Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!mit-eddie!uw-beaver!fluke!strong
From: strong@tc.fluke.COM (Norm Strong)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: Any suggestions for building a limiter for my stereo?
Message-ID: <8748@fluke.COM>
Date: 1 Jun 89 18:43:07 GMT
References: <376@greek.UUCP> <679@uvicctr.UVic.ca.UUCP>
Sender: news@tc.fluke.COM
Distribution: usa
Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc., Everett, WA
Lines: 28

In article <679@uvicctr.UVic.ca.UUCP> collinge@uvicctr.UVic.ca.UUCP (Doug Collinge) writes:
}In article <376@greek.UUCP> mark@greek.UUCP (Mark Jeghers) writes:
}>I have some Compact Discs with *enourmous* dynamic range ...
}>
}>I'm thinking of building a limiter ...
}
}Ha, ha, ha!  I find this very funny.  The recording companies will soon
}discover that very few people actually want dynamic range - when you just
}have that Beethoven string quartet on as quiet dinner music you can't even
}hear the quiet parts. Likewise, in your car,  you can't hear anything at
}all unless it is all uniformly at the threshold of pain.  So before too
}long you'll find all CD's sounding exactly like cassette tapes.  

I discovered an interesting way to obtain "non-intrusive" music from my
CDs.  I dub a 6 hour program of music to eat dinner by (or such other
activities as warrant) on a Hi-Fi VCR using the automatic level control
position.  By feeding the VCR a signal much higher than it needs, the end
product is music compressed to about 40db dynamic range.  I now have 6
hours of continuous music with fairly shallow dynamics--perfect for
background.  And you don't need a CD changer.  

Another solution, if you don't have a Hi-Fi VCR, is to record music from a
classical FM station.  The station already compresses the signal in order
to increase their area of coverage.  I would guess a practical maximum of
about 50db from this source.
-- 

Norm   (strong@tc.fluke.com)