Blue Cat`s Liny EQ User Manual
Contents
1. e Presets opens the presets menu to manage presets e Set Preset Skin change the skin for the current preset e Use Global Skin use the skin defined in the global settings for the current preset This item is enabled only if a skin has been defined for the current preset e Undo Redo undo or redo the latest modifications This includes all changes made to the current preset settings such as MIDI or automation preferences e Presets Settings open the presets settings window It lets you change the skin MIDI and automation settings for the current preset e Global Settings open the global settingswindow It lets you change the skin MIDI and automation settings that are used by default in all instances of the plug in if not overriden by the current preset e User Manual open this user manual e Check for Updates opens up our website to let you check if any update for this software is available e Get More Skins get more skins for this software e Legal Information browse licensing and misc legal documents e About displays the about dialog box The Title Bar In most skins an icon bar is located below the main toolbar The first commands are the same for all plug ins e Smooth Bypass smoothly bypass the plug in just like a power button e Window Opacity reduce the opacity value by turning the knob and make the the plug in window transparent the result may depend on the host application e Show Hide M2. instances whereas the current preset skin only applies to the current preset of the current plug in instance See the main menu for more information about how to access these options On some hosts the plug in window won t resize automatically when you choose a skin with a different size In this case just close the window and re open it it will be displayed with the right size Create a Custom Skin You can create custom skins for your plug in in order to adapt it to your exact needs You can change its look and feel and make it completely integrated in your virtual studio Just read the Blue Cat s Skinning Language manual and download the samples for the tutorial on http www bluecataudio com Skins You can get ready to create your own skins in a few minutes You can then share your skins on our website FAQ Plug ins Formats What are DirectX DX Audio Unit AU RTAS AAX and VST plug ins VST Audio Unit RTAS AAX and DirectX plug ins are software components than can be used in Host Software such as Cakewalk Sonar Steinberg Cubase or Wavelab Sony Vegas Logic Pro Garage Band Ableton Live Pro Tools in order to perform some MIDI and Or Audio real time Processing tasks To be more precise what we usually call directX plug ins is actually a DirectShow Filter VST is owned by Steinberg DirectX by Microsoft while Audio Units is the property of Apple Computers and RTAS and AAX are owned by AVID How can
3. I use your plug ins Download and install a host software then download and install the plug ins from our page They will appear in the host effects menu If you are using a DirectX host with our MIDI controllable plug ins and they do not show up in you host list you might need to use our freeware DXi Manager Note that our plug ins are sometimes shown in the MIDI controllable audio effects or soft synths sections in some host applications Where can find a host There are many commercial or freeware hosts that will suit your needs You can find a long list of applications here You can also use demos of Cubase Wavelab Ableton Live Tracktion or Sonar software which are usually available on the companies websites On the Mac Garage Band is part of the system and can be also used to host our Audio Unit plug ins What are the main differences between DX VST RTAS AAX and Audio Units VST is a protocol that works on several platforms Mainly Windows MacOS BeOS and some Linux platforms use it as well whereas DirectX is Microsoft Windows only and Audio Units are available only on the Mac RTAS and AAX are available on Mac and PC but only for Pro Tools products AVID AAX plug ins are compatible with Pro Tools 10 and higher whereas RTAS versions are compatible for Pro Tools 10 and lower versions What is the difference between DXi and DX effects DXi effects are MIDI controllable DirectX plug ins It s the same as DX effec
4. MIDI Unlearn Enable Automation Settings e MIDI Learn launches MIDI learn mode for the control touch your MIDI controller and the control will learn from it the MIDI channel and CC number To end the learn mode reopen this menu and deselect the option e MIDI Unlearn deactivates MIDI control for this parameter e Settings launches the advanced settings panel described below This controls the settings for the current preset Andvanced MIDI and Automation Settings You can completely customize the way the plug in is controlled by automation and MIDI For a global view of all parameters at a time you can use the Plug in Settings window for the current preset which is available from the main menu Control Control Control Min Max MIDI 165 127 Response E 0 5 team Linear OdB 3dB MIDI Settings e Enable MIDI enable disable the MIDI control of the parameter e Channel MIDI Channel for the parameter control If set to 0 the plug ins will accept Control Change Messages from all MIDI Channels MIDI Omni mode e CC Control Change Number e Learn click on this button to activate the MIDI learn functionality When it is activated you can move your MIDI controller and the plug in will automatically set the MIDI Channel and CC Number MIDI and automation settings e Response response curve of the MIDI or automation control from very fast to slow control e Min minimal value of the parameter when MI
