MDynamicsLimiter - Audio software MeldaProduction - Free user manual and instructions

USER MANUAL MDynamicsLimiter MeldaProduction

MLimiter is a state-of-the-art mastering brickwall limiter that makes your recordings sound louder with minimum distortion and artifacts and best of all, you do not need to be a scientist to use it!

MLimiter is built on top of our MDynamics kernel, and its highly simplified user interface provides all the features you need to perform high-quality limiting quickly and easily.

Introduction

A brickwall limiter increases loudness by reducing the ratio between the average and peaks in the signal, however the dynamics of the audio material is always sacrificed. MLimiter is simple to use. Watch the gain reduction meter ("R") to the right, and manipulate the Threshold. Decreasing the threshold increases the output gain and allows limiting up to 0dB. Care is needed as this can cause severe distortions if not used correctly. In most cases you don't need to worry about the edit screen, just simply focus on the easy screen, with its simplified 4-knob interface.

Easy screen vs. Edit screen

The plugin provides 2 user interfaces - an easy screen and an edit screen. Use the Edit button to switch between the two.

By default most plugins open on the easy screen (edit button released). This screen is a simplified view of the plugin which provides just a few controls. On the left hand side of the plugin you can see the list of available devices / instruments (previously called 'active presets'), that is, presets with controls. These controls are actually nothing more than multiparameters (single knobs that can control one or more of the plug-in's parameters and sometimes known as Macro controls in other plug-ins) and are described in more detail later. Each device may provide different controls and usually is intended for a specific purpose. The easy screen is designed for you to be able to perform common tasks, quickly and easily, without the need to use the advanced settings (that is, those available on the Edit screen).

In most cases the devices are highlighted using different text colors. In some cases the colors only mark different types of processing, but in most cases the general rule is that black/white devices are the essential ones designed for general use. Green devices are designed for a specific task or audio materials, e.g. de-essing or processing vocals in a compressor plugin. Red devices usually provide some very special processing or some extreme or creative settings. In a distortion plugin, for example, these may produce an extremely distorted output. Blue devices require an additional input, a side-chain or MIDI input usually. Without these additional inputs these Blue presets usually do not function as intended. Please check your host's documentation about routing side-chain and MIDI into an effect plugin.

To the right of the controls are the meters or time-graphs for the plugin; the standard plugin Toolbar may be to the right of these or at the bottom of the plugin.

By clicking the Edit button you can switch the plugin to edit mode (edit button pushed). This mode provides all the of the features that the plugin offers. You lose no settings by toggling between edit mode and the easy screen unless you actually change something. This way you can easily check what is "under the hood" for each device, or start with an device and then tweak the plugin settings further.

Devices are factory specified and cannot be modified directly by users, however you can still make your own and store them as normal

presets. To do so, configure the plugin as desired, then define each multiparameter and specify its name in its settings. You can then switch to the easy screen and check the user interface that you have created. Once you are satisfied with it, save it as a normal preset while you are on the easy screen. Although your preset will not be displayed or selected in the list of available devices, the functionality will be exactly the same. For more information about multiparameters and devices please check the online video tutorials.

If you are an advanced designer, you can also view both the easy and edit screens at the same time. To do that, hold Ctrl key and press the Edit button.

Edit mode

Presets

Presets

Presets button shows a window with all available presets. A preset can be loaded from the preset window by double-clicking on it, selecting via the buttons or by using your keyboard. You can also manage the directory structure, store new presets, replace existing ones etc. Presets are global, so a preset saved from one project, can easily be used in another. The arrow buttons next to the preset button can be used to switch between presets easily.

Holding Ctrl while pressing the button loads a random preset. There must be some presets for this feature to work of course.

Presets can be backed up by 3 different methods:

A) Using "Backup" and "Restore" buttons in each preset window, which produces a single archive of all presets on the computer.

B) Using "Export/Import" buttons, which export a single folder of presets for one plugin.

C) By saving the actual preset files, which are found in the following directories (not recommended):

Windows: C:\Users{username}\AppData\Roaming\MeldaProduction

Mac OS X: /Library/Application support/MeldaProduction

Files are named based on the name of the plugin like this: " {pluginname}.presets", so for example MAutopan.presets or MDynamics.presets. If the directory cannot be found on your computer for some reason, you can just search for the particular file.

Please note that prior to version 16 a different format was used and the naming was "{pluginname}presets.xml". The plugin also supports an online preset exchange. If the computer is connected to the internet, the plugin connects to our server once a week, submits your presets and downloads new ones if available. This feature is manually maintained in order to remove generally unusable presets, so it may take some time before any submitted presets become available. This feature relies on each user so we strongly advise that any submitted presets be named and organised in the same way as the factory presets, otherwise they will be removed.

Left arrow

Left arrow button loads the previous preset.

Right arrow

Right arrow button loads the next preset.

Randomize

Randomize button loads a random preset.

Panic

Panic button resets the plugin state. You can use it to force the plugin to report latency to the host again and to avoid any audio problems. For example, some plugins, having a look-ahead feature, report the size of the look-ahead delay as latency, but it is inconvenient to do that every time the look-ahead changes as it usually causes the playback to stop. After you tweak the latency to the correct value, just click this button to sync the track in time with the others, minimizing phasing artifacts caused by the look-ahead delay mixing with undelayed audio signals in your host. It may also be necessary to restart playback in your host.

Another example is if some malfunctioning plugin generates extremely high values for the input of this plugin. A potential filter may start generating very high values as well and as a result the playback will stop. You can just click this button to reset the plugin and the playback will start again.

Settings

Settings

Settings button shows a menu with additional settings of the plugin. Here is a brief description of the separate items.

Licence manager lets you activate/deactivate the plugins and manage subscriptions. While you can simply drag & drop a licence file onto the plugin, in some cases there may be a faster way. For instance, you can enter your user account name and password and the plugin will do all the activating for you.

There are 4 groups of settings, each section has its own detailed help information: GUI & Style enables you to pick the GUI style for the plug-in and the main colours used for the background, the title bars of the windows and panels, the text and graphs area and the highlighting (used for enabled buttons, sliders, knobs etc).

Advanced settings configures several processing options for the plug-in.

Global system settings contains some settings for all MeldaProduction plugins. Once you change any of them, restart your DAW if needed, and it will affect all MeldaProduction plugins.

Dry/Wet affects determines, for Multiband plug-ins, which multiband parameters are affected by the Global dry/wet control.

Smart interpolation adjusts the interpolation algorithm used when changing parameter values; the higher the setting the higher the audio quality and the lower the chance of zippering noise, but more CPU will be used.

WWW

WWW button shows a menu with additional information about the plugin. You can check for updates, get easy access to support, MeldaProduction web page, video tutorials, Facebook/Twitter/YouTube channels and more.

Sleep indicator

Sleep indicator informs whether the plugin is currently active or in sleep mode. The plugin can automatically switch itself off to save CPU, when there is no input signal and the plugin knows it cannot produce any signal on its own and it generally makes sense. You can disable this in Settings / Intelligent sleep on silence both for individual instances and globally for all plugins on the system.

Plugin toolbar

Plugin toolbar provides some global features, A-H presets and more.

1x

Oversampling

Oversampling can potentially improve sound quality by processing at a higher sample rate. Processors such as compressors, saturators,

distortions etc., which employ nonlinear processing generate higher harmonics of the existing frequencies. If these frequencies exceed the Nyquist rate, which equals half of the sampling rate, they get mirrored back under the Nyquist rate. This is known as aliasing and is almost always considered an artifact. This is because the mirrored frequencies are no longer harmonic and sound as digital noise as this effect does not physically occur in nature. Oversampling reduces the problem by temporarily increasing the sampling rate. This moves the Nyquist frequency which in turn, diminishes the level of the aliased harmonics. Note that the point of oversampling is not to remove harmonics, we usually add them intentionally to make the signal richer, but to reduce or attenuate the harmonics with frequencies so high, that they just cannot be represented within the sampling rate.

To understand aliasing, try this experiment: Set the sampling rate in your host to 44100 Hz. Open MOscillator and select a "rectangle" or "full saw" waveform. These simple waveforms have lots of harmonics and without oversampling even they become highly aliased. Now select 16x oversampling and listen to the difference. If you again select 1x oversampling, you can hear that the audio signal gets extensively "dirty". If you use an analyzer (MAnalyzer or MEqualizer for example), you will clearly see how, without oversampling, the plugin generates lots of inharmonic frequencies, some of them which are even below the fundamental frequency. Here is another, very extreme example to demonstrate the result of aliasing. Choose a "sine" shape and activate 16x oversampling. Now use a distortion or some saturation to process the signal. It is very probable that you will be able to hear (or at least see in the analyzer) the aliased frequencies.

The plugin implements a high-quality oversampling algorithm, which essentially works like this: First the audio material is upsampled to a higher sampling rate using a very complicated filter. It is then processed by the plugin. Further filtering is performed in order to remove any frequencies above the Nyquist rate to prevent aliasing from occurring, and then the audio gets downsampled to the original sampling rate.

Oversampling also has several disadvantages of which you should be aware before you start using it. Firstly, upsampled processing induces latency (at least in high-quality mode, although you can select low-quality directly in this popup), which is not very usable in real time applications. Secondly, oversampling also takes much more CPU power, due to both the processing being performed at a higher sampling rate (for 16x oversampling at 44100 Hz, this equates to 706 kHz!), and the complex filtering. Finally, and most importantly, oversampling creates some artifacts of its own and for some algorithms processing at higher sampling rates can actually lower the audio quality, or at least change the sound character. Your ears should always be the final judge.

As always, use this feature ONLY if you can actually hear the difference. It is a common misconception that oversampling is a miraculous cure all that makes your audio sound better. That is absolutely not the case. Ideally, you should work in a higher sampling rate (96kHz is almost always enough), while limiting the use of oversampling to some heavily distorting processors.

Channel mode

Channel mode button shows the current processing channel mode, e.g. Left+Right (L+R) indicates the processing of left and right channels. This is the default mode for mono and stereo audio material and effectively processes the incoming signal as expected. However the plugin also provides additional modes, of which you may take advantage as described below. Mastering this feature will give you unbelievable options for controlling the stereo field.

Note that this is not relevant for mono audio tracks, because the host supplies only one input and output channel.

Left (L) mode and Right (R) mode allow the plugin to process just one channel, only the left or only the right. This feature has a number of simple uses. Equalizing only one channel allows you to fix spectral inconsistencies, when mids are lower in one channel for example. A kind of stereo expander can be produced by equalizing each side differently. Stereo expansion could also be produced by using a modulation effect, such as a vibrato or flanger, on one of these channels. Note however that the results would not be fully mono compatible.

Left and right channels can be processed separately with different settings, by creating two instances of the plugin in series, one set to 'L' mode and the other to 'R' mode. The instance in 'L' mode will not touch the right channel and vice versa. This approach is perfectly safe and is even advantageous, as both sides can be configured completely independently with both settings visible next to each other.

Mid (M) mode allows the plugin to process the so-called mid (or mono) signal. Any stereo signal can be transformed from left and right, to mid and side, and back again, with minimal CPU usage and no loss of audio quality. The mid channel contains the mono sum (or centre), which is the signal present in both left and right channels (in phase). The side channel contains the difference between the left and right channels, which is the "stereo" part. In 'M mode' the plugin performs the conversion into mid and side channels, processes mid, leaves side intact and converts the results back into the left and right channels expected by the host.

To understand what a mid signal is, consider using a simple gain feature, available in many plugins. Setting the plugin to M mode and decreasing gain, will actually lower or attenuate the mono content and the signal will appear "wider". There must be some stereo content present, this will not work for monophonic audio material placed in stereo tracks of course. Similarly amplifying the mono content by increasing the gain, will make the mono content dominant and the stereo image will become "narrower".

As well as a simple gain control there are various creative uses for this channel mode.

Using a compressor on the mid channel can widen the stereo image, because in louder parts the mid part gets attenuated and the stereo becomes more prominent. This is a good trick to make the listener focus on an instrument whenever it is louder, because a wider stereo image makes the listener feel that the origin of the sound is closer to, or even around them.

A reverb on the mid part makes the room appear thin and distant. It is a good way to make the track wide due to the existing stereo content, yet spacey and centered at the same time. Note that since this effect does not occur naturally, the result may sound artificial on its own, however it may help you fit a dominant track into a mix.

An equalizer gives many possibilities - for example, the removal of frequencies that are colliding with those on another track. By processing only the mid channel you can keep the problematic frequencies in the stereo channel. This way it is possible to actually fit both tracks into the same part of the spectrum - one occupying the mid (centre) part of the signal, physically appearing further away from the listener, the other occupying the side part of the signal, appearing closer to the listener.

Using various modulation effects can vary the mid signal, to make the stereo signal less correlated. This creates a wider stereo image and makes the audio appear closer to the listener.

Side (S) mode is complementary to M mode, and allows processing of only the side (stereo) part of the signal leaving the mid intact.

The same techniques as described for M mode can also be applied here, giving the opposite results.

Using a gain control with positive gain will increase the width of the stereo image.

A compressor can attenuate the side part in louder sections making it more monophonic and centered, placing the origin a little further away and in front of the listener.

A reverb may extend the stereo width and provide some natural space without affecting the mid content. This creates an interesting side-effect - the reverb gets completely cancelled out when played on a monophonic device (on a mono radio for example). With stereo processing you have much more space to place different sounds in the mix. However when the audio is played on a monophonic system it becomes too crowded, because what was originally in two channels is now in just one and mono has a very limited capability for 2D placement. Therefore getting rid of the reverb in mono may be advantageous, because it frees some space for other instruments.

An equalizer can amplify some frequencies in the stereo content making them more apparent and since they psycho acoustically become closer to the listener, the listener will be focused on them. Conversely, frequencies can be removed to free space for other instruments in stereo.

A saturator / exciter may make the stereo richer and more appealing by creating higher harmonics without affecting the mid channel, which could otherwise become crowded.

Modulation effects can achieve the same results as in mid mode, but this will vary a lot depending on the effect and the audio material. It can be used in a wide variety of creative ways.

Mid+Side (M+S) lets the plugin process both mid and side channels together using the same settings. In many cases there is no difference to L+R mode, but there are exceptions.

A reverb applied in M+S mode will result in minimal changes to the width of the stereo field (unless it is true-stereo, in which case mid will affect side and vice versa), it can be used therefore, to add depth without altering the width.

A compressor in M+S mode can be a little harder to understand. It basically stabilizes the levels of the mid and side channels. When channel linking is disabled in the compressor, you can expect some variations in the sound field, because the compressor will attenuate the louder channel (usually the mid), changing the stereo width depending on the audio level. When channel linking is enabled, a compressor will usually react similarly to the L+R channel mode.

Exciters or saturators are both nonlinear processors, their outputs depend on the level of the input, so the dominant channel (usually mid) will be saturated more. This will usually make the stereo image slightly thinner and can be used as a creative effect.

How to modify mid and side with different settings? The answer is the same as for the L and R channels. Use two instances of the plugin one after another, one in M mode, the other in S mode. The instance in M mode will not change the side channel and vice versa.

Left+Right(neg) (L+R-) mode is the same as L+R mode, but the right channel's phase will be inverted. This may come in handy if the L and R channels seem out of phase. When used on a normal track, it will force the channels out of phase. This may sound like an extreme stereo expansion, but is usually extremely fatiguing on the ears. It is also not mono compatible - on a mono device the track will probably become almost silent. Therefore be advised to use this only if the channels are actually out of phase or if you have some creative intent.

There are also 4 subsidiary modes: Left & zero Right (L(R0)), Right & zero Left (R(L0)), Mid & zero Side (M(S0)) and Side & zero Mid (S(M0)). Each of these processes one channel and silences the other.

Surround mode is not related to stereo processing but lets the plugin process up to 8 channels, depending on how many the host supplies. For VST2 plugins you have to first activate surround processing using the Activate surround item in the bottom. This is a global switch for all MeldaProduction plugins, which configures them to report 8in-8out capabilities to the host, on loading. It is disabled by default, because some hosts have trouble dealing with such plugins. After activation, restart your host to start using the surround capabilities of the plugins. Deactivation is done in the same way. Please note that all input and output busses will be multi-channel, that includes side-chain for example. For VST3/AU/AAX plugins the activation is not necessary.

First place the plugin on a surround track - a track that has more than 2 channels. Then select Surround from the plug-in's Channel Mode menu. The plugins will regard this mode as a natural extension of 2 channel processing. For example, a compressor will process each channel separately or measure the level by combining the levels of all of the inputs provided. Further surround processing properties, to enable/disable each channel or adjust its level, can be accessed via the Surround settings in the menu.

Ambisonics mode provides support for the modern 3D systems (mostly cinema and VR) with up to 64 channels (ambisonics 7th order). Support for this is still quite rare among the DAWs, so this needs to be activated in all DAWs using the Activate ambisonics item in the bottom. This is a global switch for all MeldaProduction plugins, which configures them to report 64in-64out capabilities to the host, on loading. After activation, restart your host to start using the ambisonics capabilities of the plugins. Deactivation is done in the same way. Please note that all input and output busses will be multi-channel, that includes side-chain for example.

First place the plugin on an ambisonics track, supported are all orders from 1st (4 channels) to 7th (64 channels). Then select

Ambisonics from the plug-in's Channel Mode menu. Finally select the Ambisonics settings in the menu and configure the Ambisonics order and other settings if needed. The plugins will regard this mode as a natural extension of 2 channel processing. For example, a compressor will process each channel separately or measure the level by combining the levels of all of the inputs provided.

