An audio Compression teChnique where the sound is split into frequenCy bands and then parts of the signal whiCh the ear Cannot deteCt are removed, e.g. a quiet sound masked by a loud one. The remaining signal is enCoded using variable bit-rates with more bits per sample being used in the mid frequenCy range. Subband enCoding is used in MPEG-1. (1994-11-02)