1. A computer implemented method for real-time classification of particles in a sample comprising: acquiring a first signal from a first ion detector associated with positive ions of a particle, wherein the first signal comprises an attenuated signal and an unattentuated signal associated with the positive ions; acquiring a second signal from a second ion detector associate with negative ions of the particle, wherein the second signal comprises an attenuated signal and an unattenuated signal associated with the negative ions; analyzing the acquired first and second signals to detect whether enough positive and negative ions are detected to form a spectrum associated with the particle; when enough positive and negative ions are detected to form a spectrum, merging the attenuated and unattenuated signals associated with the positive ions to generate a first wide dynamic range measure, and merging the attenuated and unattenuated signals associated with the negative ions to generate a second wide dynamic range measure; computing a list of m/z peaks based on the generated first and second wide dynamic range measures; and comparing the computed list of m/z peaks to a library of known mass spectral fingerprints to classify the particle.