Clear definition
Audio Compressor in Premiere Pro is best understood by separating two ideas: file compression reduces megabytes for sharing and storage, while dynamic range compression changes the relationship between loud and quiet parts of a recording.
Practical examples
A podcast editor may use dynamic compression to make speech more even, then export at 96 or 128 kbps to reduce the final MP3 size. A phone recording may not need dynamic compression, but it can still be converted from WAV to MP3 to save space.
Common mistakes
- Do not expect dynamic range compression to make a file much smaller by itself.
- Do not use extremely low bitrate for music unless small size matters more than fidelity.
- Do not confuse normalization, limiting, and encoding bitrate; they solve different problems.
File size compression difference
This site compresses file size by changing encoding settings such as bitrate, format, sample rate, and channels. It is different from a studio compressor effect, although both can be part of an audio workflow.