5. each channel When auto gain is selected the EQ automatically sets the output gain to compensate the maximum peaks set on the EQ so that the signal s maximum boost is kept at 0 dB Click on the channel name or the arrow to switch controls for the other channel when single display mode is selected with 1 Dual version only Normal or Notch shape for the current channel see the various EQ modes and shapes in the next chapter for more information Smooth or Sharp mode for the current channel see the various EQ modes in the next chapter for more information Mix Control for the current channel this control acts as a dry wet balance You can use it to reduce the amount of EQ applied Main EQ controls boost or cut frequency ranges from bass to treble Spectrum and Spectogram Two modes are available for output spectrum display post EQ In spectrum mode curves representing the instant spectrum of both channels is displayed blue is channel 1 and red is channel 2 a Ly iv In spectrogram mode the evolution of the spectrum over time is displayed as a color or greyscale map In color mode louder parts of the spectrum are visible as bright red spots whereas quieter parts will show in dark blue black In greyscale mode the brighter also means the louder The various elements of the user interface knobs sliders buttons are simple and intuitive to operate but more information about how to interact with them is available
6. entirely customized Especially with third party skins the experience may be quite different from the one offered by the default skins that we provide However our plug ins and our skinning engine have several standard features that will be available whatever your favorite skin More information about custom skins can be found in the skins section The Main Toolbar In most skins an optional toolbar at the top of the user interface gives you access to the main options and settings of the plug in Presets Area At the center of the toolbar you can see the current preset area the Default Settings box It displays the name of the current preset with a at the end if it has been modified since loaded The arrows on the left and right let you navigate thru the factory and user presets available for the plug in Clicking on the preset name opens the presets menu which lets you manage the presets of the plug in Commands The icons in the toolbar give you access the to the following commands that are detailed in the next paragraph Icon Name Function Menu Open the main menu i Undo Undo ab Redo Redo Manual User Manual i About About The Main Menu The main menu is available from the main toolbar or if you right click anywhere on the background of the plug in Presets Set Preset Skin Use Global Skin Undo Redo Preset Settings Global Settings Check for Updates Get More Skins Legal Information About
7. gain 40dB and multiple filter shapes make it very flexible for a graphic EQ letting you create unique EQ curves The dual channels version offers independent settings for the left right or mid side channels with flexible linking capabilities for an optimal workflow The highly customizable user interface includes a first class spectrum analyzer and spectrogram viewer It lets you choose the best layout and display options to adapt the plug in to your own workflow Thanks to its ability to update the EQ curve continuously using MIDI or automation and its additionnal Mix control dynamic equalization tasks can be performed easily when used together with any of our control generation plug ins Typical applications Low latency linear phase equalization mastering mixing spectral correction stereo widening or narrowing Features Main Features Blue Cat Audio Standards e Linear phase graphic equalizer e Available as Mac AAX Mac AU Mac RTAS Mac VST Win e very short latency less than 3 ms 128 samples at 44 1 KHz with AAX Win DX Win RTAS Win VST Win x64 AAX Win x64 minimal pre ringing artefacts DX Win x64 VST e customizable range 40 dB e Native DSP code for optimal performance e Exact EQ curve display e Full MIDI control and automation support with silent zipper free e Four EQ shapes parameters update advanced response control and MIDI Learn e Automatic gain compensation e No CPU load on idle when t
8. host application What can I do First check that you application supports DirectX Audio Unit or VST plug ins If you are using the DirectX version check that your host application supports DXi plug ins MIDI enabled DirectX plug ins If it does not it may remove it from the DirectX plug ins list some applications such as Sony Vegas 5 and Cool Edit Pro are known to do this In this case use our DXi Manager free utility and disable the MIDI capabilities of the plug in You may need to reinstall the software again before it shows up into your host application For more information about this topic please read our DXi in Sony Vegas tutorial it is applicable to other applications than Sony Vegas If you are using the Direct X version and your host application supports DXi check that the plug in does not appear in the virtual synth or synthesizers category If you wish not to use the MIDI capabilities of the plug in and use it as a regular Direct X plug in you can download the freeware DXi Manager and disable the MIDI capabilities of the plug in have installed my plug in on windows 64 bit checked the items above and it still does not show up in my host application What can I do You are probably running a 32 bit application If that s the case you need to install the 32 bit version of the plug in the choice for 32 or 64 bit is not determined by the operating system 64 bit windows can run both 32 and 64 bit applicat
9. plug in user interface and select About The product version is also available in the Windows Add Remove Programs Window Why do newer versions of a plug in override older ones they have exact same name and IDs Because newer versions improve previous ones When a new version is released older versions are not supported anymore In some cases the new versions may be installed as new products compatibility reasons major changes but it is explicitly documented on the product page A new minor version of a product purchased some time ago is available Where can I download the update The new version can be downloaded from the same place where you downloaded the original version All information is contained in the email you received when you purchased the product Your registration number has not changed either Upgrade A new minor version of my plug in has been released Where can download it When you purchased the plug in an email containing the information to download and register your software has been sent to you You can download the new version from the exact same location as the first time have downloaded a new version do I need to uninstall the previous version No you don t except if it s specified on the product page in the history section Just run the installer and it will upgrade your software Automation What is Parameters Automation The parameters of an effect can be automated in most host