AGC

AGC button enables or disables the automatic gain control - the automatic adjustment of the output volume such that it matches the input volume. Human hearing is very adaptable. In fact differences in loudness, for example when loading a preset, may go unnoticed and instead be perceived by the listener as "better sounding", leading to a misjudgement. This feature should prevent this effect, thus allowing the listener to focus on the sonic qualities only.

AGC works by measuring input and output loudness, and then compensating for the difference while also taking into account any induced latency. The loudness measurement follows the ITU and EBU specifications with an RMS of 400ms, meaning that the reaction

time is 400ms. This is very important, as you should be aware that AGC needs time to properly adjust after any change of settings. Also note that this is a nonlinear operation. It may cause some distortion due to the long measurement time. It should be negligible though.

AGC makes sense in most applications including reverberation and equalization for example. However, in some cases it can work against the plugin. A simple example of this is a tremolo, where the plugin manipulates output volume. If the tremolo rate is slow enough, say 1Hz, it makes the period longer than the actual AGC measurement time. So whenever the tremolo changes audio level, the AGC starts compensating for it. This can of course be used creatively, since AGC will always be a little "late", but it is definitely not a desired outcome in normal use.

Another example of this is compression. When used with short attack and release times, AGC can effectively compensate for the attenuation of the compressor. However when the attack and release times are higher than 100ms, the compressor's reaction time becomes too slow, and in conjunction with AGC, severe pumping can occur.

As a general rule of thumb as for all audio processing tasks, use it only if you know you need it. AGC is a powerful tool that can make your workflow easier, but it can also be damaging.

Set

Set

Set button uses the AGC (automatic gain compensation) processor to calculate the ideal output gain to ensure that the output audio loudness is equal to the input level. To use it, simply enable playback in your host and click the button. The plugin's output gain will be adjusted to match the input and output levels as closely as possible.

If the AGC is already enabled, the change will be instant and you can disable the AGC afterwards. Typically you will browse presets, generate random settings etc. During the entire time you will have AGC enabled to prevent you from experiencing different output loudness levels. When you find a sonically ideal setup, you simply click the Set button to set the output gain automatically and disable the AGC as you won't need it anymore.

If the AGC is not already enabled, clicking the Set button displays a window with progress bar for a few seconds, while the plugin temporarily enables AGC and analyses input and output of the plugin. After that the AGC is disabled again.

To get the best results, you should feed the plugin with some "universal" signal. If you are processing a specific instrument, play a typical part, a chorus in case of vocals for example. If you are creating presets designed for general use, white/pink noise may be the best signal to use.

Diff

Diff

Diff button lets you audition the difference between input and output. This is especially useful for dynamic processors, such as compressors, where you can simply listen to the parts being modified. The output may give you insight about which parts of the signal are being processed and how.

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

A-H presets selector

A-H presets selector controls the current A-H preset. This allows the plugin to store up to 8 sets of settings, including those parameters that cannot be automated or modulated. However it does not include channel mode, oversampling and potentially some other global controls available from the Settings/Settings menu.

For example, this feature can be used to keep multiple settings, when you are not sure about the ideal configuration When you change any parameter, only the currently selected preset is modified.

The four buttons below enable you to switch between the last 2 selected sets using the A/B button, morph between the first 4 sets using the morphing button and copy & paste settings from one preset to another (via the clipboard).

It is also possible to switch between the presets using MIDI program change messages sent from your host. The set selected depends on the Program Change number: 0 selects A, 7 selects H, 8 selects A, 15 selects H and so on.

A/B

A/B

A/B button switches between the active and previously active A-H preset (not necessarily the A and B presets themselves). To compare any 2 of the A-H presets, select one and then the other. Clicking this button will then switch between these two. You can do the same thing by clicking on the particular presets, but this makes it easier, letting you close your eyes and just listen.

□□ □□

Morph

Morph button lets you morph between the A, B, C and D settings. Morphing only affects those parameters that can be automated or modulated; that does include most of the parameters however. When you click this button, an X/Y graph is shown allowing you to drag the position indicator to any position between the letters A, B, C and D. The closer you drag the indicator to one of the letters, the closer the actual settings are to that preset.

Please note that this will overwrite and change the preset that is currently selected, so it is best to select a new preset e.g. 'E', then use the morphing method. This way you will define the settings for A, B, C and D, morph between them, and store the result in 'E' without any modification of the original A, B, C and D presets.

Please note that the ABCD morphing itself cannot be automated and that, while morphing, the changes to the underlying parameters

are not notified to the host (there may be hundreds of change events).

Copy

Copy button copies the current settings to the system clipboard. Other presets, oversampling, channel mode and other global settings are not copied.

Hold Ctrl to save the settings as a file instead. That may be necessary for complex settings, which may be too long for system clipboard to handle. It may also be advantageous when you want to send the settings via email. You can load the settings by drag & dropping them to a plugin or holding Ctrl and clicking Paste.

Paste

Paste button pastes settings from the system clipboard into the current preset. Hold Ctrl to load the settings from a file instead. Hold Shift to paste the settings to all of the A-H slots at once.

Undo

Undo button reverts the last change. Only changes to automatable or modulatable parameters and global settings (load/randomize) are stored.

Redo

Redo button reverts the last undo operation.

WAV

WAV button lets you process a file using the plugin with current settings. You can either click the button and select a file, or drag & drop the file (or multiple files) onto the button. If you let the plugin process WAV files, these will be saved with the original settings. If you use a different file type (such as MP3), the plugin will create WAV files with 32-bit bits-per-sample floating point.

Please note that the files will be overwritten, so make a copy first if you want to keep the original.

Collapse

Collapse button minimizes or enlarges the panel to release space for other editors.

INPUT

-10.00 dB

Input gain

Input gain defines gain applied to the incoming signal. If you set the ratio to 1:1 and custom shape is disabled, then the plug-in works simply as a fast gain processor.

Range: -24.00 dB to +24.00 dB, default 0.00 dB

CEILING

-0.50 dB

Ceiling

Ceiling defines gain applied to the output signal after the saturation. Therefore this defines the maximum level that the output can reach. Range: -24.00 dB to 0.00 dB, default 0.00 dB

THRESHOLD

-10.0 dB

Threshold

Threshold determines the minimum signal level above which the compression effect starts to apply. Range: -80.0 dB to 0.00 dB, default 0.00 dB

KNEE SIZE

100.0%

Knee size

Knee size defines size of the knee.

Range: 0.00% to 100.0%, default 100.0%

Advanced panel

Advanced panel contains more advanced parameters defining how the plug-in determines the level of the source signal, dynamic shape transformation etc.

Settings

Settings

Settings button shows additional dynamics detector settings.

Advanced settings

Advanced settings contains more esoteric and advanced settings of the level detector. These include various kinds of detector signal pre-processing, attack & release responses and custom shapes, etc.

Signal level detector

True hold

True hold

True hold enables the true peak hold algorithm. When disabled, hold is implemented using a special filter which catches peaks

and maximizes the level detector signal input by those peaks. In time the peaks decrease in level according to the hold parameter. This is effective, requires almost no CPU and memory is required, but it is also inaccurate. For example, since the peaks are not keeping their levels, it cannot be used along with the look-ahead feature to avoid distortion in limiters.

True hold, on the other hand, implements the fastest currently-known algorithm to provide the true peak hold response; this does not decay in time and correctly tracks peaks. The typical use in limiters, for example, is to use the same hold and look-ahead values - the look-ahead gives the limiter time and hold tracks the highest peaks ahead of the actual dynamic processing. This can highly improve the audio quality by removing unwanted distortion.

Psycho-acoustic prefiltering

Psycho-acoustic prefiltering

Psycho-acoustic prefiltering enables the loudness estimation pre-filtering processor. When disabled, the level detector reacts to the input level of the incoming signal. This is the traditional way, but it has nothing to do with human hearing, which reacts differently to different frequencies - our ears hear the different frequencies of equal loudness at different levels, being most sensitive to sounds between 2 and 5 kHz, (see the Fletcher-Munson curves, which are one of many sets of equal-loudness contours for the human ear) Psycho-acoustic pre-filtering pre-processes the level detection signal in a similar way to human hearing - it attenuates those frequencies we do not hear well and amplifies frequencies that we do. That way the level detector starts responding to what we actually hear, not to some sort of scientific signal as it usually does.

This feature is disabled by default simply because most users are not used to working with this feature, but it is perfectly safe to use it. However, do not use it with limiters, where you want to remove the peaks, hence you are not focussed on human hearing, but rather are dealing with the technological problems in digital and analog audio.

Spectral smoothing

Spectral smoothing

Spectral smoothing enables special pre-processing of the level detector signal, aiming to further reduce distortion, especially with low attack values. This feature attempts to make the signal smoother by applying a complex filtering, which does not change the frequency levels. By doing so, you may expect a slower detector response. Limiters need to be extremely quick, hence it is not appropriate for them.

Super-fast attack

Super-fast attack

Super-fast attack ensures the level will never go below the threshold, allowing the dynamic processor to react as quickly as possible, even if attack time is higher than 0ms. This is specifically designed for compression and is incompatible with gating and any downwards processing. Note that if you use a soft knee, you may expect gain reduction even if the audio level is very low, or even silence for that matter.

Envelope detector

Attack shape

Fast

◀ ▶

Attack

shape

Attack shape controls the shape of the attack stage. The shape mainly affects the ratio between pumping and distortion, which simply cannot be avoided. Please note that the attack time parameter is quite dependent upon the mode, so you may expect differences in the actual attack time for different modes of the Attack shape.

Slow modes usually produce more pumping, but less distortion, as the detected level follows the input level more slowly. Conversely Fast modes reduce pumping, but cause more distortion. The type of the distortion is different between modes. You may actually profit from the distortion caused by some modes as the generated higher harmonics may enhance the audio. The default Fast mode provides a good compromise between distortion and pumping.

There are also 2 custom modes available. With these modes you can actually draw the shape. Note that what you draw is NOT what you get. The custom shape graph converts the difference between the input level and the current detected level (as

represented by the X-axis) into the speed of level detection (as represented by the Y-axis).

For example, if you set the graph to show 100% across the X axis, then the results will be similar to the Slow mode. As the graph is flat, the speed of the detector is the same for all differences between the input and detected levels. If you then move the point on the right upwards to say 400%, it will mean that, if there is a big difference in the levels (a high X value), the detected level will follow the input level 400% faster than it normally would. The closer the detected level gets to the current audio level (a lower X value), the slower the change in the detected level. Similarly, if you take the point on the left and move it downwards to 0%, it will slow down the change to the detected level as it approaches the audio level (a low X value).

Release shape

Medium

Release

shape

Release shape controls the shape of the release stage. The shape affects the ratio between pumping and distortion, which simply cannot be avoided. Please note that the release time parameter is quite dependent on the mode, so you may expect differences in actual release time for different modes of the Release shape.

Slow modes usually producemore pumping, but less distortion, as the detected level follows the input level more slowly. Conversely Fast modes reduce pumping, but cause more distortion. The type of the distortion is different between modes. You may actually profit from the distortion caused by some modes as the generated higher harmonics may enhance the audio. The default Fast mode provides a good compromise between distortion and pumping.

There are also 2 custom modes available. With these modes you can actually draw the shape. Please note that what you draw is NOT what you get. The custom shape graph converts the difference between the input level and the current detected level (as represented by the X-axis) into the speed of level detection (as represented by the Y-axis).

For example, if you set the graph to show 100% across the X axis, then the results will be similar to the Slow mode. As the graph is flat, the speed of the detector is the same for all differences between the input and detected levels. If you then move the point on the right upwards to say 400%, it will mean that, if there is a big difference in the levels (a high X value), the detected level will follow the input level 400% faster than it normally would. The closer the detected level gets to the current audio level (a lower X value), the slower the change in the detected level. Similarly, if you take the point on the left and move it downwards to 0%, it will slow down the change to the detected level as it approaches the audio level (a low X value).

CUSTOM ATTACK SHAPE

Custom attack shape

Envelope graph

Envelope graph provides an extremely advanced way to edit any kind of shape that you can imagine. An envelope has a potentially unlimited number of points, connected by several types of curves with adjustable curvature (drag the dot in the middle of each arc) and the surroundings of each point can also be automatically smoothed using the smoothness (horizontal pull rod) control. You can also literally draw the shape in drawing mode (available via the main context menu).

• Left mouse button can be used to select points. If there is a point, you can move it (or the entire selection) by dragging it. If there is a curvature circle, you can set up its tension by dragging it. If there is a line, you can drag both edge points of it. If there is a smoothing controller, you can drag its size. Hold Shift to drag more precisely. Hold Ctrl to create a new point and to remove any points above or below.
• Left mouse button double click can be used to create a new point. If there is a point, it will be removed instead. If there is a curvature circle, zero tension will be set. If there is a smoothing controller, zero size will be set.
• Right mouse button shows a context menu relevant to the object under the cursor or to the entire selection. Hold Ctrl to create or remove any points above or below.
• Middle mouse button drag creates a new point and removes any points above or below. It is the same as holding Ctrl and dragging using left mouse button.
• Mouse wheel over a point modifies its smoothing controller. If no point is selected, then all points are modified.
• Ctrl+A selects all points. Delete deletes all selected points.

Envelope graph menu

Envelope graph menu provides additional features which are used to edit the graph. Open the menu using right mouse button in the graph. Please note that if you select some points in the graph, or click on a point for example, the menu will be different and will cover only those features related to the selected set of points.

Presets

Presets

Presets button displays a window where you can load and manage available presets. Hold Ctrl when clicking to load a random preset instead.

Left arrow

Left arrow button loads the previous preset.

Right arrow

Right arrow button loads the next preset.

Randomize

Randomize button loads a random preset.

Copy

Copy button copies the settings onto the system clipboard.

Paste

Paste button loads the settings from the system clipboard.

Random

Random button generates random settings using the existing presets.

Snap to grid X activates the snap to grid feature. Alternatively you can press Alt while dragging a point or selection.

Snap button activates the snap to grid feature. Alternatively you can press Alt while dragging a point or selection.

Insert points

Insert point

Insert point button creates a point at mouse position.

Step sequencer

Step sequencer

Step sequencer button generates the envelope from step sequencer.

Clear points

Clear points

Clear points button deletes all points.

Randomize

Randomize

Randomize button slightly modifies the Y coordinates.

Mirror X

Mirror X

Mirror X button inverts the X coordinates of all points.

Mirror Y

Mirror Y

Mirror Y button inverts the Y coordinates of all points.

Export CSV

Export CSV

Export CSV feature lets you export the graph to a CSV file. CSV file is a simple text format, which has multiple lines with X and Y coordinates delimited by ';' For example:

0.275;0.2

0.438:0.5

0.775;0.67

Import CSV

Import CSV

Import CSV feature lets you select a CSV file and imports the graph points from it. CSV file is a simple text format, which has multiple lines with X and Y coordinates delimited by ';' For example:

0.275;0.2

0.438;0.5

0.775;0.67

Expression evaluator

Expression evaluator

Expression evaluator lets you generate points based on a mathematic formula. The only input variable is 'x', so as an example you may write 'ln(x^3 + 1) - sin(x*x)'.

Expression evaluator uses traditional C/C++ style formatting, which is natural for most people. It provides arithmetics, logical and conditional operators. Following terms are supported:

Constants: pi, e, sqrt2, ln2

Arithmetic operators:

-a inverts the sign, e.g. "-x" produces +2 for x=-2

a+b = addition

a-b = subtraction

a*b = multiplication

a/b = division

a%b = modulo, remainder after division

a^b = power, e.g. "2^3" produces 2*2*2 = 8

Arithmetic functions:

min(a,b) = minimum of both values

max(a,b) = maximum of both values

limit(a,min,max) = a limited into the interval min..max

to01(a,min,max) = converts "a" as min..max to 0..1

from01(a,min,max) = converts "a" as 0..1 to min..max

tom11(a,min,max) = converts "a" as min..max to -1..1

fromm11(a,min,max) = converts "a" as -1..1 to min..max

Basic mathematic functions: abs(x) = absolute value , e.g. abs(-3) = 3 sqr(x) = xx sqrt(x) = square root exp(x) = natural exponential e^x ln(x) = natural logarithm log10(x) = logarithm with base 10 log(x, base) = logarithm with specified base inv(x) = 1/x sgn(x) = sign of x, -1 or 0 or +1 depending on xx round(x) = rounding to the nearest value floor(x) = rounding to the nearest lower value, e.g. floor(-2.3) = -3 ceil(x) = rounding to the nearest higher value, e.g. ceil(-2.3) = -2 rand(x) = random value from 0 to x

Functions for specific units:

f01(a) = converts "a" as frequency from 20...20000 into log scale 0..1

ffrom01(a) = converts "a" as 0..1 (log scale) to frequency from 20...20000

todb(a) = converts "a" as multiplier to dB value by calculating "20*log10(a)"

fromdb(a) = converts "a" as dB value to multiplier by calculating "10^(a/20)"

Trigonometric functions: sin(x), asin(x), cos(x), acos(x), tan(x), atan(x), sinh(x), cosh(x), tanh(x)

Logical operators:

a==b = comparison producing 1 if "a" and "b" are equal, 0 otherwise

a!=b = comparison producing 1 if "a" and "b" are NOT equal, 0 otherwise

a<b = comparison producing 1 if "a" is lower than "b", 0 otherwise

a<=b = comparison producing 1 if "a" is lower or equal to "b", 0 otherwise

a>b = comparison producing 1 if "a" is greater than "b", 0 otherwise

a>=b = comparison producing 1 if "a" is greater or equal to "b", 0 otherwise

!a = logical negation, 0 produces 1, 0 otherwise

a&&b = logical AND, produces 1 if both "a" and "b" are nonzero
a||b = logical OR, produces 1 if any of "a" and "b" are nonzero
a^^b = logical XOR, produces 1 if "a" and "b" are logically different
a ? b : c = if a is nonzero, then the result is b, otherwise it is c

Analyse audio

Analyse audio

Analyse audio lets you analyse a portion of an audio file at specified intervals, extract its level envelope and use those levels to construct the graph's curve.

