Little Miss Big is a 1946 American comedy film directed by Erle C. Kenton and written by Erna Lazarus; the film stars Beverly Simmons, Frederick Brady, Fay Holden, Frank McHugh, Dorothy Morris and Milburn Stone. The film was released on August 1946, by Universal Pictures. Beverly Simmons as Nancy Bryan Frederick Brady as Eddie Martin Fay Holden as Mary Jane Baxter Frank McHugh as Charlie Bryan Dorothy Morris as Kathy Bryan Milburn Stone as Father Lennergan Samuel S. Hinds as Wilfred Elliott John Eldredge as Sanford Baxter Houseley Stevenson as Duncan Jeff York as Clancy Peggy Webber as Ellen Arthur Loft as Mayor Edit Angold as Nurse Little Miss Big on IMDb

Dynamic range compression or compression is an audio signal processing operation that reduces the volume of loud sounds or amplifies quiet sounds thus reducing or compressing an audio signal's dynamic range. Compression is used in sound recording and reproduction, live sound reinforcement and in some instrument amplifiers. A dedicated electronic hardware unit or audio software that applies compression is called a compressor. In the 2000s, compressors became available as software plugins that run in digital audio workstation software. In recorded and live music, compression parameters may be adjusted to change the way they affect sounds. Compression and limiting are different in degree and perceived effect. A limiter is a compressor with a high ratio and a short attack time. Downward compression reduces loud sounds over a certain threshold while quiet sounds remain unaffected. A limiter is an extreme type of downward compression. Upward compression increases the loudness of sounds below a certain threshold while leaving louder sounds unaffected.

Both downward and upward compression reduce the dynamic range of an audio signal. An expander increases the dynamic range of the audio signal. Expanders are used to make quiet sounds quieter by reducing the level of an audio signal that falls below a set threshold level. A noise gate is a type of expander; the signal entering a compressor is split. This design, known as a feed-forward type, is used today in most compressors. Earlier designs were based on a feedback layout where the signal level was measured after the amplifier. There are a number of technologies used for variable-gain amplification, each having different advantages and disadvantages. Vacuum tubes are used in a configuration called variable-mu where the grid-to-cathode voltage changes to alter the gain. Optical compressors use a small lamp to create changes in signal gain. Other technologies used include a diode bridge; when working with digital audio, digital signal processing techniques are used to implement compression as audio plug-ins, in mixing consoles, in digital audio workstations.

The algorithms used emulate the above analog technologies. A number of user-adjustable control parameters and features are used to adjust dynamic range compression signal processing algorithms and components. A compressor reduces the level of an audio signal. Threshold is set in decibels, where a lower threshold means a larger portion of the signal is treated; when the signal level is below the threshold, no processing is performed and the input signal is passed, unmodified, to the output. Thus a higher threshold of, e.g. − results in less processing, less compression. Threshold timing behavior is subject to release settings; when the signal level goes above threshold, compressor operation is delayed by the attack setting. For an amount of time determined by the release after the input signal has fallen below the threshold, the compressor continues to apply dynamic range compression; the amount of gain reduction is determined by ratio: a ratio of 4:1 means that if input level is 4 dB over the threshold, the output signal level is reduced to 1 dB over the threshold.

The gain and output level has been reduced by 3 dB. The highest ratio of ∞:1 is known as limiting, it is achieved using a ratio of 60:1, denotes that any signal above the threshold is brought down to the threshold level once the attack time has expired. A compressor may provide a degree of control over how it acts; the attack is the period when the compressor is decreasing gain in response to increased level at the input to reach the gain determined by the ratio. The release is the period when the compressor is increasing gain in response to reduced level at the input to reach the output gain determined by the ratio, or, to unity, once the input level has fallen below the threshold; because the loudness pattern of the source material is modified by the time-varying operation of compressor, it may change the character of the signal in subtle to quite noticeable ways depending on the attack and release settings used. The length of each period is determined by the required change in gain. For more intuitive operation, a compressor's attack and release controls are labeled as a unit of time.

This is the amount of time it takes for the gain to change a set amount of dB or a set percentage towards the target gain. There is no industry standard for the exact meaning of these time parameters. In many compressors the attack and release times are adjustable by the user; some compressors, have the attack and release times determined by the circuit design and these cannot be adjusted by the user. Sometimes the attack and release times are automatic or program dependent, meaning that the behavior may change dependent on the input signal. Another control a compressor might offer is soft knee selection; this controls whether the bend in the response curve between below threshold and above threshold is abrupt or gradual. A soft knee increases the compression ratio as the level increases and reaches the compression ratio set by the user. A soft knee reduces the audible transition from uncompressed to compressed, is applicable for