Thursday, January 04, 2007

Week 15: Lecture - The Compressor & Expander

The compressor is used to reduce the dynamic range of an audio signal so that the overall average level can be increased. The Compressor therefore monitors any incoming signal, and once it exceeds the threshold it is automatically reduced by the amount set on the ratio control. It is similar to physically increasing and decreasing the fader in real-time as the singer is being recorded (‘riding the fader’).
The Expander

This processor does the opposite of what the Compressor does. It increases the dynamic range by reducing the output level so that it is under the threshold. Therefore the range between the loudest and quietest parts is increased.

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