Curvature

Integral curvature

Integral curvature

Integral curvature makes the multi-curvature modes such as rectangles always have an integral number of items, e.g. 1, 2, 3, ... rectangles. If you disable this, it will be also possible to have for example 2.3 rectangles, which will however cause a discontinuity.

Smoothing

Lock sides

Lock sides

Lock sides makes the smoothing factor equal on both sides.

Proportional

Proportional

Proportional makes the smoothing area size defined by the smaller side.

Faster smoothing

Faster smoothing

Faster smoothing enables slightly faster algorithm, which can however often cause unnecessary curving.

CUSTOM RELEASE SHAPE ?

Custom release shape

Envelope graph

Envelope graph provides an extremely advanced way to edit any kind of shape that you can imagine. An envelope has a potentially unlimited number of points, connected by several types of curves with adjustable curvature (drag the dot in the middle of each arc) and the surroundings of each point can also be automatically smoothed using the smoothness (horizontal pull rod) control. You can also literally draw the shape in drawing mode (available via the main context menu).

- Left mouse button can be used to select points. If there is a point, you can move it (or the entire selection) by dragging it. If there is a curvature circle, you can set up its tension by dragging it. If there is a line, you can drag both edge points of it. If there

is a smoothing controller, you can drag its size. Hold Shift to drag more precisely. Hold Ctrl to create a new point and to remove any points above or below.

• Left mouse button double click can be used to create a new point. If there is a point, it will be removed instead. If there is a curvature circle, zero tension will be set. If there is a smoothing controller, zero size will be set.
• Right mouse button shows a context menu relevant to the object under the cursor or to the entire selection. Hold Ctrl to create or remove any points above or below.
• Middle mouse button drag creates a new point and removes any points above or below. It is the same as holding Ctrl and dragging using left mouse button.
• Mouse wheel over a point modifies its smoothing controller. If no point is selected, then all points are modified.
• Ctrl+A selects all points. Delete deletes all selected points.

ATTACK

0 ms

Attack

Attack defines the attack time, that is how quickly the level detector increases the measured input level. When the input peak level is higher than the current level measured by the detector, the detector moves into the attack mode, in which the measured level is increased depending on the input signal. The higher the input signal, or the shorter the attack time, the faster the measured level rises. Once the measured level exceeds the Threshold then the dynamics processing (compression, limiting, gating) will start.

There must be a reasonable balance between attack and release times. If the attack is too long compared to the release, the detector will tend to keep the measured level low, because the release would cause that level to fall too quickly. In most cases you may expect the attack time to be shorter than the release time.

To understand the working of a level detector, it is best to cover the typical cases:

In a compressor the attack time controls how quickly the measured level moves above the threshold and the processor begins compressing. As a result, a very short attack time will compress even the beginning transient of a snare drum for example, hence it would remove the punch. With a very long attack time the measured level may not even reach the threshold, so the compressor may not do anything.

In a limiter the attack becomes a very sensitive control, defining how much of the signal is limited and how much of it becomes saturated/clipped. If the attack time is very short, limiting starts very quickly and the limiter catches most peaks itself and reduces them, providing lower distortion, but can cause pumping. On the other hand, a higher attack setting (typically above 1ms) will let most peaks through the limiter to the subsequent in-built clipper or saturator, which causes more distortion of the initial transient, but less pumping.

In a gate the situation is similar to a compressor - the attack time controls how quickly the measured level can rise above the threshold at which point the gate opens. In this case you will usually need very low attack times, so that the gate reacts quickly enough. The inevitable distortion can then be avoided using look-ahead and hold parameters.

In a modulator, the detector is driving other parameters, a filter cut-off frequency for example, and the situation really depends on the target. If you want the detector to react quickly on the input level rising, use a shorter attack time; if you want it to follow the flow of the input signal slowly, use longer attack and release times.

Range: 0 ms to 100 ms, default 0 ms

RELEASE

1.0 ms

Release

Release defines the release time, that is how quickly the level detector decreases the measured input level. The shorter the release time, the faster the response is. Once the attack stage has been completed, when the input peak level is lower than the current level measured by the detector, the detector moves into the release mode, in which the measured level is decreased depending on the input signal. The lower the input signal, or the shorter the release time, the faster the measured level drops. Once the measured level falls under the Threshold then the dynamics processing (compression, limiting, gating) will stop.

There must be a reasonable balance between attack and release times. If the attack is too long compared to release, the detector would tend to keep the level low, because release would cause the level to fall too quickly. Hence in most cases you may expect the attack time to be shorter than the release time.

To understand the working of a level detector, it is best to cover the typical cases:

In a compressor the release time controls how quickly the measured level falls below the threshold and the compression stops. As a result a very short release time makes the compressor stop quickly, for example, leaving the sustain of a snare drum intact. On the other hand, a very long release keeps the compression working longer, hence it is useful to stabilize the levels.

In a limiter the release time keeps the measured level above the limiter threshold causing the gain reduction. Having a very long release time in this case doesn't make sense as the limiter would be working continuously and the effect would be more or less the same as simply decreasing the input gain manually. However too short a release time lets the limiter stop too quickly, which usually causes distortion as the peaks through the limiter to the subsequent in-built clipper or saturator. Hence release time is used to avoid distortion at the expense of decreasing the output level.

In a gate the situation is similar to a compressor - the release time controls how quickly the measured level can fall below the threshold at which point the gate closes. Having a longer release time in a gate is a perfectly acceptable option. The release time will basically

control how much of the sound's sustain will pass.

In a modulator, the detector is driving other parameters, a filter cut-off frequency for example, and the situation really depends on the target. If you want the detector to react quickly on the input level falling, use a shorter release time; if you want it to follow the flow of the input signal slowly, use longer attack and release times.

Range: 1.0 ms to 500 ms, default 1.0 ms

PEAK HOLD

0.50 ms

Peak hold

Peak hold defines the time that signal level detector holds its maximum before the release stage is allowed to start. As an example, you can imagine that when an attack stage ends there can be an additional peak hold stage and the level is not yet falling, before the release stage starts. This is true only when true peak mode is enabled (check the advanced detector settings if available).

It is often used in gates to avoid the gated level falling below the threshold too quickly, while having short release times. If you want the gate to close quickly, you need a short release time. But in that case the ending may be too abrupt and even cause some distortion. So you use the peak hold to delay the release stage.

It is also used along with look-ahead to avoid distortion in limiters and compressors. If you need a very short attack, the attack stage may be too quick and cause distortions. In limiters this attack time is often 0ms, in which case it becomes a clipper. Setting look-ahead and peak hold to the same value will make the detector move ahead in time, so that it can react to attack stages before they actually occur and yet hold the levels for the actual signal to come.

Range: 0 ms to 50 ms, default 0 ms

LOOK-AHEAD

100.0%

Look-ahead

Look-ahead delays the actual signal being processed, but keeps the detector signal intact. This makes the processor use a signal that has not actually arrived for dynamic calculation. This allows the processor to respond even faster, in fact, ahead of time. This feature is useful for mastering, however it naturally induces latency.

Look-ahead can be available in milliseconds (with obvious meaning) or in percentages. In percentages the look-ahead delay is computed automatically based on the attack and hold times. For example, if look-ahead is 100%, attack time 2ms and peak hold 10ms, then the look-ahead is 10ms; 60% look-ahead would be 7.2ms. If the look-ahead is simply an on/off switch, then it is toggling between 0% and 100% values.

Before using look-ahead, you should understand what such a feature does exactly as the results can potentially be damaging to your audio. Look-ahead basically moves the signal back in time, in other words its signal detector measures the input levels ahead of time. This means that when the detector is in the attack stage, the level is rising, the actual signal is not rising yet, but it will do so soon. However, the same applies to the release stage! When the detector moves to the release stage, the actual signal is not falling yet. This can lead to very strange artifacts (which can be used creatively of course).

The common way to fix this is to set the release time considerably higher than the attack time. In this way, the level will rise ahead of time in the attack stage, and same will happen for the release stage and the level will go down, however, since the level is falling slowly, the look-ahead will not be that relevant.

Another option is to use the peak hold feature. It is highly recommended to enable true hold in the advanced detector settings if available. Essentially this feature maximizes the input level over a certain period of time. So for example, if you set look-ahead to 5ms and peak hold to 5ms as well, the actual signal will arrive 5ms later than the detector signal, however the peak hold feature will ensure that the detector holds the highest peaks for 5ms, so the attack stage will be ahead of time, but the release will not! You can consider it a form of latency compensation for the release stage.

Look-ahead is commonly used in limiters along with very low (often 0ms) attack times to avoid distortion. With 0ms attack time the limiter is immediately following the input and when the level gets above 0dB, it turns it down to 0dB, so the attack stage is effectively being clipped. To avoid distortion produced by this effect, you can increase look-ahead and peak hold to the same value, say 1ms. As a result the attack stage occurs before it actually occurs, so the distortion is still present, but in much lower levels and usually is masked by the forthcoming transient.

Range: 0.00% to 400.0%, default 100.0%

Mode

Logarithmic

Mode

Mode affects the processing shape. The plug-in features special non-linear transfer shapes which affect the way the signal is processed. Logarithmic produces classic dynamic processing where a signal exceeding the threshold by 10dB at a compression ratio of 2:1 produces 5dB attenuation in output level. In this same scenario, Squared mode produces a slightly greater output attenuation of 6.4dB and Linear mode produces a still greater value of 7.5dB. Thus, Squared and Linear modes produce progressively more compression / expansion. There is no compromise in sound quality between the different modes. Comparing the three modes, Linear mode requires the least amount of CPU power, and Logarithmic the most.

Character

Clean

Character

Character defines the sound character. Crisp provides sharper results with some amount of saturation. Clean usually provides more transparent results.

Saturation panel

Saturation panel contains parameters of the saturation processor performed after the limiting. Saturation can smoothen the result adding some higher harmonics and generally increase the overall loudness even more, however it distorts the signal too.

DRY/WET

0.00%

Dry/Wet

Dry/Wet defines the ratio between dry and saturated signal.

Range: 0.00% to 100.0%, default 0.00%

THRESHOLD

silence

Threshold

Threshold determines the minimal signal level above which the saturation starts to apply.

Range: silence to 0.00 dB, default silence

Mode

Soft 1

Mode

Mode defines the saturation shape. Generally the later modes are more "crunchy".

Global

meter view

Global meter view provides a powerful metering system. If you do not see it in the plug-in, click the Meters or Meters & Utilities button to the right of the main controls. The display can work as either a classical level indicator or, in time graph mode, show one or more values in time. Use the first button to the left of the display to switch between the 2 modes and to control additional settings, including pause, disable and pop up the display into a floating window. The meter always shows the actual channels being processed, thus in M/S mode, it shows mid and side channels.

In the classical level indicators mode each of the meters also shows the recent maximum value. Click on any one of these values boxes to reset them all.

In meter indicates the total input level. The input meter shows the audio level before any specific processing (except potential oversampling and other pre-processing). It is always recommended to keep the input level under 0dB. You may need to adjust the previous processing plugins, track levels or gain stages to ensure that it is achieved.

As the levels approach 0dB, that part of the meters is displayed with red bars. And recent peak levels are indicated by single bars.

Out meter indicates the total output level. The output meter is the last item in the processing chain (except potential downsampling and other post-processing). It is always recommended to keep the output under 0dB.

As the levels approach 0dB, that part of the meters is displayed with red bars. And recent peak levels are indicated by single bars.

R meter shows gain reduction for each channel. Negative values, running down from the top, mean that compression or limiting is occurring. The lower the value, the stronger the effect. For maximum transparency you should try to achieve the least amount of gain reduction. Expansion is not indicated in this meter.

Width meter shows the stereo width at the output stage. This meter requires at least 2 channels and therefore does not work in mono mode. Stereo width meter basically shows the difference between the mid and side channels.

When the value is 0%, the output is monophonic. From 0% to 66% there is a green range, where most audio materials should remain. From 66% to 100% the audio is very stereophonic and the phase coherence may start causing problems. This range is colored blue. You may still want to use this range for wide materials, such as background pads. It is pretty common for mastered tracks to lie on the edge of green and blue zones.

Above 100% the side signal exceeds the mid signal, therefore it is too monophonic or the signal is out of phase. This is marked using red color. In this case you should consider rotating the phase of the left or right channels or lowering the side signal, otherwise the audio will be highly mono-incompatible and can cause fatigue even when played back in stereo.

For most audio sources the width is fluctuating quickly, so the meter shows a 400ms average. It also shows the temporary maximum above it as a single coloured bar.

If you right click on the meter, you can enable/disable loudness pre-filtering, which uses EBU standard filters to simulate human perception. This may be useful to get a more realistic idea about stereo width. However, since humans perceive the bass spectrum as lower than the treble, this may hide phase problems in that bass spectrum.

LU meter shows the output loudness in EBU-18 scale. The loudness metering follows the ITU-R BS.1770-3 and EBU 3341 specifications.

The metering units used are LU (Loudness Units) with 0 LU defined as -23 LUFS (LU Full Scale) and you should consider the LU values to be relative - using them to compare the loudness values between different signals. If the difference in loudness between 2 signals is 10 LU, it is approximately 10 dB as well.

Please note that you should still use your ears to judge loudness properly as there is still no accurate model of human loudness perception and every measurement is only an approximation. Loudness perception is also individual.

If you right click on the meter, additional settings will be displayed. Maximum value displays the maximum since the analysis started, rather than the recent maximum. Loudness pre-filtering uses EBU standard filters to simulate human perception. However, you may want to disable this to get more technical measurements.

There are 3 types of loudness measurements, all following the EBU specifications.

Momentary loudness uses an RMS sliding analysis window of 400 milliseconds; therefore it shows quick fluctuations in loudness.

Short-term loudness works in the same way, but uses a window of 3 seconds, therefore it provides more stable loudness measurements. Integrated loudness shows the overall loudness, hence it is affected by the whole track from the beginning of the playback until you reset it by clicking on the value field. The host may reset it too; it depends on your host.

Please note that the Integrated loudness is NOT the same as an averaged loudness, as it ignores quiet passages. Imagine a track which is generally quiet but has a few loud sections. The averaged loudness will be less than the Integrated loudness. Its calculation uses gating to ignore those quiet passages (levels less than 10 LU less than the current ungated level) of the track. Essentially, Integrated loudness is a measure of the loudest sections of the track.

LU-R meter shows the output loudness range in EBU-18 scale. The loudness meter, LU, follows the ITU-R BS.1770-3 and EBU 3342 specifications, so 0 LU (Loudness Units) represents -23 LUFS. The loudness range meter, LU-R, essentially describes how dynamic the signal is, measured over a sliding analysis window of 3 seconds. Too low a dynamic range usually means the signal is over-compressed. You should compare the dynamic range of your material with other mastered recordings in the same style.

Green bars indicate that the loudness or range is in the preferred regions, red bars suggest that the levels or range need attention.

PLR meter displays the true-peak-to-loudness ratio. It's similar to the crest meters, but based on the modern EBU loudness standard. It ranges from 0 to 20 and the higher the value, the less compressed (more dynamic) is the audio material. It tells you the difference between the maximum peak level and the Integrated loudness.

This is very useful when submitting audio tracks to services such as Spotify or iTunes, which normalize the loudness of the audio. Let's show this with an example: You are going to submit a song which has the true peak level of -1 dBTP and integrated loudness of -16 LUFS (which is the usual recommended loudness), so the PLR is -1 - (-16) = 15. This means that the song requires 15 dB of headroom above the normalization level to play without clipping. The song will play without clipping in iTunes (normalization level -16 LUFS, maximum true-peak level -1 dBTP, hence 15dB headroom), but the song might be turned down (by e.g. Tidal and YouTube), limited (by e.g. Spotify) or clipped when played on a platform with less headroom.

As a different example, you may be working on a cinematic score, with target loudness of -26 LU, and you might have used all the headroom for the requested maximum true peak level of -1 dBTP. The PLR is therefore 25. If you try to submit such a file to iTunes, it will normalize it to -16 LUFS, which means increasing the loudness, but your song requires 25 dB headroom and iTunes provides only 15, therefore it will either be rejected or processed in some way (clipped, limited...). Neither of these options are "good", therefore you will need to provide a different master for this platform.

Crest meter shows the output crest factor (calculated as RMS divided by peak level), which essentially indicates how extreme the peaks are in the output waveform. The lower the value is, the more peaks there are in the output, the more dynamic it is. If the value reaches 0dB, then the output is over-compressed and flattened and you should consider going easier on the compressor and limiter.

The range from 0dB to -6dB is red and you should prevent your master output from remaining in this range as that would mean it is extremely over-processed. The green range from -6dB to -10dB is the range most that recordings are in, usually jumping below the -10dB.

Please note that others calculate the crest factor as the peak level of the waveform divided by the RMS value of the waveform, and the higher the value, the more peaks there are in the output, the more dynamic it is.

Time graph

Time graph button switches between the metering view and the time-graphs. The metering view provides an immediate view of the current values including a text representation. The time-graphs provide the same information over a period of time. Since different time-graphs often need different units, only the most important units are provided.

Pause

Pause button pauses the processing.

