Is anyone using a Spectrum Analyzer with Reaper

Powermac · 06-01-2020, 02:21 PM

I have just finished tracking my bands 11 song album and have begun the mixing process, but am curious about possibly using a spectrum analyzer toward the end of the mix.

While I understand the principle, I don't have one nor have I ever used one and was hoping for some advice and suggestions on brand, usability, etc.

Thanks in advance.

Zlornick · 06-01-2020, 02:33 PM

SPANis the go to freebie to check out:
https://www.voxengo.com/product/span/

Customizable and flexible.

Many tutorials on Youtube to check out including this one from Dan Worall:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZrWMv02tlA

Crashwaggon · 06-01-2020, 02:50 PM

They're useful for sanity checks towards the end of a mix, such as checking against references, and especially when it comes to avoiding excessive low end buildup if you're working in a less than optimal room.
Don't rely on them constantly though..very easy to fall into the trap of over-eqing everything because something doesn't "look right", very often with the result being a flat and lifeless mix.

bolgwrad · 06-01-2020, 03:14 PM

What Ziornick says.

n997 · 06-01-2020, 10:23 PM

If you've never used a spectrum analyser as mixing aid, make sure to understand what it actually shows, as it's easy to be somewhat confused by it.

For example, usually FFT spectrum analyzers have a trade-off between frequency and time resolution. Ideally, for music you'd use FFT setting of 16384, to have reasonable frequency resolution in bass. But at that setting time will not be represented in the analyzer as a human hears it - what is shown will have latency and smearing in time dimension.

Thus, such spectrum analysis is useful as indicator of what frequencies exist in a signal and at what level, but one must remember that it's a representation of what was found within the analysis time window rather than exactly what you're hearing.

Also, scale and visual reference grid are important. For musical mixing, log scale - which corresponds to human perception of pitch - is required, and thankfully most analyzer plugins nowadays show in log scale by default. However, as visual reference grid, most analyzers still show the "engineering standard" of 100-1000-10000 Hz, which to a musician is not as useful as a semitone grid.

EDIT: modification of JSFX Frequency Spectrum Analyzer with Semitone / Piano Grid can be found here: https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=258602

So far, to my knowledge, only Ableton Live's Spectrum plugin, Cubase's Frequency EQ and Image-Line's Wave Candy spectrogram have a setting for semitone reference of some sort.
For other plugins, there are low-tech workarounds - such as measuring the analyzer window on the computer's display, calculating how many millimeters there are per each semitone, printing out a paper strip with evenly spaced lines representing semitones, taping it to the display, and matching it exactly to the spectrum analyser, while adjusting the analyzer's window size and testing alignment with sine waves - but it's really much better to just have a proper semitone reference grid in the actual analyzer software.

It must be noted that REAPER has a decent spectrum analyser, the "JS: Frequency Spectrum Analyzer Meter". I suppose its code can be modified to show a semitone grid as well, though I haven't gotten around to attempting that.

Edit: attached is a quick, ugly hack of "JS: Frequency Spectrum Analyzer Meter" that has semitone overlay. Tested with v6.11 on Windows.Proof of concept only - no frequency text labels etc., no guarantees, no promises
Works only on 16384 FTT setting, otherwise shows frequency incorrectly!
Middle C (261.6Hz, MIDI note 60) line is slightly thicker than others [5th line from left when shown in REAPER, attached screenshot is cropped due to forum limitations].

FeedTheCat · 06-02-2020, 03:34 AM

I use Saike's Spectrum Analyzer, as I love the reaper integration that comes with it. You can just select multiple tracks, press a button, and see their frequency spectrum side by side. No hassle setting up routing and stuff.

Look for 'Saike Spectral Analyzer' and the 'Multi-Channel spectral analyzer' script on reapack.

Eisenspalter · 06-02-2020, 04:01 AM

@FeedTheCat
Saike Spectrum Analyzer? I don't even know it yet. Looks really good. Somehow I didn't find it (Reapack). Where can I find it?

Eisenspalter · 06-02-2020, 04:03 AM

I found it. sai'ke

FeedTheCat · 06-02-2020, 04:06 AM

Forgot that you probably have to add his repository first:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Jo...ster/index.xml

While you're at it, try out his plugins, there's some really good ones

P.S. you can set the analyzer settings to something that works for you, then save it as the default preset. So that it always opens up like that.

gkurtenbach · 06-02-2020, 05:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Powermac

I have just finished tracking my bands 11 song album and have begun the mixing process, but am curious about possibly using a spectrum analyzer toward the end of the mix.

While I understand the principle, I don't have one nor have I ever used one and was hoping for some advice and suggestions on brand, usability, etc.

Thanks in advance.

I use Izotope's Tonal Balance for this.

https://www.izotope.com/en/products/...control-2.html

For me its very helpful.

vanceen · 06-02-2020, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gkurtenbach

I use Izotope's Tonal Balance for this.

https://www.izotope.com/en/products/...control-2.html

For me its very helpful.

I agree about Tonal Balance. It is extremely useful for getting you into the right ballpark.

For mastering I run Tonal Balance and adjust EQ and multi-band compression with Ozone. EQ alone, in my experience, can end up sounding weird if you rely on it alone for correction. I apply a moderate level of EQ and then compress frequency bands that are still too loud with the multi-band compressor, which (for me) ends up sounding natural.

bolgwrad · 06-02-2020, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FeedTheCat

Forgot that you probably have to add his repository first:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Jo...ster/index.xml

While you're at it, try out his plugins, there's some really good ones

P.S. you can set the analyzer settings to something that works for you, then save it as the default preset. So that it always opens up like that.

Non-Reapack link: https://github.com/JoepVanlier/JSFX

Powermac · 06-02-2020, 05:24 PM

Blown away by the response, guy's. Thanks... Am going through the links and info now.

edkilp · 06-03-2020, 04:24 AM

I installed the Saike spectrum analyzer, spectrum analyzer alt, and multi-channel. The Multi channel does not show up in the fx list. I tried to reinstall version 0.81. It says it's installed, but i honestly can't find it anywhere. What did i do wrong?

FeedTheCat · 06-03-2020, 04:43 AM

It's not a JSFX, it's a reascript that automatically does the routing for the 'Saike Spectral Analyzer'. Look for 'LoadSpectrum' in your actions list.

edkilp · 06-03-2020, 05:44 PM

Yep now I get it. Thanks!

Magicbuss · 06-04-2020, 08:27 AM

Nothing wrong with using an analyser. That said reference mixes are MUCH MUCH more useful for mixing than an analyser.

Pick a commercial mix that is in the same genre with similar instrumentation and insert it onto a track at the top level of your mix. Mute the reference track. When you want to A/B just click solo on the reference. UN-solo the reference to hear your mix.

The key here is to Volume match the reference track with your mix (usually turning the reference way down) and make sure its not going through any of you mix buss processing.