MeldaProduction's MDynamicEQ & MAutoDynamicEQ Review - Extreme, Dynamic EQ Power

VST, AU, AAX, CLAP, etc. Plugin Virtual Effects Discussion
RELATED
PRODUCTS

Post

Brother Charles wrote:
Sampleconstruct wrote:The MAutoDynamic EQ does deserve some praise imo.
+1
Totally Agreed!

A chap emailed me early Wednesday sharing some remarks similar to ArgleBargle's. He told me in his email, that he was busy and didn't have time to read long reviews and that my writing sounded like elaborate advertisements. He mentioned that he didn't want to be slowed down by entertainment of humour. Well, neither did Spock. Some folks wouldn't watch a comedy movie to save their life. :hihi:

I replied to the email thanked my visitor for letting me know how he felt.

The truth is, I know that it is impossible to please all the people all the time. According to the majority of feedback that I receive from RR readers, most folks like the attention-to-detail and my enthusiasm for well-deserving products. If I brag on somethin' good . . . I hope it benefits the developers and buyers alike.

For example, one chap wrote to me this evening and told me that he found the RR web site while searching on Google for "PianoVerb 2" reviews. He said that it was directly due to my review that he went ahead and bought it. Furthermore, he loved the sound of it, just as I had written! That felt GREAT! Antoni @PSP makes excellent plug-ins and I was glad to help out a little bit.

Most indie developers can't afford dedicated marketing departments and teams of sales/marketing personnel. If it's good, then "I write it as I see it". If the reviews are too long on Reviewer's Revival, then folks can simply keep visiting MusicRadar or SoundOnSound. *cheeky grin
Don't worry about the naysayers, bro. We had similar complaints for reviews at ProRec. If you knew the ridiculous accusations that came to me through PM here on KVR, you would be SHOCKED. Honestly, it would probably blow your mind. Heck, I've had people threaten legal action against me when I denied doing what they said. Yes. Seriously.

So ignore it and laugh it off. If you're telling the truth, it doesn't really matter if somebody wants to gripe about it. Some people will find things to whine about. Just be honest and real and enjoy using the stuff. That's what I do, and I let the chips fall where they may. I have found that most people who read my reviews give very positive feedback. They LOVE the attention to detail. I wouldn't change what you're doing one bit.

Good luck sir.

Brent
My host is better than your host

Post

koolkeys wrote:Don't worry about the naysayers, bro. We had similar complaints for reviews at ProRec. If you knew the ridiculous accusations that came to me through PM here on KVR, you would be SHOCKED. Honestly, it would probably blow your mind. Heck, I've had people threaten legal action against me when I denied doing what they said. Yes. Seriously.

So ignore it and laugh it off. If you're telling the truth, it doesn't really matter if somebody wants to gripe about it. Some people will find things to whine about. Just be honest and real and enjoy using the stuff. That's what I do, and I let the chips fall where they may. I have found that most people who read my reviews give very positive feedback. They LOVE the attention to detail. I wouldn't change what you're doing one bit.

Good luck sir.

Brent
ProRec.com?
Thank you, Brent. I appreciate the encouragement. I'm a huge fan. Fresh new bookmark in FireFox, and signed up for an account on WP. I absolutely agree with the article on digital watermarking. When someone of your proven stature encourages me, I think I'll take it to the wall, put it in a frame, and thank the Good Lord that He's keeping my "sometimes thick" noggin thinking straight. :hihi:
Last edited by Brother Charles on Thu Apr 25, 2013 7:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Thanks & God Bless,
Bro. Charles
Reviewer's Revival Blogsite | Facebook

Post

Brother Charles wrote:
koolkeys wrote:Don't worry about the naysayers, bro. We had similar complaints for reviews at ProRec. If you knew the ridiculous accusations that came to me through PM here on KVR, you would be SHOCKED. Honestly, it would probably blow your mind. Heck, I've had people threaten legal action against me when I denied doing what they said. Yes. Seriously.

