Setting makeup gain inside the compressor allows bypass toggling without a volume jump

After applying gain reduction, the compressed signal is quieter than the original. Makeup gain compensates by boosting the output level — it is literally a volume control after the gain reduction stage. The crucial technique is to set makeup gain inside the compressor plugin rather than using the channel fader for the same purpose: when makeup gain is internal, bypassing the compressor leaves overall level unchanged, enabling direct A/B comparison of the effect. If the fader is raised instead, bypassing causes a volume jump that misleads the comparison (louder always sounds better). Internal makeup gain is therefore a practical workflow convention, not a sonic quality decision.

Examples

Compress a vocal with 6 dB of gain reduction. Raise makeup gain by 6 dB inside the compressor. Now toggle bypass — the level stays constant and you can directly hear what the compressor is doing to the tone and dynamics.

Assessment

Explain why makeup gain should be set inside the compressor rather than by raising the channel fader. What goes wrong with bypass A/B comparison if you use the fader instead?