Can we increase dynamics?


It might be a silly question, but since recordings have compressed dynamics (to work on average systems) is there anything to expand dynamics back to normal (or at least close) - either in form of hardware "expander box" or software I could batch convert my files with?
128x128kijanki
What type of files are you trying to improve the dynamics of? If you are dealing with "lossy" files such as MP3 what you may want to do is some form of "compressed music enhancer" to help replace the music info that was thrown out during encoding, not just increase the dynamics (although I will admit that most new pop recordings have next to no dynamic range).... BTW you do not need to worry about a CD's 96 db dynamic range because in real life a listening environment has around 70 db between the noise "floor" of your room and max volume level that most audio systems can produce.
What type of files are you trying to improve the dynamics of? If you are dealing with "lossy" files such as MP3 what you may want to do is some form of "compressed music enhancer" to help replace the music info that was thrown out during encoding, not just increase the dynamics (although I will admit that most new pop recordings have next to no dynamic range).... BTW you do not need to worry about a CD's 96 db dynamic range because in real life a listening environment has around 70 db between the noise "floor" of your room and max volume level that most audio systems can produce.
Although this is not exactly a solution to the intentionally compressed dynamics problem, the space age/ new age products from Machina Dynamica do create a subjectively greater dynamic range (among multiple audible improvements) in good recordings without seeming to tax the capabilities of an amplifier.
I simply mention that this alternative audio medicine is available with results clearly audible to anyone who has implemented these inscrutable tweaks.
I am not affiliated with Machina Dynamica, but always try to promote interest in products I have used which enhance musical enjoyment. In this case the enjoyment is easy even though any "explanation" is not.
I've tried to use the dynamic expander in my Behringer, but have only met with very marginal success at best. Although it is in the digital domain and essentially a full-range expander (unlike the DBX which I owned back in the day and which has to split the frequency band up into the 3 hi,lo and mid adjustment bands), the problem I had with it (and with all such expanders) is that they only work not by increasing the level of the peaks, but instead by lowering the quiet parts of the music. So OK, you just turn up the volume once that adjustment has been made and you're in, right?? Well, not exactly...or even though that seems like a good idea on paper, in practice it turns out to be rather problematic and possibly for a number of reasons...but, the main one being that when you artificially reduce the quieter portions of the music (and it's the music I'm talking about here, not the signal, per se, but the sound) the experience can rather quickly become one of the sensation of 'throwing a portion of the sound away'...that is, if it is done at all too much, little or no amount of increasing the volume afterward seems to enable the effective recovery of those quieter parts to the whole picture...what I mean is, even beyond properly dialing in all the proper parameters, there's still only just so much impact a dynamic expander can have on CD or better, or vinyl, or even analog tape (although the latter seems to benefit the most...but then, even there, we're talking mainly about reducing tape hiss to just below audibility). I think it may not be appreciated in general (except by their owners) just how narrow the range of benefit to dynamic range such expanders actually are. To those outside of ownership looking in, it may seem as though there is a rational enough promise to them and that one could reasonably expect to begin to solve whatever sonic problems with them. But, the advantage I think is relatively small, in fact, all but inaudible, even regardless of their cost altogether, actually. I agree with what I think Almarg is likely referring to: that some recordings suffering from narrower dynamics to begin with may benefit a little more so and that most, if not all, of what we would consider as more nominally good or excellent recordings end up benefiting something less. And yes, in effect, there may be different ideal settings for different recordings.

FWIW, when I started building my current system almost 25 years ago (my, how time flies when you're broke...), I considered dynamics near the top of the list...still do. But, I ended up finding much more success with all the other factors influencing dynamic range in system building in everything from amp choices, to cabling, to power conditioning (big gains there) and down even to things like removing the brass binding posts on my speakers and hardwiring to the crossover boards. Taken altogether, I've since seen far and away much bigger strides in dynamics than I ever could have hoped for with an expander of any kind I'm aware of alone, all of which has been very satisfactory. Unless there's some magic bullet out there I've never heard of, I would think you could generally afford to let go of the idea of dynamic expanders when it comes to your overall pursuit of dynamic range. Other options may hold better rewards, IMHO. Regards. John
Jjrenman, Just 16/44.1 CD files.
John, I found so far that compression is far more complicated than just squeezed dynamics while your experience proves it to be difficult to properly set. I think I might play with software but will definitely avoid investing in hardware.

Thanks to everybody for posting.