10. software It means that you can record the changes you do during playback or recording so that it s replayed when playing back again It s a way of sequencing parameters changes the same way you do with Audio or MIDI data What is Smooth Update When changing parameter values in real time or replaying a song where parameters have been automated our plug ins compute intermediate values between parameter changes in order to avoid clicks and pops that may occur otherwise It results in a non audible smooth parameters update and lets you freely use automation or MIDI control to change the effects in a song Do your plug ins support MIDI Control Yes they do They offer precise control over the mapping of MIDI Control Change CC messages to parameter values you can adjust both the channel and CC number as well as the response curve of the control Since some of our plug ins are also capable of creating MIDI CC from the audio signal they can all be connected for real time signal dependent audio effects See our MIDI Control in Sonar tutorial for an example More This manual only covers the basics of Blue Cat s Liny EQ Our website offers many additional resources for your Blue Cat s Liny EQ plug in and is constantly updated so keep an eye on it You will find below a few examples of available resources Extra Skins We encourage our customers to propose their own skins for our products and we often propose alternative skins to l
11. Blue Cat s Liny EQ User Manual Default i fod Blue Cat s Liny EQ Dual amp es ung c z OUT RP Mid Side Link Channels Absolute Relative Normal oF Mirror Range 20 dB 3 S ae sem SRG Sei gt S _ an a 7 eee A m m Auto Gain Normal a Notch Smooth gy Sharp D Mix 100 1 2 kHz 2 5 Hz 5 kHz 10 kHz 16 kHz i Linear phase equalization without the ME ew AY yea a RASH O ALUE CAT AUDIO Table Of Content e Introduction e Description e Features e System Requirements e Installation e Using Blue Cat s Liny EQ e Introduction e The User Interface e Operation e Blue Cat Audio Plugins Basics e User Interface Basics e Controls e Keyboard e Mouse e Presets Management e MIDI amp Automation Control e More e Blue Cat s Liny EQ Parameters e Plug in Settings e The Global Settings Window e The Preset Settings Window e About Skins e Changing the Skin e Create a Custom Skin e Frequently Asked Questions e More e Extra Skins e Tutorials e Updates e Versions History Note An online version of this user manual is available here Introduction Description Blue Cat s Liny EQ is an 8 bands linear phase equalizer with very low latency and comprehensive visual feedback thanks to its highly optimized linear phase kernel it processes the signal without phase distortion with an unusually short latency less than 3 milliseconds Its wide range of
12. DI controlled or automated e Max Maximum value of the parameter when MIDI controlled or automated Note if the Min value is higher than the Max value the response curve will be reversed increasing the control value will decrease the parameter value Note if you double click on the parameter text control boxes for the max and min values a fine tuning edit box will appear and let you change the min and max values with more precision More Check our online tutorial for more screenshots and more examples of our plug ins user interfaces Blue Cat s Liny EQ Parameters All parameters described below can be automated and controlled via MIDI if your host application supports it You can precisely define this behavior in the settings panels described later in this manual All parameters except bypass and stereo mode are duplicated for each channel in the dual channels version Name Unit Bypass Stereo Mode Stereo Mid Side Gain dB 120Hz 330Hz 640Hz dB 1 2kHz 2 5KHz 5kHz 10kHz 16kHz Shape Normal or Notch Mode Smooth or Sharp Mix Analysis On Off Description Bypass the effect Stereo processing mode Dual channels version only Main gain Gain for each frequency band Shape of the filters When set to Normal boosting and then cutting an EQ band by the same amount cancel each other In Notch mode frequency cuts are narrower than boosts for a notch filtering effec
13. IDI and Automation Control Settings show hide the buttons that give access to direct MIDI Automation setup for each parameter in the user interface This button will show or hide dropdown menu buttons that popup a MIDI Automation setup menu described here From left to right Controls Examples Here are a few examples of typical controls you will encounter in the user interface of our plug ins slider slider knob button Text control Interacting with Controls You can interact with the controls of the plug in interface either with the mouse or the keyboard Setting the keyboard focus on a control so that it responds to key strokes may be automatic when you pass the mouse over it it gets focus or manual you have to click on the control to set the focus on it Note that all host applications behave differently regarding keyboard handling In some applications you may not be able to use all keys described later in this manual to interact with our plug ins It is usually made obvious to you to know the active surfaces of the skin the places where you can click with the mouse the mouse cursor usually changes when you can do something on a control In the default skins delivered with the plug in the cursor changes to a small hand or an arrow to tell you when your mouse Is over an active control Mouse Various mouse movements will let you interact with the controls Mouse Interaction Left Click Left Click Alt Key
