Problems with parallel compression

Question

I'm having some problems utilizing parallel compression on some drums. Here's the setup:
-9 tracks of audio (mixed, EQ'ed, etc. ) outputting to a Bus, which serves as the master drum fader
-master drum fader has very light EQ and compression, and a limiter
-audio tracks also have a (post-fader) send going to a separate bus for parallel compression
-parallel comp bus is heavily compressed, slightly EQ'ed
-plugins used are all Logic's: limiter, compressor, channel EQ
The problem is that as I increase the parallel fader, the bass drum loses it's punch. It almost sounds like some kind of phase cancellation. The snare seems to lose a little presence as well. The cymbals, on the other hand, sound great. So if I leave the parallel fader very low, I'm not getting the compression I want out of the cymbals. Any ideas?
I'm still pretty new to mixing, and definitely to parallel compression, so it seems likely a problem with my plugin settings. I got some advice from a friend of mine, and tweaked a little from there, but here are the settings of the compressor on the parallel bus:
Threshold: -17 dB
Ratio: 10:1
Attack: 10 ms
Release: 11 ms
Knee: 0.0
Peak Mode
Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

I guess I'm just a little stuck on the usual parameters (ratio, threshold, attack/release, etc.), though I realize the Warmer doesn't operate in quite the same way.
Right. It is a bit confusing and there are only some controls which have usual plug-in equivalents. Look at VM as being a limiter, which in turn has an infinite ratio. The compression element of VM (as I understand it) affects the amount of compression underneath the ceiling. So the knee control affects that compression depth, rather than the compression curve, related to threshold, as seen in conventional compressors, like a sub threshold adjustment.
the knee sets the amount of compression applied to signals leading up to the ceiling, right?
Exactly. The ceiling, you would think, is the limiter ceiling for output a bit like Logic's adaptive limiter output. It is really a way of moving the output level to something other than 0 dbFS, and works with the saturation settings on the VM's back panel, and the way it handles the input side of VM. So I usually leave the ceiling at zero (as it's not being used for mastering) and change the drive, knee and saturation to taste. So the metering behavior you see, to me makes sense. Compare with pre and post, and adjust the drive, and it is more visually in step. I think it's more like a threshold than anything else. The knee is also affecting VM's make up gain, which you can balance with the drive knob to get the right amount of coloration.
Drive is, as you say, just an input level.
I always have FAT on. When used on drums, I change the rear saturation to less high and bass, more mid. I also change the freq. settings to be more active in the low mids, but this changes for each kit. I usually have brick wall and Auto (for release, not auto gain) on, with release set at X1.
The Mix control is mysterious to me. You would think that it works so that you can change the mix between an unprocessed input to the VM output and therefore use it on a drum submix without a separate bus for parallel compression, but it sounds different to me (and much better) when I use it on a bus set to 100%, so that's what I do, with some EQ before VM.