Popup

Popup button shows a pop-up window and moves the whole metering / time-graph system into it. This is especially useful in cases where you cannot enlarge the meters within the main window or such a task is too complicated. The pop-up window can be arbitrarily resized. In metering mode it is useful for easier reading from a distance for example. In time-graph mode it is useful for getting higher accuracy and a longer time perspective.

Enable

Enable button enables or disables the metering system. You can disable it to save system resources.

Collapse

Collapse button minimizes or enlarges the panel to release space for other editors.

Collapse

Collapse button minimizes or enlarges the panel to release space for other editors.

Collapse

Collapse button minimizes or enlarges the panel to release space for other editors.

Collapse

Collapse button minimizes or enlarges the panel to release space for other editors.

Collapse

Collapse button minimizes or enlarges the panel to release space for other editors.

Collapse

Collapse button minimizes or enlarges the panel to release space for other editors.

Lock window, listing all those parameters that are currently able to be locked.

Click on it using your right mouse button or use the menu button to display the menu with learning capabilities - Learn activates the learning mode, Clear & Learn deletes all currently-lockable parameters and then activates the learning mode. After that, every parameter you touch will be added to the lock. Learning mode is ended by clicking the button again.

The On/Off button built into the Lock button enables or disables the active locks.

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Collapse

Collapse button minimizes or enlarges the panel to release space for other editors.

Multiparameter

Multiparameter button displays settings of the multiparameter. The multiparameter value can be adjusted by dragging it or by pressing Shift and clicking it to enter a new value from the virtual keyboard or from your computer keyboard.

Click on the button using your left mouse button to open the Multiparameter window where all the details of the multiparameter can be set. Click on it using your right mouse button or click on the menu button to the right to display an additional menu with learning capabilities - as described below.

Menu

Menu button shows the smart learn menu. You can also use the right mouse button anywhere on the multiparameter button.

Learn attaches any parameters, including ranges. Click this, then move any parameters through the ranges that you want and click the multiparameter button again to finish. While learning is active, "REC" is displayed on the multiparameter button and learning mode is ended by clicking the button again.

Clear & Learn clears any parameters currently in the list then attaches any parameters, including ranges. Click this, then move any parameters through the ranges that you want and click the multiparameter button again to finish. While learning is active, "REC" is displayed on the multiparameter button and learning mode is ended by clicking the button again.

Reset resets all multiparameter settings to defaults.

Quick Learn clears any parameters currently in the list, attaches one parameter, including its range and assigns its name to the multiparameter. Click this, then move one parameter through the range that you want.

Attach MIDI Controller opens the MIDI Settings window, selects a unused parameter and activates MIDI learn. Click this then move the MIDI controller that you want to assign.

Reorder to ... lets you change the order of the multiparameters. This can be useful when creating active-presets. Please note that this feature can cause problems when one multiparameter controls other multiparameters, as these associations will not be preserved and they will need to be rebuilt.

In learning mode the multiparameter does not operate but rather records your actions. You can still adjust every automatable parameter and use it normally. When you change a parameter, the plugin associates that parameter with the multiparameter and also records the range of values that you set.

For example, to associate a frequency slider and make a multiparameter control it from 100Hz to 1KHz, just enable the smart learn mode, click the slider then move it from 100Hz to 1KHz (you can also edit the range later in the Multiparameter window too). Then disable the learning mode by clicking on the button.

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Collapse

Collapse button minimizes or enlarges the panel to release space for other editors.

Preset selector

Preset management window provides management for your presets.

Backup

Backup

Backup button lets you backup presets for all MeldaProduction software into a single file, so you can transfer it to a different machine and restore the presets there for example.

Restore from backup

Restore from backup

Restore from backup button lets you restore presets for all MeldaProduction software from a single file created by the Backup button.

Folders tree

Folders tree lets you organize your presets into any number of folders. Use the buttons at the bottom of the window to create, rename or delete sub-folders. Note that these are not actual files & folders on disk, but are records in the preset database.

Auto-open

Auto-open

Auto-open switch makes the tree automatically open selected items, so that all sub-folders are visible, whenever you select one. This makes it easier to browse through large structures containing many folders. The switch also makes the browser show all presets available in the selected folder including all sub-folders (except when you select the root folder).

Open all

Open all

Open all button expands the whole tree, so you can see all of the folders. This may be handy when editing large preset structures.

Close all

Close all

Close all button collapses the whole tree except for the root folder. This may be handy when editing large preset structures.

Add

Add

Add button creates a new folder in the tree

Rename

Rename

Rename button lets you rename the selected folder.

Delete

Delete

Delete button deletes the folder including all the presets and subfolders in it.

Export

Export

Export button lets you export the selected folder including all presets and sub-folders into a file, which you can then transfer to any computer. Or just use as a back-up.

Import

Import

Import button lets you import a file containing presets and sub-folders and add it to the selected folder. The importer will ask you whether to destroy the original contents, so that the new presets replace previous ones, or to keep both.

Presets list

Presets list contains all presets available in the selected folder. Double-click on a preset or use Load button to load a preset. Use the buttons at the bottom of the list to perform additional changes. Please note that these are not actual files & folders on disk, but are records in the preset database.

Favourite

Favourite button toggles the 'favourite' indicator for the selected preset.

Show

Show

Show button shows only the favourite presets and hides the others.

Sort

Sort button shows the presets sorted alphabetically.

Random

Random button selects and loads a random preset from the current folder. This way you can quickly browse the presets in the folder in a completely random order.

Previous

Previous button selects and loads the previous preset from the current folder.

Next

Next button selects and loads the next preset from the current folder.

Submit preset

Submit preset

Submit preset button submits the selected preset to the online exchange servers and retrieves all the presets currently in the database. This feature serves as an online database of presets available for all the user community. Please do not submit garbage presets.

Download presets

Download presets

Download presets button retrieves all the presets currently in the database. This feature serves as an online database of presets available for all the user community. Please consider participating by submitting your presets as well.

Load

Load

Load button loads the specified preset. Please note that you can do the same thing by double-clicking the preset itself or pressing the Enter key.

Add

Add

Add button creates a new preset using the current settings.

Rename

Rename

Rename button lets you rename the selected preset.

Replace

Replace

Replace button replaces the selected preset by one with current settings.

Delete

Delete

Delete button deletes the selected preset.

Search

Search

Search filters the list of available presets to those containing the keywords in name or information.

Clear

Clear

Clear button deletes all text in the search field.

information

Preset information field contains optional information about the preset, which you can edit when creating or renaming the preset.

Plugin settings

Plugin settings window offers more advanced settings and is available via the Settings button.

Licence panel

Licence manager

Licence panel lets you manage licences on this computer.

Licence manager

Activate

Activate button lets you activate your licence for the plugin on this computer.

GUI & Style panel

GUI & Style panel lets you configure the plugin's style (and potentially styles of other plugins) and other GUI properties.

Style

Style

Style button lets you change the style for this particular plugin.

Random style

Random style

Random style button selects a random style with random editor mode.

Default style

Default style

Default style button reverts to the default style and default size of the GUI. Hold the Ctrl key while clicking to revert all MeldaProduction

software products, not just the current plugin.

Select current style as default

Select current style as default

Select current style as default button stores the current style as the default for all MeldaProduction software. This is used for the other plugins that are currently using the default style; that is, those plugins for which you have NOT selected a specific style. Please note that if you have already selected a specific style for a particular plugin, then it won't be changed until you use the Default style button.

GPU acceleration

Enabled

◀ ▶

GPU acceleration

GPU acceleration controls how much the GPU is used for visual rendering to save CPU power.

Enabled mode provides maximum speed and lets the GPU perform as many drawing operations as possible.

Compatibility mode uses the GPU for drawing, but doesn't use modern technologies for maximum performance. Use it if you experience occasional problems with drawing, the usual case for older ATI graphics cards. With Pro Tools on OSX this mode is always used instead of Enabled mode due to compatibility problems with this host.

Disabled mode disables GPU acceleration completely, drawing is then performed by the CPU. Use only if you experience technical difficulties.

A known problem may occur when using multiple displays with multiple graphical interfaces. When moving the plugin window from one display to another, it may stop displaying correctly until you move it back to the original display.

Frames per second

40

Frames per second

Frames per second controls the refresh rate of the visual engine. The higher the number is the smoother everything is, but the more CPU it requires. You might want to lower this value if your computer is running out of CPU power.

Enable high DPI support

Enable high DPI / retina support

Enable high DPI / retina support enables the plugin to use the high resolution on high DPI (Windows) and retina (OSX) devices. It is enabled by default and detected automatically, if the host allows it. If you run into any problems, you can disable it using this option. It may be desired if you use multiple displays where only some of them feature the high resolution making the image on the low resolution ones look ugly.

If you disable this option, on Windows the high DPI device detection will be ignored and the plugin will probably appear very small. You can manually compensate for it by using a bigger style. On OSX disabling this option will disable the high DPI rendering, resulting in the classic blurry look of non-compliant applications. Changes take effect after you restart the host.

Enable colorization

Enable colorization

Enable colorization enables the plugin to change the colors of certain elements overriding your style settings. Plugins use that to highlight different parts of the graphics interface for easier workflow. You may want to disable it if you just feel it's not for you. This particular option is relevant only for controls - knobs, sliders, checkboxes etc.

Enable colorization for panels

Enable colorization for panels

Enable colorization for panels enables the plugin to change the colors of certain elements overriding your style settings. Plugins use that to highlight different parts of the graphics interface for easier workflow. You may want to disable it if you just feel it's not for you. This particular option is relevant only for containers - panels, graphs etc.

Allow default colors by plugin type

Allow default colors by plugin type

Allow default colors by plugin type is on by default and makes the plugin select its default colors depending on the type of the Plugin. Hence for instance equalizer will always be green. This is done by selecting one of the first 8 color presets for the current style, so the actual colors depend on selected style and its presets. You may want to disable this if you for example want all plugins to look the same including the style and colors. It is necessary to restart your host for a change to this option to take effect.

Allow style changes if the editor is too big

Allow style changes if the editor is too big

Allow style changes if the editor is too big is on by default and makes the plugin change its style, editor mode and other settings if it finds out it is too big to fit the current screen resolution.

Clear window settings cache

Clear window settings cache

Clear window settings cache button deletes stored states of all popup windows on all MeldaProduction software. The window settings mostly contain positions and sizes, but in some cases also the data inside the popup windows. You can use this feature if something goes wrong, a window doesn't appear at all, problems like that. While this shouldn't happen and it's generally better to contract our support, this button provides a potential quick fix.

Plugin settings panel

PLUGIN SETTINGS

Intelligent sleep on silence
Smart bypass
MIDI thru
Sample-accurate event processing
Latency reporting
Custom GUI for devices

Latency: 24 samples, 0.5 ms

Plugin settings panel contains settings that control the behaviour of this plugin instance. These are properties that rarely need to be changed, so they have been moved here.

- Intelligent sleep on silence

Intelligent sleep on silence

Intelligent sleep on silence option provides a huge CPU saver by automatically disabling the plugin processing if the input is silent and if the plugin doesn't generate some signal on its own. This makes the plugins take virtually no CPU if there is no need for them to actually process anything. Disable this if you run into any problems with them.

Smart bypass

Smart bypass

Smart bypass enables the high quality crossfading bypass system, which ensures a smooth transition between the processed and dry signals. You may want to disable it if you are using settings with latency on a plugin, which demands lots of CPU power, which would otherwise need to perform processing even when bypassed, which is pretty much the only downside of the smart bypassing algorithm.

MIDI thru

MIDI thru

MIDI thru makes the plugin pass all input MIDI through to its MIDI output. That is often advantageous in DAWs such as Reaper, which naturally pass MIDI from one plugin to the next.

Sample-accurate event processing

Sample-accurate event processing

Sample-accurate event processing makes the plugin schedule every event such as MIDI or automation to their accurate locations with sample accuracy, if the host allows it.

For example, if the block size in your host's audio settings is 1024 samples, this means the plugin is probably processing blocks of 1024 samples, in 44100 Hz sampling rate it is about 23ms. If this setting is disabled, any change in automation, MIDI, modulation etc. may then be granularized to 23ms (once per block), which means that you will not be able to recognize events that occur say 10ms apart from each other. When this setting is enabled however, the plugin divides processing blocks to sub-blocks and processes the events at their correct positions. This may, of course, require more CPU power.

Latency reporting

Latency reporting

Latency reporting makes the plugin report latency to the DAW, if any. Normally this is enabled, but in certain live situations you may want to disable this, so that the DAW stops compensating the latency on other tracks. It has no effect if the plugin is placed on master track.

Custom GUI for devices

Custom GUI for devices

Custom GUI for devices enables displaying custom GUIs for the easy screen devices. You can disable it if you like the generic GUI better.

Global system settings panel

GLOBAL SYSTEM SETTINGS

• Intelligent sleep on silence (global)
  Right click sets default value
  Tablet mode
  Enable keyboard input
  Collapse plugin toolbar

Set default settings

Reset default settings

Global system settings panel contains settings which are applied to all plugins on this computer.

Intelligent sleep on silence (global)

Intelligent sleep on silence (global)

Intelligent sleep on silence (global) is a global switch, which disables the Auto disable on silence feature in all plugins on the system. It is provided "just in case" something goes wrong.

Right click sets default value

Right click sets default value

Right click sets default value makes the engine set default value to a parameter when you right click on it. By default, a menu is displayed instead, with an option to set the default value, but potentially with more features. When this is disabled, you can still set a default value by holding ctrl/cmd when right clicking the control.

Tablet mode

Tablet mode

Tablet mode enables better support for tablets at the expense of the mouse. Enable this if you are using a tablet to control the plugins and it is behaving incorrectly.

Enable keyboard input

Enable keyboard input

Enable keyboard input enables the keyboard input for the main plugin window. You may want to disable if the plugin intercepts spacebar key (often used by the host for playback enable/disable and your host doesn't allow for the problem itself.

Collapse plugin toolbar

Collapse plugin toolbar

Collapse plugin toolbar makes all plugins collapse the plugin toolbar containing more advanced features such as channel modes, A-H presets, oversampling, safety limiter etc. It is enabled by default to make the user interfaces cleaner and easier to grasp for beginners.

Set default settings

Set default settings

Set default settings button stores the current plugin settings as the defaults, so that when you open a new instance of the plugin, these settings will be loaded automatically.

Reset default settings

Reset default settings

Reset default settings button removes the defaults that you set using Set default settings button, so that when you open a new instance of the plugin, the factory defaults will be loaded.

Advanced global settings panel

ADVANCED GLOBAL SETTINGS

Saturation antialiasing
Forward unused keyboard input to DAW
Silence when busy
Store resampled files
Show confirmations for destructive actions
Online check for updates and tutorials
Anonymous online platform reporting

CPU benchmark

System info

Advanced global settings panel contains advanced settings which are applied to all plugins on this computer.

Saturation antialiasing

Saturation antialiasing

Saturation antialiasing enables a global support for antialiasing in saturation algorithms available in many of the plugins. These require additional CPU processing, however significantly reduce aliasing artifacts without a need for oversampling.

Forward unused keyboard input to DAW

Forward unused keyboard input to DAW

Forward unused keyboard input to DAW makes the plugin forward unused keyboard events to the DAW from its popups. If this is disabled, pressing say spacebar commonly used to start/stop playback won't work if a popup window is active. Enabling this makes this work and it is optional just in case your DAW does something unexpected.

Silence when busy

Silence when busy

Silence when busy makes all plugins silence the output when something time consuming is being performed in background and the plugin needs to wait for it. For instance, in modular plugins such as MXXX, adding a module requires lots of changes in the entire engine, so it is performed in background and while the plugin is inconsistent state, it is temporarily bypassed. Sometimes however, when

performing live, bypassing makes the dry signal go through and that may not be wanted. So you can enable this option, and the plugin will silence the output instead.

Store resampled files

Store resampled files

Store resampled files allows the plugins create audio files for sampling rates being used if they differ from the original file sampling rate. It is used only by a few plugins, but it can improve the loading performance a lot at the cost of some additional storage on the hard drive. Disable this option if you are short on free space.

Show confirmations for destructive actions

Show confirmations for destructive actions

Show confirmations for destructive actions makes the plugin display a confirmation window whenever you are going to change the plugin settings irreversibly when using a feature, for example: when resetting your settings.

Online check for updates and tutorials

Online check for updates and tutorials

Online check for updates and tutorials lets the plugin ask about once a week if there is a new version or tutorial available so you can be easily kept up to date.

Anonymous online platform reporting

Anonymous online platform reporting

Anonymous online platform reporting helps us maximize compatibility with your operating system and host. If enabled, our plugins will send information about the system and host that you are using. We can use this information to find out which plugins and platforms are used the most and maximize testing and support there. Platform reporting is completely anonymous and requires only minimal internet connection time (a few kB once a week).

CPU benchmark

CPU benchmark

CPU benchmark button calculates the performance of the plugin with the current settings.

System info

System info

System info button displays some technical information about the build and the machine.

Compatibility settings panel

COMPATIBILITY SETTINGS

Storage compatibility mode for V15
- Automation compatibility mode for V10

Compatibility settings panel contains advanced settings you rarely need unless you run into some problems when using multiple versions or old projects.

Storage compatibility mode for V15

Storage compatibility mode for V15

Storage compatibility mode for V15 reverts to the older and much slower storage system used by version 15 and older. Use this if you want to open your projects or presets on older version of MeldaProduction plugins.

Automation compatibility mode for V10

Automation compatibility mode for V10

Automation compatibility mode for V10 reverts the set of automation parameters back to version 10 and earlier. Use this if you need the plugins to work with projects, which contain automation, made using version 10 or older. In version 11 the list of automatable parameters have been highly simplified and reorganized and multiparameters are provided for the vast number of hidden parameters. This should speed up loading, improve workflow with the plugins and improve compatibility with various hosts.

