Noise Gate & Downward Expander for Android

11 things about Noise Gate & Downward Expander

1. To hear how a noise gate performs in this respect, set its release very fast, pluck a low guitar string (or hit a bass note on the piano) and let ring out, listening as the note decays down to the threshold level and the gate starts to activate.

2. The abrupt change in volume from that process sounds unnatural and makes it obvious that you are using a noise gate plugin on the signal.

3. The simplest noise gate plugins simply set the volume to zero when the input level drops below a threshold.

4. Instead of using a gate that fluctuates between two states (open, closed), this plugin uses downward expansion to gently and smoothly reduce the gain as the input drops below the threshold setting.

5. This noise gate plugin has a unique smoothing filter to ensure that the gate makes as little noise as possible when opening and closing, while still being able to open and close very quickly.

6. If your noise gate allows a fast enough release time, you'll hear a buzzing noise as the gate rapidly flip-flops open and closed for a few moments before settling in the closed position.

7. The key challenge that all noise gate designs struggle to overcome is how to make sure the gate doesn't flutter open and closed several times at the end of a sound.

8. Of course, slowing the gate down or delaying its closing is not desirable because we need it to close as quickly as possible when the input signal ends and open immediately when it starts up again.

9. Each noise gate plugin handles this problem in a different way, and therefore each one has its own unique sound.

10. How to keep the gate from opening and closing in time with the oscillation of the sound waves? There are many ways to do it, but the basic idea is to slow the gate down somehow, so it can't open and shut too quickly.

11. So why do you buy another noise gate? There are 2 main reasons: clearer sound and more natural gate-closing sound.