Emmm does anyone understand when they need to reach into a Dynamic EQ instead of Multiband compressor?

I still don't understand the difference even though i read a relevant thread

in plain english please if possible!!! thanks

 

hmmm now that i think of it...

with Multiband compressor those selected frequencies will be compressed (removing dynamics from them)

instead of just lowering their volume as in Dynamic EQ?

or am i not understanding (i'm not but trying)

 

1.) What is a dynamic EQ anyway?

The principle of a dynamic equalizer is actually quite simple. Like a normal EQ, it is equipped with one or more bands to raise and lower frequencies. The difference to a conventional equalizer is that the frequency processing with a dynamic EQ is level-dependent, as is known from a compressor, for example. Actually, the dynamic EQ is not that dissimilar to a multiband compressor, but due to the (usually) diverse filter options of the EQ bands, you have much more precise processing options, which virtually "surgical interventions" in audio tracks (as well as virtual instrument tracks) are possible.

2.) Dynamic equalizer

While the multiband compressor is a kind of compressor with EQ properties, a dynamic equalizer is also a kind of hybrid, namely something like an EQ with compressor properties. With this it is the case that a band only increases when an adjustable level has been exceeded in this frequency range. It works the other way around, i.e. that an EQ band only lowers when the level has fallen below. In addition, the detector band and EQ band don't even have to be identical ...

3.) Multiband compressor.

This basically consists of several individual compressors, each compressing only part of the spectrum. For this purpose, filters with adjustable frequencies are used in the device or in the plug-in, the signals are then compressed and reassembled. A three-band compressor can be used to compress bass, mids and highs separately. This allows the energy in the stereo signal to be maximized - modern productions in the rock / pop area can hardly do without this mastering tool. You should be aware that with such a device, in addition to the dynamics, the volume ratios of the individual frequency bands to one another are always changed. These changes depend on the dynamics. It takes some experience and careful listening to balance this out on average.

4.) Multiband Compressors vs. Dynamic EQs: Differences and Uses

Differences
As you should be able to tell by now, dynamic EQs and multiband compressors are extremely similar, and it’s no wonder that they’re often used interchangeably. The absolute simplest way to differentiate them is that a multiband compressor functions mostly like a compressor, but with some aspects of an EQ. A dynamic EQ functions mostly like an EQ, but with some aspects of a compressor. Multiband compression functions like normal compression, but can act independently upon separate frequency ranges like an EQ. A dynamic EQ band functions like a standard EQ band, but processes signal non-linearly like a compressor.
www.izotope.com/en/learn/multiband-compressors-vs-dynamic-eqs.html

 

Last edited: Oct 31, 2021

i'm struggling to read but i'm reading it :P

 

I would add something to the good things already spotted in this thread

It's a video from Dan Worrall but aired on another channel, I think can open some more thoughts and possibilities
The Most Underappreciated Pro-Q3 Feature! - YouTube

 

Multiband compressor - same as compressor, divided on bands, with crossovers. So, non-wideband compression for separate bands, such as lows, mids, midhighs, highs. Example: Pro-MB

Dynamic eq - same as any eq, but with compression section (threshold, ratio, attack, release, etc). Curves like in eq for compression: shelves, bells, q, dB/oct etc. More surgical, more precision to adjust. Imagine like static eq, but with dynamic option for curves. Example: Pro-Q3

Both may be not only as upward/downward compression, but also upward/downward expansion.

TDR Nova is an example of multiband dynamics and dynamic eq.

 

sorry for being so lazy..but 14 minutes to tell me the
Most Underappreciated Pro-Q3 Feature
?? what is it please :p

 

The main difference is how they approach splitting signal into bands.
A multiband compressor will typically literally split the signal into bands with symmetrical filters and process each band with a separate compressor. This will end up introducing either phase issues at crossover points or lots of latency and pre-ringing, if linear-phase filters are used.
A dynamic EQ doesn't split anything. It adjusts the (typically bell or shelf) filter's gain based on what the detection algorithm listening to this filter tells it. The filter is freely placable. This approach causes dynamic phase changes depending on the filter type and gain applied, but no internal phase incoherency. Or, once again, lots of latency and pre-ringing with linear-phase filters.
There's also a peculiar architecture in which only the internal sidechain signal gets split into bands and analyzed for dynamics, and the actual compression is done by a set of corresponding crossfading shelf and bell filters, driven by the internal sidechain. This is a dynamic EQ with the workflow of a multiband compressor. Pro-MB also operates this way in Dynamic Phase mode.
And speaking of workflow, that's what might interest you the most!
You might want to use a dynamic EQ if you need to fix one specific region's dynamics only, from overly harsh vocals at 4 kHz to one overly enthusiastic resonance in a guitar. Oh, and you also can add gain instead of subtracting it. Say for pumping up the kick drum at 100 Hz without making a muddy tail louder.
Multiband compressor is more suitable if controlling dynamics of every region separately is your goal, like on a mix bus.
If Pro-MB is your first multiband processor (notice I don't say "compressor" here, because it's so much more than that), you are less likely to appreciate the difference, as it can do pretty much everything and then some. That's why Pro-Q 3 comes with its own set of unique conveniences.