Smart interpolation panel

Smart interpolation panel controls the depth of the smart interpolation algorithm, which controls the parameters in order to provide maximum audio quality and lower the chance of zipper noise. Smart interpolation is engaged whenever you change any parameter via the GUI, modulators, multiparameters, MIDI or automation.

Many parameters can be automated easily and the plugin responds with sample-accurate results. However, several parameters need exhaustive pre-processing when changed. In these cases, the parameters are not updated every sample, but, for example, once every 32 samples. This highly reduces CPU usage, but affects the output quality.

With modulators the situation is more complicated. Besides the updating issue, the modulator itself can perform some pretty advanced processing, hence it is better to perform the processing in blocks. However, the bigger the block, the less often the modulator updates those parameters associated with it and the resulting modulation is less accurate. In a way you can say that the modulator is slower and lazier. This may actually be wanted, so when it comes to modulators it is not true that a better mode always means better output quality.

The smart interpolation mode controls the maximum number of samples being processed before the parameters are updated. Minimal mode uses 2048 samples and rarely will do anything unless processing offline. Normal mode uses 256 samples and usually is enough to achieve good quality results. High mode uses 32 samples and provides perfect quality for most cases. It is also a good compromise between CPU usage and audio quality, so it is the default. Very high mode uses 4 samples and you will rarely need it. Extreme mode uses 1 sample, which means that everything is updated after every single sample. This provides the highest possible accuracy and quality you can ever achieve, however it requires lots of CPU and it is very unlikely that you will ever need it. If you use this mode and still hear audio artifacts, then either what you are hearing is actually CPU overload, or you are doing something that is not physically possible.

The higher the mode, the quicker the parameter updates, but the more the CPU load.

Please note that modulating certain parameters without artifacts is impossible. For example, when modulating a delay very quickly, the physics of such a process just cannot occur in the natural world and the results are appropriately unnatural. These physically impossible processes usually manifest themselves as distortion or zipper noise.

MultiParameter editor

Multiparameter is a powerful structure, which can speed up your workflow significantly and even perform automatic tasks, often useful when performing in real-time for example. Essentially a multiparameter is a controller which controls other parameters, in fact, an unlimited number of them. Each parameter has limits and potentially a transformation curve for more advanced processing. By manually moving the multiparameter (or automating/modulating it) you can control all of the associated parameters at once.

This is just the beginning, but it is worth demonstrating how it could be used. We will show it on a vibrato effect. MVibratoMB (and partly MVibrato) is very good at simulating rotary speakers. A rotary speaker traditionally contains a speed switch, or in our case we will think of it as a speed knob - a control that alters the spin speed of the rotary. This would normally be the Rate parameter of the vibrato. However, when the rate is increased, the vibrato starts changing the pitch too much, sounding a little too "honky-tonk". We can compensate for this by lowering the Depth parameter. As it is not very convenient to control 2 parameters at once, we use a multiparameter to control both parameters with appropriate ranges (ascending for the Rate and descending for the Depth).

Besides this basic usage, multiparameters can also work as triggers and switches. Set a multiparameter's mode to Trigger or Switch and it stops being a slider and becomes a button. When you click the button, the multiparameter starts moving on its own - over the dialled-in switch time it will increase its value (and also the values of any associated parameters) to a maximum and, in the case of trigger mode, then decrease it back to a minimum. In switch mode clicking the button again, the multiparameter decreases back to the minimum value. To make the multiparameter into a simple switch, we can set the switch time to minimum, but in this case we want to extend the functionality in our rotary example.

As mentioned, rotary speakers often have a speed switch. Once switched on, the speed starts increasing until it reaches the "fast" setting, and when switched off, the speed starts decreasing to the original "slow" rate. All we need to do to replicate this functionality is to set the multiparameter's mode to 'switch'.

A real rotary actually has 2 speakers, one for low frequencies and the other for the higher ones. As you might expect, these do not have the same spin rate nor do they speed up or slow down equally either. Here is where we can start showing the true potential of multiparameters.

To simulate this, we have to use two bands of MVibratoMB, the first one will simulate the lower reproductor, and the second will be the higher. We use the first multiparameter to control the first band's rate in the same way as described in the example above. Similarly, we use the second multiparameter to control the second band's rate. Now we have 2 switches and can make each band speed-up or slow-down separately, but we want just one switch for both bands. To do this, we use a third multiparameter to control the first and second multiparameters, in switch mode again but with a 0ms switch time. Pressing the button of the 3rd multiparameter instantly activates the other 2 multiparameters, they both start speeding-up, over a different time period as we requested. Pressing the button again, releases it which also instantly releases the first 2 multiparameters and they start slowing down. Just like the real thing.

Now that we have shown you what is possible with multiparameters, it is worth mentioning that they are used extensively for building devices on the easy screens of most Melda plugins. Every multiparameter given a name in the Information panel will be shown on the Easy screen (if the plugin has one). Check our online video tutorials to get more information about multiparameters and building devices.

It is also worth mentioning that you can access the multiparameter settings directly from easy screen by holding Ctrl+Alt and clicking on the target control. It may simplify building devices. Note that this may not work for some editor modes such as meters or bar graphs.

Presets

Presets button displays a window where you can load and manage available presets. Hold Ctrl when clicking to load a random preset instead.

Left arrow

Left arrow button loads the previous preset.

Right arrow

Right arrow button loads the next preset.

Randomize

Randomize button loads a random preset.

Copy

Copy button copies the settings onto the system clipboard.

Paste

Paste button loads the settings from the system clipboard.

Map

Map button displays all current mappings of modulators, multiparameters and MIDI (whichever subsystems the plugin provides).

Behaviour

Randomizer

Randomizer switch is available only for Trigger mode and it makes the multiparameter produce random values for each associated parameters. This is useful to implement some sort of randomization feature, which covers a set of parameters. You usually want to set the Switch time to 0, so that the randomization is instant, but longer values may be useful for some creative effects.

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XY-pad between banks

XY-pad between banks switch is available only for Banks mode and it lets you create XY pads, that would interpolate between 3 or more banks that you specify. With 4 banks the engine creates a classic XY pad, where the 1st bank belongs to the left top corner, 2nd to the right top, 3rd to left bottom and 4th to the right bottom. With more banks the engine creates a circular pad with vertices associated to individual banks.

Please note that in order for this to work, the multiparameter actual needs 2 multiparameters (X and Y values), hence must NOT be the last one and it occupies the next multiparameter as well. It is recommended to name the next multiparameter and associate it to some parameters, ideally the same ones, just to make sure the engine won't remove it. But in fact only the first multiparameter will actually be working.

Mode controls the behaviour of the multiparameter.

Normal mode makes the multiparameter work like any other control.

Switch mode hides the slider and shows a button instead. The button has 2 states. By pushing the button, the multiparameter value starts rising from 0% to 100% over a specified time interval. By pushing it again the value starts falling back to 0%. You could do the same thing having the multiparameter in normal mode and moving the slider from left to right and then back, but mode this performs that automatically and maintains a constant time period.

Trigger mode is similar to switch mode, but the button has only a single state and when you push it, the value automatically goes from 0% to 100% and then back without any need to push the button again.

Banks mode is very different. A multiparameter in banks mode keeps several states (called banks) for all of the parameters, much like A-H presets, but only with a limited set of parameters. The multiparameter then morphs between the banks or can be set to switch directly between them (no interpolated values). This is a marvellous way to control many parameters with complex settings by using a single multiparameter.

Let's explain the banks mode in more detail. Say you switch a multiparameter to banks mode, learn a few parameters and set the number of banks to 4. Then bank 1 contains a value for all of the parameters. Similarly bank 2 contains a different value for each of them. And so on. If you set the multiparameter slider to 0%, the associated parameters will be set to values in bank 1. If you set the slider to 100%, bank 4 will be used. If you set the slider to 33.3%, bank 2 will be used. And what if you select 50%? Then it will be halfway between bank 2 and bank 3.

You can have many banks, you can edit each of them, generate random settings etc. So let's say you want to create some complex movement. You use a multiparameter in banks mode, select a reasonable number of banks. You can edit each of them, but it is easier to use the randomization button to generate random settings for each of them. Then every time you move the multiparameter, all of the associated parameters will move, somewhere between the banks. You can then use a modulator or automation to slowly adjust the multiparameter.

Meter mode makes the multiparameter work as a meter. Instead of controlling other parameters it starts following the value of them. You can then use that to implement a simple meter on the easy screen (if the plugin has one).

SPEED

0 ms

Speed

Speed controls the interpolation time. When it is zero and you change the multiparameter value, the associated parameters are adjusted immediately. If this is non-zero however, the actual parameters won't change immediately but will interpolate over time. The speed value is actually the time needed to go from minimum to maximum or vice versa. So if this is 1 second and the current value is say 0% and you click 100% , it will take 1 second for the multiparameter to get there.

This feature is provided mainly because changing some parameter via MIDI or mouse may cause unnecessary zipper noise or inaccuracies due to low MIDI precision. Using the interpolation you can somewhat slow everything down, so that the artifacts become negligible. It can also be used creatively. The default value has been experimentally tested to avoid all artifacts for most parameters.

SWITCH TIME

Switch time

Switch time defines the time needed to switch from the minimum value to the maximum one, or conversely. It is used only in switch and trigger modes.

STEPS

Off

Steps

Steps lets you create an arbitrary number of equi-distant steps for the multiparameter values. While this technically limits the possibilities of the multiparameter by limiting the number of accessible values, it is sometimes easier to choose from a predefined number of options than from the full range. If you want to use different ranges between the steps, use the Banks mode with Interpolate values disabled.

By bank name interpolated

Value mode

Value mode defines the units displayed on the multiparameter.

Percents mode lets the multiparameter display percentages between 0% to 100%.

Percents (-100% to 100%) displays percentages between -100% to 100%.

By first parameter mode uses the current value of the first parameter that is controlled by the multiparameter. For example, if you want to control a plugin gain, but also in addition to the changed gain control other parameters, you may still want to call the multiparameter ("gain\" and the units should be decibels as usual, not percentages which do not make much sense for such a multiparameter."

By bank name displays the name of the nearest bank. In some controls, such as switchers, it is possible to display the set of the values as a menu. The menu is created automatically and it even creates groups for better clarity, based on the prefix of the bank names. You can use ' # ' (hashtag surrounded by spaces) to define the groups manually like this: "group # name". For example, you can name one bank "Main group # First bank" and another "Main group # Second bank", and these will be displayed in a single group in the menu. If you are going to use this method, make sure the ' # ' sequence is present in each bank's name.

By bank name interpolated considers name of all banks numbers. It then interpolates between them and displays the result as a

number.

By bank name interpolated log is similar, but interpolates the values in logarithmic domain.considers name of all banks numbers. It's useful for units, which are naturally logarithmics, such as frequency.

By bank number shows the index of the nearest bank.

Expression lets you formulate the value -> text and back using mathematical expressions and can be used for some more complex MPs or if you need some custom units.

Default

0.00%

Default

Default controls the default value of the multiparameter. You can edit it directly or just set the MP into its reasonable default and click the Set current value. Most GUI components created for the multiparameter respond to right-click by setting the default value in the same way that other parameters do. It is essential for user experience when building your own devices.

Set current value

Set current value

Set current value stores the current value as the default one for the multiparameter.

Origin

0.00%

Origin

Origin informs the GUI engine of the origin of the value. For instance, a default value for panorama is in the center and it is logical that visual elements controlling panorama should somehow highlight the center position. If, for example, you are using a value button to edit the panorama, by default it displays the current value using a bar starting from the left side (being the origin defined as minimum) towards the actual value, but here it is better to display the bar from the center towards the current value, whether it is on the left or right of the center. Therefore the center should be the origin.

Set current value

Set current value

Set current value stores the current value as the origin for the multiparameter.

Set center

Set center

Set center sets the center (50%) as the origin for the multiparameter. This is often the case for parameters such as gain and panorama, so it deserves a dedicated button. It is supported only for knobs.

Value to

text

Value to text is available only with Expression Value mode and lets you enter a text featuring mathematical expressions to produce the units. This can be used for more complex multiparameters. The text itself is just another text, but it can contain substrings of this structure:

{expression}

or

{expression;decimals}

where expression is the actual mathematical expression and decimals is the number of decimal places in the resulting value. Here is the list of variables available for each expression:

x = the multiparameter value in 0..1

sr = current sampling rate

Functions and features of the expressions are available below. Now let's see a few examples:

Test: {x} - produces "Test: 0.12" (with MP value 0.1234)

x (x*100;0%) - produces "0.12 (12%)" (with MP value 0.1234)

{ffrom01(x);1} Hz - produces say "215.56 Hz" ("20.0 Hz" for MP value 0 and "20000.0 Hz" for MP value 1)

{todb(sqr(x));4} dB - produces "-12.0412 dB" for 0.5. "sqr" is used to mimic the transformation used in pretty much every Volume parameter in MeldaProduction plugins.

Expression evaluator uses traditional C/C++ style formatting, which is natural for most people. It provides arithmetics, logical and conditional operators. Following terms are supported:

Constants: pi, e, sqrt2, ln2

Arithmetic operators:

-a inverts the sign, e.g. "-x" produces +2 for x=-2

a+b= addition

a-b = subtraction

a*b = multiplication

a/b = division

a%b = modulo, remainder after division

a^b = power, e.g. "2^3" produces 2*2*2 = 8

Arithmetic functions:

min(a,b) = minimum of both values

max(a,b) = maximum of both values

limit(a,min,max) = a limited into the interval min..max

to01(a,min,max) = converts "a" as min..max to 0..1

from01(a,min,max) = converts "a" as 0..1 to min..max

tom11(a,min,max) = converts "a" as min..max to -1..1

fromm11(a,min,max) = converts "a" as -1..1 to min..max

Basic mathematic functions: abs(x) = absolute value , e.g. abs(-3) = 3 sqr(x) = xx sqrt(x) = square root exp(x) = natural exponential e^ (x) = natural logarithm log10(x) = logarithm with base 10 log(x, base) = logarithm with specified base inv(x) = 1/x sgn(x) = sign of x, -1 or 0 or +1 depending on xx round(x) = rounding to the nearest value floor(x) = rounding to the nearest lower value, e.g. floor(-2.3) = -3 ceil(x) = rounding to the nearest higher value, e.g. ceil(-2.3) = -2 rand(x) = random value from 0 to x

Functions for specific units:

f01(a) = converts "a" as frequency from 20...20000 into log scale 0..1

ffrom01(a) = converts "a" as 0..1 (log scale) to frequency from 20...20000

todb(a) = converts "a" as multiplier to dB value by calculating "20*log10(a)"

fromdb(a) = converts "a" as dB value to multiplier by calculating "10^(a/20)"

Trigonometric functions: (x) , (x) , (x) , (x) , (x) , (x) , (x) , (x) , (x)

Logical operators:

a==b = comparison producing 1 if "a" and "b" are equal, 0 otherwise

a!=b = comparison producing 1 if "a" and "b" are NOT equal, 0 otherwise

a<b = comparison producing 1 if "a" is lower than "b", 0 otherwise

a<=b = comparison producing 1 if "a" is lower or equal to "b", 0 otherwise

a>b = comparison producing 1 if "a" is greater than "b", 0 otherwise

a>=b = comparison producing 1 if "a" is greater or equal to "b", 0 otherwise

!a = logical negation, 0 produces 1, 0 otherwise

a&&b = logical AND, produces 1 if both "a" and "b" are nonzero

a||b = logical OR, produces 1 if any of "a" and "b" are nonzero

a^^b = logical XOR, produces 1 if "a" and "b" are logically different

a ? b : c = if a is nonzero, then the result is b, otherwise it is c}}

ext to value

Text to

value

Text to value is available only with Expression Value mode and lets you convert a number user enters as a text input into the multiparameter value in 0..1. This can be used for more complex multiparameters. Unlike Value to text here you need to enter a single expression, no need for any other text. If the resulting value exceeds the 0..1 interval, it is automatically limited. Here is the list of variables available for the expression:

x = the value the user entered

sr = current sampling rate

Functions and features of the expressions are available below. Now let's see a few examples:

x- sets MP to 0.1234 if the user entered "0.1234"

x/100 - sets MP to 0.1234 if the user entered "12.34" (or "12.34%" for example)

fto01(x) - sets MP to the proper frequency in log scale, e.g. 20 is translated to 0, 20000 to 1

fromdb(sqrt(x)) - sets MP to 0.5 if the user entered "-12.0412" (or "-12.0412 dB" for example). "sqrt" is used to mimic the

transformation used in pretty much every Volume parameter in MeldaProduction plugins.

