Focusrite D2™ and D3 Plug-Ins Guide
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Contents Chapter 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 System Requirements and Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Registering Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Working with Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
iv Focusrite D2 and D3 Plug-Ins Guide
Chapter 1: Introduction Congratulations on your purchase of the Focusrite D2 or D3 plug-in for Pro Tools® and VENUE™ systems. Focusrite D2 is a high-quality digital equalizer plug-in, and Focusrite D3 is a high-quality dynamics processor plug-in. System Requirements and Compatibility The Focusrite D2 and D3 plug-ins are available in AAX (DSP, Native, and AudioSuite), TDM, RTAS®, and AudioSuite™ plug-in formats that retain the look and sound of Focusrite’s renowned hardware units.
Registering Plug-Ins Your plug-in purchase is automatically registered when you activate your iLok license (see “Authorizing Plug-Ins” on page 5). Registered users are eligible to receive software update and upgrade notices. For information on technical support, visit www.avid.com.
About www.avid.com The Avid website (www.avid.com) is your best online source for information to help you get the most out of your Pro Tools system. The following are just a few of the services and features available. Product Registration Register your purchase online.
4 Focusrite D2 and D3 Plug-Ins Guide
Chapter 2: Installation and Authorization Installing Plug-Ins for Pro Tools The installer for your plug-in can be downloaded from the Avid Store (shop.avid.com) or through your my.avid.com account. Plug-Ins can also be purchased retail, in which case the included activation card provides the necessary information for downloading, installing, and authorizing your plug-in (www.avid.com/activation).
To download the license for your software to your iLok: If you don’t already have an iLok account, visit www.ilok.com to sign up for one. To remove a plug-in: 1 Choose Start > Control Panel. 2 Log in to your iLok.com account at www.ilok.com. 2 Click Programs and Features. 3 3 Follow the online instructions to transfer the license from your iLok account to your iLok USB Smart Key. Select the plug-in from the list of installed applications. 4 Click Uninstall.
Chapter 3: Focusrite D2 Focusrite D2 is a high-quality digital equalizer plug-in for Pro Tools. Developed in cooperation with Focusrite, the D2 is based on the highly-acclaimed Red Range 2™ dual EQ, designed by Rupert Neve.
Adjusting Plug-In Parameters Editing Parameters Using a Computer Keyboard You can adjust plug-in controls by dragging the control’s slider or knob, or by typing a value into the control’s text box. Additionally, some plug-ins have switches that can be enabled by clicking on them. Some controls have text boxes that display the current value of the parameter. You can edit the numeric value of a parameter with your computer keyboard.
Editing Parameters Using a Scroll Wheel Some controls have text boxes that display the current value of the parameter. You can edit the numeric value of a parameter using a scroll wheel. Output Level Output Level allows you to adjust the overall output gain. The range of this control is from –18 dB to +12 dB. To change control values using a scroll wheel: 1 Click the text box corresponding to the control that you want to adjust. 2 To increase a value, scroll up with the scroll wheel.
Metering: • Green = nominal levels. • Yellow = pre-clipping at –6 below full scale signal. • Red = full scale signal (clipping). The plug-in window includes a Clip LED that lights red to indicate plug-in clipping. The plug-in Clip LED follows Pro Tools settings for clip indication. (For more information, see the Pro Tools Reference Guide .) The Cartesian Graph The Cartesian Graph displays a visual representation of the current EQ settings.
Low-Shelf Filter High-Mid Peak Filter The Low-Shelf Filter provides two rotary controls: The upper rotary control adjusts the corner frequency, variable from 33 Hz to 460 Hz. The lower rotary control adjusts the filter’s amplitude gain or attenuation. Amplitude range is ±15 dB from unity. The High-Mid Peak Filter provides three rotary controls. The upper rotary control adjusts the center frequency, variable from 120 Hz to 18 kHz.
Low-Pass Filter The 18 dB/octave Low-Pass Filter provides a rotary control for adjusting the filter’s corner cutoff frequency, variable from 100 Hz to 18 kHz. Using D2 in Stereo Because Focusrite D2 has a single set of Filter parameter knobs, when it is used in stereo, you must select which channel, left or right, you want to edit. Use the Left Channel, Right Channel, and Link buttons to do this. These controls only appear when D2 is used in stereo.
Link Button Selecting the Link button allows you adjust parameters for both channels simultaneously. By default, Link mode is enabled so that you can easily maintain parity between the parameter settings for both channels. You can also use Link mode to help you maintain a relative offset between parameters settings on the two channels. Maintaining an offset: 1 Deselect the Link button. 2 Select the desired channel button, left or right, and adjust the parameters for that channel.
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Chapter 4: Focusrite D3 Focusrite D3 is a high-quality dynamics processor plug-in for Pro Tools. Developed in cooperation with Focusrite, the D3 is based on the highly acclaimed Red Range 3™ dual mono/stereo compressor & limiter designed by Rupert Neve. Focusrite D3 Configurations The Compressor/Limiter defaults to the compressor being enabled and the limiter disabled. To enable the limiter: 1 Disable the compressor by Start key-clicking (Windows) or Control-clicking (Mac) its icon.
the output will increase only by 1 dB. With a compression ratio of 4:1 for example, an 8 dB increase in input will produce only a 2 dB increase in output. The D3 Limiter The D3 limiter operates as a fast-attack compressor with a high compression ratio. It does not attack instantaneously or look ahead in order to attack ahead of time, but instead uses a very fast, 1millisecond attack time.
Editing Parameters Using a Computer Keyboard Editing Parameters Using a Scroll Wheel Some controls have text boxes that display the current value of the parameter. You can edit the numeric value of a parameter with your computer keyboard. Some controls have text boxes that display the current value of the parameter. You can edit the numeric value of a parameter using a scroll wheel.
Output Level Meters Output Level adjusts the overall output gain. Because large amounts of compression can restrict dynamic range, the Output Level knob is useful for compensating for heavily compressed signals and making up the resulting difference in level. The meters indicate gain reduction (the top meter) and output level (the bottom meter). The Gain Reduction meter indicates the amount of gain reduction in dB. The Output Level meter indicates the output signal level in dB.
D3 Compressor Controls The Compressor icon, which represents a compression curve, acts as a three-state switch for enabling, disabling, or bypassing the compressor. Its current state is indicated by the icon’s color. To disable the compressor: Start key-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac) the icon. When the compressor is disabled, the icon is black. To re-enable the compressor: Click the icon. When the compressor is enabled, the icon is white.
Threshold Release Threshold sets the threshold level. Signals that exceed this level will be compressed. Signals that are below it will be unaffected. The range of this control is from 0 dB to –48 dB. A setting of 0 dB is equivalent to no compression. Release controls how long it takes for the compressor to be fully deactivated after the input signal drops below the threshold level.
D3 Limiter Controls The Limiter icon, which represents a limiter curve, acts as a three-state switch for enabling, disabling, or bypassing the limiter. Its current state is indicated by the icon’s color: If you are using the Compressor/Limiter plug-in, which allows you to use either the compressor or the limiter (but not both simultaneously), you must disable one module by Start key-clicking the icon (Windows) or Control-clicking it (Mac) before you can enable the other. • White indicates enabled.
With external side-chain processing, a plug-in's detector is triggered by an external signal (such as a separate reference track or audio source) known as the key input. Using a Key Input for External Side-Chain Processing To use a key input to trigger dynamics processing: 1 A typical use for this feature is to use a kick drum track to gate and tighten up a bass track, or a rhythm guitar track to gate another instrument.
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