Plug-in Reference

11
The included effect plug-ins
Dynamics plug-ins
This section contains descriptions of the plug-ins in the
“Dynamics” category.
Compressor
Compressor reduces the dynamic range of the audio,
making softer sounds louder or louder sounds softer, or
both. Compressor features separate controls for thres-
hold, ratio, attack, hold, release and make-up gain para-
meters. Compressor features a separate display that
graphically illustrates the compressor curve shaped ac-
cording to the Threshold and Ratio parameter settings.
Compressor also features a Gain Reduction meter that
shows the amount of gain reduction in dB, Soft knee/Hard
knee compression modes and a program-dependent Auto
feature for the Release parameter.
The available parameters work as follows:
DeEsser (Cubase only)
A de-esser is used to reduce excessive sibilance, primarily
for vocal recordings. Basically, it is a special type of com-
pressor that is tuned to be sensitive to the frequencies pro-
duced by the “s” sound, hence the name de-esser. Close
proximity microphone placement and equalizing can lead
to situations where the overall sound is just right, but there
is a problem with sibilants. Conventional compression and/
or equalizing will not easily solve this problem, but a de-es-
ser can.
Parameter Description
Threshold
(-60 to 0dB)
This setting determines the level where Compressor “kicks
in”. Signal levels above the set threshold are affected, but
signal levels below are not processed.
Ratio
(1:1 to 8:1)
Ratio determines the amount of gain reduction applied to
signals over the set threshold. A ratio of 3:1 means that for
every 3dB the input level increases, the output level will in-
crease by only 1dB.
Soft Knee
(On/Off)
If this is off, signals above the threshold will be com-
pressed instantly according to the set ratio (hard knee).
When Soft Knee is activated, the onset of compression
will be more gradual, producing a less drastic result.
Make-up
(0–24dB or
“Auto mode”)
This parameter is used to compensate for output gain loss,
caused by compression. If the Auto button is activated, the
knob becomes dark and the output is instead automatically
adjusted for gain loss.
Attack
(0.1–100ms)
This determines how fast Compressor will respond to sig-
nals above the set threshold. If the attack time is long,
more of the early part of the signal (attack) will pass
through unprocessed.
Hold (0–
2000ms)
Sets the time the applied compression will affect the signal
after exceeding the Threshold.
Release (10–
1000ms or
“Auto mode”)
Sets the amount of time it takes for the gain to return to its
original level when the signal drops below the Threshold
level. If the “Auto” button is activated, Compressor will au-
tomatically find an optimal release setting that varies de-
pending on the audio material.
Analysis
(0–100)
(Pure Peak to
Pure RMS)
This parameter determines whether the input signal is
analysed according to peak or RMS values (or a mixture of
both). A value of 0 is pure peak and 100 pure RMS. RMS
mode operates using the average power of the audio sig-
nal as a basis, whereas Peak mode operates more on peak
levels. As a general guideline, RMS mode works better on
material with few transients such as vocals, and Peak
mode better for percussive material, with a lot of transient
peaks.
Live mode
(On/Off)
When activated, Live mode disengages the “look ahead”
feature of the Compressor. Look ahead does produce
more accurate processing but will add a certain amount of
latency as a trade-off. When Live mode is activated, there
is no latency, which might be better for “live” processing.
Side-Chain
(On/Off)
When this is activated, the compression can be controlled
by a signal routed to the Side-Chain input. When the side-
chain signal exceeds the threshold, the compression is
triggered. For a description of how to set up Side-Chain
routing, see the chapter “Audio effects” in the Operation
Manual.
Parameter Description