Channel Strip Manual
Contents
1. Comp Enable button enables the compressor action If this button is off no compression will occur Post EQ The Post EQ button places the compressor section after the equalizer in the signal chain By providing the capability to switch the routing on the fly ChannelStrip allows you to determine the most effective routing for your particular sig nal quickly and easily AUTO GAIN Enabling the Auto Gain button causes the compressor to automatically adjust the makeup gain in the compressor out put stage so that if the manual O Gain knob is set to 0 dB the static gain reduction for a O dB input level will be about 7 dB This number was chosen because it works well with the default settings of the Attack and Release knobs to provide enough pad to not clip fast transients The O Gain knob will apply additional trim to the internal automatic gain If the threshold is set very low e g 60 dB and auto gain is enabled you will not be able to add very much man ual gain only about 1 2 dB even though the readout on Py ChannelStrip User Guide the knob will go up to 30 dB This is an internal limitation of the compressor MANUAL MAKE UP GAIN The O Gain knob allows you to manually adjust the makeup gain applied to the signal after the gain reduction applied by the compressor If the Auto Gain switch is off this is the amount of makeup gain applied If the Auto Gain switch is on then2. you can control each band of the EQ directly from the EQ transfer function display associated with the 6 band equalizer EQ OUTPUT GAIN The one fader in ChannelStrip s user interface controls the output gain of the EQ section This fader is not shown in the illustration of the EQ section but it is shown in the overall processor illustration at the beginning of this manual The EQ Gain fader allows you to add up to 10 dB of gain or up to 160 dB of attenuation to the 56 bit output signal from the EQ processor block before any truncation clipping or dither is performed This allows you to pad out or boost the EQ section at full precision if required The output gain of the EQ section stays attached to the EQ even if the compres sor is placed after the EQ processing block Delay Section The final processing block in the ChannelStrip is a user adjustable delay You can add up to 255 samples of delay to the output of ChannelStrip This is useful for dynamically slipping tracks doing acoustical time alignment or compen sating for the delay of other plug ins in your mix When the user adjustable delay is set to 0 samples the delay through ChannelStrip is 40 samples and another 2 samples due to TDM routing delays for a total of 42 samples When Chan 38 ChannelStrip User Guide nelStrip is bypassed the total internal delay through the pro cessor is 40 samples You can use automation on the delay to create interesting dynamic
3. flanging effects Simply duplicate a track and enable automation on the delay control for one of the cop ies As you change the delay through one of the copies you will create a nice controllable phasey flanging sound Conclusion After working with ChannelStrip we hope you will agree that it meets or exceeds the goals that we described in the intro duction of this manual We think that you will find the flexi bility sonic quality and efficiency of ChannelStrip hard to beat While we know that there are other processors that you will use to get a specific sound or to accomplish process ing not provided by ChannelStrip we think that you ll find yourself using ChannelStrip on every track Service and Support Metric Halo takes great pride in the reputation for customer service and support that we have built If you have any prob lems questions or suggestions please get in touch with us at support mhlabs com or via one of the other contact points found at the front of this manual Please keep us informed about your successes and projects We love to hear from you 39
4. internal signal switching pro vided by ChannelStrip allows you to explore the various effects of re ordering processing blocks without having to waste time stopping the transport removing and reinserting plug ins and then finally restarting the transport Now lets examine the various processing blocks indicated in the diagram Input Conditioning After the signal is routed to ChannelStrip it runs through an input gain block that provides input gain of up to 24 dB You can use this gain to condition signals that are low in level This input gain may also be used to pad out signals by up to 24 dB While you may find this attenuation useful to just bring down the level through the strip simply and quickly you must realize that this gain is applied after the signal reaches ChannelStrip and will not pad out any clipping that occurs in the A D converters or in a plug in that is inserted before ChannelStrip The input gain is controlled by the In Gain knob After the input gain pad section there is a phase invert block This block is controlled by the o Inv switch When the phase invert is enabled the polarity of the signal will be flipped The signal is cross faded between the uninverted 18 ChannelStrip User Guide and inverted states so the signal level will drop briefly when you flip the state of the phase invert switch but it will not introduce a glitch or click into your audio Gate Expander The next processing block
5. is indicated by the orange triangle in the com pressor input meter The channel signal is delayed by 8 sam ples relative to the detector signal to allow the compressor to have an instantaneous attack when the Attack parameter is set to 0 When the compressor is enabled using the orange Comp Enable button the signal will be attenuated based on how much the detected level is above the threshold you set with the Thres knob and what compression ratio is set with the Ratio knob The dynamic behavior of the opening and closing of the gate is controlled with the Attack and Release knobs and the compressor character switch AUDIO DYNAMICS Compressors are important in controlling the dynamic range of the source material you are working with While the instruments your ears the microphones and your digital audio workstation all have dynamic ranges that are greater than 100 dB most reproduction and delivery media have significantly reduced dynamic ranges Compression is used in its simplest form to help reduce the dynamic range of 26 ChannelStrip User Guide your project or elements of the project to a range that is reproducible It does this by making the soft material louder and the loud material softer This type of processing can also be used to change the character of the sound instead of just adjusting the dynamic range The compressor in Channel Strip excels at both types of processing COMPRESSOR ENABLE The
