Platinumears Releases Meta-Multiband Compressor – 5ORCERY
Ladies and gentlemen, we have here another round with a freeware plug-in!
Platinumears has released the “Meta-Multiband Compressor” which takes a different approach to the way a typical MBC functions. Platinumears is a site offering all types audio services and is ran by another online mystery man by the name of “Dan”.
Dan’s site includes his own self-made, freeware plug-ins from EQ’s to compressors – one of which (the IQ4gui) was included in the Top 10 Freeware list by Mike Senior – author of the book Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio and Sound On Sound’s “Mix Rescue” and “Mix Review” columns.
Dan’s most recent release goes by the name of 5ORCERY – a so called “meta-multiband compressor”. The new compressor is available now for the price of FREE-ninety-nine.
Would you like to know why Dan’s approach to the multi-band compressor is different and dubbed as “meta”? Read on to see Dan’s reasoning:
“Multi-band compression using dynamic EQ.
The traditional way to build a multi-band compressor is to split the signal into the required number of bands (five in this case) using cross-over filters, then run each band- through a separate compressor before mixing them back together again. This approach tends to cause phase problems around the cross-over frequencies, requiring sophisticated filter designs to minimize these effects.
5ORCERY takes a different approach: the signal is still split into five separate bands using cross-over filters, and these feed the side-chains of five separate compressors. But the filtered signals are not mixed back together again: instead the gain modulation signals from all five compressors are matrixed into modulation signals for 4 dynamic shelving filters plus a gain stage.
To put it another way: while this plug-in behaves like a multi-band compressor, and allows you to solve many of the same problems, it is in actual fact a constantly changing 4-band equaliser, and when it isn’t doing anything, it really isn’t doing anything!
I have therefore dubbed this approach meta-multiband compression: all the benefits of a multi-band with none of the usual side effects. Use it wherever you like, on channels, sub-groups or mixes.”
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