Upward compression increases the loudness of sounds below a certain threshold while leaving louder sounds unaffected. A limiter is an extreme type of downward compression. Types of Compression. If we just talk about the software side, excluding any outboard compressors you might have, then the typical DAW compressor has a few different settings that you should experiment with. Compressing Hip Hop drum beats and in parallel requires a basic understanding of how different types of compressors process audio. As its name indicates that lossy compression is done, where small losses in data is tolerable. There are multiple types of compressor types that all sound different. By learning to differentiate these circuit types, you will gain far more control over your mixes . An audio compressor is one of the most important gear in music production. Downward compression reduces loud sounds over a certain threshold while quiet sounds remain unaffected. It also provides a way for you to control the manner in which it does this. Both downward and upward compression reduce the dynamic range of an audio signal. Instead, you select an external input (one of your other tracks) and the audio from that track is now what triggers the compressor. Because small amount of data loss is tolerable in audio and video which do not affect the viewers. The behaviour of a compressor is defined by a number of factors but it is safe to say that the gain reduction cell is what drives the compressor and different gain reduction technologies result in different behavioural characteristics. The original audio that was passing through the compressor will now be compressed according to the signal running into the compressor from the external source. Lossy Compression is used Video & Audio specially. An audio compressor tames the dynamic range of your signal so that there is less variance between the loudest portions and the quietest parts. Most audio compressors operate using either VCA (Voltage Controlled Amplitude), FET (Field-effect Transistor), OPTO (Optical), or VARI-MU (Variable-MU). Every audio production engineer should be familiar with the different types of Compressors … Sometimes, you might not even realize the amount of different sounds you can squeeze out of your compressor. A compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume.An air compressor is a specific type of gas compressor.. Compressors are similar to pumps: both increase the pressure on a fluid and both can transport the fluid through a pipe.As gases are compressible, the compressor also reduces the volume of a gas. (2) Lossy Compression. From the analog to the digital audio production compressors have been around and are still here and evolving.