Console 1 User Manual Supporting VST/VST3/AU/AAX Native. Rev.
Softube User Manual © 2007-2014. Amp Room, Console 1 is trademarks of Softube AB, Sweden. Softube is a registered trademark of Softube AB, Sweden. All visual and aural references to the Valley People Dyna-mite, Trident A-Range, Tonelux and Tilt are trademarks being made with written permission from PMI Audio. The Tonelux and Tilt logo, the Valley People, Dyna-mite and associated logos, and the Trident, A-Range and Triangle logo are trademarks of PMI Audio Group, used under license.
CONSOLE 1 USER’S GUIDE | Contents 1 Introduction and overview 5 The SSL SL 4000 E Channel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Console 1 Compared to Traditional Mixers. . . . . . . . . 6 2 Getting started 9 Setting Up Your First Console 1 Session. . . . . . . . . . 9 Input Section. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Shape Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Equalizer Section. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
| 1 Introduction and overview Softube Console 1 is a new type of audio mixer. It is used together with your favorite digital audio workstation (DAW), and just like a traditional mixing console, you can route any or all DAW tracks to Console 1 and mix them from within that system. This gives you access to Console 1’s world class sounding effects sections and lets you control everything from the hardware unit, using physical knobs and buttons.
| INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW Logic’s 4000 series have been used on more platinum selling records than all other console models combined! This is for good reason. The SL 4000 E has a signature sound that is transparent enough to work for all music styles, but still adds its touch of luxury. Things simply sound like a record when they’ve been run through the SL 4000 E.
CONSOLE 1 USER’S GUIDE powered. The Console 1 software is also very CPU efficient, but please refer to “General requirements” on page 55 to see if your computer is powerful enough to use with Console 1. And obviously, most mixers are contained in one single hardware unit. The Console 1 system consists of three different components that work in tight integration: the hardware, the On-Screen Display and the DAW plug-in.
| Nobilis Audio, Germany 2 Getting started In order to install the required software and activate your license, first make sure your computer has internet access. Use any browser to visit the page www.softube.com/console1-install Here, you will be guided through all the necessary steps. You will be asked to enter the unique license code printed on the Quick Start guide that is enclosed in the Console 1 shipping box.
| GETTING STARTED routed into the Console 1 system and back to the same DAW channel. See next section for setting the correct track name and number. Track Name and Number Many DAW hosts support automatic transfer of track name and number from the DAW host tracks to the corresponding Console 1 tracks. This means that any name you have given a track in the DAW host automatically appears on the corresponding track in the Console 1 mixer.
CONSOLE 1 USER’S GUIDE Follow these steps to set the track name: 1. Open the Console 1 On-Screen Display. 2. Open Settings by pressing Shift and track selector 20 (Settings). Scroll down to “Rename Tracks” and click Solo/OK. 3. Select the first track with the track selector buttons, and enter the name in the dialog window. Hit OK. 4. Select the next track, and do the same thing. | Follow these steps to place a certain Console 1 track on a certain track number: 1. Open the Console 1 On-Screen Display. 2.
| GETTING STARTED Solo Safe on Aux Channels and Buses As mentioned above, we recommend that you insert the Console 1 plug-in on all your DAW channels, including single tracks, aux channels and buses. But in order for Console 1’s Solo function to work as expected, you should set aux channels, effects send channels, subgroup buses and the master bus—essentially, any channels in your DAW mixer that are not single audio or software instrument tracks—to Solo Safe.
CONSOLE 1 USER’S GUIDE Track Number This is automatically set to correspond to the DAW track, in DAWs that support this function. If your DAW does not support automatic transfer of the track number, click the number set this manually. You can also press Shift + 20 (Settings) to to rename ro renumber tracks from the On-Screen Display. That is the preferred method, and is a lot easier to use. Track Name This is automatically set to correspond to the DAW track, in DAWs that support this function.
| GETTING STARTED Display Auto Display On Load Compressor Load EQ Load Shape Load Strip History Page Up Page Down Track Selector Buttons Settings Group External Sidechain All Order Display On Toggles Console 1’s On-Screen Display on and off. Hold Shift and push Display On to enter the View settings menu. Display Auto Sets the On-Screen Display behavior to automatic mode.
