Fruity Compressor

hmmm. No. The compressor should make it sound really professional and help with levels. I dunno what's wrong, but you should ask Aero.

Umm... turn down the gain or try a preset. If your putting the compressor in the master channel, I find the OptoMaster (or something like that) preset, to be good.

Yeah, definitely. I run the vintage preset over some of my stuff, since sometimes it just seems to make things sound warmer.

What you should always do in the master channel is use the default settings and just tweak them ever so slightly. The gain should be left at zero and the ration should be between 2:1 and 3:1 where the threshold is at -2 or -3 dB. For the attack and release, I usually go for a short attack like 10 to 25 ms and the release is moderat (40 to 100 ms). this igives it a more responsive compressing. Also, about the knee, I recommend vintage as I don't like the harsh response of hard or medium and soft is just.. well too soft. R means rectified, meaning it is slightly more balanced in a way, best for use on a master. Use unrectified on drums.

When using compression on drums, use a lower threshold with a higher ratio, though not too much as you will brickwall the drumsa which as you mentioned sounds bad. The attack should be a bit longer when doing drums as the drums should have a bit more snap and the release is shorter. Personally, I would use a gate before the compression, especially when using reverb. Use vintage again. It has a nicer sound, according to me. You might disagree but... you knowe... whatever.

This was a long time ago. I feel sorry for the Jono who posted this and didn't know anything about compression EQ.