Patent ID: 8538043

Claim:
A method for processing an audio signal, comprising: receiving, by an audio processing apparatus, an input signal; receiving user gain input; generating a linear gain factor and a non-linear gain factor using the user gain input, comprising: generating the non-linear gain factor as a fixed value, and generating the linear gain factor using the user gain input, when the user gain input is lower than a low reference value, generating the non-linear gain factor using the user gain input and generating the linear gain factor as a fixed value, when the user gain input is equal to or higher than the low reference value and lower than a high reference value, and setting the non-linear gain factor to one and setting the linear gain factor to the user gain input, when the user gain input is equal to or higher than the high reference value; modifying the non-linear gain factor using an absolute threshold of hearing and a power of the input signal to generate a modified non-linear gain factor; and, applying the linear gain factor and the modified non-linear gain factor to the audio signal.