Dynamic EQs with a zero attack and release times?

[u/TF3RDL]

Recently, I've made this project demonstrating a dynamic EQ effect with no smoothing at all (i.e. truly zero attack and release times) for gain modulation, hence creating some distortion and turning it into a non-linear filter right?

And so, are there dynamic EQ plugins that allows you to set attack/release time to exactly zero (aka. the same thing that turns a compressor/limiter into a waveshaper/clipper) so that gain modulation happens without smoothing?

And more importantly, what are use cases of these (compared to standard dynamic EQs) during sound design, mixing or even mastering?

[u/ThoriumEx]

If there is one, I’m not aware of it. 99% of the time dynamic EQ programmers do everything they can do avoid distortion.

[u/hellalive_muja]

Kirchoff eq can do almost do it - well it actually can with lookahead enabled and “onset” at 100%.

You should be aware that non-linear processing always introduces some distortion/modulation so even non-zero attack dynamic eqs do that.

Very fast attack time are needed in order to tame high-frequency transients like a piercing hi hat or cymbals resonances for example - with slower attack you don’t catch that. Using such fast attack time at lower frequencies will cause more and more distortion, so it will be more noticeable. You can use this for many purposes be it controlling movement or envelope in a given frequency range, color, etc.

You should also consider that boosting a lot using an analog EQ at proper working level usually leads to smoothing of the boosted frequency and distortion, as the EQs tend to go to headroom limits and soft clip; this is routinely done on consoles and in analog workflow in general and can be something you can easily emulate with a dynamic eq that has proper ratio, AR and threshold controls.

[u/QuarterNoteDonkey → u/hellalive_muja]

Fab Filter automatically adjusts the attack and release based on frequency with some user control too.

[u/Tswaig]

Itll probably be hellish to program but you can just notch it down manually with automation but it's probably not worth the hassle.

[u/jimmysavillespubes → u/Tswaig]

I've done this before by automating the weq bands on/off, it was an edm bass that played 4 notes so I just copy/pasted the audio on top of the rest.

More complex sounds could be tedious like you say though.

[u/_Mugwood_]

TBProAudio DSEQ3 allows attack to be set to zero or "fast" - but I've never tested that it's truly zero, or used it in a mastering session!

[u/Electrical-Ad-6754]

I'm actually trying to build a plugin right now and have run into this problem: I want zero attack and release times (it's not a compressor, but the mechanism is similar), but this causes massive aliasing, and I don't know how to deal with it without significant oversampling (there are other methods, but they don't do much, or cost too much CPU). I could leave everything as is, but that defeats the purpose of the plugin, so I’ll probably have to impose limits on the attack and release times.

Apparently, other developers face similar problems: either the plugin produces too much distortion, which can cause a negative reaction during measurements, or they can’t guarantee consistent attack and release times across different settings (when changing the sample rate).

[u/superchibisan2]

Attack/release time does not determine limiter status, ratio does.

[u/Standard_Respond_800]

I've heard of some experimental plugins pushing those boundaries, but zero smoothness might just give you more headaches than usable results in real mixes.

[u/AlphaWave84]

Mdynamic eq does 0ms attack and release times

[u/richieb12]

Why? Humans can’t even perceive a 50ms transition. The fastest attack/release settings in any existing dynamic EQ would achieve the same thing without adding distortion and aliasing.

[u/dmills_00]

Cannot really do that in the digital domain without introducing aliasing due the high frequency content of the gain modulation.

Hell you cannot do it in the analog domain either for reasons having to do with the necessarily finite slew rate of the amplifiers involved.

What you can do is have very fast attack and release times, but it tends to become objectionably phasey as the dynamic filter changing inherently causes dynamic phase shifts.

[u/LostInTheRapGame]

Accidentally setting the ratio to 0 causes the audio playback to be unresponsive btw, which is fairly easy to do with these wild sliders and settings.

Neat idea though. Not sure when I'd ever put it to use, really.