Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
|
|||
|
|||
Volume compressor needed
Most of my SACDs and many of my CDs have too great a volume range. When
the loud parts are at a reasonable level, the soft parts are inaudible. I live in the sticks so there is almost no background noise. Who makes a decent compressor? ---MIKE--- In the White Mountains of New Hampshire (44° 15' N - Elevation 1580') |
#2
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
|
|||
|
|||
Volume compressor needed
On 18 Jan, 03:53, (---MIKE---) wrote:
Most of my SACDs and many of my CDs have too great a volume range. When the loud parts are at a reasonable level, the soft parts are inaudible. I live in the sticks so there is almost no background noise. Who makes a decent compressor? Dolby. Or alternatively buy an amp with a 'nighttime' feature which reduces dynamic range (Yamaha?) Doc |
#3
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
|
|||
|
|||
Volume compressor needed
On Thu, 17 Jan 2008 19:53:14 -0800, MIKE--- wrote
(in article ): Most of my SACDs and many of my CDs have too great a volume range. When the loud parts are at a reasonable level, the soft parts are inaudible. I live in the sticks so there is almost no background noise. Who makes a decent compressor? ---MIKE--- In the White Mountains of New Hampshire (44° 15' N - Elevation 1580') If you live in the sticks, just turn up the volume so that the softer parts of the performance sound about as loud as they would in a concert hall at your favorite seat. The rest will take care of itself. The problem with compressors is that it's difficult to make one that doesn't "breath" or "pump" and that's quite unpleasant. |
#4
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
|
|||
|
|||
Volume compressor needed
"---MIKE---" wrote in message
... Most of my SACDs and many of my CDs have too great a volume range. When the loud parts are at a reasonable level, the soft parts are inaudible. I live in the sticks so there is almost no background noise. Who makes a decent compressor? ---MIKE--- In the White Mountains of New Hampshire (44° 15' N - Elevation 1580') You have it backwards. You need compression when the background noise is high--not low. Low background noise should make it EASIER to hear the soft parts. |
#5
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
|
|||
|
|||
Volume compressor needed
Norman wrote:
You have it backwards. You need compression when the background noise is high--not low. * Low background noise should make it EASIER to hear the soft parts. You don't understand. If I turn the volume up so I can hear the soft parts, the loud parts are much too loud. An example is the opening of the Beethoven 4th symphony with Vanska (SACD). This is happening even though the background noise IS low. This particular SACD has too much dynamic range. ---MIKE--- In the White Mountains of New Hampshire (44° 15' N - Elevation 1580') |
#6
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
|
|||
|
|||
Volume compressor needed
Sonnova wrote:
The problem with compressors is that it's difficult to make one that doesn't "breath" or "pump" and that's quite unpleasant. Not at all these days. There is no problem to avoid all those problems, using a computer, if you allow some delay before the sound appears after you put in the CD or tell it to play the MP3. You just design the compressor to look ahead and reduce the level before a loud burst. Basically what you do is old fashioned gain riding, automated. Doug McDonald |
#7
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
|
|||
|
|||
Volume compressor needed
"---MIKE---" wrote in message
Most of my SACDs and many of my CDs have too great a volume range. When the loud parts are at a reasonable level, the soft parts are inaudible. I live in the sticks so there is almost no background noise. If there is almost no background noise, then its not the background noise that is making the soft parts inaudible. Making the louder parts louder would be a circumvention for your situation, except that you seem to be saying that the loud parts would be unreasonably loud if they were any louder. Who makes a decent compressor? A good mid-priced compressor would be the Really Nice Compressor: http://www.mercenary.com/fmraudio.html A good low-priced compressor would be the Behringer Composer http://www.djsupply.com/proddetail.a...hringerMDX2600 Please notice that just about any compressor that you buy today will be designed for use in an audio production environment, where working signal levels are far greater than what you might find in a tape monitor loop, but more like those present at the output of a CD player or the input to a power amplifier. Failure to keep this in mind can lead to improper operation and/or excessive noise. |
#8
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
|
|||
|
|||
Volume compressor needed
Doug McDonald wrote:
There is no problem to avoid all those problems, using a computer, if you allow some delay before the sound appears after you put in the CD or tell it to play the MP3. I see that BUT I don't have a computer. I am looking for a stand alone unit to do the "gain riding". The main reason is that many of the SACDs and newer CDs have much too great a dynamic range. This would be alright if the playback was going to be in a large hall. My room is big (22' X 30') but not THAT big. ---MIKE--- In the White Mountains of New Hampshire (44° 15' N - Elevation 1580') |
#9
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
|
|||
|
|||
Volume compressor needed
On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 08:30:39 -0800, MIKE--- wrote
(in article ): Norman wrote: You have it backwards. You need compression when the background noise is high--not low. * Low background noise should make it EASIER to hear the soft parts. You don't understand. If I turn the volume up so I can hear the soft parts, the loud parts are much too loud. An example is the opening of the Beethoven 4th symphony with Vanska (SACD). This is happening even though the background noise IS low. This particular SACD has too much dynamic range. OK, Mike, what do you do in a concert hall when this occurs? You certainly can't compress or gain-ride the orchestra in that situation. What I believe that you need to do is to get a feel for how loud those soft passages actually are under real concert situations and duplicate that at home. I have the same situation that you do. If I'm listening to a classical piece on CD (or SACD for that matter), there are going to be soft passages. Well, they are supposed to be soft, sometimes almost subliminal. If you set the volume (assuming a quiet room, of course) properly, the loudest passages shouldn't be too loud. I certainly don't find it so and I live in a duplex. |
#10
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
|
|||
|
|||
Volume compressor needed
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. I did find that there were problems when I expanded more than 10-15% although that this was enough for most of the more highly compressed LP's. Good luck in finding something. Greg |
#11
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
|
|||
|
|||
Volume compressor needed
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. |
#12
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
|
|||
|
|||
Volume compressor needed
Thank you Arny for your valuable suggestions.