6. of the filter For the high and low cut filter types this control adjusts the 3 dB point of the filter For the shelving filters this control adjusts the shelf transition point FILTER BANDWIDTH Use this knob labeled BW in the illustration to adjust the characteristic width of the filter This control only has effect for peaking shelving and bandpass filter types Please note that this parameter controls the bandwidth measured in octaves not the quality factor or Q If you have been using Q controls the numbers will be backwards from what you are used to Small numbers mean narrow filters and large numbers mean wide filters For peaking and bandpass filter types this parameter controls the bandwidth of the fil ter in octaves For the high and low shelving filter types this parameter adjusts the amount of dip peak and the slope of the shelf When this parameter is set to 0 1 you will get the largest dip slope available and when the parameter is 2 5 you will get a classic first order shelf which has a transition band that is about 1 decade wide e g if it is a high shelf with a frequency of 10 kHz and a gain of 10 dB the gain will be at 0 dB near 1kHz Equalizer The next processing section is the Equalizer The equalizer may appear in the signal chain before the compressor sec tion depending on the state of the Post EQ button in the compressor The equalizer in ChannelStrip is a very flexible 33 ChannelStri
7. slow In most cases however the dynamic response of the processor will not match its static response In order to represent this we have included a bouncing ball meter for both the gate and the compres sor This metering is shown as a red square that is overlaid on the knee diagram The red square is placed so its horizontal position is equal to the instantaneous input level and its vertical level is equal to the instantaneous output level Examining this meter while you are adjusting the dynamics controls will provide you with a great deal of information about how the processor is operating and how the controls interact 12 ChannelStrip User Guide Global Controls ChannelStrip has a few global controls that effect all instances of the plug in on every session You can use these controls to change the appearance of ChannelStrip to match your mood and style These preference controls are accessed from the ChannelStrip About Box To show the about box click on the Metric Halo logo or the ChannelStrip logo on the control surface This will bring up a dialog box with copyright and contact information for Metric Halo This about box also names the beta testers who helped Metric Halo test the product these people deserve thanks from all of us ChannelStrip is a better product due to their efforts The block diagram shows the signal flow through the proces sor this diagram changes based upon the current ordering of the processi
8. that this parameter controls the bandwidth measured in octaves not the quality factor or Q If you have been using Q controls the numbers will be backwards from what you are used to Small numbers mean narrow filters and large numbers mean wide filters For peaking and bandpass filter types this parameter controls the bandwidth of the fil ter in octaves For the high and low shelving filter types this parameter adjusts the amount of dip peak and the slope of the shelf When this parameter is set to 0 1 you will get the largest dip slope available and when the parameter is 2 5 you will get a classic first order shelf which has a transition band that is about 1 decade wide e g if it is a high shelf with a frequency of 10 kHz and a gain of 10 dB the gain will be at 0 dB near 1kHz Compressor Depending on the state of the Post EQ button the default state is for the compressor to come first in the signal chain the next block in the signal processing chain is the compres sor The compressor is used to adjust the high level dynam ics of a signal As with the gate the sidechain can be used to make the compressor frequency sensitive so it can be used like a de esser or to reduce the gain of the signal in response 24 ChannelStrip User Guide to some external event this allows the compressor to be used like a ducker or for other creative effects Often you will want to compress the signal before you equalize it So
9. the frequency and gain of the asso ciated band lt command gt click the dot to toggle the band enable lt option gt click the dot to adjust the bandwidth dragging right increases the bandwidth left decreases the bandwidth com mand gt lt option gt click the dot to switch the band filter type Click and drag the smaller dots associated with a larger dot to adjust the filter bandwidth In order to increase the real time performance of changing EQ parameters the transfer function graph switches to a lower resolu tion mode while you are changing parameter values You may find that the graph jumps slightly when you are editing narrow para metric filters 11 Channel Strip User Guide Dynamics Knee ChannelStrip contains a Dynamics Knee diagram for each gate and each compres sor processing section The diagram provides feedback on the response of the associ ated dynamics processor Both the horizontal and verti cal axes are calibrated in dBFS The horizontal axis cor responds to the input level and the vertical axis repre sents the output level The heavy line shows the quiescent dynamical response of the associated processing block This means that if you sent in a sine wave at a given input level the output level would be equal to the level shown on the graph When the processor is work ing with real dynamic signals the graph is a good approximation of the response when the attack is fast and the release is
10. two differ ent methods Each time you click on the Filter Type control the band will switch to the next type in the list and wrap to the begin ning when you hit the end of the list If you click and hold the mouse button a pop up menu listing all of the types will appear after about 4 of a second You can select the type directly from this popup menu If you want to access the menu without having to wait hold down the command key when you click Sidechain Routing Switch EN Each sidechain routing switch allows you to control the signal sent to the sidechain input of its associated gate or compressor By default the level detectors in the dynamics processors key off of the signal that they are processing Under some circumstance you may want to use a different signal to open the gate or compress the sig nal Pro Tools allows you to specify an input or bus as the source for ChannelStrip s sidechain input The Sidechain routing switches allow 8 ChannelStrip User Guide you to choose the input to the level detector from the sidechain key input or the signal being processed To toggle the state click the Sidechain routing switch Compressor character ELEM The compressor character controls the time constants of the com pressor section It functions identically to the Filter Type control except there are only three choices Smooth Warm and Fast See the section on the compressor for more information Graphs disclosure con