14. Left Double Click Right Click Mouse Wheel Mouse Drag Keyboard Action Acquire focus and start dragging or push button Set the value to default Acquire focus and launch the fine tuning edit box except button Set the value to default Increment or decrement the position focus required Change the control position depending on mouse movement except button All control widgets support the following keys note that some of them are caught by the host and thus never forwarded to the control For example in Steinberg Cubase SX you cannot use the arrow keys to control the plug in Keys Common to All Controls Key Up Arrow Down Arrow Left Arrow Right Arrow Page Up Page Down SHIFT Keys Specific to Buttons Key Enter Presets Action Small increment of the position up or right Small increment of the position down or left Same as Down Arrow same as Up Arrow Large increment of the position up or right Large decrement of the position down or left Small increment of the value of the control Small decrement of the value of the control Set to default value same as mouse right click Opens the fine tuning window to precisely set the parameter When the key is down the fine tuning mode is on and you can modify the value with better precision when moving the mouse the mouse wheel or using the keyboard Just release the key to get back to the normal mode Action Push
15. al Getting Started with Plug ins User Interface Set Preset Skin Preset Settings Global Settings Uzer Marial Check For Updates Tutorial Using MIDI Control in Sonar Updates Get used to the user interface features of Blue Cat Audio products They have been designed for an optimal workflow so here are the tips and tricks to save time All these functionalities are explain Read More This tutorial will help you understand how to use parameters MIDI control in Cakewalk Sonar It is applicable to any DXi plug in MIDI enabled DirectX plug in Read More This tutorial shows you how to get and load free presets for your favorite Blue Cat Audio plugin This tutorial uses Blue Cat s Dynamics for the demonstration but is applicable to all our plugins Read More As you can see in the history log below we care about constantly updating our products in order to give you the latest technology available Please visit our website often to check if Blue Cat s Liny EQ has been updated or subscribe to our Newsletier to be informed of the latest news about our products You can also follow us on twitter and facebook for almost real time updates notification and subscribe to our YouTube channel to see the latest videos about our software Versions History V5 02 2014 01 09 New Features e Audio Suite support for offline processing in Pro Tools AAX e Copy paste the plug in s
16. current state from the presets menu using the system clipboard Improvements e Reduced the plug in s memory usage e Windows VST Installer now remembers where the plug in was initially installed to simplify upgrades e Mac plug in version number is now available when using Get Info in the Finder e Mac Improved display of Audio Unit parameters in most host applications Bug Fixes e Fixed window frame not showing with Cubase 7 5 32 bit on Mac e Mac About window does not show up first in the corner of the screen anymore e Win Alt Click on a control now resets the value to default in Pro Tools as expected e Fixed version number reported to host application for VST and Audio Unit versions V5 01 2013 06 21 e 64 bit AAX support for Pro Tools 11 V5 0 2013 05 23 New Features e Brand new fully customizable user interface e New look and feel e Show hide what you need e New EQ curve display e New instant spectrum curves display e New color or greyscale overlayed spectrogram view e New output peak levels meters e Multiple display sizes e Improved readability e Animated transitions e New mix parameter for instant dry wet control or side chain dynamic equalization e New interpolation mode for up to four different EQ shapes e Now includes both single and dual channels versions and superseds the three plug ins previously included in the Blue Cat s Liny EQ Pack bundle e Spectrum and spectrogram
17. d by the user The user presets are stored in a subdirectory of the documents folders of your profile Documents on Mac and My Documents on Windows Blue Cat Audio Plug in Name Presets Each preset is stored as an individual file You can create folders and subfolders in the Presets directory to classify your presets as shown in the example below Folder A b User Presetl Folder B b User Preset User Preset X User Presets If you save a preset named Default in the root Presets directory it will override the factory default preset that s what Save As Default does To restore the factory default preset you can just remove this file or use the Reset Default command MIDI and Automation Control Blue Cat s Liny EQ can also be remotely controlled via MIDI using MIDI CC Control Change messages or automation curves if your host application supports it It is possible to customize the channel control numbers range and response curve used for each parameter in the settings panel available from the main menu see the Plug in Settings chapter for more details MIDI and Automation Settings Menu Most skins also provide the ability to change MIDI and automation settings for each parameter directly in the main user interface When this feature is activated using the corresponding title bar button dropdown menu buttons appears next to main controls Clicking on this button shows the MIDI Automation settings menu MIDI Learn
