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In many cases it’s not just about increasing the drive to the limiters. Instead, it can be as non-intuitive as creating the
illusion
of greater loudness by changing something simple – like a time constant. Sometimes the old adage of
less is
more
really applies!
Please give the following co
ntent some thought as it may assist you in developing an overall fine-tuning plan if you
feel changes beyond our factory presets are justified.
The trade-off between quality and loudness is primarily determined by how you choose to use the limiting and
cl
ipping sections. While each function alone will generate “dial presence,” they each have different advantages, as
well as side effects.
When excessive limiting is used, intermodulation distortion is increased, making the audio sound “mushy”, and
“smeared.
” The added short
-
term density can also cause the audio to be “tight”, “squashed”, or “dense.” The
dynamics” artifacts caused by excessive limiting might sound like “pumping,” “breathing.” The rule for limiting is
“a little goes a long way!”
When excessive clipping is used, harmonic distortion is increased. The audio level is in effect “running into the
brick wall.” Too much clipping can cause the audio to sound “broken
-
up,” “torn,” “rough,” or “edgy.” As might be
expected, the harder the limiters and clip
pers are driven, the louder the perceived audio. However, you are also
much more likely to encounter increased intermodulation and/or harmonic distortion.
The following sections are provided to assist you in designing the personality of your sound. As we said earlier,
there is no precise recipe for setting up audio processing because each application is different. However there are a
few basics that we can share with you that can help get you to where you want to go. Setting up processing for the
absolute best end product usually requires a concerted effort, some extended periods of critical listening, and making
a few intelligently chosen and subtle changes over time. It will be time and effort well spent, and all you need to
know up front is that you must:
Know your goals (have a plan).
Take your time.
Always adjust deliberately and methodically.
Listen critically before making more adjustments.
Increasing Density/Loudness
Try to resist the temptation to
crank
up the aggressive processing sections. They will definitely add loudness but
usually at the cost of quality and intelligibility. Many times, just building a bit more RMS energy in the AGC
sections will do the trick.
The following are some suggestions on where to begin to make changes. For best res
ults you should try them in the
order we have listed below.
Increasing loudness can be accomplished in five ways:
1.
Alter the following parameters in the AGC:
Increase the
Drive
to the AGC sections.
Increase the
Release
settings to make the bands operate faster.
2.
Modify the Multiband Limiter sections:
Increase the
Drive
to the Limiter section.
Increase the
Release
settings to make the bands operate faster.
Note that slowing the
Attack
time by using a lower setting can help make things sound more natural
when faster
Release
times are used. But be careful not to allow too many fast transients through to the
final limiter section.
3.
Set the
Hold
threshold in each band to a lower value.
