Explained : Compressor should go before overdrive, or after overdrive?
Should compressor go before overdrive, or after overdrive? I saw many of this questions on Internet.
There is no correct answer for this, and many videos and forums explain the difference with excellent demos. In this article I will explain from more technical point of view by using some oscilloscope screenshots.
What is compressor, what is overdrive?
Before we check graphs, I want to explain what the compressor is and what the overdrive is. Basically compressor compresses the signal when input signal reaches threshold and more. Overdrive pedals do very similar thing. Actually, overdrive can be described as boost + high compression ratio compressor. So there is no wonder the fact that overdrive hides compressor result. If you give extreme gain to overdrive, there is no difference to add compressor (In perfect world. In real world, there are another factor like tone circuit gonna change the tone, so there is the difference).
1. Compressor AFTER overdrive
Here is real screenshot of oscilloscope. Blue is the result of big signal, and yellow is the result of small signal. All input signal is sine wave.
As you see, big signal is clipped by overdrive, and compressor doesn't do much for the big signal. For small signal, compressor enhance the volume. In result, this configuration keeps your picking nuance, but equalizes the volume. Other words, when you play weaker note, you will hear tone difference (less distortion), but volume will be kept.
2. Compressor BEFORE overdrive
Let's move on next. This graph shows the result of Compressor before overdrive configuration. Difference of big and small signal is much less than first configuration because compressor equalizes the volume to overdrive. This will hide signal size difference and the signal will be more equally clipped by overdrive section. Your playing will be more equalized and tone will be constant regardless how hard you pick the string. This configuration is suitable when you prefer more consistent tone and volume.
I hope this article helps to understand the difference!
4642 comments
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618863755689985/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618864749772801/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618865131061248/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618865602920449/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618866068455425/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618866565873665/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618866979045376/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618867404734465/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618867884621825/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618868310704128/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618868751138817/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618869113552897/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618869539241985/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618869872689153/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618870238019584/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618870680125440/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618871074783233/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618871380934657/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618873220136961/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618873622429696/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618874090487809/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618874467581953/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618875061436417/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618875507736577/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618875862155265/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618877697163264/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618878083072000/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618878716411905/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618879018795009/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618879719243776/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618822609600512/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618823328890880/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618824532295681/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618824973090817/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618831941533697/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618833382244353/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618836393754624/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618837172191233/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618838077800448/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618838623420416/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618839940038656/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618841298993152/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618841770885120/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618842612203520/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618843119321089/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618843740110849/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618828076449792/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618828685017089/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618829284442113/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618829934526465/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618830439972864/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618835651756032/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618853856739329/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618854293372929/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618854723256320/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618855190528001/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618855599505408/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618857073803264/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618858279665665/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618859619745792/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618860077318145/
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618860553371648/
It Ends with Us – Velünk véget ér
https://twitter.com/filmhdcloud/status/1829970627199189490
Alien: Romulus
https://twitter.com/filmhdcloud/status/1829970875434877256
Deadpool & Rozsomák
https://twitter.com/filmhdcloud/status/1829946639513272335
Gru 4
https://twitter.com/filmhdcloud/status/1829946981411897802
Fák jú, Chantal!
https://twitter.com/filmhdcloud/status/1829946824247124061
https://www.honor.com/it/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618761135357953/
https://www.honor.com/it/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618761431056385/
https://www.honor.com/it/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618761748152321/
https://www.honor.com/it/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618762356293632/
https://www.honor.com/it/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618763459395584/
https://www.honor.com/it/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618767427239937/
https://www.honor.com/it/club/topicdetail/topicid-3618767993438209/
https://pastelink.net/5zyl071f
https://wokwi.com/projects/408217077627849729
https://authors-old.curseforge.com/paste/05d5750b
https://dev.bukkit.org/paste/365e68c5
https://authors-old.curseforge.com/paste/1fcd7d45
https://paiza.io/projects/cEGL_kUCJPPm0-dVNWP_Rw?language=php
https://hackmd.io/-ytipzrUQ-OqCgHI-bCwjA
https://jsfiddle.net/mf9gbkye/
https://telegra.ph/edrtr-09-05
https://p.ip.fi/jYaE
https://paste.myst.rs/enm3rx9v
https://rift.curseforge.com/paste/b609a5c4
https://glot.io/snippets/gzntn05pjp
https://paste.kodi.tv/inexadonij
https://www.honor.com/uk/club/topicdetail/deadpool-rozsom%C3%A1k-teljes-film-magyarul-2024-videa-hd/topicid-3617922622685185/
https://flexclassifiedads.com/classes/language-classes/qwasrfes_i218902
https://flexclassifiedads.com/classes/language-classes/awrfsetg_i218904
https://flexclassifiedads.com/classes/language-classes/asdfse_i218909
https://flexclassifiedads.com/classes/language-classes/qweraw_i218911
https://flexclassifiedads.com/classes/language-classes/qefrwe_i218912
https://flexclassifiedads.com/real-estate/vacation-rentals/rdesdtfr_i218914
https://flexclassifiedads.com/vehicles/boats-ships/qwrfwe_i218915
https://flexclassifiedads.com/classes/language-classes/awresd_i218917
https://flexclassifiedads.com/classes/language-classes/awerfed_i218918
https://flexclassifiedads.com/classes/language-classes/awrfe_i218921
https://pastelink.net/0wc6f58d
https://wokwi.com/projects/408202404979960833
https://authors-old.curseforge.com/paste/b43db092
https://dev.bukkit.org/paste/39810f3f
https://authors-old.curseforge.com/paste/c361e873
https://paiza.io/projects/yuZ74FNnDWUEuU06ou6ayg?language=php
https://hackmd.io/yiGQcwuiTY-o6zAEHrZxvg
https://jsfiddle.net/06uvobxm/
https://telegra.ph/AWsrf-09-05
https://p.ip.fi/Fclc
https://paste.myst.rs/s71luzsy
https://rift.curseforge.com/paste/4f0a2c6e
https://glot.io/snippets/gznn7e8vdn
https://paste.kodi.tv/cajinaruro