DYNAMIC GRADING

Compression is one of the most powerful tools in a mix engineer’s kit. It can control dynamics, add weight, and bring consistency to a performance. But if it’s not used with intent, it can just as easily do the opposite of what you want. Instead of adding clarity and punch, compression can reduce energy, smear transients, and leave a mix sounding smaller than it should. We’ve all been there. You tweak the ratio, bring the threshold down, push up the make-up gain, and at first, it sounds “better” because it’s louder. But after a while, the mix starts to feel flat and less alive. That’s the challenge with compression. It’s not about avoiding it altogether; it’s about knowing when, where, and how to use it to enhance rather than restrict the performance. Here’s where things often go wrong, why it happens, and how we’ve designed Dynamic Grading to give you a more controlled, musical alternative. Over-Compressing Individual Tracks When compression is applied heavily to a single track, the performance can lose its natural movement. The subtle variations that make a vocal expressive or a snare hit feel human can get ironed out, leaving something that sounds more controlled but less alive. It’s not just about dynamics either. Strong compression can change tone in subtle ways, pulling down peaks and shifting the balance of frequencies without you realising it. Over time, instruments can sound more boxy or constrained, as if they’re fighting for space instead of sitting comfortably in it. The key is being intentional. Not every vocal, guitar, or drum hit needs the same treatment. Preserving contrast between tracks is what keeps a mix exciting and dynamic. Losing the Groove Punch isn’t just volume. It comes from the relationship between the transient and the sustain — the space between sounds that gives a track life and movement. A compressor with too fast an attack can clamp down on those transients so aggressively that the groove loses its edge. Kicks lose weight, snares sound less urgent, and the track stops moving the way it did before. It’s easy to miss this happening in the moment. You add compression to make parts sit better in the mix, but later the track feels less energetic without knowing why. The best way to check is simple: bypass the compressor and listen again. If the groove feels better without it, the compression might not be serving the song. Compression on the Mix Bus Compression on the mix bus can enhance glue and cohesion when used with care, but it’s also where small settings can have a big impact. Because the compressor reacts to everything passing through it, a snare hit or vocal peak can trigger gain reduction that pulls other instruments down unnecessarily. You might get more punch from the kick, but suddenly the overheads start pumping. Or a vocal sits nicely in one section, but the low end loses weight in another. When multiple elements are driving the compressor at once, balances you’ve carefully

We’re excited to share that the renowned audio production website, Production Expert, recently took an in-depth look at Dynamic Grading 2 – from the perspective of audio post-production. Their article explores how our unique dynamics processor fares when used on different types of dialogue, highlighting how Dynamic Grading’s unique three-band approach – Floor, Body, and Punch – offers precise control over different parts of the dynamic spectrum. They particularly valued the live histograms, which provide instant visual feedback on dynamic range and help guide creative decisions.  Features such as the Source Learn function, intuitive ratio and gain controls, and the ability to work seamlessly across mono, stereo, and immersive formats up to 9.1.6 stood out as making the plugin versatile and approachable in a post-production workflow. Their verdict? In writer Paul Maunder’s words: “I’ve used Dynamic Grading 2 on dialogue, sound design and even a whole mix when I needed to re-purpose a feature film mix for YouTube. It’s efficient on CPU usage, and, even more importantly, sounds great. It’s a refreshing approach to dynamics processing and its intuitive user interface with dynamic histograms makes it very easy to use. Of all the dynamics processors I own, I only actually use a handful. This is now one of them.” Check out Paul’s video below… You are currently viewing a placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers. More Information Unblock content Accept required service and unblock content Read the article in full here:https://www.production-expert.com/production-expert-1/playfair-audio-dynamic-grading-2-an-audio-post-perspective

There’s something deeply satisfying about a mix that hits with a bit more weight. When the kick thumps, the snare cracks, and the whole thing moves with purpose. That sense of punch is what gives a track presence, even before you touch loudness or stereo width. For years, compression has been the go-to tool for adding that kind of impact. It can work, but only up to a point. It’s not always the most precise way to get there, and sometimes it creates more problems than it solves. As tools evolved, many mixers started looking elsewhere, and that’s where transient designers entered the picture. They offered more direct control, but again, not always with the results you want. Here’s how we used to do it, where it often falls short, and why we took a different approach with Dynamic Grading. Compression as a Blunt Instrument The classic trick for adding punch with a compressor involves a slow-ish attack and fast release. The idea is to let the transient through before clamping down on the rest, giving you a short burst of energy and perceived snap. Sometimes it works. But it often pulls the entire signal around with it. The compressor doesn’t just deal with transients. It responds to whatever crosses the threshold, whether that’s a peak, or something else entirely. You’re not shaping transients as much as you’re riding gain. This is especially problematic when applying compression on a mix bus. The settings that make one element punchier might completely flatten another. A snare might benefit, but overheads start pumping. A kick might sound tighter, but the low end ends up lopsided. You go back and tweak the threshold, the ratio, the release — then start second-guessing the whole idea. On individual tracks, you have more room to get it right, but even there, you’re still shaping everything through one set of controls. The Rise of Transient Designers As compressors showed their limitations, transient designers arrived to offer a more focused alternative. Instead of compressing based on thresholds, they let you adjust the attack and sustain of a sound separately. Want more crack on a snare? Increase attack. Want less boom in a kick? Reduce sustain. For drums in particular, this felt like a breakthrough. It was easier to isolate the quality you wanted to change and adjust it without dragging everything else with it. But transient designers have their own blind spots. They often treat every hit the same way, regardless of the performance dynamics. A quiet ghost note gets the same treatment as a full-on rimshot. There’s no awareness of context, no ability to differentiate intensity. And because many are operating behind a minimal interface, it’s not always clear what’s really being altered. In other words, they’re good for broad strokes, but not always for nuance. What We Wanted Instead We didn’t want a more complicated compressor, and we didn’t want another transient plugin that only works in specific situations. What we really wanted was a way to