Is there such thing as a compressor where instead of audio being reduced when above a threshhold, it becomes louder when bellow a threshhold?

 

expander

 

upward compression and/or Parallel compression Depending on high level content

Compressed vs. Uncompressed


From: Hugh Robjohns, Sound on Sound

 

just upward compression will give you what you need... if you don't have upward compressor, parallel compression can help you to achieve "similar" results but not the same.

 

correction: downward compression + make-up gain = uplift compression =/= upward compression
and btw, @Usdllama read it for yourself https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/parallel-compression

 

Expander late 70's trick

 

You mean something like this?

 

Expander/gate or transient designer.

Not upward compression.

 

simple



quotes from cockos forum:

Upward compression is not expansion.
Compression => reducing dynamic range
Expansion => increase of dynamic range

- downward compression:
traditional comp, making loud passages more quiet
- upward compression:
making soft passages louder
can be achieved with parallel compression


- upward expansion:
making loud passages louder (can be used to "un-compress" overly squashed material)
- downward expansion:
making soft passages more quiet (the mechanism noise gates are using)

 

Last edited: Mar 18, 2018

This is called an expander. It was used a lot in radio. you can do this with a limiter too.

 

Sorta. The bottom two are ̶e̶x̶p̶a̶n̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶+̶ ̶g̶a̶t̶e̶ gate+compressor & expander+limiter. They're not reversible.

 

Last edited: Mar 18, 2018

Thank you for all the replies!

 

Sorry? I thought limiter it is like downward compression up to horizontal line.
Gate is an extreme version of expander.
Limiter is an extreme version of compression.
What's the problem with such name like upward/downward?
Can you give me correct pictures if mine is wrong?
But what if we compare my picture with Ozone Dynamics section, Flux?
And is mine kind of hard knee? Transient shaper-like?
Probably mine is correct, but we think of knee soft/hard?

 

Last edited: Mar 18, 2018

This is Exactly what Waves MV2, It's a great compressor, youre Gonna Love it

 

Sure. It's pretty simple. Works like this:


1. X axis represents your input level, Y the output.

2. To get the output for any X, draw a vertical line up from X to the compression curve (blue wiggly line), and then draw a horizontal line to Y, e.g. magenta line gives us ~6 for input of ~3 (10 being full scale).

3. X = Y is a 45 degree line, starting at 0, 0 & ending at 10, 10. What comes in, comes out; no change, transparent.
For every X, there is one (and only one) Y.

4. Even with the blue wiggly line, there is one (and only one) Y -- a vertical line from any X, from 0 to 10, will intersect the blue wiggly line in one, and only one, spot. This is important, because it means we can undo our compression -- we can simply take our compressed sound clip, and expand it with the same compressor, by mirroring (flipping) our compression curve along the 45 degree line. Theoretically (ignoring stuff like bit depth and ...other weirdness), the result will be our original clip, before we compressed it.
No information was lost.

5. We can't do this with the pics at the bottom, because orange shade. At bottom left, X = 0 maps to Y = 0, but so does X = 1, X = 2, and X = 3. These (quiet) values were cut off -- lost, irretrievably; no undo. Think "gated, hard; gate threshold @ X = 3."

Bottom right is a similar thing, X=7 maps to Y=10, but so does X=8, X=9, etc. Think limiter set with the ceiling @ X = 7. You can't undo that either.

Fuck if I know

Yeah, think of compressor "knee" as a real knee, where the leg (our compressor curve)bends. Gumby () has no bones, his leg bends with a soft knee. Two straight lines forming an angle (like in your pics) is a hard knee (maybe "sharp knee" would have been a better term).

Sorry if this is a bit on the long (& rambling) side. If something's not clear, tell me what/where we miss each other & I'll try to do better.

P.S. "Color Curves" in graphics/video editors
( )
Are a perfect visual analogy for compressors/expanders. Circled is no longer compressing, it's limiting (horizontal line).

 

Last edited: Mar 19, 2018

Xfer OTT (Over The Top) Multiband Upwards/Downwards Comressor

Try it @ https://xferrecords.com/freeware/

 

Limiting input & output to 255 is a limitation of the PHOTOSHOP GUI (ONLY).

With slider controls, you are allowed to go over 0dB , with 32/64bits float precision.

Izotope Ozone does exactly that, a limiter with negative ratio, that also allows loud signals to go over 0dB.

 

Not sure I understand what you're saying. Limiting is simply a horizontal line on a chart; the ceiling above which the output won't rise. This ceiling could be set pretty arbitrarily. It doesn't mean running out of headroom.

What does that even mean? what would it do? A limiter is a compressor with extremely high (positive) ratios, often (positive) infinity, which translates into a horizontal line on the plot (the ceiling).
Google is not being a bro: "limiter with negative ratio" nets me exactly 1 result,
My internet must be broken, could you post a link?

 

If such a device existed, what would be the point? I listen to Katy Perry and everything's loud and you don't hear me complaining.

 

Close, it's between 0 and 1 to 1

Well, it looks like this



and sounds like this:

untreated



"limited"