Even though modern technology has the capability to make audio sound better than it ever has, there is still an ongoing argument about the compression levels with music. Heavy compression has been found in previous studies to be detrimental to quality but before a full understanding into how compression affects audio, a fundamental knowledge of the affects across different frequencies is important. Using pink noise in a series of tests to determine the level of compression and how it changes the perceived loudness across different frequency bands and across different amplitude characteristics gave an insight into how compression affects complex audio. It was found that lower octaves behaved differently to the expected outcome where it was found to be perceived as louder despite no extra treatment from other frequency bands. It was however also found that all frequency bands increased in loudness as a result of compression.

Masters by Research project, Oct 2013 – Mar 2015

Researcher: Mark Wendl

Supervisor: Dr Hyunkook Lee

Publications:

• Wendl, M., & Lee, H. (2015). The effect of dynamic range compression on perceived loudness for octave bands of pink noise in relation to crest factor. In 138th Audio Engineering Society Convention, AES 2015 (Vol. 1, pp. 502-510). Audio Engineering Society.
• Wendl, M., & Lee, H. (2014). The effect of dynamic range compression on loudness and quality perception in relation to crest factor. In 136th Audio Engineering Society Convention 2014 (pp. 86-93). Audio Engineering Society.