Questions tagged [compression]
Compression is the process of lessening the dynamic range between the loudest and quietest parts of an audio signal
119
questions
1
vote
0
answers
37
views
Indistinguishability from a low-quality source
Is there any way to estimate what bitrate would be required for a codec like vorbis or mp3 to achieve near transparency to a 10-bit, 32,768 Hz PCM source? Are there any heuristics that can be used to ...
- 111
2
votes
1
answer
602
views
Are "fake rimshots" really viable, and how can they be done?
I've heard a couple anecdotes of a drummer in a studio who wanted a rimshot sound from the snare and was told to not play rimshots- so that the engineer could use compression later to make the normal ...
- 148
0
votes
1
answer
110
views
Low microphone volume, even with phantom power enabled in my audio interface software
I'm experiencing an issue with my microphone and audio interface setup, where the microphone volume is too low, and I need to turn the input gain in my audio interface’s mixer software to the maximum ...
- 103
0
votes
0
answers
29
views
How can I monitor and send a wet signal from my DAW to my conferencing software?
I purchased a Shure SM57 to use for conference calls. It is connected to an audio interface (RME Babyface original). I want to apply dynamic effects to it but the software that comes with the RME ...
- 103
0
votes
1
answer
72
views
Why does compression acheive a louder volume without feedback?
Why can you reach a much higher volume for a vocalist (without feedback) if compression is applied? This has been my experience so far, and I'd like to understand why this is.
When you add an input to ...
- 111
2
votes
1
answer
26
views
How can I automate finding bass distortion in improperly processed files?
I have around 1000 "songs" - an 80s experimental noise duo - ripped to flac from cassette. A bunch (150, maybe?, but I don't know which ones) were processed with a hard limiting script ...
- 31
1
vote
2
answers
299
views
Bitrate and format (aac/mp3/ogg) for ripping CDs near-losslessly
I have a large CD collection that I'd like to rip to a digital format for my phone
I don't think I have room for everything on my phone if I use FLAC, so I'd like to use a lossy format, with a high ...
- 113
0
votes
1
answer
60
views
Are there any programs that can ‘losslessly’ do range compression on MP3 files? (Or other lossy-compressed formats)
I occasionally bump into audio with ‘whisper and explosions’, namely podcasts and audiobooks—and need to do range compression to listen more comfortably. I can do that with a variety of apps that ...
- 101
-1
votes
2
answers
41
views
Can you improve compression of multiple similar songs? [closed]
You probably heared of tar. It combines multiple files/directories into a single archive. After that one can compress this archive with gzip, zstd, xz, etc. If compressing similar files, the ...
0
votes
1
answer
502
views
How to interpret the spectogram from spek [closed]
I compressed the wave file to MP3 in two bitrates. How to interpret spectrogram results?
WAV:
MP3 320 kb/s:
MP3 128 kb/s:
- 1
2
votes
2
answers
164
views
How do I cope with "spikes" in voice over
A speaker sent me totally unprocessed voice over recording.
In this recoring, one can see "spikes".
What is the usual way to deal with these?
Thank you!
- 123
4
votes
2
answers
104
views
How do you set each stage of compression when using 3 or more compressors in a DAW?
I have a hardware FMR Audio Really Nice Compressor (RNC) that uses 3 stages of compression. It gets me really good results in recording live theater, where the audio levels go from a stage whisper to ...
- 51
1
vote
1
answer
199
views
Automate pre-processing of sound (noise reduction, compressor, limiter)
I use Audacity to pre-process sound before mixing the takes. I have found good settings for the relevant effects (noise reduction at 24 dB, compressor at 6:1, soft limiter at -10 dB) and the rest is ...
- 255
2
votes
1
answer
838
views
Reasonable compressor settings for radio and podcasts
I am moving from software engineering to audio production. I read a good deal about audio editing (mostly from Transom.org) and I want to produce audio for both radio at -24 LUFS and podcasts at -16 ...
- 255
1
vote
0
answers
195
views
Decompressing a track during mastering?
I was watching the video for Skrillex's Mumbai Power where he famously shows Izotope's Insight reading -3.7 LUFS for a short portion of the track before the second drop:
...
- 111
1
vote
2
answers
754
views
FLAC compression options unclear: --exhaustive-model-search, --qlp-coeff-precision-search
I have bought some music online, delivered in WAV format, presumably highest quality, supposing there was no transcoding happening, but anyway, straight to my question:
My intention is to get at least ...
