I've been using Fabfilter Pro-MB for some time now to reverse some of the effects of music track dynamic compression during mastering...but not mixing, of course. I've found some interesting tidbits of information while using it:
1) Dynamic expansion with a good multiband upwards expander (like Pro-MB) is possible if the dynamics of the music track haven't been completely crushed into oblivion. In DR Database terms, this means that if the music track has at least a 6-8 dB rating using the "TT Dynamic Range Meter" (the standalone version or as a plugin for foobar2000), you have a reasonable chance of a good listenable outcome using multiband expansion. The maximum DR ratings that can benefit from expansion seem to be around 13-14 (dB-crest factor) on the DR Database scale. Any tracks compressed to lower dynamic range values seem to be "lost causes". It's much more productive to go on a hunt for a higher dynamic range version of the recording rather than trying to use a multiband expander.
2) The plugin settings used to expand tracks are usually most successful in increasing dynamic range in the higher frequencies of a track than the lower frequencies below ~100-200 Hz. This means that the crest factor ratings of the tracks from the TT DR Meter may not change very much (due to the fact that crest factor is really measuring bass dynamic range, but not really higher frequency DR), but the tracks themselves will present a much more crisp and forward sound quality for dynamic transients--like ride cymbals, crash cymbals, bells/cowbells, glockenspiel, all handheld percussion instruments (particularly latin instruments), string attack transients, marimba/vibe strikes, drums, and human voice transients.
3) The "steeliness" of string orchestras used in lush pop string arrangements and mass string orchestral scores (classical) will largely be suppressed if using the multiband expander carefully. This was a big surprise.
4) Any human voices, particularly female voices, will begin to sound much more realistic and without typical harshness that comes with listening to recordings having compression applied during mastering. This was the biggest surprise of all in my explorations using the expander.
5) The albums that respond most strongly and easily to multiband expansion seem to include those that had analog compressors applied during mastering (e.g., early-late 1970s albums), which apparently used continuously varying nonlinear compression curves without a sharp knee breakpoint/thresholding applied during mastering.
6) The music genres that seem to respond most strongly are funk, rock, folk, jazz (including smooth jazz), progressive rock with lots of drums/percussion, dance, and related genres. Those genres that seem to respond with more difficulty include smoother music genres having lots of midrange energy (i.e., ambient, new age, classical string orchestras, classical guitar, etc.).
7) All tracks that have used multiband expansion need to be adjusted before and after expansion using parametric EQ demastering.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It's clear to me that the use of a multiband dynamic range expander is now standard equipment for my typical demastering tasks that I perform on most of my incoming discs.
I don't recommend trying to do expansion "on the fly" (without review and adjustment of expander settings track by track) unless extremely mild expander settings are used, which leads to barely audible subjective differences in the compressed tracks. Using an expander offline and taking a little time to get the setting right to get the best and most audible results is my strong suggestion in using these type of plugins. However, the task only has to be done once for the music tracks--then saved for future listening, instead of having to set up a custom string of plugins and parametric EQ settings each time a music track is played.
(My original text above was originally posted to another audio forum, albeit an unstable one, and has been moved to this forum to ensure its longevity.)
Chris
1) Dynamic expansion with a good multiband upwards expander (like Pro-MB) is possible if the dynamics of the music track haven't been completely crushed into oblivion. In DR Database terms, this means that if the music track has at least a 6-8 dB rating using the "TT Dynamic Range Meter" (the standalone version or as a plugin for foobar2000), you have a reasonable chance of a good listenable outcome using multiband expansion. The maximum DR ratings that can benefit from expansion seem to be around 13-14 (dB-crest factor) on the DR Database scale. Any tracks compressed to lower dynamic range values seem to be "lost causes". It's much more productive to go on a hunt for a higher dynamic range version of the recording rather than trying to use a multiband expander.
2) The plugin settings used to expand tracks are usually most successful in increasing dynamic range in the higher frequencies of a track than the lower frequencies below ~100-200 Hz. This means that the crest factor ratings of the tracks from the TT DR Meter may not change very much (due to the fact that crest factor is really measuring bass dynamic range, but not really higher frequency DR), but the tracks themselves will present a much more crisp and forward sound quality for dynamic transients--like ride cymbals, crash cymbals, bells/cowbells, glockenspiel, all handheld percussion instruments (particularly latin instruments), string attack transients, marimba/vibe strikes, drums, and human voice transients.
3) The "steeliness" of string orchestras used in lush pop string arrangements and mass string orchestral scores (classical) will largely be suppressed if using the multiband expander carefully. This was a big surprise.
4) Any human voices, particularly female voices, will begin to sound much more realistic and without typical harshness that comes with listening to recordings having compression applied during mastering. This was the biggest surprise of all in my explorations using the expander.
5) The albums that respond most strongly and easily to multiband expansion seem to include those that had analog compressors applied during mastering (e.g., early-late 1970s albums), which apparently used continuously varying nonlinear compression curves without a sharp knee breakpoint/thresholding applied during mastering.
