Brands:

• AMX
• BSS Audio

Models:

• AVX Architect

Overview:

This article will explore the VIRTUAL view of AVX Architect and look at the Automatic Gain Control object, or AGC. 

To see a video of this article, click HERE.

Description:

The AGC object is found in the virtual view, under the Dynamics section of the audio processing objects.

The AGC object is used to keep the average level of a signal at a constant level by adding and removing gain from a signal to reach the desired level. High level signals are reduced by a fast limiter to prevent distortion by clipping.

Double clicking on the AGC object will open its factory panel.

The Enable switch is the on/off switch for the AGC processing. When off, the processing will not occur, acting as a bypass. 

The Revert button will return all parameters to the values when the panel was last opened.

The gain reduction meter will show gain increase or reduction being applied to the signal.

THRESHOLD is the level at which the AGC will recognize a signal as a legitimate level to be increased to the AGC target level. This lower limit will prevent the AGC from adding gain to low level signals or noise.

GAIN is the maximum amount of gain that can be applied to reach the target level.

The TARGET, is the user defined optimum signal level to be achieved and maintained.

WINDOW is the size of the window or range around the target. Decreasing the size of the window will result in tighter control of the signal.

ATTACK is the amount of time it takes for gain or reduction to be applied after a signal crosses the threshold.

RELEASE is the rate of change that takes place after the signal has fallen below the threshold.

On the lower portion of the panel is the final stage limiter adding extra protection. 

When the signal level reaches the limit threshold, the LIMITER LED will light and the gain will be reduced with an 8:1 ratio.

This limiter also has a user defined threshold that can be changed with the THRESHOLD control.

By default, AUTO is enabled, which will dynamically set the limiter's attack and released parameters based on the input signal.

Turning it off, we can set these values manually.

At the top of the factory panel, we have our usual object name, lock button, and selection mode switch.

On the right, the PROPERTIES window has the usual naming, workspace location, and DSP allocation options.

The OPTIONS section contains the usual channel count of the object block. Like our other dynamics processing objects, the maximum channel count is 128 channels.​