Omnia Omnia.9, Installation And Operation Manual

Page: 99 / 127

91
The Parametric Equalizer
The Multiband AGC Thresholds
The Band Mix control
The Parametric EQ is a very versatile and powerful means by which to shape your sound. You can
set up a shelving EQ to create low bass “slam,” set up a broad, gentle cut to the high-­‐mids to
smooth out horns or female vocalists, or add some “air” or “sparkle” to your sound by adding a bit
of a boost to the very top of the spectrum. Because the Parametric EQ is located fairly early in the
processing chain and ahead of the Multiband AGC and Limiters, these processing sections are likely
to make some attempt to compensate for large changes in the spectrum. However, because the
crossover slopes of the multiband processors are relatively broad, the Parametric EQ can have more
impact that you might expect.
Adjusting the Multiband AGC Targets can have a very significant effect on the spectral balance of
your sound, but since these controls lie within a dynamic gain stage, they impact the texture of the
sound as well. For example, lowering the threshold of a particular band can make the sounds within
that band softer, but since doing so essentially drives the audio further into compression, it can also
make it sound flatter or more dense.
Making adjustments to the Band Mix will also influence the spectral balance, but since this is the
final point in the processing chain before the Final Clipper (FM core) or Final Limiter (HD and
Streaming cores), any peaks that result from adjustments made here will be dealt with only by these
more aggressive processing stages. While it is not always a bad idea to increase the output level of a
particular band, depending upon the sound you are trying to create, you may have better results by
decreasing the output of the rest of the bands by that amount instead. Or, you may instead wish to
make the adjustments to suit your tastes and then reduce the overall Band Mix level.
The Multiband AGC Targets and Band Mix controls can be used together to help fine tune your
sound. For example, let’s say you are using a 6-­‐band preset and you want to create a more dense-­‐
sounding mid-­‐range. By lowering the threshold of bands 3 and 4, you will add density by driving
those bands further toward a state of gain reduction, but this will also cause them to become softer
in the mix. You can compensate for this loss by increasing the gain of those bands in the Band Mix.
Or, let’s say you want an open and dynamic low end, and have raised the thresholds of Bands 1 and
2 to achieve less compression, but now find that the bass seems too prominent in the mix. You can
decrease the gain of these bands in the Band Mix section to restore a more balanced sound.