Some of the responders still don't understand what I want. I DON'T want to expand. Some CDs (and SACDs) have too much dynamic range (Vanska Beethoven symphonies for example). I have no interest in the music being as loud as in front of the brass section. To achieve a proper volume level on the loudest portions, the softest parts are inaudible. I just want a reasonable balance between soft and loud. ---MIKE--- In the White Mountains of New Hampshire (44° 15' N - Elevation 1580') |
#13
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
|
|||
|
|||
Volume compressor needed
On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 07:55:13 -0800, MIKE--- wrote
(in article ): Thank you Arny for your valuable suggestions. Some of the responders still don't understand what I want. I DON'T want to expand. Some CDs (and SACDs) have too much dynamic range (Vanska Beethoven symphonies for example). I have no interest in the music being as loud as in front of the brass section. To achieve a proper volume level on the loudest portions, the softest parts are inaudible. I just want a reasonable balance between soft and loud. ---MIKE--- In the White Mountains of New Hampshire (44° 15' N - Elevation 1580') I still think that you are playing the soft passages at too high a level. My point is that if you set the soft passages at their proper level, the loud passages WON'T be too loud. |
#14
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
|
|||
|
|||
Volume compressor needed
Sonnova wrote:
I still think that you are playing the soft passages at too high a level. My point is that if you set the soft passages at their proper level, the loud passages WON'T be too loud. I'm not going to spar with you any more. What you "think" is not relevant. You are not here so you can't possibly have any idea what the problem is. My question was answered by Arny. ---MIKE--- In the White Mountains of New Hampshire (44° 15' N - Elevation 1580') |
#15
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
|
|||
|
|||
Volume compressor needed
"Sonnova" wrote in message
... On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 07:55:13 -0800, MIKE--- wrote (in article ): Thank you Arny for your valuable suggestions. Some of the responders still don't understand what I want. I DON'T want to expand. Some CDs (and SACDs) have too much dynamic range (Vanska Beethoven symphonies for example). .... I still think that you are playing the soft passages at too high a level. My point is that if you set the soft passages at their proper level, the loud passages WON'T be too loud. I still think people aren't understanding him. If he does what you suggest, he can't hear the soft passages (in his particular situation). He wants the soft passages to be louder and the loud passages softer -- compression, in other words. |
#16
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
|
|||
|
|||
Volume compressor needed
On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 07:55:13 -0800, MIKE--- wrote
(in article ): Thank you Arny for your valuable suggestions. Some of the responders still don't understand what I want. I DON'T want to expand. Some CDs (and SACDs) have too much dynamic range (Vanska Beethoven symphonies for example). I have no interest in the music being as loud as in front of the brass section. To achieve a proper volume level on the loudest portions, the softest parts are inaudible. I just want a reasonable balance between soft and loud. ---MIKE--- Mike, That is why I recommended the compressor-expander (compander) dbx 117. It is an analog device that fits in a tape loop and will compress (or expand, depending on the setting) the dynamic range of everything that you run through it. I eventually gave up on it because when I upgraded my amp I noticed a deterioration in the signal even when the device was set on unity. Of course you may not notice, or care more than you care for the compression. Ebay should have have them fairly cheap--there is one in Australia (where I am), for $A35 with only a day or so to go. Greg |
#17
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
|
|||
|
|||
Volume compressor needed
On Mon, 21 Jan 2008 16:16:40 -0800, Greg Wormald wrote
(in article ): On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 07:55:13 -0800, MIKE--- wrote (in article ): Thank you Arny for your valuable suggestions. Some of the responders still don't understand what I want. I DON'T want to expand. Some CDs (and SACDs) have too much dynamic range (Vanska Beethoven symphonies for example). I have no interest in the music being as loud as in front of the brass section. To achieve a proper volume level on the loudest portions, the softest parts are inaudible. I just want a reasonable balance between soft and loud. ---MIKE--- Mike, That is why I recommended the compressor-expander (compander) dbx 117. It is an analog device that fits in a tape loop and will compress (or expand, depending on the setting) the dynamic range of everything that you run through it. I eventually gave up on it because when I upgraded my amp I noticed a deterioration in the signal even when the device was set on unity. Of course you may not notice, or care more than you care for the compression. Yes, That's why I stopped using the 117. It was definitely colored. |