CONSOLE 1 USER’S GUIDE | Load Shape Selector button for track 2 (or 22, 42, 62 etc, depending on what page you are on). Hold the Shift/Fine Adjust button to select a new Shape plug-in to load into the selected track (if you have more than one Console 1 compatible plug-in that is suitable for the Shape section). Load EQ Selector button for track 3 (or 23, 43, 63 etc, depending on what page you are on).
| GETTING STARTED Input Section Input Gain Adjusts the gain of the incom- ing signal of the selected track. Phase Invert Inverts the phase (polarity) of the selected channel. Preset/Save preset Calls up the Presets menu. Press this while holding Shift to save the current settings as a preset. Input Gain meter Displays the signal level after the Input Gain. High Cut Sets the cutoff frequency of the High Cut filter. Turn fully clockwise to bypass entirely (leave the signal intact).
CONSOLE 1 USER’S GUIDE Shape Section Shape activation Activates or bypasses the Shape section. Shape section meter Displays the level changes caused by the Shape section. Gate Sets the threshold level of the gate. Gate Release Sets the release time of the gate. Hard Gate Toggles between Hard Gate and Soft Gate settings. Sustain Turned clockwise from its center position, lengthens the sustain of the signal. Turned counterclockwise from its center position, shortens the sustain of the signal.
| GETTING STARTED Equalizer Section EQ activation Activates or bypasses the equalizer section. EQ activation Low Band Cut/Bell/Shelf Sets the operating mode of the equalizer’s low band. Frequency Sets the operating frequency of the equalizer’s low band. Low Gain Turned clockwise from its center position, boosts the gain of the equalizer’s low band. Turned counterclockwise from its center position, cuts the gain of the equalizer’s low band.
CONSOLE 1 USER’S GUIDE | the gain of the equalizer’s low mid band. High Mid Band Q Sets the width of the equalizer’s high mid band. Frequency Sets the operating frequency of the equalizer’s high mid band. Q (Width) Cut/Bell/Shelf High Mid Gain Turned clockwise from its center position, boosts the gain of the equalizer’s high mid band. Turned counterclockwise from its center position, cuts the gain of the equalizer’s high mid band.
| GETTING STARTED Compressor Section Compressor activation Activates or bypasses the compressor section. Gain Reduction meter Displays the gain reduction caused by the compressor. Ratio Sets the compressor’s ratio. Attack Sets the compressor’s attack time. Parallel Dry/Wet Sets the relative level of the compressed and uncompressed signal. Release Sets the compressor’s release time. Threshold Sets the compressor’s threshold.
CONSOLE 1 USER’S GUIDE Output Section Drive Sets the level of the Drive/ distortion function. Turn fully counterclockwise to bypass. Output level meter Displays the output level of the signal that will be routed back to the DAW channel. Drive Character Sets the Drive/distortion character. Pan/Balance Sets the left-right placement of mono-to-stereo tracks, or the balance between left and right channels for stereo tracks. Pan is disabled for mono tracks.
| 23 Hammersnail Sonic Research, London, UK 3 Working with Console 1 Console 1 has been designed to not only give you world class sound, but also extreme ease of use. Once you have everything set up, the basic workflow of Console 1 is as follows • Select a track by pressing the corresponding Track Selector button. • Use the knobs to adjust the settings. • Select another track. • Adjust the settings. • Repeat until your mix is great.
| WORKING WITH CONSOLE 1 Track Selection The DAW tracks where you have initiated the Console 1 plug-in will be routed to the corresponding Console 1 track, as set in the Console 1 plug-in (See “Track Name and Number” on page 10). Pressing a Track Selector button on the hardware selects the corresponding track, and all knobs and buttons now control that track.
CONSOLE 1 USER’S GUIDE 25 | the On-Screen Display turned off. You still select a channel and adjust the settings the same way. On the hardware, the LED rings around each knob show the current setting, so in a way, working like this resembles working on a classic analog console. You can also choose to work with different types of views on the On-Screen Display, which you toggle through by pressing Shift + On on the hardware.
-15 26 | WORKING WITH CONSOLE 1 -60 HIGH TYPE ATTACK CUT Track Meters track meters HIGHThe FREQUENCY 0.02 ms RATIO DYN. SHAPE → EQUALIZER → COMPRESSOR The Input Section DRIVE 4.0 show the metering (output volRELEASE ume) for all tracks on the current page, as well as 16.0 kHz 358 ms the combined gain reduction from both the Shape PARALLEL and Compressor sections. It also show if a track has 12 % muted by another been soloed, muted, or indirectly HIGH GAIN THRESHOLD soloed track.
