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Low-Level compression:
C1 EQ + LLcompressor
C1 De-Ess + LLcompress
In general, wherever a wideband high-level compressor is used in the Comp/Exp module, it may be replaced by a
mid-level compressor, and vice-versa, by pasting Comp/Exp control settings from one setup to another.
Which type of compression?
The choice of type of compression depends on what you wish to achieve, and also the nature of the sound file.
If the aim is simply to get the loudest sound possible, then high-level compression or limiting should be used. But
be aware that this can also cause the compressed sound to lack a sense of dynamics and seem oppressive.
Additionally, especially over cheap reproducing systems with small loudspeakers (e.g. portable radios, portable
headphone stereos and small computer loudspeakers), the high average levels can drive the amplifiers or
loudspeakers into distortion, giving a fatiguing and unclear sound for the listener.
If however, the aim is not loudness for its own sake, but to ensure that the quietest passages are clearly audible
even under difficult or noisy listening conditions (e.g. in an automobile) or via systems with a high floor noise or
distortion level (e.g. 8 bit multimedia files), then what you may need is low-level or mid-level compression. This
raises the quieter passages above the low level at which they are not adequately audible. This will make those
passages clearly audible and less prone to low-level noise or distortion without losing the sense of high-level
dynamics, and without pushing all louder sounds to near peak level.
Mid-level compression combines these virtues with making the wanted sound seem louder, by raising the level of
the middle sound levels at which signals such as speech spend most of the time.
Low-level compression is preferred where you do not necessarily wish to make the louder sounds in a sound file
louder still, but where you need to make the quietest passages or details of sound more audible. Classical music,
or drama or documentary where background ambiences need to be made more audible, particularly can benefit
from low-level compression.
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C1 Set-up Guide Manual
C1 setup final
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