#18
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
|
|||
|
|||
Volume compressor needed
On Jan 17, 10:53 pm, (---MIKE---) wrote:
Most of my SACDs and many of my CDs have too great avolumerange. When the loud parts are at a reasonable level, the soft parts are inaudible. I live in the sticks so there is almost no background noise. Who makes a decentcompressor? ---MIKE---In the White Mountains of New Hampshire (44° 15' N - Elevation 1580') You don't want a compressor. You want an automatic volume control. Most devices are not really high end. Here is one example using Google. http://www.heartlandamerica.com/brow...1&SC=WIG20001& greg |
#19
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
|
|||
|
|||
Volume compressor needed
---MIKE--- wrote:
Most of my SACDs and many of my CDs have too great a volume range. When the loud parts are at a reasonable level, the soft parts are inaudible. I live in the sticks so there is almost no background noise. Who makes a decent compressor? ---MIKE--- In the White Mountains of New Hampshire (44° 15' N - Elevation 1580') Mike, I live in an area with almost nil background noise. I have a fair number of very high quality recordings, including Dorian, Chesky, RR, and others not well known. I use speakers that have exceptionally high dynamic range and low distortion. I run only CD right now. I have yet to find a CD that has soft parts that exceed my ability to hear them clearly, and I tend to listen to loud passages at levels not exceeding 100dB SPL at my listening position. So I am puzzled by your problem. Could you supply me privately, or us on rahe a short list of examples of these CDs that have this tremendous dynamic range? I'd like to compare notes, see if I have any of them, and if not *get some*! Thanks, _-_-bear (north eastern foothills of the Catskills - ~800ft elev) PS. it might also be useful to know what your system set up consists of? |
#20
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
|
|||
|
|||
Volume compressor needed
Thanks for your reply. The SACDs from BIS with the Beethoven symphonies
directed by Vanska are one example. The CD layer has the same range as the SACD layer. Another example is "Stokowski's Symphonic Baroque" (Chandos CHAN 9930). My system is old. Marantz CD67SE, MSB Link D to A converter, Apt-Holman preamp, Apt-1 power amp, DBX Soundfield one speakers. I have several sub-woofers. The room is 22' X 30' with an 18" cathedral ceiling. The listening area is carpeted. When I listen to Vermont Public Radio (digital classical feed) there is no problem because of their volume compression (sometimes too much). At my age (78) I don't plan on any major changes to the system (except maybe a compressor). My heirs are probably not interested in my system! ---MIKE--- In the White Mountains of New Hampshire (44° 15' N - Elevation 1580') |
#21
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
|
|||
|
|||
Volume compressor needed
---MIKE--- wrote:
Thanks for your reply. The SACDs from BIS with the Beethoven symphonies directed by Vanska are one example. The CD layer has the same range as the SACD layer. Another example is "Stokowski's Symphonic Baroque" (Chandos CHAN 9930). My system is old. Marantz CD67SE, MSB Link D to A converter, Apt-Holman preamp, Apt-1 power amp, DBX Soundfield one speakers. I have several sub-woofers. The room is 22' X 30' with an 18" cathedral ceiling. The listening area is carpeted. When I listen to Vermont Public Radio (digital classical feed) there is no problem because of their volume compression (sometimes too much). At my age (78) I don't plan on any major changes to the system (except maybe a compressor). My heirs are probably not interested in my system! ---MIKE--- In the White Mountains of New Hampshire (44° 15' N - Elevation 1580') Ok fine. You'll likely not need very much compression - and then only in the system on pieces that you know will have too much dynamic range, I suspect. Enjoy the results, no matter what! :_) _-_-bear |
Reply |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Summit DCL-200 compressor schematic needed | Pro Audio | |||
Summit DCL-200 compressor service manual / schematic needed | Tech | |||
Audio design F700 compex compressor help needed | Pro Audio | |||
Guitar Compressor Recommendations Needed | Pro Audio | |||
turntable volume trouble, help needed. | Tech |