Operation Manual

Table Of Contents
ADOBE AUDITION 3.0
User Guide
120
Threshold sliders Set the input level at which compression begins. Possible values range from -60 to 0 dB. The best
setting depends on audio content and musical style. To compress only extreme peaks and retain more dynamic range,
try thresholds around 5 dB below the peak input level; to highly compress audio and greatly reduce dynamic range,
try settings around 15 dB below the peak input level.
Input Level meters Measure input amplitude. Double-click the meters to reset peak and clip indicators.
Gain Reduction meters Measure amplitude reduction with red meters that extend from top (minimal reduction) to
bottom (maximum reduction).
Gain Boosts or cuts amplitude after compression. Possible values range from -18 to +18 dB, where 0 is unity gain.
Ratio Sets a compression ratio between 1-to-1 and 30-to-1. For example, a setting of 3.0 outputs 1 dB for every 3 dB
increase above the compression threshold. Typical settings range from 2.0 to 5.0; higher settings produce the
extremely compressed sound often heard in pop music.
Attack Determines how quickly compression is applied when audio exceeds the threshold. Possible values range
from 0 to 500 milliseconds. The default, 10 milliseconds, works well for a wide range of audio. Faster settings may
work better for audio with fast transients, but such settings sound unnatural for less percussive audio.
Release Determines how quickly compression stops after audio drops below the threshold. Possible values range
from 0 to 5000 milliseconds. The default, 100 milliseconds, works well for a wide range of audio. Try faster settings
for audio with fast transients, and slower settings for less percussive audio.
Output Gain Boosts or cuts overall output level after compression. Possible values range from -18 to +18 dB, where
0 is unity gain. Double-click the meters to reset peak and clip indicators.
Limiter Applies limiting after Output Gain, at the end of the signal path, optimizing overall levels. Specify Threshold,
Attack, and Release settings that are less agressive than similar band-specific settings. Then specify a Margin setting
to determine the absolute ceiling relative to 0 dBFS.
To create extremely compressed audio, enable the Limiter, and then experiment with very high Output Gain settings.
Spectrum On Input Displays the frequency spectrum of the input signal, rather than the output signal, in the
multiband graph. To quickly see the amount of compression applied to each band, toggle this option on and off.
Brickwall Limiter Applies immediate, hard limiting at the current Margin setting. (Deselect this option to apply
slower soft limiting, which sounds smoother but may exceed the Margin setting.)
Note: The maximum Attack time for brickwall limiting is 5 ms.
Link Band Controls Lets you globally adjust the compression settings for all bands, while retaining relative differ-
ences between bands.
To temporarily link band controls, hold down Alt+Shift. To reset a control in all bands, hold down Ctrl+Alt+Shift,
and click the control.
Normalize effect (Edit View only)
The Amplitude And Compression > Normalize effect lets you set a peak level for a file or selection. When you
normalize audio to 100%, you achieve the maximum amplitude that digital audio allows—0 dBFS. If youre sending
audio to a mastering engineer, however, normalize audio between –1 and –4 dBFS, providing a cushion for further
processing.
The Normalize effect amplifies the entire file or selection equally. For example, if the original audio reaches a loud
peak of 80% and a quiet low of 20%, normalizing to 100% amplifies the loud peak to 100% and the quiet low to 40%.