CONSOLE 1 USER’S GUIDE Input +6 -20 0 -6 -12 -24 -60 HIGH CUT OFF LOW CUT 135 Hz FILTERS TO COMPRESSOR PHASE INVERT INPUT GAIN 14.0 dB 1 is useful for removing unwanted hiss from signals that do not have very much Dynamic Shape high frequency content 0 6 20 dB -6 20 50 anyways. It is of course entirely possible to use the High and Low Cut filters in a more creative manner—to not just clean up unwanted rumble and hiss, but to actually affect the sound source to better fit in the mix.
| WORKING WITH CONSOLE 1 Shape Vocals (16) Input The Shape section is a unique combination of two different types of effect, an expander/gate and Softube’s own Transient Shaper. Toggle on and off the section with the button in the top left corner of the section. Turning the section on will light up the LED next to the Shape button and light up the Shape section in the On-Screen Display.
CONSOLE 1 USER’S GUIDE Hard Gate The Hard Gate button toggles between two different gate behaviors. With Hard Gate engaged, the gate strictly shuts off any sound below the threshold level. With it disengaged, the gate will act as an expander. This is essentially a gate that does not completely turn off the sound below the threshold, but instead turns it down somewhat in level. This may yield a more natural sound in some cases, compared to a hard gate.
| WORKING WITH CONSOLE 1 Vocals (16) Equalizer Input S o l i d S t a Dynamic Shape Equalizer -20 -6 +6 An equalizer alters the frequency content of0 the 6 20 dB sound, giving you detailed control of the sound’s 0 tone. The Console 1 equalizer has four parametric bands. Toggle on or off the entire section with the -6 button in the top left corner of the section. The -12 LED next to the button will light up when the section is active, and the entire section will light up in the On-Screen Display.
k CONSOLE 1 USER’S GUIDE Equalizer 2k 5k 10k IGH MID Q HIGH TYPE IGH MID FREQ HIGH FREQUENCY 3.6 kHz IGH MID GAIN 14.6 dB CUT 16.0 kHz Equalizer 20 50 100 200 500 1k 2k 5k 10k 15 6 6 0 0 -6 -6 A high shelving filter. 20 0.0 dB HIGH TYPE GH MID FREQ HIGH FREQUENCY GH MID GAIN HIGH GAIN 3.6 kHz 14.6 dB CUT 16.0 kHz 0.
| WORKING WITH CONSOLE 1 Compressor A compressor is essentially a device that acts like an automatic volume control. When the level of the incoming signal rises above a certain level—the compressor’s threshold level—the compressor will start decreasing the output level. So the difference between the loudest and the softest parts of the sound will be made smaller—the sound will be compressed. Toggle on or off Console 1‘s compressor section with the button in the top left corner of the section.
nput Dynamic Shape -20 +6 0 -10 10 20 dB Equalizer 20 50 100 200 500 1k 2k 5k 10k 20k Compressor -20 10 6 3 0 dB 15 0 S o l i d S t a t e L o g i c S L 4 0 0 0 E Equalizer -6 5k 10k -20 20k -12 15 -24 6 10 6 3 0 dB exceeded the threshold Output at its original level before the compressor reacts and +6 turns down the output. 0 Release -6 0 -60 z AIN B ― Guitar Rhythm guitar Vocals Vox Backing DRIVE 7.8 CHARACT -5.
| WORKING WITH CONSOLE 1 The Output section t sibility to control how the S o l i d S t a t e L o g i c S L 4 0 0 0 E console emulation is disOutput torting,Equalizer or in other words: Compressor to5k control the headroom of 3 0 dB 6 -20 10 10k 20k +6 the console. With Drive is 15 0 set a off, you will get no harmonics at all, and this 6 -6 part of the console emu0 lation has been entirely -12 bypassed.
ously distorted. This is often useful to add a bit of sonic “glue” to complex sources, such as a bus with a whole instrument section or across the master bus. Pan/Balance doing so, muting other tracks) since the Mute LED on the Console 1 hardware will flash on the muted tracks, as well as a flashing gray “M” indicator on the On-Screen Display and flashing Track Selectors for the muted tracks. The Pan/Balance setting determines the relative level of the sound source in the left and right channels.
