Expander in mastering

[Hal]

Hello,
which expander do you use in mastering when you need to clean some tracks?

Thank you!!

[lowland]

In music mastering I don't think I've ever used an expander for noise reduction, if that's what you're asking.

A denoiser such as Cedar (which I have here, although there are cheaper alternatives) would be my weapon of choice, or perhaps some judicous micro-editing on a short passage to pull down the noise floor between musical events if that would help. I'll often leave noise alone if it sits OK and becomes part of the 'glue' that holds the music together - I'm definitely not averse to a bit of analogue tape hiss, for example.

[streaky]

yep same here, I have an expander on my Neumann U473SP compressors but i've never consciously used it to clean up tracks - I normally go for EQ or if absolutely necessary no-noise. I've also often found mixes that have had expander plugins used on them can sound artificial and nasty...

[Nordenstam]

Originally Posted by Hal

which expander do you use in mastering when you need to clean some tracks?

There's two different ways to expand. It may be downwards expansion, where the dynamic range is expanded below the threshold. As in a noise gate sort of circuit. The other way is to expand above the threshold, which is the same as regular (downwards) compression with a ratio of less than one to one. This will make the tops peaky.

Which one do you refer to?

I now use Izotope RX to clean tracks. Never used a downwards expander in mastering. Using the compressor in the DBX Quantum for upwards expansion sometimes. May be useful, especially in multiband mode, where it can act as a dynamic equalizer.


Andreas N

[lowland]

Originally Posted by Lupo

Using the compressor in the DBX Quantum for upwards expansion sometimes. May be useful, especially in multiband mode, where it can act as a dynamic equalizer.

Agreed wholeheartedly, Andreas: having originally seen this in a Dave McNair post elsewhere I sometimes use upward expansion @ 0.75:1 in Band 1 to lift the lows. Haven't tried the trick higher up yet, but also haven't so far felt the need. I've said it before but the Quantum must be one of the most underrated pieces of digital mastering hardware - my experience is that it's at its best if you don't try and do too much at once. There's likely a TC6000 coming along later this year, but I think I'll still hang on to the Quantum.

I suspect the OP was probably referring to downward expansion as he wants to 'clean some tracks'.

[Hal]

Hello,
thank you for the replies.
Yes, I mean something to clean some analog noise/hiss. Sometimes it could be too much!
I use Finalizer and I like its expander but I'd like to avoid to pass through its input and output after my chain: console>analog comp/eq>ADconverter>limiter.

[MASSIVE Master]

I'm not one to use maul-the-band compressors much, but after I got the UAD MBC (yes, it requires the card) I played around with it on some rather noisy (room noise, mechanical noise) classical recordings as a frequency-conscious soft (parallel) gate. And now, that's pretty much exactly what I use it for. Great for hiss, "room rumble" and other "naturally occurring" steady noise.

Using it as a parallel (controllable from the plug), you can "mix" how much of the signal you want to cut. As the frequency bands pass the threshold, the reduction - er, reduces - and allows the full signal to pass. Mixed, you can have reasonably drastic (12dB?) cuts going on and then just tip it back a bit to allow *some* of that to come through (I'd rather have the operation more transparent and still have "some" of the noise than deal with it obviously going in and out all the time).

[Hal]

You are talking about the Precision Mastering Comp included in the mastering bundle, right?

Another question. Isn't there any mode to use only the expander of Finalizer without passing through its input/output?

[MASSIVE Master]

Originally Posted by Hal

You are talking about the Precision Mastering Comp included in the mastering bundle, right?

Nope - The Precision Maul-The-Band -- I mean "Multi-Band" compressor.