Compressor Explained: Soft and Hard KneeIn normal or hard knee compression when the signal reaches the threshold the unitimmediately begins to compress at whatever ratio is set. In some situations, the compressionbecomes very easy to hear (which is often not desirable) as the signal amplitude moves aboveand below the threshold. This is usually made worse when using high compression ratios.The solution is to have the compressor gradually enter into compression at a lower ratiobefore the signal reaching the threshold. The ratio is gradually ramped up as the signal getslouder until, at some point beyond the threshold, the full compression ratio is reached. Thisslower onset often makes the compression much more difficult to detect.The process is called “soft knee” because of how the compression ratio looks when plotted ona graph. In normal compression, the knee (which is the point where compression begins) is anabrupt angle (how steep depends on the ratio) whereas in the soft knee it is more of a curve.