The PNW Section joined with the Colorado Section for a presentation by Duane Wise on Dynamic Parametric Equalization. Some 44 persons showed up, 35 being AES members, for this Zoom-only meeting. This presentation addressed the direct integration of a parametric filter into a classic dynamics processor, the tradeoffs between parametric and graphic cores in dynamics, and the applicability of dynamic parametric EQ in mixing and mastering for both music and sound for film.

The demonstrated software plug-ins are multi-band parametric EQ/dynamics processors (4-band “Quartet” and 3-band “Trio”), uniquely with EQ that can be controlled by dynamics, and with extensive flexibility and control capabilities. Currently it is only available in Mac AU and Mac Protools AAX formats.

Duane and Anthony played an example of some stems Anthony had worked on for a TV production, with and without dynamic parametric EQ. A detailed explanation was given of how and why EQ adjustments were made. Further details were given in answer to questions, and some templates of settings were offered. Thor offered more thoughts about how unique and powerful this has been for him. Despite the limitations of Zoom “original sound” audio, most felt the demos were useful.

Duane spoke about how this way of working takes some getting used to, then went to his slide show explaining the background of doing parametric EQ with dynamic control. While parametric EQ was widely adopted in the studio, it was never popular in the home reproduction market. He described how this works and technical, acoustic and psychoacoustic reasons why dynamic control of EQ can be so effective.

Thor then showed a film project soundtrack done in DaVinci Resolve/Fairlight, and how and why he used dynamic parametric EQ, especially to help the dialog. Several clips from the film, “Humanity Stoked” were played with video and compared. Next, Thor showed an audio mastering project where he used dynamic PEQ. He likened it to a Swiss Army knife, able to do many things he needs. He played portions, with before and after comparisons, describing what he had done and the other plug-ins he had used.

In response to a question, Duane described how the processing worked, and there was some discussion of CPU usage. His AES paper on the topic was presented at the 123rd convention Oct 2007 and revised for publication in the JAES Jan/Feb 2009 (Vol 57, No 1/2), “Concept, Design, and Implementation of a General Dynamic Parametric Equalizer”.

Duane then showed a demo of working on a guitar recording by searching out what spectral portion could use dynamic EQ and how to apply it. He also went over some of Anthony’s “choir” stems from his TV soundtrack

More questions revealed drag & drop control and hardware control options. There is also a Toolchest feature with ready-to-start settings and you can store your own. It even has settings to emulate some professional tape NR systems, and Red Book deemphasis and RIAA decoding.

Thor noted that many similar processors may call themselves dynamic EQ or the like, but so far none really do what this does. Anthony and Duane had some final tips to wrap up (Thor had already left for another commitment) as the 4+ hour session came to a close.