New Music Gear Monday: Leapwing DynOne Multiband Dynamics Plugin

Multiband compressors are a powerful tool in any mixing or mastering toolbox, but they’re usually a little finicky to set up. As a result, many engineers don’t want to spend the time it takes to tweak them properly. Anything that makes that process easier is welcome, and that’s one reason why the new Leapwing DynOne multiband dynamics plugin is so cool. It takes the work out of using a multiband.

DynOne is a multiband parallel processor featuring newly developed algorithms and filters designed to lift up low level detail rather than squashing the dynamics of your material. Multiband parallel processing is ideal for classical music, acoustic music, voice, broadcast and other situations where low-level subtleties tend to get lost. On top of that, the multiband processing allows you to shape the tone of your material by adjusting the level of each band individually, without sacrificing the original dynamics within the music.

On the surface, DynOne is dead simple. It has an input and output control with level meter and 5 fixed bands with meters, each with a threshold slider. The 5 fixed bands have custom linear-phase crossovers between each with the crossover points at 150Hz, 800Hz, 4kHz and 11kHz. What makes it different is that its crossover filters have been custom designed to interact with each other in order to avoid phase alignment issues between bands, which is something that happens with traditional multiband compressors. There’s also a link control so all band threshold controls work as one, Bypass, Undo/Redo, A/B comparison, Presets, and an Info menu selections.

Below that is an “Expert” interface that takes the plugin to a higher level. In this window you’ll find a Global tab, tabs for each of the bands, and a Settings tab. The Global tab is most interesting since that’s where you set DynOne to either parallel or normal direct compression mode. There’s also a Detection control that allows the compressor to operate in RMS or Peak or anywhere in between, plus Weighting and Channel Link controls. Each of the band tabs has controls for Threshold, Ratio, Attack and Release. The Settings tab allows you to select between two filter types, a low latency mode, and band auto-gain.

The Leapwing DynOne multiband compressor plugin is available for any platform and in any plugin format. The normal price is $240 USD but is currently on sale with a 15% discount for $204 with a free 30 trial period.

Find out more info about the product here, or check out the video below.