Making Compression A Listening Option
The incorporation of (switchable) level compression in domestic music systems and car in-car systems would allow higher quality on systems capable of wide dynamic range and in situations that allowed realistic reproduction. Such compression systems have been suggested and tried from time to time, but are not in widespread use — a 'chicken and egg' problem since producers feel they must make programmes and recordings that sound good in car with high ambient noise or on cheap low-power music systems. In the UK, some DAB receivers do incorporate a menu setting for automatic loudness compensation which adds extra gain on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4, to allow for the fact that these programmes adopt lower levels than, for example, the pop station Radio 1. Some television receivers also have a menu setting for loudness equalisation, aimed at helping to reduce excessive loudness on advertisements. However, there is no common agreement to reduce compression and limiting and leave these tasks to the receiver.
Read more about this topic: Alignment Level
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