[Sonnova]

On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 20:56:11 -0800, Greg Wormald wrote
(in article ):

I used to use a dbx-117 compander to expand the dynamic range--but that
was many years ago. I don't know how good the electronics are, given the
state of the art today, but a similar unit should be available
second-hand on ebay or some such fairly cheaply.

You could really make the DBX 117 work very well if you increased the size of
the "release" capacitor to extend its time constant. It would compress
quickly on fast transients but release so slowly that you couldn't notice the
change. It stopped the audible pumping pretty much entirely. It's been so
long since I made that modification that I don't remember either the
capacitor, or what the starting value was, or what the value was that I
replaced it with. Of course, it no longer worked properly as a round-trip
noise reduction system once the capacitor value was changed for each channel,
so if that's a consideration for you, better leave it alone.