The down side of the extra flexibility is that it takes a lot longer to analyse files in the first place, and there's also sometimes a noticeable time lag between enacting an EQ adjustment and it being realised audibly. You can now apply separate EQ curves independently to the left and right channels of a stereo file, as well as to its Middle and Sides signal components.This provides considerable additional precision in mastering applications, especially as regards manipulating stereo width and maximising mono compatibility. The first big operational development is a newly coded EQ engine which allows you to set up an EQ filter not only for the whole stereo file, but also for its separate left and right channels and for its Middle and Sides signal components. This makes it substantially easier to compare unmastered mixes with heavily loudness-maximised commercial releases. More useful for me, though, is the way you can now visually align the level of your mix with that of your reference file, but without making any actual gain changes. The filtering display has been updated with a bar-graph spectrum analyser, the frequency resolution of which follows that set for viewing the peak and average spectra. The level timeline of your reference file appears above that of the file you're processing, and you can drag it to line up the most relevant sections of the two files when performing A/B comparisons. Like the main window, this features peak and average contours, and you can click within it to control the playback transport or to loop any section. The key to these is the new level timeline display running across the top of the window. So much for past glories what's new? For a start, there have been a raft of small usability improvements, which make the system quicker and easier to work with. In addition to a fairly simple EQ ripping facility which mapped a reference track's spectrum onto your own, there was the automated IntuitQ routine, which evened out spectral imbalances in a (usually) fairly subtle process that made most mixes sound clearer, smoother, and more polished - whether or not that was artistically appropriate! The HB Air function provided a different euphonic effect via a short stereo ambience signal, transparently lending mixes a flattering, breathy sheen and expanding the image width, assuming you applied it with a light touch. Equalisation changes were loudness-compensated to discourage our natural bias towards louder settings, and there were also tools for automatically or manually reducing the loudness of your reference to match that of the file you were processing, working in concert with a simple one-slider output limiter.Īlongside these core features were a number of more complex 'fairy dust' facilities. The frequency response could then be tweaked with minimum- or linear-phase EQ tools, while one made visual and auditory comparisons against a simultaneously loaded-in reference recording. A stand-alone application, its single-window interface was dominated by a large, multi-function display area which was used to display cumulative frequency-response and level statistics for an entire stereo mix file, derived from peak and/or averaged signal levels.
#Har bal 3 torrent software
It was with a sense of relief, then, that I greeted the news of an all-new Harbal v3, which overhauls both the program's internal coding and its user interface, as well as making it available to Mac users for the first time.īefore I dive into the new features, let me first provide a quick overview of where the software stood as of v2.3, for the benefit of anyone who hasn't yet encountered it. However, although it had evolved significantly into version 2 by 2006, development seemed to have stalled by the time I started using v2.3 regularly in 2009, and I recently began to worry that OS updates might force me to put this tremendously useful utility out to pasture. The Harbal mastering software has been around for more than seven years now, and its first release version was reviewed by Martin Walker back in SOS March 2004. If you want to know how your mixes match up to commercial masters, Harbal will show you!