6) The music genres that seem to respond most strongly are funk, rock, folk, jazz (including smooth jazz), progressive rock with lots of drums/percussion, dance, and related genres. Those genres that seem to respond with more difficulty include smoother music genres having lots of midrange energy (i.e., ambient, new age, classical string orchestras, classical guitar, etc.).
7) All tracks that have used multiband expansion need to be adjusted before and after expansion using parametric EQ demastering.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It's clear to me that the use of a multiband dynamic range expander is now standard equipment for my typical demastering tasks that I perform on most of my incoming discs.
I don't recommend trying to do expansion "on the fly" (without review and adjustment of expander settings track by track) unless extremely mild expander settings are used, which leads to barely audible subjective differences in the compressed tracks. Using an expander offline and taking a little time to get the setting right to get the best and most audible results is my strong suggestion in using these type of plugins. However, the task only has to be done once for the music tracks--then saved for future listening, instead of having to set up a custom string of plugins and parametric EQ settings each time a music track is played.
(My original text above was originally posted to another audio forum, albeit an unstable one, and has been moved to this forum to ensure its longevity.)
Chris
Here's a Fabfilter Pro-MB preset file to get you started (enclosed blow). I use Audacity to run this plugin (freeware) since I'm most familiar with it. However, since this is a VST plugin, you can use any audio processing tool that handles VST plugins.
https://www.fabfilter.com/download#download-pro-mb-multiband-compressor-plug-in
The first month of use is free, so you can download it and play with it without cost. I chose to buy the plugin after 30 days since I found the plugin to be quite useful. YMMV. Try it.
I first recommend something like Audacity's Clip Fix... and then Normalize... to correct any track clipping first, then re-EQing the source music file to correct any bass attenuation or perhaps high midrange (1-5 kHz) overemphasis, since expanders/compressors are sensitive to signal level and any clipping still present in the track.
Chris
https://www.fabfilter.com/download#download-pro-mb-multiband-compressor-plug-in
The first month of use is free, so you can download it and play with it without cost. I chose to buy the plugin after 30 days since I found the plugin to be quite useful. YMMV. Try it.
I first recommend something like Audacity's Clip Fix... and then Normalize... to correct any track clipping first, then re-EQing the source music file to correct any bass attenuation or perhaps high midrange (1-5 kHz) overemphasis, since expanders/compressors are sensitive to signal level and any clipping still present in the track.
Chris
I've been using the Pro-MB plugin since mid-June, and have a few albums that I've applied it to, such as:
If you own any of the above albums (physical disc or download...but not streaming services) and wish to hear what the plugin can do, send me a private message/conversation here and I can provide examples. Note that the above albums were chosen mainly for lower album dynamic range values and do not necessarily represent my typical listening preferences.
In addition, I own many more albums on physical disc, and can provide examples from that list by request. Some examples are attached below (not an exhaustive list).
Chris
| ‘Four’ & More: Recorded Live in Concert - Pro-MB [Miles Davis] |
| A Day Without Rain - Pro-MB [Enya] |
| Ambient Collection - Pro-MB [The Art Of Noise] |
| An Ancient Muse - Pro-MB [Loreena McKennitt] |
| A Valid Path - [Alan Parsons] |
| Bad Co - Pro-MB [Bad Company] |
| Beat Street - Pro-MB [Rick Braun] |
| Bellavia - Pro-MB [Chuck Mangione] |
| Birds of Fire - Pro-MB [Mahavishnu Orchestra] |
| Birth of the Cool - Pro-MB [Miles Davis] |
| Bitches Brew - Pro-MB [Miles Davis] |
| Blow by Blow - Pro-MB [Jeff Beck] |
| Boston - Pro-MB [Boston] |
| Breakfast On The Morning Tram - Pro-MB [Stacey Kent] |
| Can't Buy A Thrill - Pro-MB [Steely Dan] |
| Chaka - Pro-MB [Chaka Khan] |
| Confessions On A Dance Floor - Pro-MB [Madonna] |
| Countdown To Ecstasy - Pro-MB [Steely Dan] |
| Crosswinds - Pro-MB [Billy Cobham] |
| Deodato 2 - Pro-MB [Deodato] |
| Dreamflight - Pro-MB [Herb Ernst] |
| Elements - Pro-MB [Ira Stein / Russel Walder] |
| Everything Must Go - Pro-MB [Steely Dan] |
| Fresh Aire - Pro-MB [Mannheim Steamroller] |
| Fresh Aire 8 - Pro-MB [Mannheim Steamroller] |
| Fresh Aire II - Pro-MB [Mannheim Steamroller] |
| Getz / Gilberto - Pro-MB [Stan Getz And João Gilberto Featuring Antonio Carlos Jobim] |
| Global Drum Project - Pro-MB [Mickey Hart Band] |
| Gold & Platinum (disc 1) - Pro-MB [Lynyrd Skynyrd] |
| Good To Go-Go - Pro-MB [Spyro Gyra] |
| Greatest Hits! - Pro-MB [The Association] |
| Harold F - Pro-MB [Harold Faltermeyer] |
| Hot Rocks 1964-1971 (disc 2) - Pro-MB [Rolling Stones] |
| I Remember When - Pro-MB [Kellylee Evans] |
| It's That Girl Again - Pro-MB [Basia] |
| Katy Lied - Pro-MB [Steely Dan] |
| Kisses In The Rain - Pro-MB [Rick Braun] |
| Leftism - Pro-MB [Leftfield] |
