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TheParametricEqualizer
TheMultibandAGCThresholds
TheBandMixcontrol
TheParametricEQisaveryversatileandpowerfulmeansbywhichtoshapeyoursound.Youcan
setupashelvingEQtocreatelowbass“slam,”setupabroad,gentlecuttothehigh
mids to
smoothouthornsorfemalevocalists,oraddsome“air”or“sparkle”toyoursoundbyaddingabit
ofaboosttotheverytopofthespectrum.BecausetheParametricEQislocatedfairlyearlyinthe
processingchainandaheadoftheMultibandAGCandLimiters,theseprocessingsectionsarelikely
tomake some attempttocompensateforlarge changesinthe spectrum. However,because the
crossoverslopesofthemultibandprocessorsarerelativelybroad,theParametricEQcanhavemore
impactthatyoumightexpect.
AdjustingtheMultibandAGCTargetscanhaveaverysignificanteffectonthespectralbalanceof
yoursound,butsincethesecontrolsliewithinadynamicgainstage,theyimpactthetextureofthe
soundaswell.Forexample,loweringthethresholdofaparticularbandcanmakethesoundswithin
thatbandsofter,butsincedoingsoessentiallydrivestheaudiofurtherintocompression,itcanalso
makeitsoundflatterormoredense.
MakingadjustmentstotheBandMixwillalso influencethe spectralbalance,butsincethisisthe
final point in the processing chain before the Final Clipper (FM core) or Final Limiter (HD and
Streamingcores),anypeaksthatresultfromadjustmentsmadeherewillbedealtwithonlybythese
moreaggressiveprocessingstages.Whileitisnotalwaysabadideatoincreasetheoutputlevelofa
particularband,dependinguponthesoundyouaretryingtocreate,youmayhavebetterresultsby
decreasingtheoutputoftherestofthebandsbythatamountinstead.Or,youmayinsteadwishto
maketheadjustmentstosuityourtastesandthenreducetheoverallBandMixlevel.
The Multiband AGC Targets and Band Mix controls can be used together to help fine tune your
sound.Forexample,let’ssayyouareusinga6bandpresetandyouwanttocreateamoredense
sounding midrange. By lowering the thresholdof bands 3 and 4, you will add density by driving
thosebandsfurthertowardastateofgainreduction,butthiswillalsocausethemtobecomesofter
inthemix.YoucancompensateforthislossbyincreasingthegainofthosebandsintheBandMix.
Or,let’ssayyouwantanopenanddynamiclowend,andhaveraisedthethresholdsofBands1and
2toachievelesscompression,butnowfindthatthebassseemstooprominentinthemix.Youcan
decreasethegainofthesebandsintheBandMixsectiontorestoreamorebalancedsound.