Expression evaluator uses traditional C/C++ style formatting, which is natural for most people. It provides arithmetics, logical and conditional operators. Following terms are supported:

Constants: pi, e, sqrt2, ln2

Arithmetic operators:

-a inverts the sign, e.g. "-x" produces +2 for x=-2

a+b= addition

a-b = subtraction

a*b = multiplication

a/b = division

a%b = modulo, remainder after division

a^b = power, e.g. "2^3" produces 2*2*2 = 8

Arithmetic functions:

min(a,b) = minimum of both values

max(a,b) = maximum of both values

limit(a,min,max) = a limited into the interval min..max

to01(a,min,max) = converts "a" as min..max to 0..1

from01(a,min,max) = converts "a" as 0..1 to min..max

tom11(a,min,max) = converts "a" as min..max to -1..1

fromm11(a,min,max) = converts "a" as -1..1 to min..max

Basic mathematic functions: abs(x) = absolute value , e.g. abs(-3) = 3 sqr(x) = xx sqrt(x) = square root exp(x) = natural exponential e^ ln(x) = natural logarithm log10(x) = logarithm with base 10 log(x, base) = logarithm with specified base inv(x) = 1/x sgn(x) = sign of x, -1 or 0 or +1 depending on xx round(x) = rounding to the nearest value floor(x) = rounding to the nearest lower value, e.g. floor(-2.3) = -3 ceil(x) = rounding to the nearest higher value, e.g. ceil(-2.3) = -2 rand(x) = random value from 0 to x

Functions for specific units:

f01(a) = converts "a" as frequency from 20...20000 into log scale 0..1

ffrom01(a) = converts "a" as 0..1 (log scale) to frequency from 20...20000 todb(a) = converts "a" as multiplier to dB value by calculating "20*log10(a)" fromdb(a) = converts "a" as dB value to multiplier by calculating "10^(a/20)"

Trigonometric functions: (x) , asin(x) , (x) , acos(x) , (x) , atan(x) , (x) , (x) , (x)

Logical operators:

a==b = comparison producing 1 if "a" and "b" are equal, 0 otherwise
a!=b = comparison producing 1 if "a" and "b" are NOT equal, 0 otherwise
a<b = comparison producing 1 if "a" is lower than "b", 0 otherwise
a<=b = comparison producing 1 if "a" is lower or equal to "b", 0 otherwise
a>b = comparison producing 1 if "a" is greater than "b", 0 otherwise
a>=b = comparison producing 1 if "a" is greater or equal to "b", 0 otherwise
!a = logical negation, 0 produces 1, 0 otherwise
a&&b = logical AND, produces 1 if both "a" and "b" are nonzero
a||b = logical OR, produces 1 if any of "a" and "b" are nonzero
a^^b = logical XOR, produces 1 if "a" and "b" are logically different
a ? b : c = if a is nonzero, then the result is b, otherwise it is c}}

Appearance

Name

Drive

Name

Name specifies the name of the multiparameter, which is shown on the multiparameter button. The name is also used for devices - the multiparameter serves as a parameter for the device (on the Easy screen). If no name is specified or if the first character is an *, then the parameter is hidden. This is useful if you need some internal multiparameters which you don't want to show on the Easy screen for some reason.

Group

Globals

Group

Group can be used to put some multiparameters into the same group, which results in them being placed in the same panel on the Easy screen (the device editor). Additionally you can actually place the groups into tabs by setting group to "tabname#groupname". The name of the tab needs to be there only for the first parameter of the new group. This makes it possible to build a complex devices with dozens of parameters.

Editor mode

Big

Editor mode

Editor mode controls the way the multiparameter are to be displayed on the Easy screen.

Normal is the default mode and is represented by a small knob or button.

Big mode is similar, but uses a big knob or big button.

Button mode displays a value button, which is usually more compact than knobs.

Check-boxes makes the multiparameter displayed as a set of checkboxes (also called radio buttons). It is relevant only in Banks mode.

Check-boxes horiz & below is similar but displays the checkboxes in a single row, hence horizontally. Below mark makes the label underneath the actual checkbox.

Switcher and Selectors are useful for selecting a number of discrete values and similarly to check-boxes these are working only in Banks mode.

Title button places the control into the title bar of the panel to which it belongs.

Title enable button places the control into the title bar of the panel to which it belongs and makes it a standard enable button (which also makes all controls within the panel unavailable if it is itself disabled).

XY pad creates a 2 dimensional XY pad control, that edits this multiparameter in the X axis and the next multiparameter in the Y axis. There are multiple versions of this control, all of them differ only by size.

Spacer is a helper mode for device design, which doesn't display anything and only keeps empty space.

Meter creates a simple meter instead. You will probably want to set the multiparameter to Meter mode as well or attach it to a modulator. Meters don't really control anything and their purpose is purely to get a visual feedback. The meters can be horizontal or vertical and they can be up or down. Up is the usual choice useful for peak meters for example. Down is useful for gain reduction meters.

Bars start/end mode creates an editor, similar to step sequencer editor, where each parameter has its own bar. The Bars start starts the editor and all multiparameters are then added to it until a multiparameter with Bars end mode is found or until there are no remaining multiparameters. Note that this kind of editor doesn't show units and may have several other limitations.

Order is a very specific editor for Order modules available in modular systems such as MXXX. It lets you provide an processing order editor on the easy screen. To use it, attach the MP to Order parameter of the Order module and edit the MP information field, so that it contains all the items to be ordered, separated by ';'. The number of items must match the number of items in the Order module, otherwise the order won't work properly. You can also include colors for each item separated by # (hexa or one of the predefined set: Dynamics, Distortion, Modulation, Stereo, Spectral, Synthesis, Instrument, MDrummer, Reverb, Delay, EQ, Filter, Saturation, Limit, Time, Pitch, FX) and enable MP indices.

Example of the info: Compressor#Dynamics;EQ#EQ;Limiter#007F7F;Something

Panel type

Panel 1

Panel type

Panel type defines the type of panel in which multiple controls of the same group are placed. These differ only in their graphics display.

Color

Color

Color defines colorization for the element on the Easy screen (if the plugin has one). The feature is disabled if the Alpha value of the color is 0. Using this feature often increases memory consumption of the plugin, so make sure you use it only if necessary and try to use as low a number of different colors as possible. It is recommended to use only the snapshot colors to make sure the same colors are used in most cases, reducing the memory consumption. It is also highly recommended to use colors with a value (lightness) of 128 (the middle value), which makes sure that the lightness of the elements won't be changed. This works best for most styles. Please note that the style may be configured to simply ignore this color, so there may be no change at all. If you use this feature, make sure that you test it with all styles.

For the sake of workflow the colors have predefined meanings. It's highly recommended to follow this standard:

Orange - dynamics

Green - equalization, filtering

Brown/yellow - reverb, delay

Blue - modulation

Red - limiting, saturation, distortion

Cyan/yellow - stereo

Purple/pink - time, pitch, unison...

Grey - utilities, tools

Group color

Set

Group color

Group color defines colorization for the group panel on the Easy screen (if the plugin has one) and is ignored for all multiparameters except for the first one in a group. The feature is disabled if the Alpha value of the color is 0. Using this feature often increases memory consumption of the plugin, so make sure you use it only if necessary and try to use as low number of different colors as possible. It is recommended to use only the snapshot colors to make sure the same colors are used in most cases, reducing the memory consumption. It is also highly recommended to use colors with a value (lightness) of 128 (the middle value), which makes sure that the lightness of the elements won't be changed. This works best for most styles. Please note that the style may be configured to simply ignore this color, so there may be no change at all. If you use this feature, make sure you test it with all styles.

For the sake of workflow the colors have predefined meanings. It's highly recommended to follow this standard:

Orange - dynamics

Green - equalization, filtering

Brown/yellow - reverb, delay

Blue - modulation

Red - limiting, saturation, distortion

Cyan/yellow - stereo

Purple/pink - time, pitch, unison...

Grey - utilities, tools

Set

Set

Set button sets the color and group color for all multiparameters in the same group. It is pretty sensible to do that as all controls should look similar within each group. This can also be done by editing each parameter, but this way is easier.

Visible

Visible

Visible checkbox controls if the parameter is visible on the Easy screen (if the plugin has one). Its effect is similar to the '*' prefix in the parameter name, but the multiparameter's name is also available to the plug-in host. This is useful when you wish to automate that multiparameter from the host but not show it on the Easy screen. This parameter can also be attached to another multiparameter for example in order to change the GUI somehow.

Enabled

Enabled

Enabled switch enables/disables the multiparameter. If disabled, it is grayed on the easy screen.

Same row

Same row

Same row checkbox defines if the parameter should be displayed next to the previous one on the Easy screen. Otherwise it will be placed on the next row. This setting serves as a hint and the plugin may ignore it, if it is impossible to do.

Resizable X

Resizable X

Resizable X switch lets you specify if the panel could be resized. It is on by default to make sure everything gets resized, however when using multiple panels next to each other, it may be advantageous to disable resizing of some of them to save space. Otherwise each panel's size is proportional to number of controls it contains, which could make some of the panels larger than actually necessary.

Resizable Y

Resizable Y

Resizable Y switch lets you specify if the panel could be resized vertically. It is off by default to make sure everything has the minimum size it requires, but for aesthetic reasons you may want to make all groups on the same row the same size even if the controls inside them are not.

Randomizable

Randomizable

Randomizable option defines if the multiparameter can be randomized on the easy screen. You may want to disable this for input/output gain for example.

Show name

Show name

Show name option lets you show or hide the name of the multiparameter for some editor modes. The option has no effect for several editor modes.

Stepped / Continuous

Stepped / Continuous

Stepped / Continuous option tells the engine that the multiparameter can be in 2 modes, stepped or continuous. If so, it is assumed that you either used Banks mode or Steps to produce some sort of predefined set of values for the stepped mode. By enabling this option you allow the engine to convert the multiparameter to continuous mode by either ignoring the steps or interpolating the bank values. It can be used when designing devices.

Lockable

Lockable

Lockable option creates a lock button next to the parameter on the Easy screen, allowing the user to browse through presets without this parameter changing. Please note that this feature is available only for some editor modes. When the parameter is first locked on the Easy screen it is added to the set of lockable parameters (which are listed in the Global Lock window).

Separate collapse

Separate collapse

Separate collapse checkbox makes the panel collapsable separately on the Easy screen. By default it is disabled and that makes the engine find all panels on the same row and collapse all of then or none of them.

Functional when disabled

Functional when disabled

Functional when disabled switch makes the multiparameter work even when disabled. This may be useful in some complex scenarios, where you need to make the MP control the target parameters and only use the Enabled flag to grey out the controls on the easy screen.

Fine control

Fine control

Fine control switch makes the multiparameter editor steps extra small, which is useful, when you need very high precision. This is often handy when using banks mode with many banks interpolating.

Advanced

Advanced

Advanced switch makes the multiparameter 'advanced', disabled by default. If such an multiparameter exists, the engine also creates a button to show/hide all advanced multiparameters. In effect this lets you create a simple GUI with optional advanced controls.

Store

Store

Store makes the multiparameter stored. Relevant when creating devices. In some rare cases you may want to disable this, e.g. if the value is a meter or somehow it just doesn't need to be save at all.

Store in presets

Store in presets

Store in presets makes the multiparameter stored in presets. Relevant when creating devices. In some cases you may want to store the value, but ignore it when browsing presets. For instance, input gain may be ignored if the user is supposed to set the gain to some predefined value and then browse the presets without changing that gain.

Controls MPs

Controls MPs

Controls MPs informs the engine that this MP is controlling other multiparameters. As such it shouldn't be 'invoked' unless it is explicitly touched by the user. This is relevant for example when it is used in a device with a device presets - loading a device preset invokes all relevant MPs, so that the state of the device is remembered properly, but invoking this one would actually make things incorrect.

Include in doc

Include in doc

Include in doc makes the multiparameter's help included in the documentation / panel help. You may want to disable this if there are multiple 'identical' controls with the exact same help info, for all of them except for one.

information about the multiparameter

Edit information about the multiparameter lets you edit the information displayed as help for the multiparameter control on the easy screen. It can use a simplified HTML format, but in practice only following tags are likely to be useful:

= name of the control, the info should begin with that.

= reference to another control.

= specific value the control can have.

= bold text

= italic text

= red

= green

= blue

For example: Gain controls the output level. It can be used in conjunction with Volume. When set to silence, it won't do anything and consume no CPU power.

When Order control is used, the first line of the information can contain additional info of ";" separated individual items in the following format:

name{#hexcolor}{*index of the enable MP} where {} denotes an optional item.

For example: Reverb;EQ#7F0000;Flanger#007F00*3

In this example, the order is probably used to control order of effects. When the order MP value is set to 0, Reverb is the first, with no specific color and no MP to enable/disable it. Flanger is next, the color is red, but no enable either. Finally Flanger is the third, it is green and MP3 is used to enable/disable it.

Parameters panel

Parameters panel configures how the multiparameter assigns values to the target parameters.

Add

Add button adds a parameter to the list of controlled parameters. Alternatively you can use the learn feature available by right-clicking the multiparameter button.

Delete

Delete button deletes the selected parameter from the list of controlled parameters.

Make first

Make first button moves the selected parameter to the first item in the list. This is useful for sake of the By first parameter value mode, which makes the multiparameter show the units of the first parameter in the list. Please note that if you have some other multiparameter, modulator or another subsystem access the ranges of individual parameters, this function will reorder them, so these connections will no longer be correct.

Learn

Learn button starts or stops the learning. Click it, then move some parameters in the plugin, then click it again. Learning can also be accessed from the global multiparameter menu.

Up

Up button moves the selected parameter up one item, if possible. This may be useful when keeping things organized, but please note

that if you have some other multiparameter, modulator or another subsystem access the ranges of individual parameters, this function will reorder them, so these connections will no longer be correct.

Down

Down button moves the selected parameter down one item, if possible. This may be useful when keeping things organized, but please note that if you have some other multiparameter, modulator or another subsystem access the ranges of individual parameters, this function will reorder them, so these connections will no longer be correct.

Parameter

Input gain

Parameter

Parameter defines the target parameter which is being modulated. The set contains all automatable parameters.

Name

Name

Name lets you name the parameter somehow and may be helpful in situations, where there are many parameters being edited without obvious meanings.

Assignable parameter ranges

Assignable parameter ranges

Assignable parameter ranges allows you to assign parameter ranges of several first parameters to other subsystems such as multiparameters or modulators. By default it is disabled, which removes all the relevant parameters to save valuable resources. This feature is available only if automation compatibility mode for V10 is disabled.

Transformation shape

Transformation shape

Transformation shape button displays the graph editor, which lets you tweak the shape of the curve used to control the selected parameter. The X axis shows the original values, the Y axis defines the results. Please note that this takes some CPU, therefore you have to enable it using the enable button in the title bar.

Range mode

Interval

Range mode

Range mode defines how the parameter range is selected. While sometimes it is better to specify minimum and maximum, other times it is better to use a nominal center and depth (\% of full scale). This control allows you to define which one it will be.

Up and down mode makes the values go above and below the selected Value, which is considered the center. The interval is made smaller if necessary.

Full range mode is similar, except the range is symmetrically constrained, so the selected Value may not be the center anymore.

Up/down only modes goes from the selected value up/down only.

Let's compare these 4 modes. Taking a value of -12dB value, with a depth of 75% and a scale of +/- 24dB. The nominal range is therefore = +/-24 dB * 75% = 36dB. With values of 0%, 50% and 100% the outputs are:

Up and down: -24, -12, 0 (range constrained to 12 dB either side)

Full range: -24, -6, 12 (range limited to minimum, but not constrained)

Up only: -12, 6, 24 (range not constrained = +/-24 dB * 75% = 36dB)

Down only: -12, -18, -24 (range limited to minimum)

Interval mode is the most simple one and goes from Value to Maximal value.

VALUE

-10.00 dB

Value

Value defines the center of the target parameter's range or the minimum if the Range mode is set to Interval.

MAX

+20.00 dB

Maximal value

Maximal value defines the upper limit of the target parameter's range. It is available only if the Range mode is set to Interval. This value can be lower than Value. 0% is always mapped to reference>Value and 100% to reference>Maximal value.

DEPTH

70.8%

Depth

Depth defines size of the target parameter's range. It is used only if the Range mode is not set to Interval.

Invert

Invert

Invert checkbox inverts the target parameter's range, so that minimum becomes maximum and vice versa.

Use first parameter's range

Use

first parameter's range

Use first parameter's range makes the parameter display use the same range as the first parameter in the list. This is often useful if want to control the range in some way and apply the range to multiple parameters.

Parameter expression

PARAMETER EXPRESSION

Enable

Parameter expression panel lets you provide an algebraic expression for computing the final parameter value. Here are several predefined variables you can use in your expressions (# denotes a positive integer number):

x contains the current multiparameter value (in Meter mode it contains the parameter value);

p# contains the current value of the parameter number # in the parameter list (e.g. "p2+p3" computes the sum of values of parameters 2 and 3 in the parameter list);

mp# contains the current value of the multiparameter number #.

For example, an expression "(x+p2+mp5)/3.0" calculates the average of the values of the current multiparameter, parameter number 2 in the parameter list, and the multiparameter with index 5.

Dark, nearly blank image with no discernible text, symbols, or structured content.

Post

Post button toggles whether the transform and min/max range are applied to the value x before evaluating the expression (Postprocessing mode, button on), or to the result of evaluating the expression (Preprocessing mode, button off, default).

Cyclic mode

Cyclic mode

Cyclic mode switches the multiparameter into so-called cyclic mode. If you have say 4 banks, called A, B, C and D, and gradually increase the multiparameter value, it starts with A, then interpolates to B, then to C and finally to D. But after that you cannot interpolate back to A, because D is the last one, the maximum value. In cyclic mode the multiparameter behaves as if there were a clone of A at the end, hence after D is reached, the multiparameter interpolates back to A and creates a full circle A->B->C->D->A. This is handy for example if you use a saw wave modulator to drive the multiparameter and want to repeat the sequence of the banks.

Interpolate values

Interpolate values

Interpolate values controls if the parameter value is to be interpolated between the bank values or if it will take the value from the nearest bank. For example, when bank A contains the value 0% for the parameter and bank B contains 100% and you set the multiparameter to 30%, then when interpolation is enabled, 30% is selected for that parameter, when the interpolation is disabled, the nearest value, 0%, is selected. If you want the parameter to step from one bank value to another then disable interpolate values.

