Waves Curves Equator Vs IDX Intelligent Dynamics: Key Differences Explained
Discover the differences between Waves Curves Equator and IDX Intelligent Dynamics plugins. Learn how these can transform your mixes by improving tonal balance and dynamic energy.
What’s the difference between Waves Curves Equator and IDX Intelligent Dynamics plugins? At first glance, they appear to serve a similar purpose. Both are after all designed to "manipulate frequencies" to enhance the impact and quality of sound, so you would be forgiven for thinking "Aren’t these essentially the same thing?" SPOILER ALERT: They’re not.
In this blog, we’ll break down how each of these plugin work, highlighting their key differences while also explaining when and why you’d want to use both.
What Exactly Do Curves Equator and IDX Plugins Do?
Let’s kick off with somewhat of a real-world analogy to help you understand the general roles of Curves Equator and IDX.
Think of Curves Equator as that one friend at a party who notices that there’s one or two people being awkward. Not only does your friend see these people are bringing down the general vibe, but they also gently and calmly guide them away to improve the overall mood of the group. This is Equator. It’s all about reducing those unpleasant resonances that ring out, clash or disturb the balance. As a powerful resonance suppression tool, Curves Equator makes it super easy to polish tone without altering the organic character of sound.
On the other hand, IDX Intelligent Dynamics has a completely different personality, IDX here is your hype person. Rather than focusing on resonances or individual issues it instead goes about enhancing energy. It does this dynamically across the frequency spectrum. It has a special talent for dialling back areas that it feels is hogging too much energy, allowing for essential elements to shine through with just the right amount of impact. So, think of Curves Equator as a way of cleaning things up and IDX as the way to bring forward the excitement.
In Summary: Both of these plugins are about control and enhancement. At their core, they embody two critical aspects of mixing - corrective processing (removing the bad) and creative enhancement (bringing out the good). Curves Equator represents the former, while IDX embodies the latter.
How Do These Plugins Work Differently?
Here’s where the magic and some confusion happens. Starting with Curves Equator, this has the ability to analyse your audio in real-time to find and reduce problem areas. Ever noticed how certain areas in a vocal recording can sound harsh or how a snare drum can have both boxy bellows and high-end rings in it? Those are the sort of areas Equator targets. If you’re looking to improve those kinds of issues, you’ll first need to engage Equator’s Learn mode to enable it to listen to your audio. From there, the plugin figures out what resonances are sticking out then gently suppresses those ranges as they occur.
In addition to being a super transparent tone smoothing tool, you can also use Equator to help improve track separation. Let’s say you’re mixing a song where the tone of a lead vocal is clashing with an acoustic guitar track. With Curves Equator’s sidechain listen feature and Learn mode you can quickly carve out space from one track based on the sonic character of another, automatically attenuating clashing frequencies. This can be used sparingly to sweeten track separation, or used more heavily, either way the results sound super clean.
Setup Example: In this instance, we can set Equator on the guitar track to listen to the vocal track via the sidechain, then in the guitar's Equator plugin can carve space out of the guitar leaving more sonic space for the vocal to breathe within the mix.
IDX Intelligent Dynamics, on the other hand, is all about shaping energy within sound. Instead of hunting down narrow resonance spikes, it looks at how different frequency bands within audio contribute to dynamic range. Let’s say you’ve got a bass guitar that’s booming in the low-mids. IDX won’t remove this entirely, but it will compress that area dynamically, so it doesn’t overpower everything else within that sound. Meanwhile, in other track types such as snares or vocals, it might let some more high-end detail come out more – This of course can be set with the Tilt control, more on that later. The result? A mix that feels tighter, punchier, and generally more balanced.
Read more:
- 7 Ways to Use Curves Equator and Get Better Control Over Your Mixes
- Waves IDX: Say Goodbye to Lost Tracks and Muddy Mixes
When Would You Use Curves Equator and IDX?
Equator: Imagine you’re working on a vocal track. It was recorded with a microphone that tends to be quite sensitive to harsh top-end presence (we have all been there), and there’s also this honky, nasal resonance within it that’s driving you nuts. That’s when Curves Equator can save you a lot of hassle. Here, Equator zeros in on those irritating frequencies, suppresses them as they pop up leaving you with a smooth, natural-sounding vocal.
IDX: Now, let’s say your drum mix feels flat. The kick and snare aren’t hitting as hard as you feel they should, and the whole thing feels a little… underwhelming. This is where IDX can help. Simply by adjusting the main dial, compression is applied exactly where that much needed energy needs to come out.
Mix Tip Using Both: Take a raw acoustic guitar recording. First, run it through Curves Equator to clean up any ringing resonances. Then, throw IDX after to help bring out the pluckiness of the strings and to bring out added body without the boom. Working together, these two plugins can transform a flat, lifeless recording into something vibrant and dynamic on the fly.
