Waves Q-Clone EQ Sampling System Waves Q-Clone Manual 1
Introduction You own a great sounding hardware EQ. It sounds great. It feels good. You know just how to “tweak” the knobs to get the sound that you are looking for. But perhaps you can’t afford to buy 97 more hardware EQs for every one of the 98 tracks in your current mix! Even if you could, wouldn’t it be like a dream come true if you could digitally save the various settings of your hardware EQs on all of the different tracks of your mix? Now you can.
BEHIND THE SCENES The Q-Capture component sends a continuous test signal (routed to the audio card output) to the input of the EQ-device that is being cloned. Only a fraction of a second later, the output of that device (routed to the audio card input) is returned to the input of the Q-Capture component.
Once the test-signal returns from the device, it is analyzed and loaded into the QClone component as an impulse-response. This happens several times per second so that the EQ-settings of the device are well tracked by the cloned EQ. As long as the Q-Clone is in ‘Capture’ mode, it keeps on tracking the EQ-settings of the device. When the Q-Clone enters 'Hold' mode (accomplished by clicking the Hold button) the very last settings are frozen.
Q-Capture Component The Q-capture sends a test signal from its output that is intended to be fed back into its own input through the EQ-device. It should be opened on a live I/O. This can be a Mono Auxiliary track or an Audio Track, depending on your Audio host. Only a single instance of Q-Capture can work at a time. THE TRANSMITTING SECTION - The Q-Capture plug-in shows the Transmitting section in the bottom part.
The Receiving section also shows an input meter to indicate the signal level returning from your EQ device, back into the channel. CALIBRATION SECTION – The Headroom slider and the In and Out meters are on the right side of the Q-Capture. These not only indicate that signal is being received, but can also help to adjust the Headroom fader of the Transmitting section. This is to insure optimal dynamic range and to avoid clipping in the analog device.
Q-Clone Component The Q-Clone plug-in has 2 main controls - Gain and Mode. It also has a Scale control for the frequency response graph. The Mode control shows: Capture, Hold and Add. CAPTURE – Capture sets the plug-in to adapt its filter purely to the settings in the cloned EQ device. This mode can only work when the Q-Capture component is active. When hidden, the plug-in will automatically assume Hold mode. At any time you can open the GUI (Graphic User Interface) of the instance that you wish to set.
Clone, except that the overall EQ will be shown in a single graph and the CPU usage will be that of only a single instance. Please note that to switch from Capture to Add Mode, or vice-versa, you must first go through Hold mode. FREQUENCY RESPONSE GRAPH The larger part of the Q-Clone GUI shows a frequency response graph. It has a logarithmic frequency scale in the horizontal showing 25 Hz to 16 kHz and Gain in the vertical axis showing +/- 16dB or +/- 30dB.
When a Q-Clone instance is launched it will load in Hold mode with a flat EQ response. When you switch to the Capture or Add modes it will check for a port to receive the EQ filter transmission.
LOAD will replace any existing sampled EQ with the one in the preset. ADD will load the preset on top of the current EQ settings. Since the Q-Clone's preset files include the complete EQ filter, and there is no need for external media files, it is very easy to share EQ settings.
CALIBRATING: In this section we will learn how to calibrate the Q-Clone with our Hardware EQ in order to achieve the best cloning results. First, we should explain “Headroom”. Every electronic channel, digital or analog, has a maximum signal level that it can pass. Attempting to exceed this typically results in hard clipping, where the waveform is leveled off flat when it reaches the limit. The maximum level is much more difficult to define for analog tape machines than in digital recording.
If the set up is not working properly, you will see the word “Waiting” in one or both parts of the GUI. This can happen when the physical loop between your audio host, audio card and EQ hardware device is not complete. You would also get the "Waiting" message if the I/O on the Audio/AUX channel is not assigned to the correct I/O of your audio card. After opening the Q-Capture you will see that the calibration fader is set to give 14db of headroom by default.
Quick Start up and Set up: Here are basic, step by step directions on how to prepare your session to use the Q-Clone and clone your EQ device for various Host Applications: Pro-tools 6.7 LE and TDM: 1. Connect a cable from one of your audio card output ports into the input of the EQ device. 2. Connect a cable from the output of the EQ device to your audio card input port. 3. Set all of the frequencies gain knobs on your EQ device to 0 db and turn any filters off. 4. Open your recording session. 5.
8. Open the Q-Capture on this AUX track and make sure that this is the only plug-in that you have on this track’s plug-in list. 9. Calibrate the Q-Capture with your EQ device as instructed in the Calibration section on page 11. 10. Go to your Audio track (where you want to use the cloned set-up of your EQ device) and open the Q-Clone on its insert. 11. Put the Q-Capture’s AUX track in solo safe mode. 12. When the Q-Clone is opened it will be in Hold mode.
C. Reset – Reset the preset by loading the “reset preset” file from the Load menu. D. Add on top – By clicking the “Add” button you can load a new preset on top of an existing one. The “Add” mode gives the effect of having 2 or more EQ devices in a chain. There are 2 options for Add mode: i. Open a Q-clone preset (from the Q-Clone preset menu or any directory on your hard drive) or use the existing displayed EQ curve. Click the “Add” button, and then make changes to it.
7. Set the I/O of this track to match the insert I/O that you used in steps 1 & 2. The basic I/O setting can be done from the Nuendo/Cubase Menu Bar under Devices>VST Connections (as seen in the following pictures).
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8. Put the Q-Capture in the first Nuendo/Cubase Insert slot. It will be located in the Waves Plug-In list.
