies as possible pass the threshold around the same time.

Somebody check my math, por favor.
 
By putting compressor before cab block, any frequencies you boost in the amp block get no filtering before the compressor, so very resonant frequencies will trigger the compressor either sooner than you want or to compress more than you want.
 
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