V1.9 introduced for the first time, emulations of dynamics processors which can be loaded into the 8 FX engines. With the ‘time varying’ effects such as reverb, delay, chorus, ADT etc its fairly easy to try different settings to hear how they affect the instrument or signal, it can also be good fun and can be a ‘creative’ experience enhancing the production of the mix to reproduce what the artist did on the recording, or create a musical sonic atmosphere to suit the performance. But for Dynamic Equalisation and Multi-band Compression the setup, control, and outcome of the ‘effect’ requires a deeper understanding of the principles of sound engineering and more of a prescriptive approach to handle certain signal conditions. Check out V1.91 on the A&H site – the boffins have asked soundman Ben Booker to provide some libraries for these units with brief explanations of how they work. Now you can pull them out of your engineer’s toolbox when you need a fix, or some ‘fairy dust’ in your mix!

Ben says: “The Dynamic EQ and Multiband Compressors are very powerful and flexible tools for the audio engineer. The skill required from the engineer is to use small amounts of EQ and compression to achieve the desired results and to learn from experience when and how to get the best from these sophisticated processors.”

Spectral Compression
You can cut a frequency range when the audio level in that band is above a level threshold – reduce high level energy in a frequency band.

Spectral Enhancement
You can boost a frequency range when the audio level in that band is below a level threshold – enhance low level energy in a frequency band.

Spectral Gating
You can cut a frequency range when the audio level in that band is below a level threshold – reduce low level energy in a frequency band.

Spectral Highlighting
You can boost a frequency range when the audio level in that band is above a level threshold – enhance high level energy in a frequency band. (careful with this one!)

The ‘iLive Rack FX’ pdf download explains the different controls and indicators that are found on the GUI for the DynEQ4

Ben Says: “Dynamic EQ should be used with great care. Limited amounts of expansion (sound gets louder above or below threshold) and compression (sound is reduced above or below threshold) should be used. It’s worth spending some time with the presets and learning the functions of this impressive tool. The results are worth it and will give your final mix the polish it needs.”

We’ll look inside the Multi-band Compressor in another post