Version 1.0.
Contents 1 Overview 4 2 The Main Level Controls 5 3 Centre Panel Assignment 6 4 Envelope Scope 7 5 Envelope Shaping 8 5.1 Transients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 5.1.1 Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 5.1.2 Hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 5.1.3 Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 5.1.4 Sensitivity . . .
13 System Requirements 24 14 Copyright and Acknowledgements 25
1 OVERVIEW 1 Overview The Oxford Envolution plug-in provides comprehensive control over the transient and sustain portions of an audio signal. Unlike most alternatives, attack, hold and release can be independently adjusted, enabling a wide variety of effects. In addition to this, the effect of the transient and sustain processing may optionally be applied in a flexible frequency dependent manner.
2 THE MAIN LEVEL CONTROLS 2 The Main Level Controls To enhance or reduce the Transient or Sustain portions of the input signal, simply increase or decrease the main level control. Gain is set in dBs and will not exceed the selected setting, regardless of the Profile settings. The current level of the gain envelope is displayed in the circular meter inside each level control. www.sonnox.
3 CENTRE PANEL ASSIGNMENT 3 Centre Panel Assignment The centre panel can be assigned to three views. Use the left-hand buttons to assign the panel to a different view. Scope See Envelope Scope Transient Frequency Mix See Spectral Shaping Sustain Frequency Mix See Spectral Shaping www.sonnox.
4 ENVELOPE SCOPE 4 Envelope Scope The Scope display shows an amplitude over time trace for the input signal (grey), Transient envelope (yellow), and Sustain envelope (purple). By default, the scope operates in Scroll Mode, in which the time axis scrolls freely from right to left. When using Envolution in a tempo-mapped project, the Bar Sync modes are more appropriate. To select a different mode, click the settings panel which appears with the mouse cursor over the Scope display.
5 ENVELOPE SHAPING 5 Envelope Shaping Transient Profile Controls For high-quality and versatile detection and processing, all time constants are automatically adjusted based on characteristics of the input signal. Because of this, the timing profile parameters are shown as a percentage of the available range. While the Attack, Hold and Release controls perform similar functions for both the Transient and Sustain sections, their behaviour in use is quite different.
5.1 Transients 5 ENVELOPE SHAPING the plug-in unchanged. Fast Transient Attack speed Slow Transient Attack speed Slower Attack times also decrease how sensitive the transient detection is to small, fast transient events. However, the Sensitivity control will be more effective! 5.1.2 Hold This delays the onset of the release portion of the envelope, and is very powerful for shaping the sound of processed transients.
5.1 Transients 5 ENVELOPE SHAPING Long Transient Hold Another useful application of Transient Hold arises when processing plucked or strummed acoustic instruments; with some performances there may be multiple transient events very close together. When processed separately these can begin to sound unnatural due to multiple fast excursions in the gain envelope. Increasing the Hold control will effectively group adjacent events together, which can provide more pleasing results. 5.1.
5.2 Sustain 5 ENVELOPE SHAPING Try reducing Transients by 3 to 6 dBs with a slow Release time for a level-independent compressor-like effect which will leave sustained signal components untouched! 5.1.4 Sensitivity This Sensitivity control adjusts how sensitive the gain section is to small transient events in the gain envelope. At 100%, all detected transient events are allowed to contribute to the gain envelope. As Sensitivity is increased, more transient events are detected.
5.2 Sustain 5 ENVELOPE SHAPING No Sustain Hold Longer Sustain Hold In conjunction with the Sustain Attack control, this allows you to shift the focus of the Sustain envelope later in time, so that only the ‘decay’ portion of the signal is processed. Longer Sustain Hold and Release, pulling up only the decay 5.2.2 Attack As in the Transient section, this smooths the leading edge of the Sustain envelope over time.
5.2 Sustain 5 ENVELOPE SHAPING Fast Sustain Attack Slower Sustain Attack If the Sustain processing ever sounds like it is ‘distorting’ or ‘fluttering’, try increasing the Attack control. 5.2.3 Release This sets the speed with which the Sustain envelope returns to 0 dB in response to a detected transient event. As such, it is usually best left at the default setting, which is quite fast. Fast Sustain Release www.sonnox.
5.2 Sustain 5 ENVELOPE SHAPING Slow Sustain Release However, this control can be used as an alternative way of enhancing or reducing Transient events. For example when reducing Sustain, increasing the Release time will soften the leading edge of each detected transient, without using the Transient section’s processing. When increasing Sustain, increasing the Release time will allow the beginning of transient events to be boosted as the envelope releases back towards 0 dBFS.
