Dynamics Compression: Compressor

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blaubär
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Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2019 6:48 am

Dynamics Compression: Compressor

Post by blaubär » Mon Jan 25, 2021 7:28 am

What is Dynamics Compression ?
Dynamic range compression (DRC) or simply compression is an audio signal processing operation that reduces the volume of loud sounds or amplifies quiet sounds, thus reducing or compressing an audio signal's dynamic range.
Why would one want to do that ? For a start, a lot of people just don't like a high dynamic range, and rather prefer all the music they hear to be uniformly loud. There is a long-running trend in rock- and pop-music to produce the music as loud as possible, the so-called Loudness war . And then sometimes it's problematic to listen to music where the volume is sometimes high and sometimes low, especially in noisy environments.

So what to do ? If you use Neutron and find yourself constanly adjusting the volume, because the quiet parts of the ( perhaps classical ) music aren't loud enough, but then the loud parts are too loud, you might try the compressor.

Where to find that ? In Settings > Playback > DSP Effect > Compressor. The checkbox to the right will switch it on and off, a tap to the left will invoke its settings. See this tutorial for a general discussion of compression and its parameters.

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There's also a button below the equalizer, which exact location can be configured via Settings > User Interface > DSP Effect: Button.

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A short tap will switch the compressor on and off, a long press will invoke its settings.

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There are three predefined scenarios which you can choose with the checkboxes below.

Please note that the use of this tool might produce unwelcome effects, especially when tracks change !

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