the tracks that are being silenced. If you do this and solo a single track, the master bus will keep open and you will hear the soloed track play. Play it safe by setting all your buses, auxes, groups and the master track in Solo Safe. The same logic applies to all buses/subgroups. So if you for example have routed all the drum tracks to a single stereo drum bus, and you have a Console 1 plug-in on that bus, make sure to set this in Solo Safe mode too.
| 4 37 Pro-Suite-Audio, Fellbach, Germany Useful Functions We have now gone through the essential functions of Console 1. But there are even more useful functions to make your every day music mixing life even easier. Select All Tracks By holding All, you select all tracks at once. Any adjustment you perform while holding this affects all tracks simultaneously.
| USEFUL FUNCTIONS grouping. Release the buttons, and perform the adjustments you would like. Press Group again, or select another track, to dissolve the group. Please note that selecting all or creating a group works similarly to a VCA group on a traditional mixer. This means that a Console 1 track group is not a bus to which all the tracks are routed and summed together into a single stereo channel. It is merely a function to simultaneously adjust parameters of several individual tracks at once.
CONSOLE 1 USER’S GUIDE Duplicate Track Settings You can duplicate track settings and copy them from one track to another—or several others. This can be either the entire channel strip setting, or just the Shape, EQ or Compressor settings. 1. Select the track you would like to copy from using the corresponding Track Selector button. 2. Press and hold both All and Group buttons.
Load Presets You can call up factory presets, as well as save your own ones. A preset can contain the entire channel strip, or one or several sections, so that you for instance can create an equalizer + compressor preset. Access presets with the Preset button, or save your current settings by pressing Shift + Preset. 1. Press the Preset/Save Preset button to call up a list of entire channel strip presets.
RY SHAPE RY EQUALIZER RY COMPRESSOR PRESETS th OUTPUT VOLUME, confirm with OK (Solo), ith CANCEL (Mute) FET COMPRESSOR SSL SL 4000 E-SERIES COMPRESSOR SSL XL 9000 K-SERIES PEAK COMPRESSOR SSL XL 9000 K-SERIES RMS COMPRESSOR SUMMIT AUDIO TLA-100A Great drum bus compression Bus Slam (4k) Default Good for bass Scroll with OUTPUT VOLUME, confirm with OK (Solo), cancel with CANCEL (Mute) Scroll with OUTPUT VOLUME, confirm with OK (Solo), cancel with CANCEL (Mute) T PRESET (Factory Channel Strip) SELECT PRE
| USEFUL FUNCTIONS Save Preset Organizing your presets Presets are by default saved into folders corresponding to the type of preset you want to save. For example, if you want to save the current settings on the SL 4000 E compressor as a preset, this will be by default be placed in the folder Compressor/ SSL SL 4000 E-Series Compressor/. But you can organize presets in any way that suits you—see the next section for more.
CONSOLE 1 USER’S GUIDE Default Presets Default presets are preset settings that are automatically loaded when you load an entire Strip or a plug-in into the Shape, EQ or Compressor sections of Console 1. The user can create default presets, which then override the factory default presets. 1. Hold Shift and press Preset/Save Preset. 2. If you want to create a default preset for the entire channel strip, press Solo/OK.
History Settings Most of today’s DAWs have an unlimited undo function, so whatever mistakes you may have made can be undone. But this does most often not apply to plug-in settings. If you have gotten lost while adjusting a plug-in setting, you can usually not go back to a previous setting, unless you revert to a previously saved version of your project. To access the Settings menu, hold Shift and press the track selector for track 20, with the orange text Settings.
CONSOLE 1 USER’S GUIDE Renaming/Rearranging Tracks As mentioned in “Setting Up Your First Console 1 Session” on page 9, some DAW hosts do not support automatic transfer of track name and number. Some hosts, such as Pro Tools and Logic Pro, only support automatic transfer of track name but not track number. In these cases, the user can manually set the correct name to the Console 1 tracks, and place them on the preferred track position.
| USEFUL FUNCTIONS existing session and quickly want to name all tracks. Just hit play, start with track 1 and listen what’s on it, and proceed through all tracks the same way. Easy peasy! Set Auto Display Delay This option sets the time it takes for the On-Screen Display to turn off if you are in “Auto” mode (Auto button lit). Default is 4 seconds.
| 5 47 Gareth Jones’s Studio, UK Customizing the Channel Strip Even though the basic functions of Console 1 as well as the included model of a Solid State Logic SL4000E should be more than adequate for any mixing tasks, there are ways of customizing the channel further. We go through these here. Loading Other Channel Strips and Effects The included Solid State Logic SL4000E is an excellent channel strip, but sometimes one might like to have the option of other sound characters.
| CUSTOMIZING THE CHANNEL STRIP Load Plug-Ins Load different strips and plug-ins by pressing Shift and select either Strip, Shape, EQ or Comp. Strip, Shape, EQ and Comp. Loading Console 1 compatible channel strips and effects is done by holding Shift and pushing one of the first four channel selector buttons, with the orange labels Holding Shift and selecting Strip (track selector button 1) lets you load any Console 1 channel strip into the selected track, replacing the Solid State Logic SL4000E.
