Same as the DRC block in TAS5825M's typical processing flows (see the application note, General Tuning Guide for TAS58xx Family), the attack and decay time refer to the time for protection algorithm to take effect and release. Energy time is the time for the algorithm to detect the input signal energy.

Usually, this is suggested to set the attack and energy time near the look ahead time of the algorithm (for example, for 48K processing flow, the look ahead time is about 2.67ms), and the decay time can be set slightly larger than the attack time. A shorter attack time can make the algorithm to respond to audio signals more quickly, while this can also cause loudness loss when music with large dynamics is played. If the energy time is very short, the algorithm can be more sensitive and cause more compression, which can also affect the music loudness.

The following graphs illustrate the examples of speaker excursion (measured by laser equipment) with different attack and energy time settings, with the same sweep sine wave signal. When adjusting these settings, this is advisable to perform a series of listening tests. To get the best configuration to achieve great listening and protection result, it's also recommended to choose several speakers for listening tests and protection tests.