[LAU] M/S EQ in Linux

[J. Liles]

On Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 8:58 PM, Brent Busby <brent at keycorner.org> wrote:

> On Wed, 11 Sep 2013, Ralf Mardorf wrote:
>
>  On Tue, 2013-09-10 at 21:38 +0000, Fons Adriaensen wrote:
>>
>>> MS is not a 'fashion mixing technique'.
>>>
>>
>> MS for microphony makes sense and I didn't call this a 'fashion mixing
>> technique', I was talking about "mid/side EQ". I never heard the term
>> "mid/side EQ" before and I've got doubts, that it's a useful mixing
>> technique.
>>
>
> For all the appreciated criticisms of M/S EQ, I'm really just starting to
> learn about mastering, so I'm trying lots of things.  Up until lately, my
> mixes have been simple enough that it hasn't been that difficult to get
> them to translate across different speaker systems, but lately, I have been
> creating some very complicated mixes that are offering me an opportunity to
> expand my mastering knowledge.  So I'm experimenting...and learning a lot
> of things that are new to me.
>
> One of the things I've been disovering is that actually, the EQ that
> sounds right to me doesn't seem to be the problem.  I've found that there
> are commercial mixes out there that are both colder than mine, and some
> from the 70's that are warmer than mine, and they all translate somehow.
>  So EQ curve is probably not the problem either way.  It seems more related
> to compression and limiting -- my newer mixes have lots of transients all
> over the place, which sound great on speakers that render them well.
>
> But some stereos seem to have woofers/subwoofers that only get engaged
> when there's a fair amount of power, which means that if you don't turn the
> volume up, it creates the impression that the EQ is mostly high mids and
> treble.  If you turn up the volume, the "problem" disappears as the woofers
> begin to engage.  Commercially recorded music doesn't do this on the same
> stereo.  On other speaker systems, my mix never manifests a problem at any
> volume setting.  This all seems to be about dynamics.
>
> I am already using some compression and limiting, but obviously I haven't
> nailed it yet.  I'm wondering if the Calf multiband limiter and/or
> multiband compressor may be useful here.  Obviously, I don't want to squash
> the life out of my mix, but I do want to get its transients tamed enough
> that they'll survive playback across lots of kinds of speakers.
>
>
In that case it does sound like mutliband compression is what you're
looking for. You should definitely at least try Jamin, the idea is that it
includes everything you need for mastering. *However*, this only applies if
you're stuck with a stereo 'print'. If you have access to the pre-mix,
better results will be obtained by applying compression/limiting or other
remedies to the problem instruments on an individual basis.

Commerically recorded music is criminally overcompressed, BTW, so I
wouldn't use that as a measure of quality--unless you're trying to be the
next pop star and/or appeal to prematurely deaf 12 year olds. The rest of
us appreciate dynamics.
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