Set interpolate to all parameters

Set interpolate to all parameters buttons

Set interpolate to all parameters buttons sets the interpolate values setting for all parameters controlled by that multiparameter.

Bank control panel

Bank control panel is available only in Banks mode and contains tools to define the banks between which the multiparameter is interpolating. The multiparameter stores parameter values for each bank. Here you can load and save these values. Each bank has 5 buttons and a value for each controlled parameter. Click the load button to load the bank values into the plug-in. If you want to change say bank 3, you first click its load button, change whatever you need and resave the settings.

By clicking the save button you overwrite the bank's settings from those currently set in the plug-in. A typical approach to define the multiparameter's behaviour is to set the number of banks, then go to the plugin editor, set all associated parameters to the values you would like to have in bank 1 and click the save button for bank 1, then modify the parameters to whatever you want in bank 2 and click the save button for bank 2, etc.

You can also use the Random button to generate random values using the smart-randomization engine for each of the banks.

And the menu button enables you to re-order the banks

For each bank, the values for each parameter are shown and can be changed as desired.

Number of banks 4

Number of banks

Number of banks controls the number of settings that the multiparameter stores for all parameters. By changing the multiparameter value all associated parameters are then modified according to these settings. Please note that when you change the number of banks, the multiparameter will behave differently, because the multiparameter's range from 0% to 100% will now be distributed between a different number of presets. If you had automated the multiparameter value in your host for example you will almost certainly need to edit / rewrite the automation envelope.

Value power 1.0000

Value power

Value power lets you post-process values for each bank by specific power function. This either leads to higher values for low powers, or lower values for high powers. The same thing can be implemented using transforms, but this is much easier considering the potential number of parameters you may have there. It is especially useful for circular XY pads. Use trial-and-error approach to set this up to your liking.

XY power 3.0000 XY power

XY power is used only if XY-pad between banks is enabled and controls how the engine produces values for individual parameters. The higher the number is, the more will the engine separate them. Use trial-and-error approach to set this up to your liking.

Menu

Menu

Menu button provides some additional features for processing the entire set of banks.

Sort banks (up) reorders the banks so that the values of the selected parameter are in increasing order.

Sort banks (down) reorders the banks so that the values of the selected parameter are in decreasing order.

Reverse reverses the order of banks, so that the first bank contains values of the previously last one and so on.

Interpolate lets you change the number of banks, but keeps the values as they are now by calculating values of parameter for all banks. It is usually useful when you want to provide 'banks in between current banks', without manually calculating the new values.

Auto-gain (if available) temporarily enables AGC and automatically sets up the main plugin gain to each bank so that all banks provide similar output loudness. To use it, ensure that the main gain parameter is attached to the multiparameter, start playback of your sound material and press this button. It will take several seconds to complete depending on the number of the banks.

Set names by values sets the names for each bank to the values of the selected parameter. It may be handy when replicating existing parameters for example.

Load

Load button loads the bank settings by setting all associated parameters to the values in the particular bank.

Save

Save button saves the current values of all associated parameters into the particular bank. So you can edit all those parameters in the plugin then click the save button to store them in the bank.

Randomize

Randomize button loads random settings to the bank using the smart randomization engine. Only parameters associated with the multiparameter are randomized.

Generally, randomization in plug-ins works by selecting random values for all parameters, but rarely achieves satisfactory results, as the more parameters that change the more likely one will cause an unwanted effect. Our plugins employ a smart randomization engine that learns which settings are suitable for randomization (using the existing presets) and so is much more likely to create successful changes.

In addition, there are some mouse modifiers that assist this process. The smart randomization engine is used by default if no modifier keys are held.

Holding Ctrl while clicking the button constrains the randomization engine so that parameters are only modified slightly rather than completely randomized. This is suitable to create small variations of existing interesting settings.

Holding Alt while clicking the button will force the engine to use full randomization, which sets random values for all reasonable automatable parameters. This can often result in "extreme" settings. Please note that some parameters cannot be randomized this way.

Hold Shift while clicking the button to undo the previous randomization.

Menu

Menu button provides some additional options related to the bank.

Name

Name button lets you rename the bank.

Name check

Name check button lets you rename the bank. This is a secondary name used for controls such as checkboxes and selectors if defined.

Parameter lock editor

Lock provides a simple way to keep some parameters unchanged when using randomization or browsing presets. You can still change these locked parameters by adjusting the control directly. You simply use the learn feature (right click) in the same way you would with modulators or multiparameters, and touch every parameter you want to keep locked. You can also select them directly in the Parameter Lock window where you can also save them as presets, copy & paste etc. Learning mode is ended by clicking the button again. Please note that this list is not saved with global plugin presets for obvious reasons. The parameters can be locked or unlocked directly in the list or by clicking the lock button associated with the parameter on the Easy screen.

Presets

Presets button displays a window where you can load and manage available presets. Hold Ctrl when clicking to load a random preset instead.

Left arrow

Left arrow button loads the previous preset.

Right arrow

Right arrow button loads the next preset.

Randomize

Randomize button loads a random preset.

Copy

Copy button copies the settings onto the system clipboard.

Paste

Paste button loads the settings from the system clipboard.

Parameters panel

Parameters panel configures the list of the parameters which are locked.

Add

Add button adds a parameter to the list of locked parameters. Alternatively you can use the learn feature available by right-clicking the paramlock button for example.

Delete

Delete button deletes the selected parameter from the list of controlled parameters.

Learn

Learn button starts or stops the learning. Click it, then move some parameters in the plugin, then click it again. Learning can also be accessed from the global parameter lock menu.

MIDI editor

MIDI settings window lets you configure, how the plugin reacts to various MIDI messages. You can use MIDI controllers or MIDI notes and you can also configure a controller to switch between presets, which is especially useful for realtime performances.

Presets

Presets

Presets button displays a window where you can load and manage available presets. Hold Ctrl when clicking to load a random preset instead.

Left arrow

Left arrow button loads the previous preset.

Right arrow

Right arrow button loads the next preset.

Randomize

Randomize button loads a random preset.

Copy

Copy button copies the settings onto the system clipboard.

Paste

Paste button loads the settings from the system clipboard.

Map

Map button displays all current mappings of modulators, multiparameters and MIDI (whichever subsystems the plugin provides).

CONTROLLERS MAIN CONTROLLERS NOTES PRESET SWITCH Tab

selector

Tab selector switches between subsections.

Controllers panel

Controllers panel contains settings of MIDI controllers.

Do not load from presets

Do not load from presets

Do not load from presets button disables loading the controllers from presets. This may be handy if you have configured specific MIDI controllers with target parameters and you want to browse the presets without the need to configure them every time. Please note that some presets may rely on specific controllers though. For example, if a preset requires a velocity controller to provide velocity-dependent response, this option will avoid loading it, so the preset won't be complete, until you reconfigure it.

Last note-on channel only

Last note-on channel only

Last note-on channel only button makes the engine more suitable for voice-per-channel devices. These devices are able to send different controllers for each note you press, which however means that these could collide. This option makes the engine pass only the controllers that are related to the last note you pressed. For classic keyboards it is not relevant as you will usually use a single MIDI channel to transmit both the controllers and notes. Some more modern keyboard controllers will allow you to select one MIDI channel for the notes and a different one (or the same one) for the controllers.

Controllers

Reset

Reset

Reset button resets the selected controller to undefined state.

Up

Up button moves the selected controller up one item, if possible. This may be useful when keeping things organized, but please note that if you have some multiparameter, modulator or another subsystem access the ranges of individual controllers, this function will reorder them, so these connections will no longer be correct.

Down

Down button moves the selected controller down one item, if possible. This may be useful when keeping things organized, but please note that if you have some multiparameter, modulator or another subsystem access the ranges of individual controllers, this

function will reorder them, so these connections will no longer be correct.

Select target parameter

ParameterIndex

ParameterIndex button lets you choose the parameter being controlled. The set contains all automatable parameters.

MIDI

Learn

Learn

Learn enables or disables MIDI learn. When enabled, the plugin listens to both the MIDI CC messages from the controllers that you touch and the target parameters that you touch and associates the last-touched of each with the selected slot. You can perform several mappings by selecting another slot, adjusting a hardware controller. Then adjusting a target parameter, and repeating those steps for each mapping desired.

Channel

All

◀

Channel

Channel defines the controller MIDI channel.

Controller

Global

001 Modulation wheel

Controller

Controller defines the source controller.

Values

Range mode

Interval

Range mode

Range mode defines how the parameter range is selected. While sometimes it is better to specify minimum and maximum, other times it is better to use a nominal center and depth (\% of full scale). This control allows you to define which one it will be.

Up and down mode makes the values go above and below the selected Value, which is considered the center. The interval is made smaller if necessary.

Full range mode is similar, except the range is symmetrically constrained, so the selected Value may not be the center anymore.

Up/down only modes goes from the selected value up/down only.

Let's compare these 4 modes. Taking a value of -12dB value, with a depth of 75% and a scale of +/- 24dB. The nominal range is therefore = +/-24 dB * 75% = 36dB. With values of 0%, 50% and 100% the outputs are:

Up and down: -24, -12, 0 (range constrained to 12 dB either side)

Full range: -24, -6, 12 (range limited to minimum, but not constrained)

Up only: -12, 6, 24 (range not constrained = +/-24 dB * 75% = 36dB)

Down only: -12, -18, -24 (range limited to minimum)

Interval mode is the most simple one and goes from Value to Maximal value.

VALUE

0.00%

Value

Value defines the center of the target parameter's range or the minimum if the Range mode is set to Interval.

MAX VALUE

100.0%

Maximal value

Maximal value defines the upper limit of the target parameter's range. It is available only if the Range mode is set to Interval. This value can be lower than Value. 0% is always mapped to reference>Value and 100% to reference>Maximal value.

DEPTH

100.0%

Depth

Depth defines size of the target parameter's range. It is used only if the Range mode is not set to Interval.

Invert

Invert

Invert checkbox inverts the controller shape, so the minimum becomes the maximum etc.

Interpolated

Interpolated

Interpolated makes the controller value interpolated over the time using the smart interpolation. This approach ensures there won't be abrupt changes, which could lead to clicks and pops. However sometimes you may want to apply these changes immediately - for example when changing ADSR based on the note velocity, in which case this parameter should be disabled.

Toggle

Toggle

Toggle mode makes the controller switch between the maximum and minimum of the target parameter whenever triggered. By default triggering it means going from values below 50% to above 50%. By enabling Trigger you can make it perform the trigger every time the value is changed.

Trigger

Trigger

Trigger mode makes the controller automatically produce maximum and the minimum right after it. It can be handy with some buggy MIDI controllers providing buttons, which however do not send value 0, and only repeat value 127. Trigger makes it behave like the minimum was actually sent by the MIDI controller a little bit after the original message.

Main controllers panel

Main controllers panel lets you define the set of main MIDI controllers on your MIDI device. These are not stored with the presets, so using them lets you easily switch between MIDI controllers, create presets that will work for users of other MIDI controllers etc. Using the Main controllers is no different than using the standard MIDI controllers, but the extra 'layer' can make things simple when using multiple controllers and also in general situations where your MIDI device has several controllers with quite 'random' numbers.

Presets

Presets

Presets button displays a window where you can load and manage available presets. Hold Ctrl when clicking to load a random preset instead.

Left arrow

Left arrow button loads the previous preset.

Right arrow

Right arrow button loads the next preset.

Randomize

Randomize button loads a random preset.

Global 001 Modulation wheel

Controller

Controller defines the MIDI controller associated to this Main controller.

Learn

Learn

Learn enables or disables MIDI learn. When enabled, the plugin listens to the controllers you touch and associates them to the main controller.

Notes panel

Notes panel contains settings of MIDI note controllers, if you want to control parameters using MIDI keys.

Note controllers

Reset

Reset

Reset button resets the selected controller to undefined state.

Up

Up button moves the selected controller up one item, if possible. This may be useful when keeping things organized, but please note that if you have some multiparameter, modulator or another subsystem access the ranges of individual controllers, this function will reorder them, so these connections will no longer be correct.

Down

Down button moves the selected controller down one item, if possible. This may be useful when keeping things organized, but please note that if you have some multiparameter, modulator or another subsystem access the ranges of individual controllers, this function will reorder them, so these connections will no longer be correct.

Select target parameter

Learn

Learn enables or disables MIDI learn. When enabled, the plugin listens to both the notes you touch and the parameters you touch and associates them with the selected slot.

MIDI

Channel

All

Channel

Channel defines the controller MIDI channel.

Note

48 [C3]

Note

Note defines the controller's target MIDI note. It is used only in On/off and Switch modes, which you can set using Mode parameter (in the Values panel).

Note min

O (C-1)

Note min

Note min controls the lowest note to be used by a controller in Linear or Logarithmic mode. The minimum value of the target parameter will then be associated to this note.

If both Note min and Note max parameters are default, the plugin takes the actual frequency of each note, and transforms it into the range 20Hz to 20kHz, which is the range used by all equalizers and filters, so that you can literally play a parameter on a MIDI keyboard. If you change either of these 2 parameters however, the plugin takes the range of notes as the requested interval. This is useful for example if you have a small MIDI keyboard used for soloing and you want increase some parameter the higher you play. In the default mode it would be difficult, since the range of frequencies is much bigger than the range of your MIDI keyboard. Set the Note min and Note max to C0 and B0 respectively, the Mode to Logarithmic and select a suitable target parameter (Dry/Wet is fine). Send MIDI notes in the specified range to the plugin and you will see the target parameter increase (by 9.09% (= 100 / (12-1)) for a 100% range).

Note max

127 (G9)

Functional outside note range

Functional outside note range makes the note controller work even if the note isn't in the specified range, clamping the value to the minimum or maximum.

Values

VALUES

Mode

Logarithmic

SHIFT

MIN VALUE

0.00%

MAX VALUE

100.0%

Mode

Logarithmic

Mode

Mode controls how the controller works.

Key takes the note index and transforms it into 0..1, which is the output of any controller. This mode is useful for scale switches for example - if you want to use MIDI keys to change values linearly.

Key (in octave) is similar but it has only 12 values - one per each key and it doesn't matter which octave you press it in.

Linear converts the notes into frequencies and then transform them into the linear scale from 20Hz to 20kHz.

Logarithmic converts the notes into the frequencies and then into the logarithmic scale from (20) to (20000) . A typical use case is when you want to control an equalizer band using a MIDI keyboard. Since EQ frequencies work in logarithmic scale, this mode makes both things compatible and the EQ frequency will be set to the note frequency.

On/off modes react only to single notes and can be used for triggers. When the Note On is received the parameter is changed to its Max value and when the Note Off is received the parameter is changed to its Min value. So this mode can also be used to change between any 2 parameter values.

Switch modes are similar, but only recognize when a note is pressed. The Note Offs are ignored. Note Ons select the Max value and Min value alternately. In all octaves mode it doesn't matter which octave is used. For example, this is useful when you want to use any note C to switch something on and off.

Velocity modes do not actually follow the note number being pressed, but it's velocity instead. While you can do the same thing with normal MIDI controllers using the special Velocity controllers, this one allows you to select only some notes to follow.

SHIFT

0

Shift

Shift lets you shift the original note up or down by the specified number of semitones.

MIN VALUE

0.00%

Min value

Min value defines the minimum value for the target parameter.

MAX VALUE

100.0%

Max value

Max value defines the maximum value for the target parameter.

Enable MIDI program change

Enable

MIDI program change

Enable MIDI program change enables processing program change MIDI message.

Preset previous/next trigger panel

Preset previous/next trigger panel lets you select a MIDI controller, which will switch presets. It provides the same action as clicking the arrows next to the main preset button. When the controller value gets below 33%, the previous preset is loaded. When the controller value gets above 66%, the next preset is loaded.

Learn

Learn

Learn enables or disables MIDI learn.

Channel All

Channel

Channel defines the controller MIDI channel.

Controller Global 000 Bank select

Controller

Controller defines the source controller.

Simulate program change via controller panel

Simulate program change via controller panel lets you select a MIDI controller, that will work as program change, for convenience. You can use it then to switch between A-H presets or presets via panel below.

Learn

Learn enables or disables MIDI learn.

Channel

Channel defines the controller MIDI channel.

Controller

Controller defines the source controller.

Number of values

Number of values defines the number of programs to switch between. By default Program change MIDI standard offers 128 programs. However it may by too many and could be hard to actually control with the specific controller. Hence you can lower the number of actual programs.

Program change in presets panel

Program change in presets panel enables the MIDI program change processing. If disabled, the plugin follows Program Change messages by changing the A-H presets. The obvious disadvantage is that this way there are just 8 presets. By enabling this feature the plugin stops selecting A-H presets and rather loads different presets from the specified preset folder, including all sub-folders. The default folder is called "Programs". To use it, you simply need to create a preset folder called Programs and put the presets into it. Note that the order matters of course. And you can change the folder name at any time, so you can have several sets of selectable presets.

Folder

Folder defines the preset folder from which the presets for program-change MIDI messages are taken.

Channel

Channel defines the program change MIDI channel.

Used controls

Here we discuss the general properties of all application controls. As a most important rule you should note, that you can always use any question mark button or F1 (or Ctrl+F1 or Ctrl+H) key with the mouse cursor over a specified control to get detailed information about what it does and how to use it.

Value button

0.00 dB

Value button is an alternative to the knobs and its main advantage is that it is very small. In some cases the button simply serves as a clickable item and a menu is shown when clicked. However the mouse wheel and other controls still do work.

