The “MID” and “TONE” EQ knobs are different in the Omni Channel EQ… More different than what is suggested in the manual.
The manual says:
The Mid and Tone sections are identical in the Narrow and Parametric modes. (incorrect!)
When the Wide bell shape is selected, the character of the two EQs diverges.
• Mid is a relatively wide, clean filter, best suited for enhancing the characteristic sound of the source.
• Tone is a bit narrower and can really help a source pop out of the track without too much EQ. Since it’s somewhat
smeary, it’s good for coloring and gluing a track together.
The mid & tone sections are not identical in the Narrow mode. Pushed to extremes, Tone:Narrow has a Q of 1.6 and Mid:Narrow has a Q of 2. They are same/similar at +12/+15db but they diverge at lower settings as well.
In the end, just use your ears, of course, but for anyone interested in the Q shapes as you dial through the EQs, I tested them incrementally and here are the results, with TONE on the left and MID on the right: (click the link below to see it in a table)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NQQd7ZU36w2dHn_QZw0_-_ZOsV2-67K2dY_4jJnE5sI/edit?usp=sharing
If I’m not mistaken – this behavior, especially in the MID eq, is similar (but not the same) as an API style EQ. Maybe they both are.
I did confirm that when set to P, both are identical.
My QUESTION would be:
What does Waves mean when they say “TONE is smeary, it’s good for coloring and gluing a track together”?
Can someone explain “smeary” to me, and give me an example of how to use this, hear it, and maybe even test for it?
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How Andrew Scheps himself describes the differences between Tone & Mid would also confirm what you say.
I’d say this was just and editing error as describing the Q characteristic of the LMF and HMF as being identical would be true in almost every other case. At least to my knowledge.
Good pickup, though!! And they should indeed fix it as it isnt accurate.
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Yes, I did thorough testing and I can confirm the Q setting is identical. I considered changing that to default just so I could trust the knobs to be the same…
Except I actually REALLY like the unique Q characteristics. Once I switched to Q – I switched back. They added those for a reason.
Now I just need to figure out the “smeary” aspect of TONE… What that means, and how to use it to my advantage.
Scheps Omni Channel got the HiDPI update today. I’m ECSTATIC about this! I use this plugin more than any other. They also made the extra-slot plugin open in a popup apparently which may be a big usability improvement… Can’t wait to try it!
My take on it is “smeary” means not as precise, it effects a broader range of frequencies. That’s reinforced by the lower Q value.
Andy calls it a Tone knob. I imagine he uses it to boost the low end weight in most of the sounds. You know, around that 200 - 250Hz, in some sounds, 500 - 600Hz in others. But if he needed to do some fine precision work then he had the full parametric option built in to enable that. Well that’s my take in it.
Quite well designed really. He comes across as a really intelligent, well informed dude… with a fascination for partial accelerators. 
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