mrfracas - did you set the compression ratio to max? (Usually infinity) - if so, the Compressor is in effect a Limiter. I suggested a compressor rather than a limiter, because most limiters are just a section of a Compressor/Limiter and very often the only control is Threshold (or Stop Level). A Compressor on the other hand, has attack and decay controls, allowing you to determine just how much high level signal, and for how long, before the output is limited or attenuated.
Maybe 100mS is too long - it would be quite a dramatic musical peak which would last that long and be desirable. The actual threshold and attack and release times will depend a lot on the type of music you are working with, how dynamic it is, and how long you are prepared to tolerate high levels for!
A simple limiter is obviously the quick way to achieve the desired result, but may result in wanted peaks being clipped.
As sphelan suggests, switch on order is probably the most important issue, and at the end of the day, the other components are of little significance provided you switch on your speakers (if active) or amp (if passive speakers) last.
I take it from the OP that you're having occasional problems when you are actually up and running though, so the compressor or limiter solution is probably all that you can do easily to protect yourself.
|