| Live Evil - Pro-MB [Miles Davis] |
| Music Of The Spheres - Pro-MB [Mike Oldfield] |
| Mysterium Tremendum - Pro-MB [Mickey Hart Band] |
| On Air (DTS) - Pro-MB [Alan Parsons] |
| Paper Airplane - Pro-MB [Alison Krauss & Union Station] |
| Pretzel Logic - Pro-MB [Steely Dan] |
| Quadrophenia - Pro-MB [The Who] |
| Shakin' the Ground - [Ole Børud] |
| Silver Rain - Pro-MB [Marcus Miller] |
| Sonic Seasonings - Pro-MB [Wendy Carlos] |
| Spectrum - Pro-MB [Billy Cobham] |
| Tales Of Mystery And Imagination - [The Alan Parsons Project] |
| Tears Of Stone - Pro-MB [The Chieftains] |
| The Absolute Sound - Pro-MB [Hearts Of Space] |
| The Best Of - Pro-MB [Kathryn Tickell] |
| The Best Of Sade - Pro-MB [Sade] |
| The Essential John Denver - Pro-MB [John Denver] |
| The Fabulous Baker Boys [Dave Grusin] |
| The Lost Christmas Eve - Pro-MB [Trans‐Siberian Orchestra] |
| The Royal Scam-1985 - Pro-MB [Steely Dan] |
| The Very Best of the Tower of Power: The Warner Years - Pro-MB [Tower Of Power] |
| The Wind That Shakes The Barley - Pro-MB [Loreena McKennitt] |
| Tommy [Multi-Channel 96_24] - Pro-MB [The Who] |
| Try Anything Once - Pro-MB [Alan Parsons] |
| Valley In The Clouds - Pro-MB [David Arkenstone] |
If you own any of the above albums (physical disc or download...but not streaming services) and wish to hear what the plugin can do, send me a private message/conversation here and I can provide examples. Note that the above albums were chosen mainly for lower album dynamic range values and do not necessarily represent my typical listening preferences.
In addition, I own many more albums on physical disc, and can provide examples from that list by request. Some examples are attached below (not an exhaustive list).
Chris
Thank you Chris, very interesting topic.
It is a shame that otherwise superb music is sometimes compressed to death (Adele comes to my mind).
I had a similar thought if it is possible to "expand" the dynamics of the recoding again to make it more enjoyable.
To play with it once I bought for cheap an analog Behringer composer(?) on ebay but unfortunately it never arrived.
Do you have experience with simple analog (or digital nowadays) dynmics effect devices from Behringer, Alesis and the likes?
e.g:
https://www.behringer.com/product.html?modelCode=0817-ABD
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/behringer-mdx2200-composer-pro
It is a shame that otherwise superb music is sometimes compressed to death (Adele comes to my mind).
I had a similar thought if it is possible to "expand" the dynamics of the recoding again to make it more enjoyable.
To play with it once I bought for cheap an analog Behringer composer(?) on ebay but unfortunately it never arrived.
Do you have experience with simple analog (or digital nowadays) dynmics effect devices from Behringer, Alesis and the likes?
e.g:
https://www.behringer.com/product.html?modelCode=0817-ABD
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/behringer-mdx2200-composer-pro
Hi Joe.
The only experience I have with analog hardware expanders is the old dbx expanders of the 1970s. Just like all analog EQ devices, each of these type of units are susceptible to noise and other sound quality issues that digital-only plugins seem to be able to avoid.
Additionally, I've found that re-EQ of the resulting higher dynamic range music tracks is usually required in order to mitigate the effects of dynamic expansion. The de-esser function of these type of units is but one way to deal with the potentially resulting side effects of sibilance creation, something that is usually hidden by the use of compressors in the first place during mastering (and revealed once again in the recording by using upwards expansion). The original source of this sibilance seems to be from mistakes made during recording by vocalists that are singing too closely into a microphone, and/or failure to use effective vocal sibilance/blast shields during recording.
It's actually very straightforward to re-EQ the resulting sibilance occurrences using the DAW EQ software itself (such as Audacity freeware in my case), thus lending an added degree of control over each instance of sibilance "blast" to minimize the audible effects of sibilance removal. YMMV.
Additionally, there are other "low-Q" effects of dynamics enhancement that require careful listening and re-EQing to correct, I've found. All of these effects seem to be best handled by careful post-expansion processing EQ to bring the percussion instrumentation back into overall music track balance.
Trying do do all this with a single pass-through hardware based device (like you highlighted, above) I would find to be more like using a hammer than using a surgical instrument to correct. That's why I advocate upwards expansion via digital plugin, such as Pro-MB.
Having said that, there may be instances where something like a hardware-based expander may be used to subtly and partially reverse the effects of compressors used during any of the stage of the music production process--something that is quite mild and non-obvious.
Chris
The only experience I have with analog hardware expanders is the old dbx expanders of the 1970s. Just like all analog EQ devices, each of these type of units are susceptible to noise and other sound quality issues that digital-only plugins seem to be able to avoid.
