Audio Expansion Basics

Audio expansion means to expand the dynamic range of a signal. It is basically the opposite of audio compression.

Like compressors and limiters, an audio expander has an adjustable threshold and ratio. Whereas compression and limiting take effect whenever the signal goes above the threshold, expansion effects signal levels below the threshold.

Any signal below the threshold is expanded downwards by the specified ratio. For example, if the ratio is 2:1 and the signal drops 3dB below the threshold, the signal level will be reduced to 6dB below the threshold. The following graph illustrates two different expansion ratios — 2:1 and the more severe 10:1.

Input Level vs Output Level With Expansion

An extreme form of expander is the noise gate, in which lower signal levels are reduced severely or eliminated altogether. A ratio of 10:1 or higher can be considered a noise gate.

Note: Some people also use the term audio expansion to refer to the process of decompressing previously-compressed audio data.

Source: http://www.mediacollege.com