A time domain system for transient enhancement in recorded music

The set of audio treatment methods commonly used in the mastering process of commercial music tend to increase the loudness perception of the final audio product, obtaining a "fat" sound that can be played with sufficient quality on low level audio devices, such as small radios or computer loudspeaker. The side effect of these audio processes are the loss of transients and dynamic variations, with a resulting "flat" sound. The widely diffused compressed audio formats (mp3, wma) introduce further degradation of the recorded music. In this paper we describe a method for time domain transient enhancement of recorded music, which can be easily implemented with low cost Digital Signal Processors in stand alone device or included in HW (iPod like) or SW (Winamp like) audio player applications.