Hi there

I would like to listen to my classical collection in my car and with my mp3 player. The problem is that classical music has as very wide dynamic range which makes quiet passages dissapear and loud passages makes me lower the volume. That is why I would like to compress the audio.

I have tried to tweak some settings in Adobe Audition but I don't seem to get it right.

Do you have any suggestions?

Attack, Release, Lookahead, etc....

Is it better to use the multiband compressor?
Would you use Lookahead?

With kind regards

/petpap


Technical Analysis

I definitely would not use a multiband comp. The purpose of these are to address frequency dependent dynamic issues.

Compressor settings should vary with the material, but for some general settings I would try comping with a medium attack, longer release time (or auto release), a 4:1 ratio, and a threshold setting that reduces somewhere around 3 dB for loud passages with gain makeup.

As I don't have Audition I can't give particular settings.
_________________
Tom Volpicelli
The Mastering House Inc.
http://www.masteringhouse.com
CD Mastering and Media Production Services

Thanks!

After studying and testing I decided for the following general settings(adjusting the db Limits and compression rates differently for different CDs):

compress 3.5 : 1 above -17 dB
compress 2 : 1 below -17 dB
flat 1 : 1 below -40 dB
Compensation Gain = -11.1 dB
Spline Curves checked

Gain processor:
Output gain: 20 dB
Attack time: 50 ms
Release time: 1000 ms
Joint Channels checked

Level processor:
Input gain: 0
Attack time: 0.5 ms
Release time: 100 ms
RMS selected

Lookahead Time: 30 ms

I increased the Attack time to 50 ms to allow transients and crispiness to flow through.
But I introduced a Lookahead Time of 30 ms which lowers a large part of the volume before it gets loud.

I have a long Release time for a natural sound.

I checked the "spline Curves" to avoid hard limits when the compressor kicks in.