So ignore it and laugh it off. If you're telling the truth, it doesn't really matter if somebody wants to gripe about it. Some people will find things to whine about. Just be honest and real and enjoy using the stuff. That's what I do, and I let the chips fall where they may. I have found that most people who read my reviews give very positive feedback. They LOVE the attention to detail. I wouldn't change what you're doing one bit.

Good luck sir.

Brent
ProRecording.com?
Thank you, Brent. I appreciate the encouragement.
Actually, ProRec.com. It's been around for many years(actually, like 15, or something ridiculous like that, lol), though I had to take some time off lately. I'm back to working with it now though(in transition from old platform at the moment though).

And no problem. If you stop having fun, or start worrying TOO much about the minority who seem to never be happy, then it's not even worth it. I write about something I'm passionate about more than being passionate about my writing. Seems to work for me!

Cheers!

Brent
My host is better than your host

Post

By the way, on a side note, it's great to see another Gospel music lover/musician writing about this stuff!

Brent
My host is better than your host

Post

Nice one!

I agree to an extent with a few of the comments. The review tended to skate about a bit, particularly in the first third. I enjoyed reading it though, not least because I just bought MDynamicEQ recently. I mainly bought it after being disappointed with Toneboosters FIX whilst recognising that I needed such a tool for the occasional but inevitable problem solving tasks. It looks as if FIX has been completely overhauled now so I may still take another look at it.

BManic speaks very highly of MDynamicEQ so when I noticed that Melda were having a 40% off on dynamics plugins I grabbed it sharpish :) I think it's worth mentioning here that this 40% offer applies to both these plugins and is for the duration of April. Anyone interested in buying one of them, now is the time! :)

Can I just say that I thought some of your choices of words were a little off in the opening paragraph. I keep hearing misuse of the word prolific. An individual or entity can be said to be prolific if they produce a great body or quantity of work. A plugin is a tool not an individual so it would be better to say that it appears on "numerous" or "countless" professional recordings. Also a plethora implies an excess and I think "myriad" would be a more positive word to describe it's feature set. Sorry to be a pedant! ;)

Anyway, I look forward to your next review, I recognised your tone as genuine admiration for the thought behind the plugin and it's implementation. I appreciate the time it took to go in depth, so thanks.

I think people are used to reading industry magazines and are dubious of reviews because often they aren't impartial and money has exchanged hands in order for such reviews to appear. When someone genuinely impartial is reviewing online I think it's out of a desire to expose lesser known but fantastic tools to a wider user base. In such situations it totally makes sense for a reviewer to choose products that they feel positive about, hence why they are usually good reviews!

Cheers

Scorb

Post

djscorb wrote:Nice one!

I agree to an extent with a few of the comments. The review tended to skate about a bit, particularly in the first third. I enjoyed reading it though, not least because I just bought MDynamicEQ recently. I mainly bought it after being disappointed with Toneboosters FIX whilst recognising that I needed such a tool for the occasional but inevitable problem solving tasks. It looks as if FIX has been completely overhauled now so I may still take another look at it.

BManic speaks very highly of MDynamicEQ so when I noticed that Melda were having a 40% off on dynamics plugins I grabbed it sharpish :) I think it's worth mentioning here that this 40% offer applies to both these plugins and is for the duration of April. Anyone interested in buying one of them, now is the time! :)

Can I just say that I thought some of your choices of words were a little off in the opening paragraph. I keep hearing misuse of the word prolific. An individual or entity can be said to be prolific if they produce a great body or quantity of work. A plugin is a tool not an individual so it would be better to say that it appears on "numerous" or "countless" professional recordings. Also a plethora implies an excess and I think "myriad" would be a more positive word to describe it's feature set. Sorry to be a pedant! ;)

Anyway, I look forward to your next review, I recognised your tone as genuine admiration for the thought behind the plugin and it's implementation. I appreciate the time it took to go in depth, so thanks.

