Category: Audio lingo

  • Audio lingo: Expander

    An expander is in a way the opposite of a compressor. While a compressor uses the threshold setting to reduce the signal above the set value, an expander reduces the signal below the threshold value. This makes the signal more dynamic, and is thus expanded instead of compressed. As with most audio tools, the parameters […]

  • Audio Lingo: Notch filter

    Nothc filters, or “high Q notch filters” are basically EQ bands used to eliminate certain frequencies. Usually they have very high Q settings so that they only affect a very specific area of the frequency range. Notch filters are usually used to remove hum or other noise. Originally posted on March 20, 2011 @ 12:44 […]

  • Audio lingo: Multiband compressor

    A multiband compressor is simply a compressor that can be set to operate differently on different frequencies. For instance, you could set it to a ratio of 4:1 on 500-1000 Hz and a ratio of 2:1 on 3 kHz. In the same way multiband limiters also exists. Originally posted on July 25, 2011 @ 7:07 […]

  • Audio Lingo: Gate

    A gate is typically the same thing as an expander, but set to a such high ratio (I.E. high compression) that it doesn’t let anything past the set threshold. In other words, it is almost to the gate, what the limiter is to the compressor. Gates are perhaps most often used as a noise gate, […]

  • Audio lingo: types of noise

    To most people noise might just be noise, but in the audio world there’s more than one type of noise. The various types are named after colors, such as white and pink. According to Wikipedia, the color names for these different types of sounds are derived from a loose analogy between the spectrum of frequencies […]