11. ChannelStrip User Guide ChannelStrip version 2 0 January 12 2004 METRIC HALO Metric Halo 5 Donovan Drive Hopewell Junction NY 12533 tel 845 223 6112 fax 603 250 2451 Toll Free 888 638 4527 http www mhlabs com email support mhlabs com Copyright 1999 2004 Metric Halo Distribution Inc ChannelStrip User Guide Quick Installation Guide Sopin e e EEN 5 What is ChannelStrip 0 0 cee cece eee eens 5 Operating the eet ee Dau fede iaido mikat 7 CCOBLFOLIS IIO Dons ses E Ee FESSES 7 Toggle BUON sreci Fete dob orien edo skiu kwir aes 7 ur ee 8 Se EE 8 Sidechain Routing Switch cee eee eee eee 8 Compressor character a de r ee mets 9 Graphs disclosure Control 9 Peak Meter e eebe 9 Gain reduction eter oem e ER oes l0 Peak RMS VU output meter l0 EQ Transfer Functon 0 0 0 ce ee ee eee n Dynamics Knee 12 Global e d EE E Working with Pro Tools E Plug in Window 3 5 AEN dotes drm hace WEN deer d dE E 5 Key COMMANCS gecaceedceanedetacanenna eden ess 7 The Processing A Detailed Description 7 Input CONCILIONING cesse abere inar terat eb d ceeds E Gate Expander EE K Theory of ODSAtlOD ier HERE 19 Gate Enable sa 2s pk der be Eon P ien 9d d nie des 20 Threshold control s ocsco ossi EE de si 20 Attack control EPRPTTCI eee 21 Release control esee 2l ChannelStrip User Guide Using the Sidechain Key input w selec
12. design Hj Fame DateModified gt Databases 7 29 03 gt Plug In Settings 7 29 03 gt 5 Plug Ins Unused 7 29 03 A Navigate until you have selected the appropriate folder to contain the soft ware and then click the Open button at the bottom of the dialog The folder selection dialog box will close 3 Now click the Install button in the Installer dialog Installation will require about 1 minute 4 Congratulations Your software is now installed The installer has pro vided a temporary license so that you can get started immediately You will need to register the software with Metric Halo within 12 days to get the authorization code to convert the license to a permanent one You can now use your software immediately even before it is authorized The software will inform you once each time you start Pro Tools that the license is temporary and will tell you the amount of time that remains on license before it will expire 5 In order to permanently authorize your software you will have to obtain an authorization code from Metric Halo To permanently authorize your new ChannelStrip plug in use the Authorizer CS application included in the same folder as the installer Channel Strip Installation Guide After a few seconds the following dialog box will appear if you have a number of hard disks attached to your machine it may take some time for the dialog to appear this is normal Choose Product to Au
13. e Compare button indicates when the controls have changed for the current preset settings Click this button to toggle between your current settings and the preset settings Plug In Automation Gate Ena Gate Gate Attack ie Gate Rel Car ge Rating Gate SC Filter T Gate S abl Gate SC Gain Gate SC Frequency Gate SC Bandwidth inser Com or Enable 9 channelstrip Compressor Post E oL Compressor Ena Al D Limiter Compressor Out G None Compressor Chara Compressor Non Compressor Ratio Non Compressor Attack Compressor Rel Compressor SC Compre SC Fil Compressor SC Eni SE a a EH Clicking the Automation button causes Pro Tools to display the plug in automation configuration dialog box This dialog box allows you to enable any or all of the 61 processing parameters for automation When a parameter is enabled for automation you will be able to record and play back auto mated parameter changes directly from your Pro Tools ses sion If the channel that ChannelStrip is inserted on has automation enabled ChannelStrip will highlight the controls associated with the automated parameters The sidechain input popup menu allows you to select from any mono input or bus in your system and feed it to the inter nal sidechain bus within ChannelStrip You then use the sidechain routing buttons to assign the sidechain bus to the gate and compressor detectors 16 ChannelStrip User Guide KEY COMMANDS Pro T
14. elStrip provides all of the critical channel processing features you would expect to find on a top of the line mixing console in a single mono or stereo plug in ChannelStrip combines stunning sound quality with a convenient interface designed to allow you to control all critical channel processes interactively and simultaneously just like you would on a real console What is ChannelStrip ChannelStrip is a plug in for digital audio workstations which provides the essential basic channel processing found in the channel strip of a modern mixing console Processing functions include Input level control Expander Gate with filtered sidechain Compressor with filtered sidechain 6 band Parametric EQ e Phase Invert Channel delay Advanced metering ChannelStrip was designed with three primary goals in mind To sound mind numbingly good 2 To be flexible and easy to use 3 To be as DSP efficient as possible while maintaining stunning sound quality 5 Channel Strip User Guide O ko Ta omes ross TM On ne key input 40 20 20 10 TODA Thresh Attack Enable o hate Sidechain e E 2 dE 30 p E NUN 40 i 30 99 E F 20 24 80 60 40 20 0 10 100 ik 10k 40 3 2l Compressor Comp PostEQ Auto Gn Enable Sidechain Figure 1 The ChannelStrip Plug in Window 6 ChannelStrip User Guide Operating the Strip As with mo
15. g features provided by Pro Tools 14 ChannelStrip User Guide PLUG IN WINDOW The illustration below shows the standard Pro Tools plug in window Hari EhannelStr ip bypass rit compare auta safe If you have inserted ChannelStrip as we suggested above you can click on the channel name popup in the upper left hand corner of the window labeled 1 KIK 02 above to switch from channel to channel The next popup in the window labeled a above allows you to switch to another insert on the same channel You would use this to switch to another plug in on the same channel The bypass button allows you to bypass the effects of Chan nelStrip When the bypass is turned on all of the processing sections including the user configured delay of Channel Strip are bypassed When the strip is bypassed there is still a 40 sample delay through the processor but all samples pass through unchanged The Pro Tools editor librarian button the small downward pointing triangle provides access to a popup menu that allow you to manage presets and libraries of setting for ChannelStrip Use this menu to save libraries or open groups of libraries See your Pro Tools documentation for more information The preset library popup menu labeled factory default above shows the active preset name in italics if the current ChannelStrip User Guide settings do not match the library Click this popup to select from the available presets Th
16. is limited to 12 dB 24dB The bandwidth controls the dip peak that is added at the end of the transition band e High Shelf a shelving filter that applies boost cut to high frequencies Boost cut is limited to 12 dB 24dB The bandwidth controls the dip peak that is added at the end of the transition band e Bandpass a bandpass filter with 6dB per octave skirt on the high and low ends of the pass band The width of the pass band can be adjusted between 0 1 octaves and 2 5 octaves and the center of the pass band is continuously adjustable between 20 Hz and 20 kHz FILTER ENABLE BUTTON Use this green toggle button to enable the sidechain filter When the filter turned off the signal will pass through the sidechain filter unchanged FILTER BAND BOOST CUT CONTROL Use this knob labeled dB in the illustration to adjust the gain of the filter band for the peaking high and low shelf fil ter types This parameter is ignored for the other filter types In the shelving filters the maximum boost is 12 dB and the maximum cut is 24 dB In the peaking filters the maximum boost cut is 24 dB When you increase the boost for a filter band above 15 dB the filter gets very aggressive and reso nant FILTER BAND FREQUENCY Use this knob labeled Hz in the illustration to adjust the characteristic frequency of the filter For the peaking and 32 ChannelStrip User Guide bandpass filter types this controls the center frequency
