Here's my favorite one-size-fits-all compression setting. It works wonderfully on vocals if the vocals seem too loud and then too faint.

It brings the louds and softs closer together. Good for things like drums and vocals. Look at the wave form. If it's consistent you probably don't need compression. But if it has lots of thicks and thins and might have long spikes, then compression is your friend. Think of a photo that uses a telephoto feature that shrinks the highway lines on the road and brings that mountain way in the distance up close so it looks like its towering. You can see the details of the landscape better. That's what compression does with sound.

These numbers don't have to be exact because what you hear is more accurate.
ratio: 4 to 1 (3 to 1 is just fine, too)
attack: 5ms
release: 25ms
Then: adjust the Threshold (always seems to go from -15 to -25...whatever...on the dial) so the decibels peak from -5 to -10 in the output meter.

After that: Go to the Makeup dial...get the loudness back.

The Knee softens things up if you want.

I used these settings for my song, "I'm Not Coming Back," on Marilyn Simone's vocals. https://www.johnwalradt.com/music/songs/imnotcomingback-master_2026feb.mp3

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