MusicTechHelpGuy walks through a two-stage vocal compression chain in Logic Pro: an optical compressor first, then a fast FET (or Platinum Digital) compressor stacked right after it.
He bounces the vocal in place after each stage so you can actually see the waveform change, comparing uncompressed, single-stage, and two-stage versions side by side.
The optical stage handles overall dynamics, pulling down peaks and lifting quiet moments, but its slow attack lets sharp transient spikes slip through untouched.
The second compressor, set with a very quick attack and release, catches and rounds off those remaining peaks without touching the broader dynamic shaping already done.