Patent ID: 7440577

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: an automatic mixer circuit that produces a control signal usable to adjust respective gains of a plurality of audio channels based on an aggregate of input levels of respective audio signals of the audio channnels; a compression circuit that reduces the gain of a given one of the audio channels when an input level of the audio signal of that audio channel exceeds a threshold, irrespective of whether the control signal of the automatic mixer would permit the gain to rise higher; and one of: (i) a summing circuit that produces an error signal that is a difference of a signal indicative of the input level of the audio signal of the given audio channel and the control signal from the automatic mixer circuit; and a voltage controlled amplifier responsive to the error signal to reduce the gain of the given audio channel when the control signal has a greater magnitude than the signal indicative of the input level of the audio signal; or (ii) a summing circuit that produces an error voltage that is an aggregate of a signal indicative of the input level of the audio signal of the given audio channel and a signal indicative of the threshold; and a voltage controlled amplifier responsive to the error signal to reduce the gain of the given audio channel when a magnitude of the signal indicative of the input level of the audio signal at least one of approaches and reaches a magnitude of the signal indicative of the threshold.