Dynamic Range Compression based on Models of Time-Varying Loudness

Ryan Cassidy $<$ryanc at ieee.org$>$ (EE)

We incorporate facts from recently proposed time-varying loudness models in the tuning of a contemporary level detection mechanism for the dynamic range compression of audio signals. An analysis of the time-varying and steady-state behaviour of such a mechanism is provided, thus revealing its shortcomings in light of well-known facts about steady-state loudness. To remedy this problem, the design of an equal-loudness filter is presented. The performance and implementation requirements of this filter are compared to the well-known A- and C-weighting schemes used in many sound level meters. Next the aforementioned tuning of the level detector to match recently proposed time-varying loudness models is presented.