- 113
0
votes
1
answer
116
views
The function of attack,release and threshold in a compressor
I would like to know how threshold,attack and release act in a compressor.Any information regarding this would be well appreciated.Thanks in advance.
1
vote
1
answer
2k
views
How do I compress 32-bit float PCM a perfectly lossless way?
I've got some 32-bit float WAV files which contain music and some valuable inaudible signal (different in each of the 2 channels) mixed into it which is important to preserve. The nature of the signal ...
- 111
1
vote
2
answers
429
views
Normalize audio above a sound level in audacity
I'm trying to figure out a way to manage background noise in audio without having to resort to noise reduction. I'm using audacity to post-process spoken audio. The levels are pretty low, with peaks ...
- 13
1
vote
1
answer
192
views
Why does compressing a kick drum make it sound punchy and louder?
Let's say I have a kick track. I put a compression effect on it with settings: Threshold: -20 dB, Ratio: 1:4, Attack: 1ms, Release: 20ms, Makeup Gain: 0dB.
Since it's a compressor, I expect it co ...
- 139
0
votes
0
answers
83
views
Why does my voice over sound like it's been reduced in quality when I Compress it?
I'm recording audio for a video essay with Audacity and a Blue Yeti microphone. The microphone is held by a stand and it's got a pop filter.
I've watched a few YouTube tutorials like this one on ...
3
votes
1
answer
825
views
Are FLAC audio files automatically decompressed by music players?
Suppose I have a compressed version of a song in .flac format that I want to listen to using a music player. Since flac is a lossless audio format, I know that the original (uncompressed) song can be ...
1
vote
1
answer
494
views
Best speech codec for quality and compatibility
My company works with audio recordings of phone conferences. We record those as WAV then convert them to MP3 for storage. The stored MP3 files are the ones users globally can download.
The problem is,...
- 113
0
votes
1
answer
271
views
Any reason to use MP3 over AAC?
All information I found online indicates that AAC is superior to MP3 in every aspect, having better sound quality at lower bitrates/file sizes etc.
So is there any reason to ever use MP3 instead of ...
- 111
0
votes
3
answers
85
views
Is there a way to find the degree of compression used in a recording
I have recorded a live choir performance using typical compression parameters. Is there a way to find how much compression was used, and at which points?
- 1
1
vote
1
answer
85
views
Making loud sounds louder but leave under threshold
It appears I'm looking for a reverse compressor. I want to have sounds under a threshold stay untouched but if it's over the threshold I'd like to make it even louder.
Is this a compressor? Could ...
- 113
1
vote
1
answer
404
views
limiter settings for recording dialog
I need some help with getting the best release time for my Zoom F8's DIGITAL limiters.
I know they don't actually limit the analog audio, and that the AD Converters are clipping, but I at least want ...
- 11
13
votes
1
answer
15k
views
What is the difference between Vorbis and Opus?
I would like to split up an audio stream (32bit floats) to chunks, encode them with a lossy compression and then decode it in the other side.
I have no experience with audio codecs, so I started to ...
- 231
0
votes
1
answer
5k
views
How to connect dbx 286s and dbx 266xs to Behringer DX2000USB Mixer
This is my first question here. Thank you for your help! Much appreciated!
I run a small online EDM radio station on a Mac mini running Radiologik DJ and NiceCast and I have been using the Behringer ...
0
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Which acoustic spectogram shows higher quality of audio file?
I have three acoustic spectograms of different copies of the same song:
MP3; 320 kbps; 9.20 MB
M4A (AAC); 256 kbps; 7.46 MB; Converted from 1. audio file via iTunes
M4A (AAC); 225 kbps; 6.87 MB
...
- 13
0
votes
1
answer
89
views
Multiband Compressor or Octave-Band Filter plugin
I am looking for an octave-band filter which will allow me to adjust the individual gains of each octave band in the range 63 Hz - 8 kHz (8 bands) with as close to a brickwall response as possible (i....
- 103
10
votes
3
answers
19k
views
FLAC compression level comparison/efficiency analysis
I want to rip/archive all my music collection to a lossless but compressed file format, i.e. the files should all be perfect, lossless representations of the original data but should consume less ...
- 371
5
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Which kind of dynamics processor is this (inverse expander, reverse compressor)?
You set a threshold at a certain level, specify a ratio of 4:1 and then for every 4 dB below the threshold, the output signal is boosted by 1 dB.
