Playfair Audio Dynamic Grading 2.0

Say Goodbye To Guesswork

Mixing should feel like making art, not solving a puzzle.

With Dynamic Grading, you can dive straight into creative decisions, exploring and navigating your mix's dynamic range with confidence and intention.

Sculpt punch, shape body, and carve out space without getting lost in endless parameters.

When inspiration strikes, Dynamic Grading keeps distractions out of the way, letting you focus on what matters: making your mix come alive.

Dynamic Grading isn't just another compressor - it's a fresh approach to mixing that keeps you in the creative flow.

Whether you’re refining a vocal track or sculpting a full mix, this tool delivers results that inspire.

A Threefold Dynamics Engine

Dynamic Grading goes far beyond traditional dynamics processing by taking control of three distinct parts of the dynamic range, each serving a specific purpose.

Independently adjust compression or expansion ratios in the Punch, Body, and Floor of your signal for nuanced control.

Land A Punch

Think of it like a transient shaper.

Make instruments more present and upfront, or push them farther away to create depth in your mix.

Keep the Body in Shape

Usher tracks to their right place in the mix.

Make instruments solid as a rock, or shake the dust off and make it groove.

Swipe the Floor

Dial in just the right amount of detail and reverb.

Clean up unwanted noise and make your mix shine.

The Dynamic Histogram

Dynamic Grading is centered around dynamic histograms. Imagine a really fast-moving level meter, and a superhuman statistician sitting in front of it and gathering statistics of the readings over time.

This kind of graph tells us a lot about audio dynamics.

It reveals the dynamic range (the highest and lowest readings) as well which loudness regions are most prominent and how much perceived loudness varies (= how dynamic it is).

A sharp peak in the graph hints at rather static audio with low dynamic range, while a broad and flat shape means there is a lot of dynamic variation.

Intuitive Graphical Control

Remember threshold and ratio knobs? Having to use those when adjusting compressors or expanders was fun while it lasted. But we can do better!

Just specify where the relevant dynamic ranges are in the source audio (left markers), and where you want them to be in the result (right markers).

Dynamic histograms guide you to quickly find the sweet spots.

When the target range is narrower than the corresponding source range, this part of the dynamic range will be compressed.

If it is wider, it's an expansion. Simple and seamless!

The Anatomy of Audio Dynamics

In Dynamic Grading, you work independently with the three fundamental dynamic regions.

The body range is where the "meat" of the signal is, such as vocal timbre or note sustains of instruments.

Right above, the punch range is home to transients, consonants, percussive elements, and note onsets.

Finally, the floor contains elements like late decay of instrument notes, reverb, or background noise. Think of it as the "space between notes".

Make Sound Decisions

Tightly control depth perception by adjusting the punch.

Compress to get smoother onsets and a sense of distance, expand to increase impact, and position a track front and center.

Compress the body to make the most prominent features sit firmly in the mix.

Create more space by expanding the body when a track totally clogs your mix bus.

Adjust reverberation and background noise with the floor range.

Expand to smoothly reduce reverb or noise and gently clean up a recording, or squeeze it for weird and fascinating artistic effects.

Mixing The Dynamic Grading Way

Ready to fully embrace the Dynamic Grading Workflow? Drop it on every track and leave all faders at 0 dB.

That way you can basically paint your mix by placing individual tracks in the dynamic range, right where they belong.

We don't say you should mix without even listening, but well, with Dynamic Grading you probably could...