17. is running in stereo mode the left meter shows the left channel output level and the right meter shows the right channel output level The output section clip lights activate if there is an over in the output stage or in any of the pro cessing section input stages It is reset by clicking on the meter option click to reset the clip lights on all the meters 10 ChannelStrip User Guide EQ Transfer Function The EQ transfer function is a combination of a visual repre sentation of how the EQ is processing the signal and an intuitive controller for the associated filter bands This display is sometimes called a Cartesian Graph by other EQ manufacturers The horizontal axis provides frequency calibration in Hertz Hz The vertical axis provides level calibration in decibels dBr The heavy green line indicates the relative change in level at each fre quency that is created by the combined effects of all of the active bands in the equalizer Each EQ band is represented by a colored dot in the transfer function The color of the dot matches the color of the numeric readouts of the knobs for the corresponding EQ band The band that is currently being edited will have a light gray cross hair centered under it If the associated band is a parametric filter there will also be two smaller colored dots that can be used to con trol the bandwidth of the filter Clicking on a large colored dot and dragging will allow you to adjust
18. is the Gate The gate is used to adjust the low level dynamics of the signal being processed Through the use of the external side chain the gate can be used to do acoustic triggers In addition the side chain filter may be used to make the control of the dynamics frequency sensitive This can be useful when you are trying to gate out a noisy signal that has a specific very strong signal in a limited frequency range when you want the gate to open THEORY OF OPERATION Based upon your setting for the sidechain routing switch either the Pro Tools sidechain input signal or the channel sig nal is fed to the sidechain filter The sidechain filter provides one band of equalization that may be used to accentuate or cut certain frequencies parametric or shelf filters or limit the key to a certain range of frequencies cut or bandpass fil ters You control the filter type and the filter parameters with the filter type button and the dB Hz and BW knobs 19 ChannelStrip User Guide You can enable the side chain filter with the green enable button After the sidechain signal has been processed by the sidechain filter it is measured by a level detector that deter mines the instantaneous level of the signal in the case that ChannelStrip is running in stereo mode the detector is linked with the other channel in the stereo pair and the higher level of the two channels is used The measurement made by the level detector is indicated by
19. lisec onds will control how quickly the gate opens The maxi mum value is 100 milliseconds Attack times other than auto are especially useful when using the gate as a trigger If the key signal is a little early you can use the attack to delay the trigger slightly It is also useful to remove the initial transients of impulsive sounds RELEASE CONTROL The Release knob controls the release time of the gate This parameter is measured in milliseconds and can range from 5 ms to 5 sec The release time controls how quickly the gate closes after the detector drops below the threshold value For settings below 90 ms or so the gate closes pretty abruptly and may introduce unwanted artifacts into your audio depending on the signal USING THE SIDECHAIN KEY INPUT W SELECTABLE FILTER The gate provides a sidechain that processes audio before the detector determines the current level The sidechain can 21 ChannelStrip User Guide process either the channel signal or some external side chain input signal SIDECHAIN ROUTING BUTTON This button labeled chan in the illustration is used to con trol the routing of the input signal to the gate sidechain When the button is in the chan state the signal used by the sidechain is the signal being processed by ChannelStrip When the button is in the sc in state the signal used by the sidechain is the input or bus selected in the side chain input popup in the Pro Tools plug i
20. low ends of the pass band The width of the pass band can be adjusted between 0 1 octaves and 2 5 octaves and the center of the pass band is continuously adjustable between 20 Hz and 20 kHz FILTER ENABLE BUTTON Use this green toggle button to enable the sidechain filter When the filter is turned off the signal will pass through the sidechain filter unchanged FILTER BAND BOOST CUT CONTROL Use this knob labeled dB in the illustration to adjust the gain of the filter band for the peaking high and low shelf fil ter types This parameter is ignored for the other filter types In the shelving filters the maximum boost is 12 dB and the maximum cut is 24 dB In the peaking filters the maximum boost cut is 24 dB When you increase the boost for a filter band above 15 dB the filter gets nicely aggressive and reso nant FILTER BAND FREQUENCY Use this knob labeled Hz in the illustration to adjust the characteristic frequency of the filter For the peaking and bandpass filter types this controls the center frequency of the filter For the high and low cut filter types this control adjusts 23 ChannelStrip User Guide the 3 dB point of the filter For the shelving filters this control adjusts the shelf transition point FILTER BANDWIDTH Use this knob labeled BW in the illustration to adjust the characteristic width of the filter This control only has effect for peaking shelving and bandpass filter types Please note
21. metimes you will need to equalize the signal before you compress it ChannelStrip provides that flexibility with the Post EQ button This is a very important part of ChannelStrip because it allows you to test different process ing scenarios quickly and easily It also allows you to com pare the two different approaches without having to stop the transport so you can get a much more visceral comparison THEORY OF OPERATION The operation of the compressor is very similar to the gate Based upon your setting for the sidechain routing switch either the Pro Tools sidechain input signal or the channel sig nal is fed to the sidechain filter The sidechain filter provides one band of equalization that may be used to accentuate or cut certain frequencies parametric or shelf filters or limit the key to a certain range of frequencies cut or bandpass fil ters You control the filter type and the filter parameters with the filter type button and the dB Hz and BW knobs 25 ChannelStrip User Guide You can enable the sidechain filter with the green enable button After the sidechain signal has been processed by the sidechain filter it is measured by a level detector that deter mines the instantaneous level of the signal in the case that ChannelStrip is running in stereo mode the detector is linked with the other channel in the stereo pair and the higher level of the two channels is used The measurement made by the level detector
