Changing gain is non-linear. So what?

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romariozen
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Changing gain is non-linear. So what?

Post by romariozen » Sat Oct 23, 2021 2:33 pm

Can we really hear the differnces in the sounds been gained or ducked down? Are there any real cases that could happen?
Can it also affect the processing of that sound in devices (considering the change in the actual waveform, not the volume that ofc will hit the compressor behavior) ?
p.s. It does really change the waveform, if you gain some sound 30 dBs, you can see it adds an extra wave in the tail to stop inertia of the speaker.

[jur]
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Re: Changing gain is non-linear. So what?

Post by [jur] » Sun Oct 24, 2021 3:34 pm

I don't fully understand your whole question...
Regarding compressors and dynamic processors in general, of course the input signal's volume is the most important factor and changing it will make the dynamic processor react differently.
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jlgrimes
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Re: Changing gain is non-linear. So what?

Post by jlgrimes » Tue Oct 26, 2021 12:04 am

romariozen wrote:
Sat Oct 23, 2021 2:33 pm
Can we really hear the differnces in the sounds been gained or ducked down? Are there any real cases that could happen?
Can it also affect the processing of that sound in devices (considering the change in the actual waveform, not the volume that ofc will hit the compressor behavior) ?
p.s. It does really change the waveform, if you gain some sound 30 dBs, you can see it adds an extra wave in the tail to stop inertia of the speaker.
In theory a straightforward gain change is completely linear (as long as you are staying within bounds of clipping).


That said depending on what tools you are using, it is not always the case. A compressor though is pretty much nonlinear by nature as it usually isn't just doing a simple gain change (like a volume knob would do) as it is reacting to a constantly changing signal it knows very little about, and is very dependent on the input level of the signal.

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