Ashly LIMITER/COMPRESSORS CL-100 Owner's Manual - Page 7

Browse online or download pdf Owner's Manual for Music Equipment Ashly LIMITER/COMPRESSORS CL-100. Ashly LIMITER/COMPRESSORS CL-100 18 pages. Limiter/compressors
Also for Ashly LIMITER/COMPRESSORS CL-100: Owner's Manual (18 pages)

Print Page

Comparison of the dvnamic range of several common audio svstems.

At the other end of the loudness spectrum, the limitation on dynamic

range is usually distortion, either in the form of amplifier overload or tape

saturation. In most transistorized equipment, the transition from clean,

undistorted operation to severe distortion is very abrupt. Therefore, it is

common practice to operate a piece of equipment at a level that is somewhat

below the distortion point, leaving a margin of safety for unexpected,

transient volume peaks in the music. This safety margin is known as

headroom, and may range

from 10 to 25 dB. Lowering

our standard

operating level to leave ourselves some headroom helps prevent distortion,

but at the same time it moves our average program level closer to the noise

floor, thereby compromising signal-to-noise performance. It becomes

apparent that to get the most out of an audio system, you have to keep your

standard operating level as high as possible without risking distortion.

CLIPPING

nt Distortion Occurs Above This Level

The useful dynamic range of any piece

of audio

equipment

15 lmited by noise ard distortion. ey

Gain Riding

What Compressors

and Limiters Do

Limiti