22. n window header If nothing is selected in that popup the input to the sidechain will be silence and the gate will never open FILTER TYPE BUTTON This button indicating a peaking parametric filter in the illustration is used to select the filter type of the single band of side chain EQ You may choose from 6 different types of filters e Peaking Parametric a second order bell shaped paramet ric boost cut filter Boost cut has a range of 24 dB When the boost is greater than 15 dB the filter gains a resonant quality The center frequency of the filter can be any fre quency between 20 Hz and 20 kHz The bandwidth of the filter is continuously variable between 0 1 octaves and 2 5 octaves e High Cut a 12 dB octave high cut filter with a 3dB point that is continuously adjustable between 20 Hz and 20 kHz e Low Cut a I2 dB octave low cut filter with a 3dB point that is continuously adjustable between 20 Hz and 20 kHz Low Shelf a shelving filter that applies boost cut to low frequencies Boost cut is limited to 12 dB 24dB The 22 ChannelStrip User Guide bandwidth controls the dip peak that is added at the end of the transition band e High Shelf a shelving filter that applies boost cut to high frequencies Boost cut is limited to 12 dB 24dB The bandwidth controls the dip peak that is added at the end of the transition band e Bandpass a bandpass filter with 6dB per octave skirt on the high and
23. nd then click Authorize to finish This temporary license will expire in 12 days Send request via the Web Send request via email Copy request to clipboard Authorize 1 Preferred Click the Send request via the Web button in the dialog above Your request will be processed by our authorization server and your authoriza tion code will be emailed to you instantly 2 Click the Send Request via Email button in the dialog above Your registra tion information will be copied to the clipboard and a new email message will be created for you automatically Paste the information into the body of the mes sage and send it to Metric Halo Please do not edit the contents of the message We will send you the authorization code via email Please allow up to three busi ness days to receive your authorization code using this method 3 Call 845 223 61 12 and register over the phone 7 After you have received your authorization code type it into the Autho rization Code box in the authorization dialog If the code is correct the Authorize button will become enabled If the button does not enable check your typing Click on the Authorize button to convert your license to a permanent one That s it Enjoy using ChannelsStrip ChannelStrip User Guide Congratulations Thank you for purchasing ChannelStrip You have just trans formed your Digital Audio Workstation into a world class mixing console Chann
24. nd cancel the change When you enter a number into the pop up entry you can use a couple of abbreviations k multiplies the number by 1000 and m divides the number by 1000 So if you want to enter 16 500 Hz you can just type 16 5k Toggle Button Toggle buttons are simple on off switches They light up E when they are on and are dark when they are off You tog gle the state of the button by clicking on it These buttons S ChannelStrip User Guide are used to enable processor sections and to switch the order of processing within ChannelStrip Fader The fader is somewhat unique in that only one fader is used in the interface for ChannelStrip It works in much the same fashion as the control knobs Instead of drag ging up right or down left to change the value you directly drag the fader knob The other tricks described for the knobs also work with the fader The fader is used to control the output gain of the EQ sec tion of ChannelStrip This controls a high precision 56 bit gain stage that maintains the full precision of the 48 bit EQ algorithm provided by ChannelStrip Filter type prm Each filter band in the strip 6 EQ bands and 2 Side chain bands has a filter type control that allows you to choose the shape of the filter applied by that band Each band provides 6 different types of filter shapes Peaking Parametric Low Cut High Cut Low Shelf High Shelf and Bandpass You can select from these types via
25. ng blocks Finally below the block diagram there are two controls e Use Custom Color Click this to use a custom flat color for the background plate of ChannelStrip instead of the standard background texture e Choose Color Click this to choose the custom color to use 13 ChannelStrip User Guide Many thanks to our beta testers K K Proffitt Derek Davis For Support Please Contact Metric Halo 5 Donovan Drive Hopewell Jct NY 12533 845 223 6112 support mhiabs com http www mhlabs com support O Use Custom Background Color Choose Color C Wide ChannelStrip 2 0 0 TDM RTAS HD Copyright 1999 2003 Metric Halo All Rights Reserved Click anywhere else or type a character to dismiss the about box These preferences are global and shared between all instances of the ChannelStrip Working with Pro Tools Your Pro Tools software provides a standard interface for controlling various aspects of TDM plug ins While you should refer to your Pro Tools documentation for a complete description we will summarize the most important points here Since you will want to use ChannelStrip on every channel in your mix you should option insert ChannelStrip on all of your main mono mix channels and ensure that ChannelStrip Is inserted on the same insert point on every channel e g ensure that ChannelStrip is on insert a for every channel This will allow you to take advantage of a number of time savin
26. o 0 Fast attack times will control the transients of impulsive sounds Use longer attack times to let the transients through but control the sus tains RELEASE CONTROL The Release knob controls the release time of the compres sor This knob is calibrated in milliseconds and can range from 5 ms to 5 sec The release time controls how quickly the gain reduction returns to zero after the detector drops below the threshold value For settings below 40 ms or so the compressor releases pretty abruptly and may introduce unwanted artifacts into your audio depending on the signal In addition be careful making the release time faster than the attack time USING THE SIDECHAIN KEY INPUT W SELECTABLE FILTER The compressor provides a sidechain that processes audio before the detector determines the current level The sidechain can process either the channel signal or some external side chain input signal SIDECHAIN ROUTING BUTTON This button labeled chan in the illustration is used to con trol the routing of the input signal to the compressor sidechain When the button is in the chan state the signal used by the sidechain is the signal being processed by Chan nelStrip When the compressor is in the sc in state the sig 30 ChannelStrip User Guide nal used by the sidechain is the input or bus selected in the side chain input popup in the Pro Tools plug in window header If nothing is selected in that popup the inpu
