Audio Energizer = Loudness Maximizer??

hi ray, yes i've used it for that purpose. the only thing i don't like is that it maximises the file even if you don't want it to. it's process seems to bring up the low level signals and this could add noise. you've got to experiment with the settings a bit.

i swear by this little gem. i put default settings audio energizer on all of my mixes. it's a subtle thing but it just gives it a little bit of gloss and punch, it brings up detail (and yes noise too if you are worried about that).

its great for soft cues too as it can just lift out the little details. its very colourless (ie it adds no colour) and it preserves the sense of dynamics even as it 'flattens' the dynamic range a little.

as mastering tool i think it is probably much overlooked.

bear in mind i do orchestral underscore etc, not pop or rock so much, but it would be perfect for that as well. its just that because it is free and old and relatively unexciting no one rates it or even tries it. but it doesn't stop it actually from being killer.

thanks ray, about 6yrs ago i transferred a lot of my old mixes from various analog formats into sound designer II files in PT. the levels were everywhere!
i tried things like maxim, L1 and L2, even PSP VW. all did a good job but most of the time it was just too much. so i tried the audio energizer in logic. more successful for me. some of those energized versions made it onto "HOT" - an album i released 2 years ago (on cdbaby). one number - a guitar feature - and using said AE, is still being downloaded from our beloved itunes currently.

AE is just a different tool.
many other times i'll use PSP VW, L2, Hydratone, aireq(eliosound), sonalksis or none at all on the master bus.

lately, i've been omitting these, and compressing the separate tracks in a song.
takes some disipline! generally, this way produces airier mixes and still keeps most of the dynamics and tone in there as well.

Where is the Audio Energizer? (it's not mentioned in the plugin ref.) Is that the former name of the Exciter plug?

i am occassionally accused of making very 'dynamic' mixes for stuff for TV. i do lots of detailed slams and surges and sometimes these come out simply too loud in relation to the rest of the mix. the danger there is that a dubbing mixer will just set the 'right' level for the loud bits and just forget about the soft bits. also, as the mixes get softer detail is lost. by working in a natural musical manner i get 2 reall important advantages out of using AE. 1) it flattens the dynamic range which is desirable in my case. 2) it lifts out detail that can lost in other things.

i don't use much, usually just the default settings but it has the effect of exaggerating the waveforms slightly bringing a crispness and gloss - that little extra sweetening.

It's accessible in the sample editor. It is a file based process.

J

Ah... Thanks.


So you guys bounce your mix, then run the AE over the resulting file, prior to mastering?

You're Welcome mino,

Once you learn it, you can use it effectively as the last process to the bounce ( well, dither and convert to 16 ). I used to use it quite a bit in the Logic 4 days, but don't use it very much anymore. I have more at my disposal now. It has a unique sound to it, sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.

Best,

J

what do you want to do?

suck any life out of your audio?

the less of any of these things you use the better.

in fact, why in god's name do you want to make your mixes "louder"?

why?

haven't you people ever heard of a "volume control"?

please, spare me this garbage!!!

You know, the knob on your stereo. If people just turned their stereos up or if manufacturers included a "compress" button on their players, cds wouldn't have to be overcompressed (thereby retaining their dynamic range and sonic quality). Or if people demanded cds that sounded better, but that won't happen.