Brands:

• AMX
• BSS Audio

Models:

• AVX Suite

Overview:

In this article, we will continue to explore the VIRTUAL view of AVX Architect with a look at the Expander object.

To see a video of this article, click HERE.

Description:

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

The Expander reduces the level of signals that fall below a threshold level.

​Double clicking on the Expander object will open its factory panel.

In the top left, the Enable button will turn on the expander processing. When this is off, the expander will not change the signal, acting as a bypass.

The THRESHOLD Control adjusts the level threshold below which gain reduction will take place. Above this threshold, no gain reduction will take place.

The GAIN REDUCTION meter will display the amount of gain reduction being applied.

ATTACK adjusts the time it takes for the expander to recover after the signal level goes above the threshold.

RELEASE adjusts the time it takes for the expander to respond after the signal falls below the threshold.

RATIO will adjust the aggressiveness of the expansion.

Remember that the expander can cause distortion at low frequencies when the release control is set to low values. Unless you particularly need the expander to attenuate very quickly, set the release control to a reasonably high value.

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. Dynamics processing objects like compressors or gates are limited to a maximum of 128 channels. When using multi-channel expanders, they function like independent expanders with common controls. Every signal is processed based on its own signal level.

The Sidechain option is off by default. Turning it on will add an input source to our expander object labeled as side chain. The Expander will then listen to our side chain input, and processing on our main input source will be controlled and dynamically affected by the sidechain input. When using side chain on multi-channel expanders, the sidechain input will control the expansion of all channels.