18. displays can be frozen to capture spectral snapshots e New integrated presets manager e Load save presets from the plug in s user interface e Organize presets with folders e Customize the default preset e Exchange presets easily e Automation range and response curve can now be customized for each parameter in and out e Automation and MIDI settings channel MIDI learn etc are now accessible from the main user interface e AAX plug in format is now also supported on Windows Pro Tools 10 2 required Improvements e Different EQ shapes can now be selected for each channel e New presets to get started faster e The windows installer now automatically detects the most appropriate VST install path e License is now shared between plug ins types register only once for all formats e Improved value display in fine edit window e Improved parameters display on control surfaces Optimizations and Performance Improvements e Improved parameters precision now stored as 64 bit e More compact presets format uses less space and loads faster e Smaller binaries on Mac dropped PowerPC support Bug Fixes e RTAS Fixed parameters control with EUCON control surfaces in Pro Tools e Fixed user interface issues in Final Cut Pro X e Fixed user interface display issues in Wavelab on Mac e Fixed keyboard stealing issue in Digital Performer 7 on Mac e Fixed copy paste keyboard shortcut issues in the registration panel on Mac Note this new ve
19. ent format e Window opacity control for plugin transparency e New Windows installer e New documentation e This version is installed as a new plugin because of the new parameters You can keep the previous version and this one side by side V3 0 2006 1 1 29 e Advanced MIDI control with customizable parameters curve response and MIDI learn e Now supports Blue Cat s Skinnning language 1 2 4 with several skins per session e Parameters can be fine tuned when the shift key is down which offers a 1 dB gain resolution e CPU efficiency improvement no processing occurs when input Is silent e Settings window now loads faster e Bug fix in some plug in adapters such as FxPansion s VST to RTAS adapter the GUI did not display properly when first loaded e Bug fix when reinstalling the software in another directory the skin not found message was displayed e Warning because it now supports MIDI events the DirectX plug in may appear in the Synth or DXi category instead of effects in some hosts Such as Cakewalk Sonar If it does not appear in you host you might want to use our DXi Manager to de activate MIDI features e Warning this new version breaks the presets compatibility V2 0 2006 06 19 e New skinnable user interface with several skins included e Blue Cat s Skinning Language 1 1 support for an easy user interface customization e User manual available from the user interface e Bug fix no more c
20. es the button To get started with the plug in and discover its capabilities a couple of factory presets are provided You can also save your own presets and recall them later for other projects Our plug ins propose a full featured preset manager to let you save browse organize and recall its presets The Presets Menu The presets menu can be opened from the main menu or the main toolbar It displays the list of presets available for the plug in as well as commands to load save or organize presets Factory Presets Folder A Folder B User Preset X User Preset Y User Preset Z Load Save As Copy Paste Save As Default Reset Default e Factory Presets shows the list of factory presets delivered with the plug in e Folder A to User Preset Z user presets and categories e Load load preset from file e Save As save current preset to a file e Copy copy preset to the system clipboard e Paste paste preset from the system clipboard if available e Save As Default save the current state as the default preset This preset is used every time a new instance of the plug in is created e Reset Default reset the default preset to its factory state this makes the plug in forgets the custom settings you might have saved as a default preset More about Presets There are two types of presets factory presets read only that are provided with the plug in and user presets that can be created and store
21. et you choose the one that best suits your needs You can check Blue Cat s Liny EQ skins page to get the latest skins Altec for V4 Product Liny EQ Description A pack of three wonderful vintage style skins for version 4 or earlier Author Hans Van Even musicworks fr Download Skin Altec zip Tutorials Many Tutorials are available on our website They cover a wide range of topics and host applications You will find below a list of tutorials that are related to the Blue Cat s Liny EQ plug in An updated list is also available online Tutorial Using DXi plug ins in Sony Vegas This tutorial will teach you how to use any DXi plug in in Sony Vegas Sony Vegas does not support MIDI automation so if your plug in supports the MIDI Dxi protocol it is removed from the plug ins l Read More ceceeen op E iE pirre p Tutorial Real Time Side Chain Dynamic Equalizing m This tutorial shows how to perform side chain dynamic equalizing with the Dynamics plugin product and the Stereo Parametr EQ stereo equalizer plugin The destination track can of course be the same Read More Tutorial Export Plugin Presets to Share them with the Community mypreset This tutorial shows you how to export your presets in order to share them with the community on the Blue Cat Audio website This tutorial uses Blue Cat s Stereo Triple EQ for the demonstration Presets Files preset bu Read More Tutori
22. he EQ offers several shapes to increase the flexibilty and overcome the limitations that are usually found on such EQs It is thus possible to create almost any EQ shape without the need for more control Linear Phase A linear phase EQ is a special type of EQ that does not affect the phase of the signal by introducing a phase shift in the signal that is proportional to the frequency as opposed to minimum phase EQs It means that it usually sounds more transparent because it does not change the shape of the signal with random phase shift accross the spectrum It s one of the reasons why such EQs are preferred at the mastering stage Latency Linear phase EQs all bring additional latency to your signal chain because they add a constant delay to all frequencies you can see this as a way to compensate the phase shift This can become a problem when the latency becomes high because your Digital Audio Workstation DAW will react with a noticeable delay In the case of this plug in this is not an issue since the latency has been greatly reduced it is less than 3 milliseconds 128 samples at 44 1 kHz thanks to a specially optimized filter kernel You can thus enjoy your linear phase EQ without the latency Pre ringing One of the downsides of linear phase equalizers is a pre ringing effect that can be heard on transients because of the way digital linear phase EQs affect the phase some frequencies may be shifted to the and and happen befo
