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Because the compressor is reducing the gain (or level) of the signal, the ability to add a fixed amount of '''"Make-up Gain"''' at the output is provided so that an optimum level can be used.
== Limiting ==
A limiter is a compressor with a stronger ratio. Two commonly accepted definitions are that more than 4:1 or more than 8:1 ratios are limiting, anything less is compressing. They are no different in process.
Soft and hard limiting are also differences of degree. The "harder" a limiter, the lower it's threshold and the higher its ratio.
"Brick Wall Limitting", means that NOTHING passes the threshold. In practice, this is a ratio of 50:1 or possibly 100:1 or greater. The sonic results can be undesirable, unless applied to only the loudest transients, It is most appropriate as a safety device in live and broadcast applications.
== Side Chaining ==
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Some compressors implement '''side-chaining'''. This feature uses the dynamic level of another input to control the compression level of the signal. This is used by [[disk jockey|disk jockeys]] to lower the music volume automatically when speaking, for example (known as ''ducking''). Another use is in music production, to maintain a loud bass track, while still keeping the bass 'out of the way' of the bass drum when the drum hits.
== Multiband compression ==
Multiband compressors are compressors that can act differently on different frequency bands. It is as if each band has it's own compressor with it's own threshold, ratio, attack, and release. They are primarily a mastering tool, but their inclusion in Digital Audio Workstatio plug-in sets is increasing their use among mix engineers.
== Common Uses ==
Compression is commonly used in [[television commercial|TV advertising]] to boost the perceived volume of the sound track. [[Television|TV]] broadcasters have limits on the instantaneous peak volume of the audio track in a broadcast rather than its [[root mean square]] volume over the entire 30 second commercial segment. By applying compression followed by gain compensation the overall volume of the track is increased without increasing its peak volume and the sound is perceived as louder.
== Underlying Electronics ==
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