Go and bloody watch it.

 

A Dynamic EQ is much more precise.
It's still an EQ where you can boost/cut, but with variable/adaptative effect.

Multiband Comp divides the spectrum in Broad sections, and compresses them individually.
It's used for Balancing/Controlling the signal Dynamics, rather than Boosting/Cutting Frequencies..

 

Last edited: Nov 1, 2021

Some excellent answers above. Also, if you look at the bottom of the page you'll see an almost identical thread from Apr 7, 2017.

Do you simply want to understand the technical differences between these two techniques or are you hoping to apply these techniques to a specific scenario?

Put another way, what is it you're trying to achieve, if anything?

Maybe approaching your query this way will elicit specific answers, that will highlight the differences you're keen to understand.

 

its 14 minutes man to say the most important feature.., he could have said it much quicker i don't want to watch it right now

 

Mate you're trying to roll with a monocycle on a suspended line between two high buildings, before knowing how to properly walk, with these mastering and advanced dynamics questions. The irony is if that if you'd spend time to work out, understand and properly HEAR the basics - gain, pan, eq, compression, reverb, these advanced tools are merely sum of the basic blocks, a natural extension of the basic workflow and you'd have no issues in understanding them afterwards

 

There's something important to add: multiband compressors appeared quite a few years before dynamic EQs. For instance this famous Waves plugin multicomp I think...C4..C6? This made many producers to drop EQs (to a bare minimum)
This added some confusion when dynamic EQs appeared because quite a few people were already used to multiband compressors.

 

Technically they are same, bunch of filters into the compressor. Approach is different, hence filter types, controls and UI are different.

 

I'm using dyn EQs to

1. raise a specific freq (range) statically and tame it above a certian threshold. With a compressor you boost the compressed signal.
2. tame only a specific freq (range), especially when it's rather small.

I'm using MB compressors to tame the dynamics of the whole freq range of a signal to a different amount.

 

Disagree? What's wrong with my post?

 

If you're really into it, try Multiplicity and read its manul. Also, visit DMG YouTube channel and watch everything related to Limitless and Multiplicity. Gamble explains there the essential difference, why some MB processors aren't exactly MB and so on.

Besides, Multiplicity it's almost everything you could think of in regard of dynamic processing. For the rest of tasks that could require MB processing there's Limitless, Sooth and Essence(which is not completely the same what Multiplicity does).

 

Let's leave the linear filter bands aside for a moment.... just for a general understanding of the matter.

A multiband compressor has several frequency bands separated by crossover filters, with each crossover providing a constant phase shift. The bands themselves usually have a relatively smooth curve - that is, they are bandpass filters with filter order x, each passing the filtered material to a VCA for compression....
A dynamic EQ, on the other hand, is an equalizer. The gain of each band can be automatically controlled by an SC VCA. Phase shifts only occur when a band deviates from its null position, i.e. when the filter actively intervenes in the sound material. The type and shape of the filter can be freely determined, in contrast to the MB Compressor.
The closest to the function of an MB Compressor with is a dynamic EQ, if several bell filters with high Q factor and high filter order are placed over the frequency spectrum.

 

I think OP wants to learn without two basic senses (Sight and Hearing) No offense to OP but I also wish sometimes that It would've been great if humans had a USB port attached to their bodies to have information copied the exact way just like that.. Since it's impossible yet to gain quick wisdom we have to gradually improve by learning from each other..

Dynamic EQ - Single layer depth equalization.
Multiband Compressor - Multiple layers compression with less equalizing features.

 

Last edited: Nov 1, 2021

Dynamic EQ is curve dependent.
MultiBand EQ is band dependent.

They are so similar. My habit is using dynamic eq on specific frequencies and multiband eq on overall tonal balance or soundshaping(ott.)