Eldartford, Dolby, DBX and the RIAA equalization curve all work because they have set standards for threshold levels and compression/expansion rates. Sns and I are talking about something completely different. In modern pop/rock productions there are no set standards for the amount or type of dynamic compression. As a listener how do I know what value the engineer set the threshold level at? What compression ratio was used? What was the attack set to? Was multi-band compression used? If yes, then was it 2 band, 3 band or 5 band, each with individual threshold, ratio and attack settings. Without this info it's impossible to apply dynamic expansion that would reverse the effects of compression.
Whereas compression can theoretically be undone, limiting cannot. Limiting cuts off the peaks of the music waveform above a set level. Once the signal is altered in this way it cannot be accurately reconstructed. No amount of look ahead processing can determine whether the original signal was .1dB, 1dB or 10dB greater than the limited signal.
Modern pop/rock music involves the use of extensive limiting and compression techniques. A recording may be run through a limiter then compressed, run through a limiter again, compressed again and run through a limiter and a compressor a third time. Different settings may be used for each pass through the chain and EQ may also be applied. The idea that a simple dynamic range expander can undo this sonic manipulation is not realistic.
Whereas compression can theoretically be undone, limiting cannot. Limiting cuts off the peaks of the music waveform above a set level. Once the signal is altered in this way it cannot be accurately reconstructed. No amount of look ahead processing can determine whether the original signal was .1dB, 1dB or 10dB greater than the limited signal.
Modern pop/rock music involves the use of extensive limiting and compression techniques. A recording may be run through a limiter then compressed, run through a limiter again, compressed again and run through a limiter and a compressor a third time. Different settings may be used for each pass through the chain and EQ may also be applied. The idea that a simple dynamic range expander can undo this sonic manipulation is not realistic.