CONSOLE 1 USER’S GUIDE the sidechain of a compressor or a gate. Doing so means that the compressor or gate will no longer act in response to the sound signal it affects, but to the external signal which is being fed into the sidechain. | that would be the kick drum). Refer to your DAW manual for the details of setting up an external sidechain. A Keying Example An example of using the external sidechain for a gate: let’s assume the gate is inserted on a track with a synth pad.
| 6 Solid State Logic XL 9000 K In order to expand the sonic options of Console 1, Softube offers other console emulations to be purchased separately, in addition to the included SL 4000 E model. The first such additional console model is Solid State Logic XL 9000 K. This can be purchased in Softube’s web store (www.softube.com/buy) or at any authorized Softube dealer.
| SOLID STATE LOGIC XL 9000 K VHD model included XL 9000 K is a very clean console. In order to still have the option of using distortion creatively, we added a model of Solid State Logic’s VHD (Variable Harmonic Distortion) circuit, which is part of the Duality series consoles and Alpha channel preamps.
XL 9000 K compressor section. Background When the first 9000 series console came out in in the mid-1990s, it represented a breakthrough in analog circuitry design. The sound path is entirely capacitor-free, in order to keep a perfect signal XL 9000 K equalizer section. integrity and low distortion. The XL 9000 K was the last and most developed version of the 9000 series, released in 2002.
| Format:C Studio, Erfurt, Germany 7 Specifications, Requirements and Troubleshooting Mac OS X specific requirements • Mac OS X 10.7 or newer Windows specific requirements • Windows 7 (latest Service Pack, 32- or 64-bit) or newer • Intel Core Duo, AMD Athlon 64 X2 or newer processor General requirements • Screen resolution 1280x800 or larger • Any VST, VST3, AU, or AAX (Pro Tools 10.3.7, 11.0.2 or higher) compatible host application • 1 powered USB 2.
| SPECIFICATIONS, REQUIREMENTS AND TROUBLESHOOTING Block Diagram The following schematic outlines the operation of Console 1. For the sake of simplicity, the different order of the sections (EQ before Shape before Compressor, etc) are not included. Neither are stereo/mono operation on dynamic’s sidechains.
CONSOLE 1 USER’S GUIDE Troubleshooting Hardware Does Not Turn On If you’re using a passive, non-powered, USB hub, the Console 1 may fail to power on because it is not getting enough power. Please connect the Console 1 to a powerered USB hub, or directly to your computer. | ports to communicate between plug-ins and the Console 1 application, which will trigger a firewall alert the first time the application is started. You need to click “Allow”, otherwise nothing will work.
| SPECIFICATIONS, REQUIREMENTS AND TROUBLESHOOTING Hardware Specifications Connectors: USB connector (Type B) Power Supply: USB bus powered Power: 500 mA or less Dimensions: 428 x 42 x 189 mm (W x H x D) Weight: 1.
CONSOLE 1 USER’S GUIDE 8 END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT This End User License Agreement ("Agreement") is a contract between you, either individual or single entity, and Softube AB ("Licensor"), a Swedish corporation regarding use of the accompanying software ("Software"). Please read through this Agreement carefully before installation and use of the Software.
lx | END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT Acknowledgements and Licenses zlib.h interface of the ‘zlib’ general purpose compression library version 1.2.8, April 28th, 2013. Copyright © 1995-2013 Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler Portions of this software are copyright © 2006 The FreeType Project (www. freetype.org). All rights reserved. WonderGUI used under commercial license © Tord Jansson libpng versions 1.2.6, August 15, 2004, through 1.6.
SOFTUBE LIMITED HARDWARE WARRANTY 1. Softube warrants to the end user Customer this hardware product against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of one (1) year after the date of the original purchase from Softube or from a channel authorized by Softube, provided the hardware product is unused at the time of purchase. 2.
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