23. he plug in is fed with silence the e Real time spectrum analyzer display processing smoothly shuts down to optimize the CPU usage of e High resolution color and greyscale spectrogram display your Digital Audio Workstation e High resolution color peak meter e Skinnable and customizable user interface with transparency e Single and dual channel versions management e Left right or mid side processing for spectral stereo widening or e Smooth Bypass activate deactivate the plug in with absolutely narrowing no noise e Advanced channels linking capabilities e Undo Redo e Multiple display sizes e Full featured integrated presets manager e Highly customizable user interface display what you need the e Copy paste the plug in s state between instances using the way you need system clipboard e Any sample rate supported system Requirements Windows Mac OS X e An SSE2 enabled processor Pentium 4 or later e An Intel processor e Microsoft Windows XP Vista Windows 7 or 8 e Mac OS X Mavericks 10 9 Moutain Lion 10 8 Lion 10 7 e Any DirectX VST RTAS AAX compatible host software 32 or Snow Leopard 10 6 or Leopard 10 5 64 bit e Any VST Audio Unit 32 64 bit RTAS AAX compatible application For more information about supported platforms see our FAQ Installation Blue Cat Audio plug ins cannot be run standalone they require a host application see the System Requirements chapter for more informatio
24. in the Plug ins Basics chapter of this manual Operation Operating the EQ is straightforward just moving the knobs sliders or the controls on the graph will boost and cut the frequencies the way you want There are however a few tricks that may be useful when operating this particular EQ Choose your EQ shape Blue Cat s Liny EQ offers four types of EQ shapes that can be selected using the mode and shape switches The final curve is built using these shapes based on the boosts cuts that you have chosen With this shape boosts and cuts have the same bandwith for the same frequency This results in an unmodified spectrum if two EQs in series are setup with opposite settings Boosts and cuts are simply symmetric Shape Normal Shape Notch With this shape boosts have a larger bandwith than cuts for the same frequency It lets you produce slightly sharper cuts in the spectrum and wider boosts Mode Smooth Smooth mode produces smoother bell shaped curves but may create unwanted steps when buikding complex EQ curves Mode Sharp Create sharper triangle shaped curves and reduce the step effect for complex EQ curves Select the most suitable layout The plug in offers multiple layout options and skins so you may want to choose your favorite layout for each situation For example if you need to save screen real estate and prefer operating in blind mode with your ears only you can reduce the user interface to its mini
25. ions but by the host application that you are using Why are there two plug ins called xxxx Mono and xxxx Stereo installed Mono effects which are effects that do not make any difference between left and right channels are bundled this way for performance reasons Some developers just deliver a stereo Version which also processes twice mono streams The Mono plug in is to be used with mono streams and the Stereo one with stereo streams The effect itself is the same in both cases but the number of processed channels is different this may drastically improve performance for CPU intensive plug ins How do uninstall my plug ins Open the Windows configuration panel Add Remove Programs and choose Remove on the corresponding plug in If you have installed the VST plug in zip file version just delete the corresponding dlls Why do your plug ins need an installer on Windows Do they modify the registry or system settings Why not providing just a dll Our plug ins require several additional files for default settings skins and miscellaneous data We provide an installer for our customers convenience Our installers do not modify the system settings or the Windows registry except for the DirectX versions registration Our installers won t harm your system Software Version How do I know the version of the plug in am using You can see the version information in the about box right click on the background of the
26. l channels two sets of controls are provided with left right or mid side operation Both versions are very similar except that the dual channels plug in offers more controls so we will focus on the user interface of the dual channels plug in 1 2 3 4 FAN S ct aii L Defaut aa m Ae 6 Blue Cat s Liny EQ Dual ps i i 7 a OUT B Mid Side O Link Channels Absolute _ 0 Relative Normal 9 Mirror Range 20 dE 9 10 41 14 om T Eei e ne Z 15 Comos m mo m soe 4G Ansivsis M MD SIDE v Color Spectrogram 17 Auto Gain Normal gj Notch Smooth Gg Sharp Qa 19 24 22 23 640 Hz 1 2 kHz 2 5 HZ 5 kHz 10 kHz 16 kHz I 1 Layout type for channel controls below the graph single dual column or dual row You can choose if you want only one channel at a time or both channels displayed in a column or a row Dual version only 2 Show Hide EQ controls N OO OO ff OW 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Show Hide graph Show Hide output level meters 12 Select the display size to adapt the user interface to your screen Freeze display freezes the spectrum or spectrogram display if active Mid Side switch when activated channel 1 represents the mid center or mono signal and channel 2 the side or stereo signal When off channel 1 is the left channel and channel 2 is the right channel Dual version o