Additionally, I've found that re-EQ of the resulting higher dynamic range music tracks is usually required in order to mitigate the effects of dynamic expansion. The de-esser function of these type of units is but one way to deal with the potentially resulting side effects of sibilance creation, something that is usually hidden by the use of compressors in the first place during mastering (and revealed once again in the recording by using upwards expansion). The original source of this sibilance seems to be from mistakes made during recording by vocalists that are singing too closely into a microphone, and/or failure to use effective vocal sibilance/blast shields during recording.
It's actually very straightforward to re-EQ the resulting sibilance occurrences using the DAW EQ software itself (such as Audacity freeware in my case), thus lending an added degree of control over each instance of sibilance "blast" to minimize the audible effects of sibilance removal. YMMV.
Additionally, there are other "low-Q" effects of dynamics enhancement that require careful listening and re-EQing to correct, I've found. All of these effects seem to be best handled by careful post-expansion processing EQ to bring the percussion instrumentation back into overall music track balance.
Trying do do all this with a single pass-through hardware based device (like you highlighted, above) I would find to be more like using a hammer than using a surgical instrument to correct. That's why I advocate upwards expansion via digital plugin, such as Pro-MB.
Having said that, there may be instances where something like a hardware-based expander may be used to subtly and partially reverse the effects of compressors used during any of the stage of the music production process--something that is quite mild and non-obvious.
Chris
Excellent topic, Chris. I’m surprised to hear you say that the list above was chosen for its low album dynamic range. I don’t own the majority of those, but I own some which were on my lists years ago for demo material. One immediately jumps out as highly dynamic. The Mannheim Steamroller fresh aire. With its prelude and Chocolate Fudge. The vinyl version of that was played many times at natural sound in Framingham, Mass, and by me at home to show off my early systems in the 70s and 80s.
I’ll send you privately a list of which albums I have so I can get a taste of what you’re talking about with this combination of de-mastering and dynamic range expansion, in software.
I’ll send you privately a list of which albums I have so I can get a taste of what you’re talking about with this combination of de-mastering and dynamic range expansion, in software.
Thanks for the comments. The first Fresh Aire album (recorded ~1975) as well as FA 8 have always sounded a bit muddled to my ears relative to the other Fresh Aire albums (2 through 7). I've always relegated the first album to a lower status among the first three albums. Using Pro-MB on that album's tracks did spruce them up to a level commensurate with FA 2, so I'm now listening to it much more.
Yesterday, I completed my initial demaster/upward expansion of an album from the Tedeschi Trucks Band (Revelator), which turned out nicely. This album was listed by a Jubilee dealer as an example of a hi-fi album to audition the differences between the 1st-Gen and 2nd-Gen Jubilee. I think that in this case, his self-described tinnitus is probably at work, since the album itself has low dynamic range relative to other hi-fi albums used to show off Jubilee performance. After expansion using Pro-MB, the album takes on a completely different character, much more "live" sounding instead of "canned".
Chris
Yesterday, I completed my initial demaster/upward expansion of an album from the Tedeschi Trucks Band (Revelator), which turned out nicely. This album was listed by a Jubilee dealer as an example of a hi-fi album to audition the differences between the 1st-Gen and 2nd-Gen Jubilee. I think that in this case, his self-described tinnitus is probably at work, since the album itself has low dynamic range relative to other hi-fi albums used to show off Jubilee performance. After expansion using Pro-MB, the album takes on a completely different character, much more "live" sounding instead of "canned".
Chris
Of the 75 or so discs that I've demastered and used dynamic expansion on, the following albums seem respond the strongest (in a positive way):
Of course, this list grows daily but just as a snapshot in time--the above albums represent a fairly wide spectrum of genres that seem to respond well to the techniques mentioned here. I've really only begun my journey using the Pro-MB plugin to repair tracks subjected to compression.
So my learning curve is still relatively steep using this plugin, even though I've been demastering music tracks for ~10 years now (and well over 25,000 tracks to date). My more general-purpose demastering learning curve using parametric EQ, modulation distortion reduction via infrasonic noise attenuation, and declipping techniques is now well within the "state of the art" of techniques that I use.
Note that recordings ripped from phonograph records suffer from the effects of ticks and pops, due to the impulsive-like characteristic of noise sources. I don't recommend trying dynamic range expansion techniques on ripped tracks from vinyl, etc.