9. Arm the monitor (push the monitor button) on this track 10. Calibrate your EQ hardware with the Q-Capture following the directions on the Calibration chapter on page 11. 11. On the audio track that you want to process, open the Q-Clone in the insert channel of that track. It will be located in the Waves Plug-In list. 12. Make sure that the I/O on this channel is different than the I/O on the Q-Capture’s channel.
13. When the Q-Clone is opened it will be in “Hold” mode. When you switch the “Capture” on, it will be able to start receiving the cloning image from the EQ device. Once this happens, you will see the red line on your display graph showing your present EQ curve. 14. Play this track (solo it or play it with the entire session) and start building your EQ setup by adjusting the parameters (“tweaking” the knobs) on the hardware EQ device. 15.
D. Add – By clicking the “Add” button you can load a new preset on top of an existing one. The “Add” mode gives the effect of having 2 or more EQ devices in a chain. There are 2 options for Add mode: i. Open a Q-clone preset (from the Q-Clone preset menu or any directory on your hard drive) or use the existing displayed EQ curve. Click the “Add” button, and then make changes to it. Note that changes should be done from a flat EQ starting point. ii.
7. Arm the “Record” button and the “Input Echo” button. (Click them on.) 8. Calibrate the Q-Capture with your EQ device as instructed in the Calibration section on page 11. 9. On an Audio track (the one that you want to process) insert the QClone (Mono or Stereo, according to the track). You must bypass all other plug-ins on the track while you are “EQ-ing” it. 10. When the Q-Clone is open, click the Capture button to start receiving the cloning image from the EQ device.
New File”. This saves a preset file to any desired directory on your computer. B. Save your EQ to your Waves Preset Menu - Click the “Save” button on the Waves menu bar and choose “Put Into Preset Menu As…” This will allow you to load your new preset anytime you open the Waves Q-Clone preset menu. C. Reset – Reset the preset by loading the reset preset file from the Load menu. D. Add – By clicking the “Add” button you can load a new preset on top of an existing one.
6. Open your Logic session and open a new Audio file (which will be dedicated to the Q-Capture). 7. On this track, assign the input of the channel to the input of your audio card that receives the hardware output cable (input Y). 8. Also on this track assign the output of the channel to the output of your audio card that receives the hardware input cable (output X). 9. Click the Rec button of this channel On and hit play and stop to activate the plug-in.
10. Calibrate the Q-Capture with your EQ device as instructed in the Calibration chapter on page 11. 11. On an Audio track (the one that you want to process) insert the QClone (Mono or Stereo, according to the track). You must bypass all other plug-ins on the track while you are “EQ-ing” it. 12. When the Q-Clone is open, click the Capture button to start receiving the cloning image from the EQ device. You will see the orange line on your display graph showing the present EQ curve. 13.
D. Add – By clicking the “Add” button you can load a new preset on top of an existing one. The “Add” mode gives the effect of having 2 or more EQ devices in a chain. There are 2 options for Add mode: i. Open a Q-clone preset (from the Q-Clone preset menu or any directory on your hard drive) or use the existing displayed EQ curve. Click the “Add” button, and then make changes to it. Note that changes should be done from a flat EQ starting point. ii.
B.
In this dialog box check the “Always” option and click OK. 6. Open your DP session and open a new Audio file (which will be dedicated to the Q-Capture). 7. On this dedicated track, assign the input of the channel to the audio card input that is connected to the hardware output cable (input Y). 8. Also on this dedicated track, assign the output of the channel to the output of your audio card which receives the hardware input cable (output X). 9. Arm the “Rec” button on this channel.
11. Calibrate the Q-Capture with your EQ device as instructed in the Calibration section on page 11. 12. On an Audio track (the one that you want to process) insert the QClone (Mono or Stereo, according to the track). You must bypass all other plug-ins on the track while you are “EQ-ing” it. 13. When the Q-Clone is open, click the Capture button to start receiving the cloning image from the EQ device. You will see the orange line on your display graph showing the present EQ curve. 14.
c. Reset – Reset the preset by loading the reset preset file from the Load menu. d. Add – By clicking the “Add” button you can load a new preset on top of an existing one. The “Add” mode gives the effect of having 2 or more EQ devices in a chain. There are 2 options for Add mode: i. Open a Q-clone preset (from the Q-Clone preset menu or any directory on your hard drive) or use the existing displayed EQ curve. Click the “Add” button, and then make changes to it.
maximum capacity, the real time tasks have dropouts which result in flashing “No Transmission” messages. 7. Sonar will have a boost in the returned Capture signal. This can be fixed by applying digital corrective gain before the Q-Capture plug-in. Q-CLONE LOOP CHECKLIST: 1. Connect the EQ hardware device to the Sound card. 2. Connect an output port (mono only) from the audio card to the input port of the EQ device. 3.
Q-CLONE TROUBLESHOOTING CHECK LIST: Problem Synopsis Action I’m capturing a flat device setting but the curve in the Q-Clone is not flat - Curve is smooth but not flat. This is probably representing the current state of your analog system. - Try closing the loop in your I/O. I have calibrated using Q-Capture and my device is flat, but the curve in the Q-Clone is off the 0 DB axis. Q-capture shows “Waiting” on both of its display meters. - Curve is drastically unfelt and/or full of ripples.
Q-Clone shows “No Transmission” on the frequency response display. EQ Curve in the frequency response display does not seem smooth or is full of ripples. EQ Curve display flickers or changes rapidly between settings. - Q-Capture is not well routed, is in bypass or disabled. - Make sure Q-Capture meters show “Transmitting” and “Receiving” messages. - Signal is very low. - Check your analog connections.
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