27. m The reverse operation is also possible which means that you can artificially separate mid side information from your usual L R stereo tracks That s what is done by our mid side processing plug ins Cen ae Cin Prosess rearange gt Right sige Ram Processing separately the mid side channels instead of left right channels offers more control over the stereo character of a sound Reducing the volume of the side channel makes it sound more mono and vice versa Mid Side and EQ Applied to EQ this lets you control how stereo a range of frequencies may sound It offers a much more flexible and intuitive way of managing the stereo distribution of spectrum than the usual left right technique processing separately both channels does not alter the L R balance of the output signal but changes the ratio between the stereo and mono signals instead It is thus much easier to control you can choose to either stereoize or monoize parts of the spectrum The User Interface Note The main toolbar menus and basic features available with all our plug ins are detailed in the Blue Cat Audio Plug ins Basics section Blue Cat s Liny EQ is bundled with several skins that have similar layouts and exactly the same capabilities The default skin is described below Overview The plug in comes in two versions single channel one set of controls is available and affects both the left and right channels for stereo instances and dua
28. mal configuration Auto Gain Normal 3 Notch 120 Hz 330 Hz I I You can browse the factory presets to try several predefined configurations and tweak the plug in to find your own Select the most suitable range The plug in lets you select the boost cut range for the controls and curve display You should select the range that suits your particular situation for drastic EQ changes sound design track tweaking you can choose up to 40 dB On the other hand for mastering you will usually need more subtle changes so using the 10 dB range will give you more precision and avoid going too far Display the spectrogram of each channel separately In the dual channel version by selecting the channels below the main graph you can display each channel separately or a mix of both channels Checking individual channels is particularly useful when applying diffrent EQ curves on both channels You may still want to keep an eye on the overall spectral balance by selecting both channels so that the average level is displayed Using the Mix control The Mix control can be very useful while tweaking the EQ as a first step you will usually want to hear the effect of the EQ to clearly define your favorite equalization Once the result can be heard you can then reduce the mix parameter to make the changes more subtle and reduce the effect of the EQ On the other hand when you are experimenting and looking for the best EQ settings y
29. n Depending on which host application you use you might need to install the plug ins in different locations Windows Install All versions of the plug in provide an installation program Follow the steps of the wizard to install the plug in on your machine During the installation you will be asked where you want the plug in s to be installed For the VST version you should install the plug in inside the VST plug ins folder used by your host application s The default path set in the installer should work for most applications but you should check your host software documentation to know where it looks for VST plug ins Some applications will not automatically rescan the new plug ins so you might have to force a refresh of the plug ins list Upgrade When a new version of the plug in is released just launch the new installer it will update the current installation Uninstall To uninstall the plug in simply launch the Uninstall program that is available in the start menu or in the configuration panel It will take care of removing all files from your computer Mac Install On Mac the plug ins are available as drive images After download double click on the file to open it You can then drag and drop the plug in file s to the shortcut that is provided within the image It will install the plug in s for all users on the machine In case you do not have admin rights on your Mac or if you want to install the plug i
30. n s to another directory just copy the files to the appropriate location If required more information is available in the README txt file that is included in the package Upgrade When a new version of the plug in is released open the new image and copy the files over the previous ones The new version will replace the older one Uninstall To uninstall the plug in simply remove the plug in components from the folder where you have copied them during install move them to the trash If you want to completely remove all settings and configuration files you can also remove these additional directories that may have been created on your computer e Library Preferences Blue Cat Audio Plug in name and TYPE where TYPE is VST AU RTAS or AAX global preferences e Library Preferences Blue Cat Audio Plug in name license information e Documents Blue Cat Audio Plug in name user data such as presets additional skins and user created plug in data Just beware that these directories may contain user data that you have created Remove these directories only if you wo not want to reuse this data later Using Blue Cat s Liny EQ Introduction Blue Cat s Liny EQ is versatile linear phase graphic equalizer with very low latency and minimal pre ringing artefacts Graphic EQ With a graphic EQ you can change the gain of a pre selected set of frequencies that cannot be modified In this particular plug in t
31. nly Link channels when active controls for both channels are linked together according to the options selected with 9 and 10 Dual version only Absolute Relative link in absolute mode the values of the controls for both channels are identical whereas in relative mode only controls variations are reported to the other channel letting you setup a different EQ on each channel and then apply linked modifications for example Normal Mirror link in mirror mode the gain value for both channels are reversed It is very handy when you want to use the EQ as a balance between channels Dual version only Display range select the range for the EQ affects both the controls and the display Output level meters display the peak level at the output of the EQ EQ response curve and controls the response curve of the EQ is displayed on the graph decibels as a function of frequency and overlayed controls are available to ste the gain for each band Controls can be hidden using 15 Spectrum analysis display depending on the options chosen with 16 and 17 a spectrogram or spectrum curve may be displayed behind the EQ curve Select for which channels you want to display the controls over the EQ reponse graph Select for which channels you want the analysis curves to be displayed select audio analysis display type instant spectrum curves greyscale or color spectrogram Main gain controls for each channel Auto gain control for
