3-EQ vs. Multiband EQ CPU usage

FMOD Studio
1

Hello all!

I’ve got a few questions regarding the cost of 3-EQ and Multiband EQ. My project ran into an issue on the Switch due to many instances of the 3-EQ effect being used. One of our engineers reported “90% of one of the cores” was being eaten up by 20 instances used on several events (some events even had multiple 3-EQ effects loaded in). I’ve since made some major adjustments and replaced some silly usages with HighPass & LowPass effects, but for other events, we still need the same automated frequency action on our vehicle engines.

My questions are:

  1. What are the actual costs of using 3-EQ compared to Multiband EQ?
  2. Is it possible to achieve the same sonic results with a Multiband EQ as originally heard through the 3-EQ? (I saw elsewhere on the forum that 3-EQ runs in parallel while Multiband runs in series. I understand the difference, I’m just concerned about re-creating the right sound with a different EQ algorithm.)

Thank you!!

Drew

2

From what I know, Multiband EQ is a more recent (so maybe better optimized?) addition to FMOD than 3-EQ. And HighPass and LowPass are legacy (for retro-compatibility), so maybe better to avoid them…
I just did a little test with 20 effects of each on a single event, and Multiband EQ seems cheaper on the CPU. Here’s the result:

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But maybe with different settings, the result would change, I don’t know…

Nobody can answer but you. Just try! (but I would tend to say it’s often possible)

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Thanks for running that experiment, Alci!

Did you have all of the bands enabled when the Multiband was loaded in? It’s still impressive how much cheaper it is compared to 3-EQ! And what you say about legacy effects makes sense. I think I’ll use another Multiband and only enable its Hi/Lo Pass options.

Thank you again!

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No, just one band, because I supposed in some cases you would use the 3-EQ only for one of its filter. But I should try the multiband with 3 bands enabled and see if that changes anything…

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Multiband EQ with 3 bands enabled (low shelf, peak, high shelf) is still cheaper than 3-EQ (less, though).

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That’s fantastic, thank you Alcibiade YET AGAIN! This may very well solve our CPU issues :smile:

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7

This thread helped us greatly. Thanks guys!

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