I think people are used to reading industry magazines and are dubious of reviews because often they aren't impartial and money has exchanged hands in order for such reviews to appear. When someone genuinely impartial is reviewing online I think it's out of a desire to expose lesser known but fantastic tools to a wider user base. In such situations it totally makes sense for a reviewer to choose products that they feel positive about, hence why they are usually good reviews!

Cheers

Scorb
WOW! Thanks Scorb. Great advice on the terminology 'foopahs'. I appreciate the encouragement. Everybody, I'm stealing Scorb's advice and implementing it, effective immediately. Shhhh . . . don't tell him, though. :lol:

As regards the "skating around a bit". That was very deliberate. I meant what I wrote. It's one thing to see, or hear about professional, high-level audio engineers using "WAVES" plug-ins, but when it's an indie dev who is producing such great products with such a wonderful business model, I want to pay some extra attention to those kinds of facts.:D

Nope, I'm a not-a-gonna be repentin' for that. There wasn't one word from anyone about my extolling the virtues of the prolific Mr. Costello and his excellent ValhallaRoom (better application of the word, yes?). No, sir, I stand by what I wrote. MeldaProduction is well-regarded by some, but I think that they are still somewhat underrated. At least I know I sure am guilty of that. Once I really started experimenting and working with MDynamicEQ, I was just amazed! At a couple of points during my bench-testing/reviewing, I would call out, "Honey, c'mere! It can even do this!"

Yes, honey would come in and patiently listen . . . . God Bless her. :wink:
Thanks & God Bless,
Bro. Charles
Reviewer's Revival Blogsite | Facebook

Post

I'm glad I didn't offend you :)

Yes, I've had the free bundle from Melda sitting on my studio machine for a while but haven't had much free time to play with new plugins. I haven't used MWobbler at all yet but know it will be a lot of fun at some point (and for the intro price you can't go wrong!)

The Dynamic EQ is very powerful and the possibilities are quite staggering really.

Like others, I'm not crazy about the GUIs. I admire the lack of "vintage" bells and whistles and probably like yourself, find the Valhalla approach spot on. However, the Melda design aesthetic is not great even with the ability to change colours and some of the knobs and sliders.

But what a tool! those flat tilt shelves are absolute beauties and are very handy for brightening up a dull mix in a mastering context. The boost is "supported" from below which can really help prevent things from getting harsh or brittle.

Don't forget, there's nearly a week left to get these Melda Dynamic EQs at 40% off!

Cheers

Scorb

Post

got to add my 2c to say mdynamic is an excellent EQ. It doesnt get enough praise but the sound and functionality is just excellent...and the saturation algo is first class...people get caught up in console emulations - but this eq and a little of its saturation can do very well also...much better use of CPU cycles IMO...
Just this and a couple of good compressors you could do a very good mix...
Presets for u-he Diva -> http://swanaudio.co.uk/

Post

Hi again

One thing I really thought was cool about the analyser in these EQs is the small dancing labels that illustrate at what frequencies the extreme peaks are in real time.

A very nice touch which manages to be both flashy and very useful.

Cheers

Scorb

p.s.

It's early days for me with MDynamicEQ so I would welcome any tips or tricks from more seasoned users. I keep finding more and more advanced parameter tabs! :)

Post

djscorb wrote:Hi again

One thing I really thought was cool about the analyser in these EQs is the small dancing labels that illustrate at what frequencies the extreme peaks are in real time.

A very nice touch which manages to be both flashy and very useful.

Cheers

Scorb

p.s.

It's early days for me with MDynamicEQ so I would welcome any tips or tricks from more seasoned users. I keep finding more and more advanced parameter tabs! :)
Hi Scorb,
You're correct, sir; the 'dancing' labels are an excellent feature. I meant to go back and a add a blurb about it on the review. Instead, I plagiarized your comment. :hihi:
Thanks & God Bless,
Bro. Charles
Reviewer's Revival Blogsite | Facebook

Post

Anyone mention yet that these plugins are side-chainable? Presents many novel options, e.g. dipping a band in the instrument bus whenever the vocal kicks in to improve clarity of the vox without an across-the-board level drop.

