How to:
For advanced users, the custom compression settings allow you to make various adjustments that will affect the compression of the audio/speech in your recording.
Remember that the purpose of audio compression is to reduce the dynamic range between the softest and lowest sounds in your recording. With custom settings, you can experiment and create a signature sound for a better listening experience.
Here are all the custom parameters you can adjust within NoEdit:
The upper threshold is the top-most level of loudness, measured in decibels (dB), to be compressed in your recording. Any sound below the dB level you set as the threshold will be unaffected. And anything louder will be compressed.
The Knee refers to how the compressor transitions between non-compressed and compressed states of an audio signal as it surpasses the upper threshold. Think of this as smoothing out the transition between the audio not compressed (below threshold) and audio compressed (above threshold). For example, the harder the knee, the quicker your compression will be.
You choose to make a hard or soft knee, depending on your settings.
A hard knee usually results in an ‘edgier’ tone because of the compressor’s rapid switching, which produces high-frequency distortion. Use hard knee if you want to preserve the sharp energy in the audio.
Attack time (dB) = Amount of time the compressor waits to start working once the signal has crossed the threshold. The attack is the time it takes for the signal to become fully compressed after exceeding the threshold level.
The shorter the attack time, the more gain reduction.
The release time determines how long it takes for the compressor to relax the compression once the signal has fallen below the threshold.
For example, the longer the release time, the smoother the sound. A fast release means that the compressor lets go quicker, giving the audio a more dynamic effect.
We recommend a release time of: 75ms
Delay is an audio effect often called an echo and sometimes confused with reverb. To help you understand, the delay is simply a process that takes incoming signals and plays back delayed duplicates to simulate the sound of echoes.
Echoes occur in natural settings and can be heard in small spaces with hard walls, like wells, or where many hard surfaces are around. That is why echoes can be heard in a canyon, cave, or mountain range. But sounds are not always reflected. If they meet a soft surface, such as a cushion, they will be absorbed and will not bounce back.
The purpose of adding delay to the audio is to create a natural feeling and depth in your recordings.
The Gain is the amount of amplification applied to an audio signal in decibel (dB), increasing or decreasing its strength. A good way to think about Gain is the difference in signal strength between the input and the output of an audio system or processor.
How Gain works: Microphones work by converting vibrations in the air into weak electrical signals. When the sound waves reach the microphone’s element, the changes in air pressure turn into changes in voltage, representing the sound.
This version of the signal isn’t strong enough to record directly. It must be amplified several times to reach a healthy level for your audio interface.
Gain the amount of amplification introduced to the signal by the preamp. In this situation, your audio interface’s mic preamp is the amplifier that increases the strength of the signal.
In NoEdit, the Volume means the same as Automatic Gain Control (AGC) or initial volume, and it is editing audio, so the Volume is even and smooth throughout the whole file.
How Volume works: NoEdit Volume is an audio processing technique designed to smooth out volume differences between various parts of the audio.
For those familiar with audio compressors: Volume is basically a compressor with a high ratio but long attack and release times.
The X-axis represents the audio’s frequency (pitch) from lowest to highest. You can think of the frequency axis as the keys on a piano, where the sounds become higher pitched as you progress from left to right.
When setting the frequency, you are telling NoEdit how much pitch you accept.
The y-axis is the amplitude of sound, representing the amount of air compression (above zero) or rarefaction (below zero) caused by a moving object, like vocal cords. Zero is the “rest” position or pressure silence. Looking at the changes in amplitude over time gives a good idea of the amplitude shape or envelope of the sound wave.
If you want to use our default compression settings, you can read more about it here.
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