Aphex Aural Exciter Type III Plug-In Guide Version 2.0 for Macintosh and Windows Digidesign 2001 Junipero Serra Boulevard Daly City, CA 94014-3886 USA tel: 650·731·6300 fax: 650·731·6399 Technical Support (USA) tel: 650·731·6100 fax: 650·731·6384 Product Information (USA) 650·731·6102 800·333·2137 International Offices Visit the Digidesign Web site for contact information Web Site www.digidesign.
Copyright This guide is copyrighted ©2002 by Digidesign, a division of Avid Technology, Inc. (hereafter “Digidesign”), with all rights reserved. Under copyright laws, this guide may not be duplicated in whole or in part without the written consent of Digidesign. DIGIDESIGN, AVID and PRO TOOLS are trademarks or registered trademarks of Digidesign and/or Avid Technology, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. All features and specifications subject to change without notice.
contents Chapter 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Installing Aural Exciter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Working with Aural Exciter Plug-In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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chapter 1 Introduction Congratulations on your purchase of the Aphex Aural Exciter® Type III plug-in for Pro Tools TDM systems. The Aphex Aural Exciter Plug-In Guide covers features and functions of the Aural Exciter, providing suggestions on how to use it in a Pro Tools session. This guide is meant to be a supplement to your Pro Tools TDM system guides. The Aural Exciter plug-in is a real-time TDM plug-in that retains the look and sound of Aphex Systems’ renowned hardware units.
Working with Aural Exciter Plug-In Conventions Used in This Guide Refer to the Pro Tools Reference Guide, the DigiRack Plug-Ins Guide, or the electronic PDF copy of the Digidesign Plug-Ins Guide for information on working with plug-ins, including: All Digidesign guides use the following conventions to indicate menu choices and key commands: • Plug-Ins as Inserts • The Plug-In Window : Convention Action File > Save Session Choose Save Session from the File menu Control+N Hold down the Control key
chapter 2 Aural Exciter Controls Aphex Aural Exciter Type III Overview Aphex Systems, Inc. first introduced Aural Exciter in 1975. Since then, several refinements and improvements have been incorporated into its original design. The Aural Exciter plug-in is modeled after the TYPE III Aural Exciter. Aural Exciter has become a standard in the professional audio industry, and has been used on many albums, CDs, movies, broadcast productions, commercials, and concerts.
correction or expansion), phase scrambling and/or filtering. They can only increase peak levels causing clipping, feedback, tape distortion and listener fatigue. Enabling Switches To enable a switch, click on the switch. Meters Adjusting Parameters Drive Meter Editing Parameters Using a Mouse You can adjust rotary controls with a mouse by dragging horizontally or vertically. Parameter values increase as you drag upward or to the right, and decrease as you drag downward or to the left.
BLOCK DIAGRAM OF AURAL EXCITER TYPE III Bypass (closed) Solo INPUT Attenuation Level (–∞, 0 dB) Summing Spectral Phrase Refracter OUTPUT Bypass (open) SPR (On/Off) Aural Exciter MAIN AUDIO PATH Drive (+6 dB / +18 dB) Dynamic Compressor Programmed Gain Buffer Attenuation State Variable Filter Harmonics Generator Tune Waveform Generator Mix (+6 dB, –∞ / +18 dB, –∞) Peaking Null FIll AURAL EXCITER SIDE-CHAIN Harmonics Density Timbre Figure 1.
Underneath the control, the amount of Peaking is displayed as a percentage. Tune Control The Tune control sets the bandwidth (corner frequency) of the second order high-pass filter in the side-chain prior to the harmonics generator. The range of the control extends from 700 Hz to 7 kHz. TYPE III PEAKING RESPONSE 10.0 PEAKING at MAX 6.0 2.0 PEAKING at MIDPOINT -2.
would lose some presence. When the Null Fill control is set at Max, the frequency dip is filled, but the frequencies associated with the shelf top become accentuated. Also notice the shift in the Tune frequency (0 dB axis) for the range of Null Fill settings. TYPE III NULL FILLRANGE 7.0 NULL FILL at MAX Timbre Control The Timbre control sets the order or type of harmonic signal being generated by way of the Harmonics control.
Switches Drive Switch The Drive switch offers two settings, Normal (+6 dB) and High (+18 dB). This sets the input sensitivity to the harmonics generator. In general, this switch will be left in the Normal position. However, weak signals may require more gain, in which case you should place this switch in the High position. Use the Drive meter to determine if the signal gain needs to be increased.
Through the many steps of recording, duplicating, distributing, and reproducing sound, the phase of the low frequency audio spectrum becomes delayed compared to mid and high frequencies. SPR corrects the bass delay anomaly to restore clarity and openness and significantly increases the apparent bass energy level without adding any amplitude equalization or bass boost. To audition the effect of SPR on the audio signal, turn the Ax switch Off and turn SPR On.
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chapter 3 Using the Aural Exciter In the recording studio, post production suite, or similar environment, post-processing of previously recorded audio tracks with the Aural Exciter can restore lost vibrance and realism, even to the extent of saving dialogue or sound effects which were thought to be unusable. Instruments and vocals can be made to stand out in the mix without substantially increasing the mix levels or using equalization.
To insert Aural Exciter on a track: Click the Insert Selector on the track and select the plug-in that you want to use. ■ click here Using the Level fader to adjust for more headroom is also useful when restoring older recordings. For optimal performance keep the peak hold meter of the Drive meter inside the yellow area. The harder you drive the Exciter, the more Exciter enhancement you generate. If you cannot get the Drive meter to register in the yellow area, try setting the Drive switch to High.
The Level, Tune, Peaking, Null Fill, Harmonics, Timbre and Mix faders provide separate left and right faders when in stereo. For stereo, a separate set of switches for independent control of the left and right channels is provided for Ax, Solo, SPR, Bypass, Drive and Density. The Tune fader adjusts the corner frequency of the high pass filter and the Mix fader varies the amount of Aural Exciter enhancement that is mixed with the unmodified signal.
Successful use of the SPR depends on the character of the original sound. It is hard to predict in advance what will be the effect of the SPR. Typically, you may find it useful about 50% of the time. At other times, there will be little or no discernible effect. Seldom does the effect damage good audio, so it could be left on as a matter of course.
index A M adjusting parameters 4 Ax switch 8 meters 4 Mix control 7 B N block diagram 5 Bypass switch 9 Null Fill control 6 O C clipping 12 optimizing Aural Exciter 12 Out meter 4 D P Density switch 8 Drive meter 4 Drive switch 8 parameters 4 Peaking control 6 R G gain structure 12 guide conventions 2 removing Aural Exciter 12 rotary controls 5 S H Harmonics control 7 Solo switch 8 SPR switch 8, 13 switches 8 I inserting Aural Exciter 11 installation 1 introduction 1 T Timbre control 7 T