Chris
| Alan Parsons | A Valid Path |
| Try Anything Once | |
| Alison Krauss & Union Station | Paper Airplane |
| Bad Company | Bad Co |
| Billy Cobham | Crosswinds |
| Spectrum | |
| David Arkenstone | Valley In The Clouds |
| Deodato | Deodato 2 |
| Harold Faltermeyer | Harold F |
| Hearts Of Space | The Absolute Sound |
| Jeff Beck | Blow by Blow |
| Loreena McKennitt | An Ancient Muse |
| The Wind That Shakes The Barley | |
| Mannheim Steamroller | Fresh Aire |
| Mickey Hart Band | Global Drum Project |
| Mike Oldfield | Music Of The Spheres |
| Miles Davis | ‘Four’ & More: Recorded Live in Concert |
| Ole Børud | Shakin' the Ground |
| Rick Braun | Beat Street |
| Kisses In The Rain | |
| Spyro Gyra | Good To Go-Go |
| Stacey Kent | Breakfast On The Morning Tram |
| Steely Dan | Can't Buy A Thrill |
| Countdown To Ecstasy | |
| Everything Must Go | |
| Katy Lied | |
| Pretzel Logic | |
| The Royal Scam | |
| Tedeschi Trucks Band | Revelator |
| The Alan Parsons Project | Tales Of Mystery And Imagination |
| The Art Of Noise | Ambient Collection |
| The Chieftains | Tears Of Stone |
| The Eagles | The Long Run |
| The Who | Quadrophenia |
| Tommy [Multi-Channel 96_24] | |
| Tool | Fear Inoculum |
| Tower Of Power | The Very Best of the Tower of Power: The Warner Years |
| Trans‐Siberian Orchestra | The Lost Christmas Eve |
| Wendy Carlos | Sonic Seasonings |
Of course, this list grows daily but just as a snapshot in time--the above albums represent a fairly wide spectrum of genres that seem to respond well to the techniques mentioned here. I've really only begun my journey using the Pro-MB plugin to repair tracks subjected to compression.
So my learning curve is still relatively steep using this plugin, even though I've been demastering music tracks for ~10 years now (and well over 25,000 tracks to date). My more general-purpose demastering learning curve using parametric EQ, modulation distortion reduction via infrasonic noise attenuation, and declipping techniques is now well within the "state of the art" of techniques that I use.
Note that recordings ripped from phonograph records suffer from the effects of ticks and pops, due to the impulsive-like characteristic of noise sources. I don't recommend trying dynamic range expansion techniques on ripped tracks from vinyl, etc.
Chris
Note that the Pro-MB plugin also has vocal de-essing settings (under settings--vocals) to handle any issues that are created via upwards expansion in re-revealing vocal sibilances. The FabFilter Pro de-esser plugin is not needed.
I now have a bit of a library for expander settings for albums that I've worked on. If you are interested in this plugin for upwards expansion (recovering dynamic range from moderate or lightly compressed tracks)--send a message (PM).
Chris
I now have a bit of a library for expander settings for albums that I've worked on. If you are interested in this plugin for upwards expansion (recovering dynamic range from moderate or lightly compressed tracks)--send a message (PM).
Chris
The rationale used in selecting my assortment of albums for Pro-MB upwards expansion is the foobar2000 component foo_dynamic_range, which is a direct clone of the TT DR Offline meter application. This app calculates average-to-peak amplitude (a.k.a., "crest factor") ratings of each music track, and also the average across the album.
My entire 2000-album+ collection ripped to FLAC format has been analyzed using the "foo_dynamic_range" component of foobar2000. I've customized my foobar2000 screen to show and enable sorting of selected albums by dynamic range ratings (ascending or descending). Now the sorting of all of my albums or individual music tracks for dynamic range is as easy as performing one click on the foobar2000 display:
For the above albums chosen, above as well as others not yet shown in this thread, I generally looked for albums where the calculated album dynamic range was 11 (dB) or lower. This yielded about 70 albums thus far that have always sounded "loud" or otherwise undifferentiated in dynamic range. Some albums are too badly damaged (compressed) to effectively rejuvenate via upwards expansion, but the vast majority of albums that I have in my FLAC collection respond well to expansion.
Additionally, I have chosen a few albums having higher DR ratings than 11 dB for Pro-MB upwards expansion, and have found that many of these albums, up to perhaps a DR rating of 14 dB have also been successes in increasing the dynamic range of the individual tracks.
Chris
My entire 2000-album+ collection ripped to FLAC format has been analyzed using the "foo_dynamic_range" component of foobar2000. I've customized my foobar2000 screen to show and enable sorting of selected albums by dynamic range ratings (ascending or descending). Now the sorting of all of my albums or individual music tracks for dynamic range is as easy as performing one click on the foobar2000 display:
For the above albums chosen, above as well as others not yet shown in this thread, I generally looked for albums where the calculated album dynamic range was 11 (dB) or lower. This yielded about 70 albums thus far that have always sounded "loud" or otherwise undifferentiated in dynamic range. Some albums are too badly damaged (compressed) to effectively rejuvenate via upwards expansion, but the vast majority of albums that I have in my FLAC collection respond well to expansion.
Additionally, I have chosen a few albums having higher DR ratings than 11 dB for Pro-MB upwards expansion, and have found that many of these albums, up to perhaps a DR rating of 14 dB have also been successes in increasing the dynamic range of the individual tracks.
Chris
I thought I would post a short tutorial on how to use the Fabfilter Pro-MB plugin used within Audacity to upwards expand a music track. Note that the first 30 days of use of this plugin is free, so anyone can download both Audacity and Pro-MB VST plugin.