27. ompressor begins to reduce the gain applied to the signal When the detector level is below the threshold level no gain reduction is applied As the detector level increases above the thresh old level the gain is reduced as indicated by the knee dia gram associated with the compressor The compressor knee is soft The ratio increases as the difference between the detector level and the threshold increases The compressor threshold level is also indicated by the green arrow above the gate input meter You can adjust the thresh old level using this indicator as well as by using the Thres knob RATIO CONTROL The Ratio knob controls the terminal ratio used to com pute the gain reduction of the compressor When the ratio associated with the soft knee hits the ratio specified by the ratio knob the knee hardens and remains at the same con stant ratio If you set the ratio to 1000 1 the compressor will have a soft knee for all input levels and thresholds This makes the compressor work like a classic all tube limiter compressor ATTACK CONTROL The Attack knob allows you to adjust how quickly the gain reduction is increases when the detector level goes above 29 ChannelStrip User Guide the threshold level This control is calibrated in milliseconds and values range from 0 to 500 ms The compressor has an 8 sample lookahead buffer that allows it to have an instant attack when you set the attack time t
28. ools provides two standard key commands for use with plug in automation lt control gt lt option gt lt command gt click a control to pop up a menu that allows you to enable disable automation of the associated parameter or to bring up the automation dialog lt control gt lt command gt click a control to cause Pro Tools show that control s automation breakpoint graph in the Pro Tools edit window The Processing A Detailed Description In this section we discuss what each processing block does and how the controls work ChannelStrip is unique among TDM plug ins in that it provides all the basic channel pro cessing that you need in a complete package It accom plishes this through a combination of elegant user interface design and incredible DSP coding ChannelStrip provides all basic channel processing in the same amount of DSP as one 6 band Focusrite d2 EQ and it sounds better Key Input Channel Input Phase In Gain Invert 6 Band I Out Gain ustable Adj Comp Pre Post EQ p E j 255 Sample Dela C l Output CompVCA Makeup The block diagram above illustrates the overall structure of 17 ChannelStrip User Guide the processing system provided by ChannelStrip This dia gram does not indicate the various metering blocks The ganged switch in the diagram is controlled by the Post EQ button in the compressor and it changes the path of the sig nal through the processor The
29. p User Guide fully parametric 6 band 48 bit double precision equalizer Each band in the equalizer can be configured as any of the six available filter types The entire equalizer maintains 48 bits of precision from band to band all the way out to the equalizer output gain In addition the parameter ranges available for each band are greater than most other EQs matched only by esoteric pro hardware pieces The ability to push the gain to 24 dB on each individual band allows you to create sounds that are unattainable with any other EQ even EQs that claim to be every other EQ And each param eter in the equalizer is continuously adjustable throughout its entire range so you can set the exact EQ that you need of of d CH d o ry Ki Suis wis uin 9 EES Em wd 9 EK EES w X i m KM ll li D BR THEORY OF OPERATION The equalizer in ChannelStrip work just like every other EQ under the sun with the exceptions that is more flexible more 34 ChannelStrip User Guide efficient and sounds better By adjusting the various parame ters associated with each band in the EQ you can control the tonal and timbral balance of the signal The resonance effect of the peaking filters provides a facility to recreate acoustic resonances that are lacking in the source material with which you are working One of the nicest aspects of the fil ters in ChannelStrip is their time domain performance These filter
30. rus cured tendis qr I PPP EYES 39 Channel Strip Installation Guide Quick Installation Guide Installing and registering your Metric Halo software product is a simple 7 step process 1 Insert the installation media into your computer Double click the CSTDMInstaller application on the CD After a few seconds an installer dialog will appear ChannelStrip Installer Enter 8 Character Serial Number BT5B7A4U Select the location to install ChannelStrip Select Destination Directory Destination TEK20FWP Library Application Support Digidesign Plug Ins After Installation is complete use the CSAuthorizer Application install to Authorize and personalize your copy of ChannelStrip Enter the serial number that is printed on the serial number sticker which is found either on the CD sleeve or on the inside cover of your ChannelStrip manual 2 Under normal circumstances the installer will automatically locate the proper destination for your plug in software Unless you have a special rea son to install your ChannelStrip software in a different location use the default location provided by the installer If you need to install the software in a custom location click the Select Destination Directory button to choose the software installation loca tion A folder selection dialog box will appear next page Channel Strip Installation Guide Choose a Folder PETS Lem f 7 Digi
31. s ring significantly less than comparable filters in other signal processors This allows you equalize signals without the normal time smearing that you encounter with other equalizers MASTER ENABLE BUTTON This orange button just below the EQ input meter is the mas ter enable for the entire EQ section When this button is off the EQ section will not change the signal FILTER TYPE BUTTON This button indicating a peaking parametric filter in the illustration is used to select the filter type of the single band of side chain EQ You may choose from 6 different types of filters e Peaking Parametric a second order bell shaped paramet ric boost cut filter Boost cut has a range of 24 dB When the boost is greater than 15 dB the filter gains a resonant quality The center frequency of the filter can be any fre quency between 20 Hz and 20 kHz The bandwidth of the filter is continuously variable between 0 1 octaves and 2 5 octaves 35 ChannelStrip User Guide e High Cut a 12 dB octave high cut filter with a 3dB fre quency that is continuously adjustable between 20 Hz and 20 kHz e Low Cut a I2 dB octave low cut filter with a 3dB fre quency that is continuously adjustable between 20 Hz and 20 kHz Low Shelf a shelving filter that applies boost cut to low frequencies Boost cut is limited to 12 dB 24dB The bandwidth controls the dip peak that is added at the end of the transition band e High Shelf a shel
