How does companding compress dynamic range?

1. How does a dynamic range compressor work?
2. Why dynamic range compression?
3. How does companding work?
4. How does companding improve signal-to-noise ratio?

How does a dynamic range compressor work?

Dynamic range compression (often shortened to just “compression”) is a process that limits the volume range of a piece of music. This means that rather than have passages that are almost inaudibly quiet of ear-splittingly loud, a piece of music will slot entirely into a preset volume range.

Why dynamic range compression?

Compression is often used in music production to make instruments more consistent in dynamic range, so that they "sit" more nicely in the mix with the other instruments (neither disappear during short periods of time, nor overpower the other instruments during short periods).

How does companding work?

Companding is used as a complement to the process of modulation and demodulation. In this process a voice signal is compressed, then changed from analog to digital, transmitted and converted back from digital to analog before it is expanded again.

How does companding improve signal-to-noise ratio?

Companding is used in pulse code modulation (PCM). The process involves decreasing the number of bits used to record the strongest (loudest) signals. In the digital file format, companding improves the signal-to-noise ratio at reduced bit rates. For example, a 16-bit PCM signal may be converted to an eight-bit ".