After installing both Audacity for your particular operating system, you can also install the Pro-MB plugin using the instructions found here: https://support.audacityteam.org/basics/customizing-audacity/installing-plugins
Once that's done and you launch the Audacity application, you can point to a music track on your local disc drive to edit. In this case, I chose Fast Car by Tracy Chapman (a favorite music track advocated by Sean Olive in his room correction software comparison article). The following screen is then available after expanding the working window to fill both the horizontal and vertical space of the working window:
In the left column of the working window you will find a button now called "effects". If you press this button, you can point to the Pro-MB plugin under the VST plugin subdirectory and then see the Pro-MB plugin is now available:
If you press that Fabfilter Pro-MB button you will now see a Pro-MB working window that pops up:
From this working window, you can import, export, set the plugin parameters (Pro-MB is a multiband compressor/expander). In the window, you can recall save preset files, like the following:
I've attached a preset.zip file below to get the user started. Once you extract this file and import it using Pro-MB, it will look something like this:
From this screen, you can launch the playing of the track, and adjust the Pro-MB settings while watching the dynamic response vs. frequency in real time, and make adjustments while listening to the results as the track plays:
Once you get the settings adjusted to your liking, you can save the current settings under the "Presets & settings" button, then close the real time Fabfilter Pro-MB window. Then go to "effects" on the Audacity window to select Fabfilter Pro-MB to run in batch mode:
...and import the preset that you just saved. Then click "apply" at the bottom of the Fabfilter Pro-MB window to apply the Pro-MB settings for the entire track:
The time-based trace in Audacity will change to reflect the Pro-MB changes. Now you can save the updated music track (preferably to a new name) to hard drive to listen to later.
Chris
After installing both Audacity for your particular operating system, you can also install the Pro-MB plugin using the instructions found here: https://support.audacityteam.org/basics/customizing-audacity/installing-plugins
Once that's done and you launch the Audacity application, you can point to a music track on your local disc drive to edit. In this case, I chose Fast Car by Tracy Chapman (a favorite music track advocated by Sean Olive in his room correction software comparison article). The following screen is then available after expanding the working window to fill both the horizontal and vertical space of the working window:
In the left column of the working window you will find a button now called "effects". If you press this button, you can point to the Pro-MB plugin under the VST plugin subdirectory and then see the Pro-MB plugin is now available:
If you press that Fabfilter Pro-MB button you will now see a Pro-MB working window that pops up:
From this working window, you can import, export, set the plugin parameters (Pro-MB is a multiband compressor/expander). In the window, you can recall save preset files, like the following:
I've attached a preset.zip file below to get the user started. Once you extract this file and import it using Pro-MB, it will look something like this:
From this screen, you can launch the playing of the track, and adjust the Pro-MB settings while watching the dynamic response vs. frequency in real time, and make adjustments while listening to the results as the track plays:
Once you get the settings adjusted to your liking, you can save the current settings under the "Presets & settings" button, then close the real time Fabfilter Pro-MB window. Then go to "effects" on the Audacity window to select Fabfilter Pro-MB to run in batch mode:
...and import the preset that you just saved. Then click "apply" at the bottom of the Fabfilter Pro-MB window to apply the Pro-MB settings for the entire track:
The time-based trace in Audacity will change to reflect the Pro-MB changes. Now you can save the updated music track (preferably to a new name) to hard drive to listen to later.
Chris
Just a short note to mention that I have added Fabfilter Pro-Q3 (their 3rd generation VST dynamic equalization plugin) to also expand the dynamic range of moderately quashed music tracks in order to regain most of the music dynamics lost during commercial mastering. I will be reporting my findings here in the same format as the Pro-MB plugin (their multiband expander/compressor VST plugin).
One comment that can be made presently: the user interface (UI) of this plugin is one of the most intuitive and dense (in terms of the number of dimensions viewed and controlled) as any application that I've seen. It is a pleasure to use.
Chris
One comment that can be made presently: the user interface (UI) of this plugin is one of the most intuitive and dense (in terms of the number of dimensions viewed and controlled) as any application that I've seen. It is a pleasure to use.
Chris
Note that Fabfilter Pro-Q4 has just now been released, and has a 30-day free trial period with no obligation. It has a new multiple-instance interface, a new spectral peak attenuation capability, and a freehand graphical EQ curve drawing mode.
As with Pro-Q3 and other VST plugins, this can be used in freeware editing tools like Audacity, and also with freeware players like foobar2000 in real-time mode, thus depreciating the need for editing and saving the music tracks beforehand. The user interface of this tool is outstanding.
Chris
As with Pro-Q3 and other VST plugins, this can be used in freeware editing tools like Audacity, and also with freeware players like foobar2000 in real-time mode, thus depreciating the need for editing and saving the music tracks beforehand. The user interface of this tool is outstanding.
Chris
Just noticed this. As always: interesting and evolutionary. No doubt you keep yourself very busy.
I have yet to get around to trying the re-mastering regime. And now this.
Maybe this will be the time I give these techniques a try. No doubt there is no other way to get what you are getting with this - I trust you ears. I know you have no use for sound effects. The most important audio tweaks are those that cannot be achieved any other means.
