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Sound and theory

All-buttons mode explained: what it really does, and when it works

The famous trick that turns room mics into a wall of drums. Why it sounds the way it does, and the settings that make it work.

By Neva DSP · · 3 min read

PINCH-76 Rev A with all four ratio keys latched, ATTACK 7 and RELEASE 7

Pressing every ratio key at once changes the shape of the compression: the knee turns hard, the timing speeds up, distortion climbs and the first transient gets an aggressive bite. Use it on room mics, drum buses and bass when you want energy and attitude. Avoid it on most lead vocals.

Where the trick comes from

On the classic hardware, the ratio buttons were never meant to be pressed together. Engineers did it anyway and found that the unit stopped behaving like a polite limiter. The bias of the circuit shifts, the release turns abrupt and the needle starts to slam. The sound became famous on drum rooms, where it makes cymbals splash, the kick pump and the whole kit sound huge.

What actually changes

Measured as a plain ratio, all-buttons is gentler than the top key on its own: about 17:1 against about 28:1 in PINCH-76. The difference is everything around the ratio.

Static transfer curves of PINCH-76 for single ratio keys and all-buttons
Transfer curves, measured. All-buttons bends into compression with a harder knee than any single key.
  • The knee turns hard. Compression starts abruptly instead of gradually.
  • The timing speeds up. Attack and release both get quicker, so the compressor pumps with the music.
  • Distortion climbs. More harmonics, especially in the low end. That is part of the sound.
  • The first transient bites. A tiny lag lets the very front of each hit through before the clamp, which gives drums their slap.
Distortion against gain reduction for the four revisions
Distortion rises with gain reduction, and faster in Rev A.

Where it works

Source Revision Attack Release Gain reduction MIX
Room mics Rev A 7 7 10 to 20 dB 40 to 60 %
Drum bus, parallel Rev A or D (LN) 5 to 7 6 to 7 10 dB or more 20 to 40 %
Bass with attitude Rev A 3 to 4 4 to 5 4 to 8 dB 100 %
Aggressive rap or rock vocal Rev A 4 to 5 5 to 6 6 to 10 dB 50 to 80 %

On room mics, push INPUT until the needle is pinned far to the left. That is the point, not a mistake. Then use MIX to decide how much of the smash reaches the mix.

Three ways to keep it under control

  1. Blend it. As in parallel drum compression, MIX at 40 to 60 % keeps the energy and brings back the natural kit. With DELTA you can hear exactly what the compressor adds and removes.
  2. Give back the snap. PUNCH in the ADVANCED drawer restores stick attack that all-buttons swallows.
  3. Run it beside your main setting. NUKE adds an all-buttons layer in parallel without touching your current ratio, attack and release.
The PINCH-76 ADVANCED drawer with sidechain filter, PUNCH, NUKE and oversampling controls
The ADVANCED drawer: sidechain filter, NUKE, PUNCH and oversampling.

Why oversampling matters here

Heavy, fast gain reduction creates harmonics high in the spectrum, and in a plug-in those can fold back as harsh, unmusical tones (aliasing). PINCH-76 runs 1x, 2x or 4x oversampling while you mix and up to 8x when you render, so the smash stays smooth on cymbals.

When not to use it

All-buttons is wrong for most lead vocals, acoustic instruments and the mix bus: the hard knee and the distortion draw attention to themselves. For those, a single key at 4 or 8 with a slower attack does the job, or AE for gentle bus work.

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