Why IDX and Curves Equator Are Not Interchangeable
Now that you understand the basics, you might be wondering: Can’t one plugin just do the other’s job? Short answer: unfortunately, no.
Curves Equator is all about precision, giving you well-balanced sounding recordings before you go on to additional processing. It doesn’t touch the overall dynamic energy of your track, it’s purely surgical with results that sound incredibly transparent. IDX, on the other hand, this is all about the bigger picture. It cares less about specific problematic frequencies and more about how your track feels dynamically across the spectrum.
Here’s the big takeaway: Curves Equator cleans up your tone by addressing specific problems. IDX shapes the energy and dynamics of your mix to make it hit harder. They’re both incredibly powerful but serve entirely different purposes.
If you’re working on a project and find yourself saying, “This track feels messy and uneven,” reach for Curves Equator. If instead you’re saying, “This mix needs more impact and focus,” grab IDX. And of course, try using them both together as we suggested moments ago? Clean up with Equator first, then bring out just the right amount of added energy with IDX.
Let’s dive deeper into the technical, creative, and even philosophical implications of these tools.
Resonance Suppression: A Subtle Art
Let’s talk a bit more about resonance suppression, this process is all about “fixing” audio but try not to overthink that too much. Resonances, after all, are what makes up the character of sound. Sometimes, they’re musical, sometimes they’re not. Think of the natural resonance in a violin’s body or the way a snare drum rings after being hit. These should be considered as fundamental resonances. Maybe these could be too strong in the mix, with Equator you can soften these slightly, but don’t try to rob the instrument of its natural voice altogether.
The trick with resonance suppression we’re trying to inspire here is understanding the difference between when a resonance enhances a sound and when it distracts. If that’s something you struggle to work out then that’s where tools like Curves Equator really shine. For example, if you’re mixing a vocal and hear a nasal frequency that sticks out, it’s a good candidate for suppression and Curves Equator will handle that for you with little fuss. Just use your ears to hear when those problems dissolve away and move on with the rest of your mix.
How about if you’re working with a resonant snare drum within a live multitrack recording? You might want to tame the liveliness but without killing all the natural overtones entirely. Again, try not to overthink it as with Equator, dialling in a small amount of suppression is simple without overdoing it.
Dynamics and Frequency: Two Sides of the Same Coin?
The relationship between dynamics (energy) and frequencies (tonal balance) is fascinating, and it’s the reason tools like IDX Intelligent Dynamics exist. Every mix has a limited amount of “energy” that can be distributed across the frequency spectrum. If the low end is too boomy, it can overwhelm everything else in the mix, leaving the overall music feeling muddy and dull. Conversely, if the high-end balance is too busy, it can make the mix sound brittle, harsh or worse, uncomfortable to listen to.
This interplay between energy and balance is where IDX excels. By dynamically compressing frequencies that are overrepresented, it allows other more important elements within a track or full mix to shine. Thanks to Auto-Gain and Quick Match controls IDX is a tool that easily make a mix feel louder and sound more present without actually increasing volume, being what engineers often call "perceived loudness." - which as we all know is a fast-track to tricking your ears into believing louder is better.
Why There Could Be Confusion Between These Two Plugins
It’s worth exploring why some people may think Curves Equator and IDX Intelligent Dynamics are similar. Both plugins manage frequencies and their reduction meters represent this as well. That, and they also both process audio “dynamically” and work hard to make your mix content sound better with as little input from us as possible. But the way they approach audio issues are entirely different.
This confusion may be because a number of plugins that came before these two blurred the lines between a bit. Staples in today’s workflows such as dynamic EQ and multiband compression are also examples of tools that combine elements of both frequency manipulation within the dynamics world. As we know, having more options is great for mix versatility but it does create some overlap in functionality. The key is understanding why you’re reaching for a specific tool over another. Here’s some quick suggestions for when you’d want to reach for any of the plugin types we’ve just mentioned in this section:
- Are you needing to fix a tonal imbalance? (Curves Equator)
- Are you reshaping the energy of your mix? (IDX)
- Are you wanted to add dynamic control to the low end of a master? (Multiband compression)
- Or, are you looking to broadly shape the upper mids of a piano recording (Dynamic EQ?)
Curves Equator & IDX: The Perfect Plugin Pair?
The takeaway? If you havent’ picked up on the main theme of this article, it’s this... It’s not about choosing between Equator and IDX, they’re not competitors; they’re collaborators. Each plays a unique and essential role in modern music production. If you’ve wrestled with traditional EQs or felt like multiband compression was more guesswork than anything else, then these next-gen plugins could be the game-changers your workflow needs.
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