> -----Original Message-----
> From: Walter Knapp
> Martin Tillman wrote:
> > I have great respect for HHB, but no one in the sound
> recording industry
> > would call that curve anything other than a 2.5:1 compressor - a world
> > away from a limiter.
>
> And here I thought a compressor did it's work across the entire dynamic
> range not just the top bit. Silly me.
A compressor does indeed NOT operate across the whole dynamic range.
Every compressor in existence has a 'threshold' control that determines
when, in terms of input level, it starts to 'compress', as, indeed, does a
limiter.
A limiter will not allow the output level to go above the threshold level,
no matter what the input level. A compressor (set to, say, 2:1) will
allow the output to rise by 1dB for every 2dB that the input increases.
> If that's the curve of a
> compressor in the sound recording industry, maybe they need some
> re-education. Or we need to redefine what a compressor does.
No need for a redefinition, but perhaps some people need educating.
> Though I consider it all semantics and of little importance.
The distinction between them is of great importance.
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