32. st channel strips ChannelStrip provides many copies of controls that are all operated in a similar manner The ChannelStrip user interface uses a few different control elements to control all of the processing These elements are Control Knob Control Knobs are used to control the value of various Gm continuous parameters of a process Examples of these vi types of parameters include Attack time Release Time Threshold etc You can change the value of each knob in a number of different ways Click and drag the knob to change the value con tinuously Dragging up or to the right will increase the value while dragging down or to the left will decrease the value If you hold down the command key when you click you will be able to adjust the value with finer precision If you hold the option key when you click the knob will reset to its default value Click on the number readout of the knob to pop up a text entry field that allows you to type in a number directly The popup will remain active until you dismiss it by clicking somewhere else or hit ting the return lt enter gt tab or lt command gt lt period gt keys Hit return or enter to confirm the value and dismiss the popup Hit the tab key to confirm the value and pop up an entry field for the next control lt command gt lt tab gt will pop up the entry field for the previous control Hit lt command gt lt period gt to dis miss the popup a
33. t to the sidechain will be silence and the compressor will never compress You can use the filter to achieve a de essing effect by using the bandpass filter to only compress when the ess is present You can also achieve a combined compression de essing effect by using a peaking filter to accentuate the ess frequencies and adjusting the threshold and ratio to perform compression when the ess is not present and limiting when the ess is present Take a look a the presets for examples FILTER TYPE BUTTON This button indicating a peaking parametric filter in the illustration is used to select the filter type of the single band of side chain EQ You may choose from 6 different types of filters e Peaking Parametric a second order bell shaped paramet ric boost cut filter Boost cut has a range of 24 dB When the boost is greater than 15 dB the filter gains a resonant quality The center frequency of the filter can be any fre quency between 20 Hz and 20 kHz The bandwidth of the filter is continuously variable between 0 1 octaves and 2 5 octaves e High Cut a 12 dB octave high cut filter with a 3dB fre quency that is continuously adjustable between 20 Hz and 20 kHz e Low Cut a I2 dB octave low cut filter with a 3dB fre quency that is continuously adjustable between 20 Hz and 20 kHz 31 ChannelStrip User Guide Low Shelf a shelving filter that applies boost cut to low frequencies Boost cut
34. table filter 21 sidechain Routing BEE cua mm v eR ERR ices 22 Filter type button 22 Filter enable button eios eO opido eit El e de 23 Filter band boost cut control cee eee eee 23 Filter band frequency 23 Filter bandwidth EEN 24 del 24 Theory of Operation s geheien nde E REPE 25 Audio Dynamics ee ee ek ose 26 Compressor Enable suos ated pde is qe ere 27 Wei 27 Ur Rr scanned Ly Manual make up gain 28 Compressor Character sos oue ces dg Roe ste dees 28 Threshold control 0 cee cee cee cee eee eee 29 Ratio Control 29 Attack control o oes reri rot eque RR godine oe ee ER 29 Release control ii sss dre Ru Y rA RE Hes 30 Using the Sidechain Key input w selectable filter 30 Sidechain Routing Button 30 Filter type DUttON uos ear Rada gege RE REPE 3 Filter enable button 32 Filter band boost cut Control 32 Filter band frequency 32 Filter bandwidth MEE 33 EGUANZE cass sedes votes RENE VENE A ES 33 Theory Reeg ot p oe Een ec 34 ChannelStrip User Guide Master Enable button 35 Filter type DUCLOR EE 35 Filter enable button 36 Filter band boost cut Control 36 Filter band frequency 37 Filter bandwidth uiua dete dco deeg amare 37 Controlling the EQ with the Transfer Function 38 EC OUCDUE Balla iae bd went ani bota e Ba hdd PIE RSS 38 Delay Section EE 38 CODCIUSIOH sa drm doo ib a See E a 39 Service and SUDBOIEsenc
35. tereo mode this meter shows the higher of the two input levels and will detect an over on either input channel Gain reduction meter The gain reduction meter which has an orange bar and grows down from 0 dB shows the amount of attenuation being applied by its associated dynamics processor at any given time Please note that the dynamic range of this meter is 60 dB which is huge as compared to most gain reduction meters on other processors We provided such a large dynamic range because the dynamics processors in ChannelStrip are capable of providing tremendous amounts of gain reduction without artifact or distortion Since the dynamic range is so large it is possible to compress a signal fairly aggressively without seeing much activity on the gain reduction meter Please refer to the knee diagram for feedback in this case Peak RMS VU output meter For the main output stage of ChannelStrip we have provided meters driven with SpectraFoo metering technology These meters show in addition to the peak metering provided for the input stages RMS level and VU level The peak level is represented by the floating colored bar the RMS level by the solid colored bar and the VU level by the overlaid gray bar Both the Peak and RMS level are represented with fast PPM ballistics The VU meter shows IEEE standard 300 ms RMS average level When Channel Strip is on a mono insert both output meters show the mono chan nel output When ChannelStrip
36. the orange triangle in the gate input meter When the gate is enabled using the orange Enable button the signal will be attenuated based on how much the detected level is below the threshold you set with the Thres knob The dynamic behavior of the opening and closing of the gate is controlled with the Attack and Release knobs GATE ENABLE The gate enable button enables the gating action If this but ton is off no gating will occur THRESHOLD CONTROL The Thres knob controls the level at which the gate opens and closes When the detector level is above the threshold level the gain through the gate is 0 dB When the detector level is below the threshold level the gain reduced at a ratio of 1 2 This means that if the detector is 3dB below the threshold the signal output will be 6dB below the threshold or 3dB below the input level 20 ChannelStrip User Guide The gate threshold level is also indicated by the green arrow above the gate input meter You can adjust the threshold level using this indicator as well as by using the Thres knob ATTACK CONTROL The Attack knob allows you to adjust how quickly the gain reduction is decreased to 0 dB when the detector level goes above the threshold level When this control is set to Auto the attack rate is controlled by how much the detector level is above the threshold When you set the attack to another value other than Auto that value measured in mil
