Specifications

Chapter 6: DigiRack Real-Time TDM and RTAS Plug-ins 73
Ratio
The Ratio control sets the amount of expansion.
For example, if this is set to 2:1, it will lower sig-
nals below the threshold by one half. At higher
ratio levels (such as 30:1 or 40:1) the Ex-
pander/Gate functions like a gate by cutting off
signals that fall below the threshold. As you ad-
just the ratio control, refer to the built-in graph
to see how the shape of the expansion curve
changes.
This control ranges from 1:1 (no expansion) to
100:1 (gating).
Attack
The Attack control sets the attack time, or the
rate at which gain is reduced after the input sig-
nal crosses the threshold. Use this along with
the Ratio setting to control how soft the Ex-
pander’s gain reduction curve is.
This control ranges from 10 μs (fastest attack
time) to 300 ms (slowest attack time).
Hold
The Hold control specifies the duration (in sec-
onds or milliseconds) during which the Ex-
pander/Gate will stay in effect after the initial at-
tack occurs. This can be used as a function to
keep the Expander/Gate in effect for longer peri-
ods of time with a single crossing of the thresh-
old. It can also be used to prevent gate chatter
that may occur if varying input levels near the
threshold cause the gate to close and open very
rapidly.
This control ranges from 5 ms (shortest hold) to
4 seconds (longest hold).
Release
The Release control sets how long it takes for the
gate to close after the input signal falls below the
threshold level and the hold time has passed.
This control ranges from 5 ms (fastest release
time) to 4 seconds (slowest release time).
Range
The Range control sets the depth of the Ex-
pander/Gate when closed. Setting the gate to
higher range levels allows more and more of the
gated audio that falls below the threshold to
peek through the gate at all times.
This control ranges from –80 dB (lowest depth)
to 0 dB (highest depth).
Side-Chain Section
The side-chain is the split-off signal used by the
plug-in’s detector to trigger dynamics process-
ing. The Side-Chain section lets you toggle the
side-chain between the internal input signal or
an external key input, and tailor the equaliza-
tion of the side-chain signal so that the trigger-
ing of dynamics processing becomes frequency-
sensitive.
See “Using the Side-Chain Input in Dynamics
III” on page 76.