Which tool/technique can be used to achieve this?
...
- 75
2
votes
1
answer
129
views
What is the correct way to use multi band compression in a studio setting?
I use compressors quite often and I am quite familiar with their use to control dynamics but I haven't really got a good enough grasp of multi band compression.
From what I understand, the equivalent ...
- 1,573
2
votes
2
answers
84
views
Understanding The Effect Of Attack On The Dynamic Range Of A Compressed Signal
When downward compression is applied with a slower attack, I'm struggling to understand how the dynamic range of the signal as a whole is reduced. If the signal is a bass hit for example, where the ...
- 141
1
vote
1
answer
372
views
Compare audio samples with different bitrates
Even though I'm not a professional audio/video editor I'm trying to reach a good balance between quality and file size for movies and TV Shows, mostly very old, I have on my computer so, maybe, I ...
- 113
0
votes
1
answer
79
views
Audio compression and/or EQ for general podcast recording software
I’m building general podcast recording software for users who are generally unfamiliar with audio. What is the best default configuration that I can provide for a dynamics compressor, filters, and/or ...
- 113
0
votes
1
answer
64
views
How to avoid killing headroom when mixing action scenes?
I was watching the Bluray of 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi that day, and I am wondering how to avoid killing headroom when mixing action scenes like those in the movie. There were gunshots,...
- 167
-1
votes
1
answer
429
views
Connect compressor directly to PC sound card
Imagine that you have:
A microphone (XLR)
Audio compressor (Behringer MDX2600)
PC internal sound card (like Creative Sound Blaster Z)
Is it possible to connect it like this?:
Mic(XLR) > Compressor ...
- 1
0
votes
2
answers
145
views
mixing bass issues
I have problems mixing my bass composed by 4 notes in 4/1 (E3, B2, C#3 and A2 - scale of EMAJ) as the last note sounds much lower than the others. When I try to compress the channel that note won't be ...
- 61
0
votes
4
answers
85
views
Mixing advice - let me know your opinion
I'm producing a big room house track with ableton and was looking for some mixing advice: basically the different sounds don't glue together completely, like the bass and the leads are quite separate ...
- 61
0
votes
1
answer
689
views
optimal way to transcode 320 mp3 kbps to a more efficient lossy format? [duplicate]
Several thousand 320kbps mp3s of studio and live high fidelity recordings of concerts will be landing on my computer soon. (not pirated, I promise you!)
I'm happy to have and use them for personal ...
- 101
0
votes
4
answers
118
views
Clipped sound although waveform never flattens out
I was listening to a song and noticed the drums sounding very compressed/clipped, but when I actually took a look at the waveform, this is how it looks:
Now I'm wondering whether there is some kind ...
1
vote
2
answers
392
views
Mid/side multiband compression
I am trying to master a track which is EDM(house) based and I am using izotope ozone 6.
For instance, if there are (Low-end, Low-mid, High-mid, High-end) 4 bands,
Which one would be the most ...
- 303
4
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Can compressed music files be adequately recovered by remastering?
I have some rare old music files on my drive that are compressed to 128 kbps in the mp3 format. Some of them are of digital origin, and some of them are vinyl rips.
Audio data compression affects ...
- 213
2
votes
1
answer
2k
views
How can I fix robotic distortion from an audio track?
First of all I apologize if the title doesn't make any sense. I lack the vocabulary to describe the issue that I have with an audio track I'm trying to fix or at least make a little better.
This is ...
- 123
3
votes
1
answer
166
views
is there a common low-end level for a song?
I am currently mastering a song in iZotope Ozone 6.
Both in Ozone's EQ and Multi-band Compressor, if I boost up the low frequency it sounds muddy, but it sounds soft if I bypass it.
Is there any "...
- 303
5
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Does converting mp3 to wav make sense with regard to timing accuracy?
Think about a program where it is mission critical to sync audio playback with text being displayed on the screen. And timing of this sync must be perfect.
Currently, I am having all sorts of trouble ...
- 151
6
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Which audio file format gives smallest size for silent tracks?
I want to make a bunch of silent audio files (of different lengths: A few seconds up to some minutes), just to but them into playlists and so on in order to have silent times in between.
I am ...
- 161
1
vote
2
answers
114
views
Notification sound that sounds decent over a low quality connection?
I'm a programmer without any real audio engineering experience playing around with procedural audio generation. I need to create a notification sound that sounds decent/not-horrible over a potentially ...
