ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Audio level compression

Audio level compression is like a superhero for our ears. Imagine you are at home listening to music, and one song suddenly gets too loud, hurting your ears. That's where compression comes in. It makes sure all parts of the song sound equally loud and prevent your ears from getting hurt while listening.

Now, let's try to simplify it a bit more. Compression is like squeezing playdough. You know how some parts of the playdough are bigger than the other parts. When you squeeze it, all parts become the same size. Compression does the same thing. It makes the louder parts of the song softer and the quieter parts louder so that all parts of the song sound equally loud. It's a way to make music sound better and easier to listen to.

Audio level compression also helps music on the radio sound good. When radio stations play music, they have to make sure that all the songs they play have the same loudness level. So, they use compression to make sure that all songs play with similar volume levels.

In conclusion, audio level compression is like a superhero that makes sure our ears don't get hurt by loud music and makes sure that all parts of the song sound equally loud. It's like squeezing a playdough to make it all the same size. It's also used by radio stations to make sure all songs they play have the same loudness level.