Post

bbaggins wrote:Anyone mention yet that these plugins are side-chainable? Presents many novel options, e.g. dipping a band in the instrument bus whenever the vocal kicks in to improve clarity of the vox without an across-the-board level drop.
Yep. Feel free to read the full review. :wink:

Mind you, I suppose I could have elaborated on the side-chaining features a little more. I luv, luv, luv the "Bass Drum vs. Bass Guitar" preset.
Thanks & God Bless,
Bro. Charles
Reviewer's Revival Blogsite | Facebook

Post

CM also showers v8 with accolades, it gets:
-CM Value Award
-CM Ed's Choice Award
-CM Innovation Award
-CM Performance Award

A 9 out of 10 overall :)

Post

djscorb wrote: Like others, I'm not crazy about the GUIs. I admire the lack of "vintage" bells and whistles and probably like yourself, find the Valhalla approach spot on. However, the Melda design aesthetic is not great even with the ability to change colours and some of the knobs and sliders.
Design aesthetics can be very subjective and some like it, some not. But sadly there are deeper problems here. I am not a designer but a learned typesetter, and the GUIs look like the equivalent of the homemade flyers that came up when DTP became ubiquitous - quite amateurish. No sense of space, graphical overkill with fonts (too many different weights and sizes) and colors (way too many), no proper alignment of design elements, "clip-art" backgrounds, very inconsistent design (look at the corners and edges of the boxes: different corner angles, different embossing and shadow effects, different line styles, all on one plugin page...). I could go on...

Now look at the aforementioned Valhalla plugins: reduced set of design elements, consistent use of fonts and colors, proper alignment (mostly), clear layout. The ultra-reduced style might not please everyone, but it is a very professional design. TDR VOS SlickEQ is another good example, i can see no severe design errors there...

I bought one Melda plugin and would buy more, but I cannot really look at the GUIs for long. Now some may say it is about the sound and not the GUI, but in my opinion it is not that simple. Plugins are tools, and as with other tools the design should support the functionality and provide a good workflow, not distract me from my work.
I hope they hire a professional screen designer sometime, aside from the design they seem like a cool company with great products at good prices.

Post

Hi free.

Actually, I worked in desktop publishing myself for a while, back in 2001. I agree with you about font types and effective use of whitespace. I'll be reviewing other Melda plug-ins; mostly from their powerful "mastering" bundle. These are exceptionally good plug-ins, but I'd love to see Melda take a cue from FabFilter or Valhalla, as regards interface design.
fese wrote: Design aesthetics can be very subjective and some like it, some not. But sadly there are deeper problems here. I am not a designer but a learned typesetter, and the GUIs look like the equivalent of the homemade flyers that came up when DTP became ubiquitous - quite amateurish. No sense of space, graphical overkill with fonts (too many different weights and sizes) and colors (way too many), no proper alignment of design elements, "clip-art" backgrounds, very inconsistent design (look at the corners and edges of the boxes: different corner angles, different embossing and shadow effects, different line styles, all on one plugin page...). I could go on...

Now look at the aforementioned Valhalla plugins: reduced set of design elements, consistent use of fonts and colors, proper alignment (mostly), clear layout. The ultra-reduced style might not please everyone, but it is a very professional design. TDR VOS SlickEQ is another good example, i can see no severe design errors there...

I bought one Melda plugin and would buy more, but I cannot really look at the GUIs for long. Now some may say it is about the sound and not the GUI, but in my opinion it is not that simple. Plugins are tools, and as with other tools the design should support the functionality and provide a good workflow, not distract me from my work.
I hope they hire a professional screen designer sometime, aside from the design they seem like a cool company with great products at good prices.
Thanks & God Bless,
Bro. Charles
Reviewer's Revival Blogsite | Facebook

Post Reply

Return to “Effects”