Which 1176 for drums?
The Universal Audio 1176 compressor is known for its super-fast attack and release times and colorful FET sound, which makes it a perfect pick for the drum bus. With attack times as fast as 20 microseconds, the 1176 excels at peak limiting, making it an excellent choice for leveling out the dynamics of a performance.
How do you mix drum busses?
Balance each drum together until the whole drum set sounds natural. Once you have your drum set balanced, you need to balance the drums with the rest of the mix. Unsolo your drum bus, turn the volume all the way down, and slowly mix it in. One trick is to make sure you’re doing this during the loudest part of the song.
What does a compressor do for drums?

Compressors drop the volume of your audio when it gets louder than a predetermined threshold, which helps you tame loud peaks. This is especially important with drums, which can have extremely sharp peaks on hits.
Which is the best 1176?
Winner: Best Value The VC 76 offers the fast, punchy sound of the 1176 that you know and love with a host of handy new features. You can create pumping compression effects with the new side-chain input or dial in explosive parallel compression with the wet/dry knob.
Should you compress drum bus?
Drum bus compression can greatly improve the tonality and impact of your drums. With that in mind, drum bus compression is no doubt a popular and highly useful form of compression – one that can be used to easily create a cohesive sound amongst the percussive instrumentation in a song.

Should you compress kick drum?
Kick Drum Compression is Essential In the context of a solo drum performance, you won’t HEAR any need for a compressor. This is why we need to focus on the bigger picture, not on any particular track. Either way, let’s listen to our entire kit to get some context…
When should you use a VCA compressor?
VCA compressors are known for having fast response and are therefore a good choice on peaky, rhythmic or transient-heavy material. Many VCA compressor designs include precise control of a wide range of compression parameters including threshold, ratio, attack and release time, makeup gain and sometimes knee.