37. this parameter is a trim added to the inter nally computed makeup gain The makeup gain is enabled and disabled along with the rest of the compressor COMPRESSOR CHARACTER Use the compressor character button to determine the over all dynamic characteristics of the compressor There are three settings to choose from e Smooth appropriate for full mixes or single instruments that do not have big transients Provides very smooth com pression with few artifacts no distortion and limit transient control e Warm the most versatile setting for the compressor Bal ances transient control with audibility of the compression Appropriate for a wide range of signals including harmonic instruments with large transients e g Plucked bass e Fast provides significant transient control at the expense of transparency and added distortion Appropriate for impulsive signals with significant transients Supports very fast e g sample gain reduction attacks The effect of the compressor character is very audible This is not a switch that you will press and then say Ok so how did it change In order to make the state of the compressor visible at a glance the trace color of the compressor s knee 28 ChannelStrip User Guide diagram automatically changes to match the color of the character indicator Blue for Smooth Orange for Warm and Green for Fast THRESHOLD CONTROL The Thres knob controls the level at which the c
38. thorize The products that can be authorized have been identified and are listed in the following pop up menu Please select the product to authorize Software to authorize ChannelStrip E Full Path TEK20FWP Library Application Sup Digidesign Plug Ins ChannelStrip Coui auhi Click the Authorize button and complete the registration dialog box to per sonalize your copy of ChannelStrip and generate a challenge code software ID that you will send to Metric Halo Software Registration Information First Last State Region Zip Postal Code Country Phone Fax email Support Password choose a word or phrase to confirm your identity Dealer Name Salesperson DAW Type and Version Computer Type Required Field Cancel p Recommended Field Cancel re continued Channel Strip Installation Guide 6 There are three methods by which you can obtain an authorization code from Metric Halo jiz This software is currently running with a temporary license Please convert to a permanent license by sending the following software ID to Metric Halo 7W3B 6T 77 2E 54 To obtain your authorization code via the Internet make sure you are connected to the Internet and click the Send request via the Web button below Your request will be processed by our server and your authorization code will be emailed to you instantly for first time registrations Enter the authorization code below a
39. trol The Graphs disclosure control allows you to show and hide ChannelStrip s display graphs This allows you to maximize screen real estate while still providing details on the processing when they are needed Click on this control to toggle the visibility of the graphs ChannelStrip will automatically make the plug in win dow smaller when you hide the graphs ChannelStrip also uses a number of standard visual represen tations to give you feedback about what is happening within the processor These elements are Peak Meter DEET ChannelStrip provides a peak 40 80 20 i0 n reading meter at the input stage of each processing block The meter uses the fast PPM standard for decay time 0 9 seconds per 20 dB and the digital PPM standard legend for calibration On the dynamics sections gate and compres sor an orange triangle is visible on top of the meter and indicates the current detector level For the dynamics sections the processor threshold is indicated by the green arrow above the input peak meter This green arrow can be manipulated directly with the mouse The top segment of the meter above OdB is used as a clip indicator and is illuminated red if the input section of the processor detects an over The clip light remains illuminated until you click on 9 Channel Strip User Guide the meter lt option gt click any meter to reset the clip lights on all of the meters in ChannelStrip When ChannelStrip is running in s
40. ust the characteristic frequency of the filter For the peaking and bandpass filter types this controls the center frequency of the filter For the high and low cut filter types this control adjusts the 3 dB point of the filter For the shelving filters this control adjusts the shelf transition point FILTER BANDWIDTH Use this knob labeled BW in the illustration to adjust the characteristic width of the filter This control only has effect for peaking shelving and bandpass filter types Please note that this parameter controls the bandwidth measured in octaves not the quality factor or Q If you have been using Q controls the numbers will be backwards from what you are used to Small numbers mean narrow filters and large numbers mean wide filters For peaking and bandpass filter types this parameter controls the bandwidth of the fil ter in octaves For the high and low shelving filter types this parameter adjusts the amount of dip peak and the slope of the shelf When this parameter is set to 0 1 you will get the largest dip slope available and when the parameter is 2 5 you will get a classic first order shelf which has a transition band that is about 1 decade wide e g if it is a high shelf 37 ChannelStrip User Guide with a frequency of 10 kHz and a gain of 10 dB the gain will be at 0 dB near 1kHz CONTROLLING THE EQ WITH THE TRANSFER FUNCTION As described in the control and meter guide earlier in this manual
41. ving filter that applies boost cut to high frequencies Boost cut is limited to 12 dB 24dB The bandwidth controls the dip peak that is added at the end of the transition band e Bandpass a bandpass filter with 6dB per octave skirt on the high and low ends of the pass band The width of the pass band can be adjusted between 0 1 octaves and 2 5 octaves and the center of the pass band is continuously adjustable between 20 Hz and 20 kHz FILTER ENABLE BUTTON Use this orange toggle button to enable each filter band When the filter band is turned off the signal will pass through the filter unchanged FILTER BAND BOOST CUT CONTROL Use this knob labeled dB in the illustration to adjust the gain of the filter band for the peaking high and low shelf fil ter types This parameter is ignored for the other filter types In the shelving filters the maximum boost is 12 dB and the maximum cut is 24 dB In the peaking filters the maximum boost cut is 24 dB When you increase the boost for a filter 36 ChannelStrip User Guide band above 15 dB the filter gets very aggressive and reso nant You can use this feature to good effect when you need to reconstruct a resonance for a recorded instrument that lacks one For example you could place a narrow 24 dB peaking filter between 60 and 80 Hz on a kick drum track that lacked a belly for the drum FILTER BAND FREQUENCY Use this knob labeled Hz in the illustration to adj
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