multiband compressors
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Posted on Sep 26, 2002 06:56 pm
gregg
Member Since: Sep 17, 2002
i've just recently read an article that talked about using mutiband compressors during the mastering process. could anyone please give me the names and model#'s of some of the more affordable multiband compressors? thanks!!
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Sep 26, 2002 08:26 pm mda offers a *FREE* VST multiband compressor, among a few dozen other *FREE* VST plugins at their website:
www.mda-vst.com/
it's in pack#4, just download the zipped pack and copy the *.dll files into your VST plugin directory.
I know its not the real-deal hardware rackmount compressor, but I just love FREE VST's!
peace! -j
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Sep 30, 2002 09:05 pm Behringer has two nice unit's that might fit the bill for rack unit's. The UltraDyne Pro DSP9024 is a multi band compressor, with limiter and gate and several other bell's and whistle's. It is one of their top unit's. And they also have a slightly smaller unit, the UltraMizer Pro DSP1400P which is a 2 band unit that is about the same, but with fewer option's. I have been using Behringer gear for year's and they are priced well below the competition, and are very sturdy and easy to use.
brockMember
Since: Jun 28, 2002
Jun 16, 2003 10:45 pm i know this post is really old (i've been threw 3 different chicks) but i'm still really confused on what a muliti band compresser does. could someone explain this to me?
Jun 16, 2003 10:57 pm imagine splitting your signal up into several signals with a crossover, then putting a compressor on each of those channels before mixing them back together into one. that's a multiband comp
useful if you just want you compress just the lows or the mids for instance. compression has a bad habit of ruining your high frequencies. multiband comp separates the sgnal into different freq bands, solving all sorts of problems. very useful at the mastering stage
zekthedeadcowEat Spam before it eats YOU!!!Member
Since: May 11, 2002
Jun 16, 2003 11:08 pm db-audioware.com has a DX one in the form of a multiband limiter which I like...and it's pathetically easy to use...and inexpensive...
DanMember
Since: Nov 21, 2002
Jun 17, 2003 12:06 am so jamie, in general (i know that nothing is ever set in stone in recording), when using a multiband compressor, you'd want to compress more on the lows and mids, and less on the highs?
i seem to have a bad ear when it comes to these things, i appreciate the importance of it, but in my recordings, tweaking a compressor sounds quite insignificant to my ear, though i know it will make a fairly big difference in the end. i am thinking it maybe my headphones, AKG K-55's. i am gonna pick up a new pair on friday pay, as well as an audio-technica AT-3035 its a nice mic, ive messed around with my friend's and for the price, i cant go wrong.
brockMember
Since: Jun 28, 2002
Jun 17, 2003 02:36 am you don't hear a huge difference when you shuve that threshold down with like a ratio of 8?
Jun 17, 2003 03:48 am well Dan, bass frequencies are generally bigger (more amplitude) so they're more likely to get out of control. just notice how a kick drum makes a dB peak high in a song.
it doesn't mean we never compress the highs, it's just that sometimes it's nice to be able to single out a specific band that's giving you trouble.
hope you enjoy the new mic. i think a member named Mat has that one, and he got some amazing acoustic guitar and female vox with it. i just got my first condensor a few weeks ago. What a difference. Next I need a proper preamp for it.
WaltChief Cook and Bottle WasherMember
Since: May 10, 2002
Jun 18, 2003 12:17 pm You want to compress something that has a wide variation in volume. Any frequency or signal may exibit this. An obivious example is the bass guitar. It naturaly sounds louder on pedal tones than in the upper range. The compressor will even out the volume changes. The idea is to get the volume level near equal across the frequency range you are working with and then increase or decrease the volume of the compressed signal to where you want it in the mix. With a multiband compressor the assumption is that each instrument is conditioned where you want it in the mix already and now you are listening to "chunks" of the mix as a whole. Let's say that in the middle of your mix (relitive to frequency) that some passages are just fine and others are just too loud. You could ride an equalizer through the mix to fix it, or let a compressor ride the mix for you. Obviously by using attack and release times on the compressor you can set the reaction time a lot closer and more consistantly than by relying on your reaction time on an equalizer knob. (Although some old timers are really good) Bottom line use the compressor to minimize variations in volume. Use an equalizer to change volumes.
Hope that made sense. I had to learn compression backwards. I studied what the thing did but could not anticpiate the results. I had to use the thing and realize...Oh yea! now it makes sense! I am sure that means I have some eieio learning dissibility. Glad I don't know what it is. I hate having to whine about things. Ickey feeling.
