Waveform of Gordon Lightfoot Baby Step Back

This is a point that I wanted to make, that we cannot judge the sound without hearing the CD as well. But, since I HAVE heard the CD, I can say the any compression one hears is more likely due to tape copies being used or the converters, or something else along those lines.

Actually, a limiter IS a special type of compressor, but it only acts on the peaks. One can tell the difference of something that has been limited as opposed to smoething that was compressed.

Actually, the de-clip action does restore dynamic range to the sound. If you have the Sound Forge NR plug-in, you can test this yourself. It acts like an expander. And, yes, you can do the same thing with a dynamic compressor/expander, which Sound Forge also has.

I mention Sound Forge because I know that's what you use. I use Cool Edit Pro, Sound Forge, and the SF NR plug-in.

 

I don't have the SF NR plug-in, but your description is very interesting. Thanks for the info. I believe we are in agreement about compressor/limiters, except for being able to tell the difference between when compression has occurred.

 

Actually, Gardo, the action of a limiter can be identified by sensing that the dynamic peaks can't go any louder or higher, and that certain natural sounds that should go louder don't.

A compressor can be identified usualy by hearing a sound that is not clean or clear, or sounds a bit thicker than what would occur in nature, or there is a slight reverberence after a transient attack. The sure sign is that again, the dynamic peaks don't seem to get as loud as they perhaps should, given the sonic character of the recording, and that lower sounds seem to be more forward than they should.

Of course, it helps to know the recording at hand.

 

I should have been clearer. If the recording has been compressed, whether by the action of a limiter or a compressor, I don't think you can tell whether the compression was caused by one or the other. Your first scenario describes a recording that's been limited but not compressed. I can hear that.

 

You can. A limiter will only act on peaks. The rest of the music remains untouched. A compressor, as usually used, usually affects the whole frequency range, or at least set to more than the ranges that would result in peaks of some sort.

A limiter that is set at a low threshold on dynamic music will sound bad. If compression is used it will take some of that nastiness away.

Steve says analog compressor/limiters sound smoother than digital ones, which I imagine sound cold and heartless because of the way they work. I think usually, a professionally mastered CD with analog limiting/compression used will be harder to detect in the music.