PC-2 Pschoacoustic Compressor.pdf

Jeroen Breebaart

PC-2 Pschoacoustic compressor

Conventional compressors are based on peak or rms-level estimation to compute their time-variant

gain or attenuation. This property of most compressors often causes undesirable intermodulation

distortion and pumping/breathing artefacts.

PC-2 features a 'psycho-acoustic relevance' mode. Instead of using a peak or rms-level estimation,

this mode employes a perceptual loudness model to compute the loudness of the input signal. This

perceptual loudness model is combined with advanced attack and release stages that model

peripheral adaptation of the human auditory nerve. The result is a very transparent compression

characteristic, even with very short attack and release times.

On the other hand, the simple, classic compression behavior can be engaged too by simply

switching off the complex loudness model.