6 SPECTRAL SHAPING 6 Spectral Shaping The Frequency Mix (FREQ) controls allow the Transient and Sustain effects to be applied by different amounts in different frequency ranges. To view these controls, click the FREQ button for the Transient or Sustain section. Transient Frequency Mix controls This can be thought of as a frequency dependent wet/dry mix – the top of the graph is fully Wet, the bottom is Dry.
6.2 Focus Mode 6 SPECTRAL SHAPING room ambience on a drum bus, the cymbals may begin to sound unnaturally ‘gated’. To resolve this, simply use Tilt Mode to reduce the Freq Mix Amount at high frequencies. High frequency ambience will be reduced by a smaller amount, allowing the cymbal decay to pass through unaffected! Sustain Frequency Mix configured to de-emphasise the effect in the HF region. Transient Frequency Mix configured to de-emphasise the effect in the LF region. 6.
6.2 Focus Mode 6 SPECTRAL SHAPING Use with a Transient Level boost to add weight to kick drums without boosting LF ambience! Reduce high-mid frequency ambience without losing presence. Tweak the balance of sustain enhancement to prevent excessive low-mid build-up. www.sonnox.
7 WARMTH AND LEVEL CONTROL 7 Warmth and Level Control Although the Transient process works to maintain constant average signal levels, the process can produce significantly larger peak levels when positive Level settings are used. With highly percussive sounds, the peak levels can increase by up to 24 dB. The Sustain process can dramatically change average signal levels, and can also increase the peak level of the input programme.
7.2 Loudness Enhancement 7 WARMTH AND LEVEL CONTROL prominent part of the programme sound, and can be reduced without damaging the sonic character of the results. If very short-term peaks are reduced, higher modulation levels can be achieved without overloads. Since the look-ahead process timing can act on the signal before it appears at the output of the plug-in, short-term peaks can be effectively reduced without apparent loss of overall sonic character.
8 MASTER DRY/WET MIX 8 Master Dry/Wet Mix A Master Dry/Wet Mix control is provided to adjust the strength of the combined Transient and Sustain effects. This can be used to make final adjustments more easily than adjusting the Transient and Sustain controls independently. It can also be used with extreme Sustain settings to achieve level-independent parallel compression effects. For more powerful parallel processing options, just place Envolution on a parallel effects bus! www.sonnox.
9 DIFF LISTEN 9 DIFF Listen The DIFF listen mode allows auditioning of the difference between the original input signal, and the Transient/Sustain processed signal; this can can have various uses. Listening to the difference signal can help hear the optimum Transient Sensitivity setting – where all transient events are detected without any false positives.
11 PRESET MANAGER TOOLBAR 10 Specifications 10.1 Pro Tools | HDX – Instances per chip 44.1/48 kHz 88.2/96 kHz 176.4/192 kHz Mono 7 3 1 Stereo 6 2 1 11 Preset Manager Toolbar Sonnox Oxford plug-ins come equipped with their own onboard Preset Manager, which is displayed at the top of the plug-in window. The reasoning behind this is to allow increased portability of your presets across all the host applications, while also providing a consistent and versatile interface.
12 SUPPORTED PLATFORMS 12 Supported Platforms • Avid Pro Tools (AAX Native 32/64-bit) • VST hosts (32/64-bit) • AU hosts (32/64-bit) • Mac Intel OSX 10.6 or higher • Windows 7 and 8 (32/64-bit) www.sonnox.
13 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS 13 System Requirements For latest System requirements, please visit www.sonnox.com. All versions • Free iLok account • Appropriate product licence • iLok2 Pro Tools • Approved Avid CPU and hardware configuration • Pro Tools 10.3.5 or above VST • VST host application (e.g. Cubase, Nuendo, etc.) Audio Units • OSX 10.6 or higher • Audio Unit host application (e.g. Logic, Digital Performer, etc.) www.sonnox.
14 COPYRIGHT AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 14 Copyright and Acknowledgements Trademarks and content copyright © 2007-present Sonnox® Ltd. All rights reserved. Sonnox® and the five dots logo are registered trademarks of Sonnox Ltd. This product is manufactured and supplied by Sonnox Ltd. This product is protected by one or more European and/or US patents. DIGIDESIGN, AVID and PRO TOOLS are trademarks or registered trademarks of Avid Technology Inc. VST is a trademark of Steinberg AG.