• Click and drag using the left mouse button to change the value.
• Right mouse button shows a menu with additional options. Hold ctrl/cmd to select the default value.
• Mouse wheel, arrow keys and vertical drag using middle mouse button or using left mouse button while holding Ctrl modifies the value more precisely.
• Home key configures the minimal possible value, conversely end key setups the maximal one.
• Esc or Backspace keys restore the original value when either one is pressed during dragging.
• Shift + left mouse button or double-click using left mouse button lets you edit the value as text. You can use the virtual keyboard or type on your computer keyboard. In some cases this shows a menu with all possible values instead.
• Alt + press then release measures the time between the press and the release and applies it as time/frequency tap. Usable only for certain values of course.

Switcher

Mode Logarithmic

Switcher is an alternative to a tracker or knob control, but it has a limited set of values.

• Left mouse button shows a menu with list of all possible values. This function might be unavailable in certain cases when the number of possible values is too high.
• Right mouse button shows a menu with additional options. Hold ctrl/cmd to select the default value.
• Up and Down arrow keys, buttons in the control and mouse-wheel increase or decrease the value.

Knob

INPUT

-10.00 dB

Knob simulates physical knobs used to edit various values.

• Click and drag using the left mouse button to change the value.
• Right mouse button shows a menu with additional options. Hold ctrl/cmd to select the default value.
• Mouse wheel, arrow keys and vertical drag using middle mouse button or using left mouse button while holding Ctrl modifies the value more precisely.
• Home key configures the minimal possible value, conversely end key setups the maximal one.
• Esc or Backspace keys restore the original value when either one is pressed during dragging.
• Shift + left mouse button or double-click using left mouse button lets you edit the value as text. You can use the virtual keyboard or type on your computer keyboard. In some cases this shows a menu with all possible values instead.
• Alt + press then release measures the time between the press and the release and applies it as time/frequency tap. Usable only for certain values of course.

Installation, activation, introduction to audio plugins

Installation

All MeldaProduction plugins are currently available for Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. You can download all software directly from our website. Since the installation procedures for the two operating systems are quite different, we will cover each one separately.

The download files for the effects include all the effects plug-ins and MPowerSynth. During the installation process you can select which plug-ins or bundles to install. If you have not licensed all of the plugins in a bundle then you just need to activate each plugin separately.

If you have multiple user accounts on your computer, always install the software under your own account! If you install it under one account and run it under a different one, it may not have access to all the resources (presets for example) or may not even be able to start.

Installation on Windows

All plugins are available for VST, VST3 and AAX interfaces. The installer automatically installs both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the plugins.

Note: Always use 32-bit plugins in 32-bit hosts, or 64-bit plugins in 64-bit hosts. 64-bit plugins cannot work in 32-bit hosts even if the operating system is 64-bit. Conversely, never use 32-bit plugins in 64-bit hosts. Otherwise they would have to be 'bridged' and, in some hosts, can become highly unstable.

You can select the destination VST plugins paths on your system. The installer will try to detect your path, however you should check that the correct path has been selected and change it if necessary. In all cases it is highly recommended to use the current standard paths to avoid any installation issues:

32-bit Windows:

C:\Program files\VstPlugins

64-bit Windows:

C:\Program files (x86)\VstPlugins (for 32-bit plugins)

C:\Program files\VstPlugins (for 64-bit plugins)

If your host provides both VST and VST3 interfaces, VST3 is usually preferable. If a plugin cannot be opened in your host, ensure the plugin file exists in your VST plugin path and that if your host is 32-bit, the plugin is also 32-bit, and vice versa. If you experience any issues, contact our support via [e-mail]

Installation on Mac OS X

All plugins are available for VST, VST3, AU and AAX interfaces. Installers create both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the plugins.

If your host provides multiple plugin interface options, VST3 is usually preferable. If you experience any issues, contact our support via [e-mail]

Most major hosts such as Cubase or Logic should work without problems. In some other hosts the keyboard input may be partly non-functional. In that case you need to use the virtual keyboard available for every text input field. You may also experience various minor graphical glitches, especially during resizing plugin windows. This unfortunately cannot be avoided since it is caused by disorder in Mac OS X.

Uninstallation on Windows

The Uninstaller is available from the Start menu and Control panel, in the same way as for other applications. If you don't have any of these for any reason, go to Program files / MeldaProduction / MAudioPlugins and run setup.exe.

Uninstallation on OSX

The Uninstaller is available from Applications / MeldaProduction / MAudioPlugins / setup.app.

Deleting all data, presets etc.

Even if you uninstall the plugins, some data will be left behind - because of potential crossdependencies or because these are your presets, settings, configurations etc. If you want to wipe out everything, please manually delete following folders:

Windows:

C:\ProgramData\MeldaProduction

Performance precautions

In order to maximize performance of your computer and minimize CPU usage it is necessary to follow a few precautions. The most important thing is to keep your buffer sizes (latency) as high as possible. There is generally no reason to use latency under 256 samples for 44kHz sampling rates (hence 512 for 96kHz etc.). Increasing buffer sizes (hence also latency) highly decreases required CPU power. In rare cases increasing buffer sizes may actually increase CPU power, in which case you can assume your audio interface driver is malfunctioning.

You should also consider using only necessary features. Usually the most CPU demanding features are oversampling and modulation of certain parameters. You can reduce modulation CPU usage at the cost of lower audio quality in Settings/Settings/Modulator protection.

Troubleshooting

The plugins are generally very stable, there are known problems however.

GPU compatibility

The software uses hardware acceleration to move some of the processing (mainly GUI related) from your CPU (processor) to your GPU (graphics processing unit). It is highly recommended to use a new GPU, as it will provide higher performance improvements, and update your GPU drivers. Older GPUs are slower and may not even provide required features, so the software will have to perform all calculations in the main CPU. We also have had extremely bad experiences with GPUs from ATI and despite the fact that software is now probably bulletproof, it is recommended to use NVidia GPUs as there has not been a single case of a problem with them.

If you experience problems with your GPU (crashing, blank/dysfunctional GUI), and that you cannot disable the GPU acceleration from the plugin's Settings window itself, download this file:

http://www.meldaproduction.com/download/GPU.zip

And place the GPU.xml included in the zip into

Windows: C:\Users{username}\AppData\Roaming\MeldaProduction

Mac OS X: \~/Library/Application support/MeldaProduction

Memory limits of 32-bit platform

Most hosts are now 64-bit ready, however some of them are not or users willingly choose 32-bit edition, because the required plugins are not 64-bit ready yet. All our software is 64-bit ready. Please note that you must NOT use the 64-bit plugins in 32-bit hosts, even if you have a bridge. If you are stuck with a 32-bit host for any reason, note that there is a memory limit (about 1.5 GB), which you may not exceed. This can happen if you load too many samples or different plugins for example. In that case the host may crash. There is no other solution than to use a 64-bit host.

Updating

You can use "Home/Check for updates" feature in any of the plugins. This will check online if there is a newer version available and open the download page if necessary.

To install a newer (or even older) version you simply need to download the newest installer and use it. There is no need to uninstall the previous version, the installer will do that if necessary. You also do not need to worry about your presets when using the installer. Of course, frequent backup of your work is recommended as usual.

Using touch-screen displays

Touch screen displays are supported on Windows 8 and newer and the GUI has been tweaked to provide a good workflow. Up to 16 connections/fingers/inputs are supported. Any input device such as touch-screens, mouse, tablets are supported. These are the main gestures used by the plugins:

• Tap = left click
• Double tap = double click
• Tap & hold and quickly tap next to it with another finger = right click. Tap & hold is a classic right-click gesture, however that doesn't provide a good workflow, so came up with this method, which is much faster and does not collide with functionality of some elements.

Purchasing and activation

You can purchase the plugin from our website or any reseller, however purchasing directly from our website is always the quickest and simplest option. The software is available online only, purchasing is automatic, easy and instant. After the purchase you will immediately receive a keyfile via email. If you do not receive an e-mail within a few minutes after your purchase, firstly check your spam folder and if the email is not present there, contact our support team using [e-mail] so we can send you the licence again.

To activate the software simply drag & drop the licence file onto the plugin. Unfortunately some hosts (especially on Mac OS X) either do not allow drag & drop, or make it just too clumsy, so you can use Home/Activate in any of the plugins and follow the instructions. For more information about activation please check the online video tutorial.

You are allowed to use the software on all your machines, but only you are allowed to operate the software. The licences are "to-person" as defined in the licence terms, therefore you can use the software on all your computers, but you are the only person allowed to operate them. MeldaProduction can provide a specialized licence for facilities such as schools with different licence terms.

Quick start with your host

In most cases your host will be able to recognize the plugin and be able to open it the same way as it opens other plugins. If it doesn't, ensure you did installation properly as described above and let your host rescan the plugins.

Cubase

Click on an empty slot (in mixer or in track inserts for example) and a menu with available plugins will be displayed. VST2 version is located in MeldaProduction subfolder. However VST3 version is recommended and is located in the correct folder along with Cubase's factory plugins. For example, dynamic processors are available from the "Dynamics" subfolder.

To route an audio to the plugin's side-chain (if it has one), you need to use the VST3 version. Enable the side-chain using the arrow button in the Cubase's plugin window title. Then you can route any set of tracks into the plugin's side-chain either by selecting the plugin as the track output or using sends.

To route MIDI to the plugin, simply create a new MIDI track and select the plugin as its output.

Logic

Choose an empty insert slot on one of your audio tracks (or instrument tracks for example) and select the plugin from the popup menu. You will find it in the Audio Units / MeldaProduction folder.

To route an audio to the plugin's side-chain (if it has one), a side-chain source should be available in the top of the plugin's window, so simply select the source track you want to send to the plugin's side-chain.

To route MIDI to the plugin, you need to create a new Instrument track, click on the instrument slot and select the plugin from AU MIDI-controlled Effects / MeldaProduction. The plugin will receive MIDI from that track. Then route the audio you want to process with the plugin to this track.

Studio One

Find the plugin in the Effects list and drag & drop it onto the track you would like to insert the plugin to.

To route an audio track to the plugin's side-chain (if it has one), first enable the side-chain using the "Side-chain" button in the Studio One's plugin window title. Then you can route any set of tracks into the plugin's side-chain from the mixer.

To route MIDI to the plugin, simply create a new MIDI track and select the plugin as its output.

Digital performer

In the Mixing Board, find an empty slot in the track you would like to insert the plugin to. Click on the field and select the plugin from the effects list.

To route an audio track to the plugin's side-chain (if it has one), choose the track you want to send using Side-chain menu, which appears at the top of the DP's plugin window.

To route MIDI to the plugin, simply create a new MIDI track in the Track view and select the plugin as its output.

Reaper

Click on an empty slot in the mixer and a window with available plugins will be displayed. Select the plugin you want to open by double clicking on it or using Ok button.

It is highly recommended to select all MeldaProduction plugins in the plugin window the first time you open it, click using your right mouse button and enable "Save minimal undo states". This will disable the problematic Undo feature, which could cause glitches whenever you change certain parameters.

To route an audio track to the plugin's side-chain (if it has one), click on I/O button of the side-chain source track in the mixer. Routing window will appear, there you click "Add new send" and select the track the plugin is on. In the created send slot select the channels (after the "=" mark) for the send, in stereo configuration 3/4 for example. Note that this way the whole track receives the side-chain signal and all plugins with it. It is possible to send it to a single plugin only, but it is more complicated, please check the Reaper's documentation about that.

To route MIDI to the plugin, create a new MIDI track and do the same thing as with side-chain, except you don't need to change output channels.

Live

In Session view, select the track you would like to insert the plugin to. At the left top of Ableton Live's interface, click on the Plug-in Device Browser icon (third icon from the top). From the plug-ins list choose the plugin (from MeldaProduction folder), double click on it or drag & drop it into the track.

The X/Y grid usually doesn't provide any parameters of the plugin. This is because the plugins have too many of them, so you have to select them manually. Check Live's documentation for more information.

To route an audio to the plugin's side-chain (if it has one), select the track you want to send to the side-chain and in the 'Audio To' menu, choose the audio track that has the plugin on it. Then in the box just below that select the plugin from the menu.

NOTE: Live does NOT support any interface correctly, it doesn't use the reported buses properly, hence it doesn't work with surround capable plugins. Therefore you need to use VST version, which reports only stereo capabilities by default.

To route MIDI to the plugin, create a new MIDI track and in the 'MIDI to' menu, choose the audio track that has the plugin on it. Note that in Live only the first plug-in on any track can receive MIDI.

ProTools

In the mixer click an empty slot to insert the plugin to and select the plugin from the tree. The plugin may be present multiple times, once for each channel configuration (mono->stereo etc.). As of now ProTools do not arrange them in the subfolders, which is a workflow dealbreaker, but we cannot do anything about it. The huge empty space on top of each plugin window, which occupies so much of the precious display area, is part of ProTools and every plugin window and again we cannot do anything about it. In some cases you may experience CPU overload messages, in which case please contact Avid for support. Note that ProTools 10 and newer is supported. RTAS compatibility for PT9 and older will never be added.

To route an audio to the plugin's side-chain (if it has one), open the plugin, click on the No key input button in the plugin title and select the bus you want the audio taken from. You might need to remember the bus number, unless your ProTools version supports bus renaming. ProTools doesn't support stereo (or surround) side-chains at all.

To route MIDI to the plugin, create a new MIDI track and in the mixer click the output field for that track and select the plugin, which should already be in the menu.

FL Studio

First make sure plugins are scanned, either a full scan through the Plugin Manager or an automatic fast scan when you open the Plugin Database section of the browser in FL. The scanned plugins will show up in the Plugin Database > Installed section of the FL browser. The Effects and Generators sections in the Plugin Database will show all "favorite" plugins. These can be checked and unchecked in the Plugin Manager or added in some other ways. These favorites also show up in the Add menu, the menu for the "+" button in the channel rack, when you right click an existing channel button to replace or insert, in the plugin slot menu in the mixer and in the plugin picker (F8). The menus with favorite plugins also have a "More" choice that will show all scanned plugins. The full explanation is in our help file, on the page Installing Plugins.

To route an audio to the plugin's side-chain, first set up the mixer: make sure the track you want to receive audio from is sent to the track the plugin as a sidechain (help). Then set up the plugin wrapper: choose the desired input on the Processing tab of the wrapper options.

To route MIDI notes to the plugin, first configure the sender: choose a MIDI port for the input device in the MIDI settings (for a hardware device), or an output port in the wrapper options (for a VST plugin that produces MIDI). For the receiving plugin, set the input port in the wrapper options to the same value you chose in step 1.

To route MIDI controllers, the procedure is different. The usual method in FL is to link CC messages to plugin parameters (help file). VST plugins will also have 128 CC parameters published (through the wrapper) that can be links this way. Those will send the specified CC MIDI message to the plugin, instead of changing a published parameter.

GUI styles, editor modes and colors

MeldaProduction plugins provide a state of the art styling engine, which lets you change the appearance to your liking. The first time you run the plugins a style wizard will appear and let you choose the style and other settings. It may not be available in ProTools and other problematic hosts.

By default each plugin has a certain color scheme, which differs based on what kind of plugin is that. Also, sections of some plugins are colorized differently, again, based on what kind of section is that (this can be disabled in global settings). Despite you can change the colors anyhow you want, it is advantageous to keep the defaults as these are standardized and have predefined meaning, so just by looking at a plugin's color you can immediately say what kind of plugin and section is that. Same rules apply when designing devices for easy screens. This is the current set of colors:

Dynamics = orange

Equalization, filtering = green Reverb, delay = brown/yellow Modulation = blue Distortion, limiting = red Stereo = cyan/yellow Time, pitch, unison... = purple/pink Tools = grey

Special colors: Synchronization = grey Detection = blue/green Side-chain = green Effects = red Advanced stuff = grey

Abstract orange triangle logo with white letter M (no text or symbols)

MELDA production The only limit is your imagination

About MeldaProduction

The best sound on the market, incredible workflow and versatility beyond your imagination. We create the deepest and the most powerful audio plugins with unbelievable sound and tons of unique features you cannot find anywhere else.

Innovative Thinking

At MeldaProduction, we make the most advanced tools for music production and audio processing. We get inspired by the whole range of tools from the ancient analog gear to the newest digital creations, but we always push forward. We've always felt the audio industry is extremely conservative, still relying on the prehistoric equipment making the job unnecessarily slow and complicated. That's why we invent new technologies, which make audio processing easier, faster, better sounding and more creative.

Sound Matters

In the world full of audiophiles you just need superb audio quality. And that's why we spend so much time perfecting audio algorithms until they sound unbeatable. Everything from dynamic filters to spectral dynamic processing. Our technologies just sound perfect.

Inspiring User Interface

Modern user interfaces must not only be easy and quick to use, but also versatile and the whole visual appearance should inspire you. MeldaProduction plugins provide the most advanced GUI engine on the market. It is still the first and only GUI engine, which is freely resizable and styable. Our plugins can look as an ancient vintage gear, if you are working on old-school rock music. Or as super-modern

Easy to Use, Yet Versatile

The only limit is your imagination. Our plugins are with absolutely no doubt the most powerful and versatile tools on the market. Yet we managed to make the plugins easy to use via the devices and smart randomization system. But when you are ready, you are one click away from the endless potential the plugins provide.

Never-Ending Improvements

Most companies create a plugin, sell it and abandon it. We improve our plugins, add features, optimize... until there is nothing left to improve and there are no more ideas. Unfortunately that hasn't happened yet :). And the best thing is that the updates are free-for-life!

MeldaProduction was founded in 2009 by Vojtech Meluzin and is based in Prague, Czech Republic.

www.meldaproduction.com

[e-mail]

MeldaProduction (c) 2017