LPs have been my main source the last few weeks. LP and computer files all go through all of the same digital manipulation and yet there is something LP playback does that is hard to define but you know it when you hear it. Why should the LP have so much more life in the mid-bass and lower? Makes no sense. BUT THEN maybe that is where your prescription can minimize the difference? I know you were restoring lost bass with the remastering. But it is not the level - it is the delivery and maybe expansion is the key.
I have yet to get around to trying the re-mastering regime. And now this.
Maybe this will be the time I give these techniques a try. No doubt there is no other way to get what you are getting with this - I trust you ears. I know you have no use for sound effects. The most important audio tweaks are those that cannot be achieved any other means.
LPs have been my main source the last few weeks. LP and computer files all go through all of the same digital manipulation and yet there is something LP playback does that is hard to define but you know it when you hear it. Why should the LP have so much more life in the mid-bass and lower? Makes no sense. BUT THEN maybe that is where your prescription can minimize the difference? I know you were restoring lost bass with the remastering. But it is not the level - it is the delivery and maybe expansion is the key.
LP cannot withstand the same amount of compression than a digital file: it comes from the fact the cutter head need some cooling otherwise it breaks ( and it's linked to RMS level).
The gear used is almost the same between vinyl and digital it's not false, but thinking they see the same level of compression applied is wrong.
There is far less compression used in vinyl version. If there is no difference ( a digital master have been used to cut a vinyl) then overall level on vinyl have been lowered wrt what would have been possible to do with a dedicated mastering.
More life in mid bass and lower come from the fact vinyl needs an elliptical filter to be applied as you cannot cut out of phase signal in the frequency range youbtalk about, so mid bass/bass are monoed from 300hz to 80 hz depending on track.
If expansion was a magic bullet then it would be used everywhere. It's not.
And if you listen to things produced past 1990's this is a lost cause as you will never have the possibility to undone what have been done through multiband dynamic processing. In fact you can't recover a dynamic treatment, once it's applied original dynamic is lost ( transients have been modified).
The gear used is almost the same between vinyl and digital it's not false, but thinking they see the same level of compression applied is wrong.
There is far less compression used in vinyl version. If there is no difference ( a digital master have been used to cut a vinyl) then overall level on vinyl have been lowered wrt what would have been possible to do with a dedicated mastering.
More life in mid bass and lower come from the fact vinyl needs an elliptical filter to be applied as you cannot cut out of phase signal in the frequency range youbtalk about, so mid bass/bass are monoed from 300hz to 80 hz depending on track.
If expansion was a magic bullet then it would be used everywhere. It's not.
And if you listen to things produced past 1990's this is a lost cause as you will never have the possibility to undone what have been done through multiband dynamic processing. In fact you can't recover a dynamic treatment, once it's applied original dynamic is lost ( transients have been modified).
You misunderstand - I have no intention of altering the LP, I play LPs from a turntable - I was speculating that using this with digital recordings could give THEM some of the life I miss with LP. Again, whether LP or digital files - all of it goes through my digital chain which is how I control my loudspeakers which are a respectful version of Cask05's Klipsch based MEH. Digital manipulation is required to get the best out of the loudspeakers so LPs are sent to an ADC after the phono stage and from there to the rest.
I find it interesting that since the LP is going through the same stuff as the computer files that what LPs can do is plainly obvious and this idea could make those digital files have more of what I miss with the LP.
There is no magic in the audio world - just clever compromise.
Another thought - I agree with Cask05 (as I do on most things) that this should be done offline. The fixed file becomes the file. No processing during playback other than that required to play the digital file.
I find it interesting that since the LP is going through the same stuff as the computer files that what LPs can do is plainly obvious and this idea could make those digital files have more of what I miss with the LP.
There is no magic in the audio world - just clever compromise.
Another thought - I agree with Cask05 (as I do on most things) that this should be done offline. The fixed file becomes the file. No processing during playback other than that required to play the digital file.
This is probably what many people are hearing, depending specific on the musical artist and album. Mastering phonograph records always go through another series of steps to ensure that the resulting record master is not only free of blemishes (like krivium is saying), but also that a real phonograph cartridge and tone arm can track all the way through that side of the record. The reason for the "RIAA curve" is purely mechanical in nature: significantly decrease the low frequency content (20 dB max) and significantly increase the highs (20 dB max) due to the natural low-level of highs vs. lows:
RIAA curve
The first music tracks that I demastered had a PSD (power spectral density) curve that looked like this within Audacity:
So the highs can be boosted significantly before approaching the amplitude that's anything like the lows. This is the natural "1/f" curve (with mastering EQ, above) that one finds in music.
This is unfortunately also true and something that doesn't increase the listenability of the resulting music track, in my experience.
Floyd Toole once tried to have a test record produced and found that the distortion and noise were so great that, no matter how he tried to create such a test record for the lab, couldn't come anywhere close to what he put into the input to have the record cut to. He apparently gave up on the test record idea.
My experience testing so-called test records using an old Empire 398 with modern cartridge (Stanton 681 EEE MK. III) showed me the exact same bottom line: the distortion (harmonic and modulation) and noise are terrible. But somehow we seem to enjoy what we hear.
