What is compressed??

Compression can be good in a car stereo. Also, for a while 'limiters' were real popular when televisions cranked up the signal when commercials came on. If you want to hear what I am talking about, try Fox Network. The limiters would make sure the commercials don't sound any louder than the average signal strength of the show you were watching.

That control may also let you make recordings for use in your car which has relatively high ambient noise levels.

Best,

Barry

Examples where compression is IMPORTANT.

Forget the car stereos or XM radios.

Take the microphone and start speaking SIX... SIX...
You will hear distortion in the speakers. The sencitive device reacts differently on the air motion depending what you're saying...

A self-confident guitar player gets so involved that he/she forgets about pressure on the strings during the studio recordings or the live performance(Jimi Page for example)...

Hence you can't get arround without compression in any studio or live recordings/performances.

A producer is going to compile various selections from different albums or even from different artists. Every recording originally has a different initial level. A compilation should have one recording level throughout entire album.

A simple compression device would decrease gain on the high signal and increase gain on the low signal which will give a possibility to overall increase the initial level of the recording. A complexed compression device would include a proccessor and software which will allow to customize compressons depending on the task you're facing...