Compression is an absolutely miserable feature for old-time radio. I used to do a show of OTR on a station that used extremely heavy compression, and while I loved the station, the compression made some of the otherwise perfectly fine OTR almost unlistenable.
Bruce -- Bruce Toews E-mail and MSN/Windows Messenger: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web Site (including info on my weekly commentaries): http://www.ogts.net Info on the Best TV Show of All Time: http://www.cornergas.com On Sun, 11 Dec 2005, Brent Harding wrote: > With sports on the radio, compression makes it so you hear more of the > announcer and less of the crowd, since stadiums are quite noisy. The crowd > will gradually increase in level while the announcer pauses a few seconds > but is pushed back down when he speaks again. In music, it tends to add more > punch to it so it sounds like the band is hitting their instruments harder > or playing louder without the distortion of simply turning the volume up. > What I hate is when the background hiss starts to keep rhythm to the music > when compressed and get loud right at the end. I wonder what radio does that > keeps that from happening as even CD's have noise in them. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Steve Matzura" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "PC audio discussion list. " <[email protected]> > Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2005 3:50 AM > Subject: Re: Wav Hammer in SF > > >> On Sat, 10 Dec 2005 19:56:32 +1100, you wrote: >> >>> Well, I haven't used it, but I understand it compresses the sound in some >>> way, something like normalizing. >> >> Normalizing and compressing are two different functions and bear >> absolutely no relationship betwixt and between. Compression is the >> art, and I do mean art, of making soft parts loud and loud partrs soft >> so you don't have to keep reaching for the volume knob. Normalization >> is simply maximizing the amplitude, or volume, of a waveform such that >> its loudest point is never any louder than a pre-determined value >> (usually 0dB, some folks push it to +3dB). No other aspect of the >> waveform is changed, it's just moved up in whole so that its peaks >> brush up against that arbitrary value of loudness. >> >> Uses for normalization: Recordings made too low in volume. Should be >> normalized to at least 90% of full wave height, leaving a little room >> for harmonic distortion which could produce voltage levels that would >> or could overdrive a sound-reproducing device, such as the final >> output stage of an amplifier, or even a speaker itself, but not >> register on an oscilloscope as being louder than the specified >> normalized value (see above). When normalizing a waveform, it's >> always a good idea to leave some what's called head-room for just this >> case and these conditions/circumstances. >> >> Uses for compression: Imagine hearing a recording of a meeting where >> the main speaker was clear as a bell, but the audience who may have >> asked questions were down in the sonic mud. Compression would >> temporarily raise the volume level so the soft parts, the far-away >> audience members, can be heard when they speak. Then, when the main >> speaker starts up again, the volume level is pushed back down so the >> main speaker doesn't overdrive the recording or playback equipment. >> Understand that normalization will not help in this case because >> normalization brings every sound up in volume by the same amount, >> while compression changes the volume level "on the fly," as much or as >> little as needed, depending on the characteristics of the waveform. >> >> Hope this helps. >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> PC-Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... >> http://www.pc-audio.org >> >> To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> This list is a service of MosenExplosion.com. To see what other lists we >> offer, visit us on the web at http://www.MosenExplosion.com >> > > > _______________________________________________ > PC-Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... > http://www.pc-audio.org > > To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > This list is a service of MosenExplosion.com. To see what other lists we > offer, visit us on the web at http://www.MosenExplosion.com > _______________________________________________ PC-Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... http://www.pc-audio.org To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This list is a service of MosenExplosion.com. To see what other lists we offer, visit us on the web at http://www.MosenExplosion.com
