David Shin naw@SoftHome.net wrote:
I have a question though, how does the gradual attenuation work?
I thought I explained it succinctly, but I'll try again. :-)
Whenever clipping occurs, the peak clipped value is examined and a new attenuation setting is calculated. Previously (or with the "Most" sensitivity setting) the new attenuation is one that would have avoided the clipping entirely. This can cause sharp drops in the output signal level that may not be desirable, especially if it was only a few clipped samples.
With a less sensitive setting, the new attenuation is somewhere between the previous setting and one that would avoid the clipping entirely. This way, if clipping continues, the attenuation will gradually still be increased to the point that clipping no longer occurs.
Once increased, the attenuation is never decreased unless the "Reset" button is pressed in the Statistics tab.
How about something that clips yet isn't continuous, like a cymbal crash?
A one-time cymbal crash that causes only a few clipped samples will trigger the auto attenuation. How much attenuation occurs as a result is determined by the amount of clipping and the sensitivity setting. Since it's a one-time event, a less sensitive setting would have a less drastic effect than a more sensitive setting. In either case the setting is permanent until clipping occurs again.
And are all those graduations for the setting necessary?
Maybe not. It wasn't clear to me how much granularity would be desirable, so I picked something more or less out of a hat. This is where I value feedback: if people think less (or more) granularity is good, I'll change it; I don't have strong feelings about it.
Is all this pre-releasing building up to a Christmas day present for all the devoted good little MAD users out there? If so, reading Xing VBR headers is on top of my Santa list!
Santa is making a list and checking it twice. ;-)
Cheers, -rob