Download C4 Multiband User Manual

Chapter 1 — Introduction
Thank you for buying Waves C4! When used in TDM, the C4 is a 48bit double-precision processor, dithered to
24bits before handoff to the TDM bus. It requires a full Mix chip; we used every bit of power we could to create the
finest multiband for the available power. Native uses are single-precision, to help conserve your CPU power.
You may think of the C4 as a multiband compressor with parametric adjustments, or as a 4-band dynamic equalizer.
Both concepts are true, but the interface looks more like an equalizer with a moving line!
Waves’ unique DynamicLine™ display shows the actual gain change as an EQ display. We have taken the gain
reduction metering function and merged it with the crossover display for a very intuitive interface.
When used judiciously, a multiband processor can do much more than merely make a mix “louder”. You can think
of the C4 as a dynamic equalizer capable of gentle compression, expansion, limiting, and EQ, independantly and
simultaneously. For instance, with care, you can de-ess, EQ, and expand in separate bands simultaneously. This is
much easier than trying to adjust several split-band compressors (such as the somewhat common usage of de-essers
in “non-ess” frequency ranges).
Waves wisely waited until sufficient processing power was available before releasing the C4. To properly create a
multiband compressor, a phase-compensated crossover is essential. In addition, the crossover must have a flat
frequency response when set to nominal values. The C4 has exactly such a crossover. However, many multiband
devices may not have this type of crossover, and the resulting colorations have unfortunately been accepted as part
of the multiband “sound”, which is completely unnecessary and generally undesirable.
Why is such a crossover so important? To avoid any undesirable coloration to the sound and to eliminate artifacts
and pitch-shifting effects between bands as their gains move independantly. Any change to a signal can be considered
a distortion (some much more pleasant than others), so it is a desirable type of change we want, not uncontrollable,
“part-of-the-design” ones.
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C4 Plug-In Manual
C4 Version 3
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