The full story is even more complicated and something that I won't try to produce a "Reader's Digest" version here. I think the bottom line is that a lot of people want more dynamic range, so they chose the only recording medium that simply cannot be pushed as far as other formats in terms of compression and loudness by the (largely) mastering people. You can only push vinyl so far and get what you can get, and that turns out to be a lot less compression than is used on digital media (again, as krivium stated).
However, I find that trade-off (vinyl) isn't nearly as palatable as taking an old CD from before 1991 (...if the original recording is that old...) and demaster it to remove the comparatively simple mastering EQ used to try to make it sound louder (mostly bass attenuation) and soft-knee compression devices inline used back then instead of more invasive and permanent software plugins used today, All vinyl records sound very "opaque" and flat to me. I find that this is mostly due to the extremely high levels of modulation distortion introduced by both the phonograph cutter head (nowadays this is increasingly a digital stepper head instead of analog) and phonograph cartridge playback.
But these VSI plugins (upwards expanders and dynamic EQ) that I've discussed above can quickly and effectively (at least partially) reverse these mastering limiting and compression effects. Note that these techniques cannot do much about mixing "stems" and other mix-time manipulations/compression/EQ of incoming music components used quite often in multi-tracked production, i.e., recording one track at a time and layering the individual tracks together on a DAW. These pre-mixdown track processes are locked in. But mastering EQ and some significant amounts of compression and "limiting" (i.e., clipping) can largely be reversed to eliminate their audible effects.
With modern mastering tools now available to mastering people, many of the effects that I discuss (undoing compression, limiting, and mastering EQ applied after the mixdown tracks are supplied to the mastering people) become much less effective because of the exact digital manipulations the source music has been put through, which differ from older mastering manipulations used beforehand.
So there is a sweet spot in the demastering in terms of original CD vintage that respond well to these techniques. Since the music of my youth and young adult years centers on recordings originally captured before 1991 (the year when digital multichannel compressors hit the mastering world), I find these techniques to be extremely effective.
However, if your music is centered well after this time period--especially the last 10 years or so--there is little that can be done except searching for versions of the recordings that still retain the highest dynamic range (determined via DR Database plugin, and NOT EBU R128 LUFS--which is measuring loudness, and not dynamic range). Most of the time, this is vinyl. Note, however, this is music that I largely do not consume myself (i.e., popular genres of music recorded and produced within the last 10 years with "typical mastering practices" burned-in). There are still high dynamic range recordings being made, but practically none of it is in the more popular music genres--perhaps 1% or less (far less).
Chris
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I find that the level of upwards expansion or dynamic EQ used is sensitive to your exact playback level, i.e., equal loudness contours used to develop "Phons" equal loudness curves. e.g.,
This is the same phenomenon that leads to "loudness" buttons on preamps, etc. Mastering practices tend to blur these effects on produced tracks (as much as possible), but the effects of human hearing system loudness contours are still there. So if you play a music track relatively quietly (below 75-80 dBA at the listener's position), you will want to crank in more bass and treble, as shown in the above curves. If you play your music tracks at or near nearfield performance levels, you will select less bass and treble boost.
With the Fabfilter Pro-Q4 plugin, you can adjust these levels in real time while also watching the dynamic SPL as a function of frequency, as shown in the following video (a first attempt at YouTube video creation using OBS 30.2.3 for screen capture):
Chris
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It's quite a labor of love you're doing, given that an adequate generic setting for multiband expansion is not possible. I've heard what multiband expansion can do and I, for one, like it. But I'm just not fan enough to go through the whole collection, track by track and make them mine, so to speak.
I've read NVIDIA has been creating AI based products for audio and it would seem - to me at least - that this would be a good application of AI - to follow your recipe until it knows what's going to be needed from the multiband expander function after a quick analysis of a given track.
Then I'm imagining doing a "ctrl-A" on your entire collection and pressing the "convert" button. Then, assuming sufficient disk space has been provided for all the dynamically enhanced copies, maybe waiting a week after giving the PC / video card combo "something to do".
An interesting point might be, when I sing / play with songs on my acoustic guitar, I like compression. Gobs of compression. Compression to the point where the compressors attack and release times start influencing my phrasing. So if compression dynamics is part of an artists real-time delivery, versus something tacked on at the end to get to boom box audible above the ventilation fans...
I dont know if real artists actually ever do that; seems more like the DAW records the raw track, then EQ / effects are applied.
I've read NVIDIA has been creating AI based products for audio and it would seem - to me at least - that this would be a good application of AI - to follow your recipe until it knows what's going to be needed from the multiband expander function after a quick analysis of a given track.
Then I'm imagining doing a "ctrl-A" on your entire collection and pressing the "convert" button. Then, assuming sufficient disk space has been provided for all the dynamically enhanced copies, maybe waiting a week after giving the PC / video card combo "something to do".
An interesting point might be, when I sing / play with songs on my acoustic guitar, I like compression. Gobs of compression. Compression to the point where the compressors attack and release times start influencing my phrasing. So if compression dynamics is part of an artists real-time delivery, versus something tacked on at the end to get to boom box audible above the ventilation fans...
I dont know if real artists actually ever do that; seems more like the DAW records the raw track, then EQ / effects are applied.