32. onstant 3dB offset on global gain e Bug fix the VST version now reports the latency to the host V1 2 2005 06 17 Brand new GUI V1 1 2005 05 17 e Right clicking on a slider now sets the default value of the parameter e Bug fix smooth update mechanism did not work properly on very fast variations V1 0 2005 04 19 First release Thanks again for choosing our solutions See you soon on www bluecataudio com PLUE CAT AUDPIO
33. ou can start with the mix control set to 50 while tweaking the curve you can increase or decrease the mix control to check wether more or less equalization sounds better or worse without having to change boosts and cuts for all bands Dynamic EQ Side Chain All the parameters of the plug in support automation and MIDI control So when used in combination with our MIDI and automation generation plug ins this plug in can easily be transformed into a dynamic EQ with linear phase A typical example is to use the Blue Cat s DP Meier Pro plug in to generate a MIDI envelope that follows the input signal and assign it to the Mix parameter of the Liny EQ plug in once your EQ has been set This way the amplitude of a track that can be different from the track being EQ ed will control how much EQ is applied This advanced side chaining principle can also be applied to individual bands gain values to dynamically control each band separately potentially with different tracks as well You can read more about such techniques in the Tutorials section of our website Blue Cat Audio Plug ins Basics This chapter describes the basic features that are common to all our plug ins If you are already familiar with our products you can skip this part User Interface Basics About Skins Like all Blue Cat Audio plug ins Blue Cat s Liny EQ uses a skinnable user interface It means that the appearance and behavior of the user interface can be
34. re a transient occurs a kind of back to the future effect This audible artefact sounds rather unnatural The good news is that this effect is highly reduced with Blue Cat s Liny EQ and its very low latency kernel Even if you tweek low frequencies pre ringing should be barely noticeable Mid Side Blue Cat s Liny EQ offers mid side processing capability With this feature you can process the mid center and side sides channels instead of the usual left and right channels Concept Origin Mid Side Recording Mid Side recording is a famous recording technique that is preferred in some cases to the traditional left right recording Searching for mid side recording on the web will give you many tutorials about this technique The result of such a recording is a pair of mid side M S channels instead of classic left right L R channels in an audio stream The mid channel is also often called Mono and side Stereo the mid channel contains the signal that is in the center of the stereo mix and the side channel contains the rest everything that is on the sides of the mix M 2 Wy L R n K K Mid Side Stereo Left Right Stereo 1ne trianagies aoove reoresenl le WStTener Cad a ANIQIOS AVOVE ICPICSC LIC Hole From Mid Side Recording to Processing The relationship between L R and M S channel can be computed so that you can transform any Mid Side recording to standard listenable left right stereo strea
35. rsion can be installed side by side with the previous version for backward compatibility reasons Installing this new version won t break your previous projects V4 11 2011 02 10 e Fixed keyboard focus stealing issue in Pro Tools and several other host applications e 64 bit Mac VST support V4 1 2010 05 04 e RTAS plugin format support for Pro Tools Mac and Windows e 64 bit applications support for Windows DX and VST under Windows x64 e Mac AU 64 bit format support compatible with 64 bit Logic 9 1 on Snow Leopard e Space bar does not trigger plug in buttons anymore avoids conflict with transport control in most applications e Demo version now displays a nag screen only once per session and only when opening the user interface of the plug in e Fixed MIDI learn issues e Fixed issue with EQ curve type that was sometimes not properly recalled e Mac fixed user interface crashes in some hosts under Snow Leopard e Mac fixed keyboard mouse focus issues in some hosts e Mac fixed multiple screens issue e Mac AU fixed settings lost issue when doing offline rendering in some applications V4 01 2009 05 05 Mac VST update fixed incompatibility issues with Cubase 5 on Mac V4 0 2009 03 09 e Mac Audio Unit support e Mac VST Support e New user interface design e The plugin now offers two types of EQ curves e EQ range is now customizable e Undo Redo support e Preset import export in a host independ
36. t Interpolation mode between bands Smooth produces smoother bell shaped curves whereas sharp produces sharper and flatter curves Amount of EQ Reducing this value will reduce the amount of EQ applied Enable Disable audio analysis Plug in Settings In addition to the controls offered in the main user interface Blue Cat s Liny EQ has various settings that let you fine tune the behavior of the plug in You can choose to change these settings either for the current preset or globally for all instances of the plug in The Global Settings Window The settings available in this window apply to all instances of the plug in for all presets if not overriden in the presets settings Consider these settings as default settings General You can change the default skin for all instances of the plug in write the skin file path in the text edit box or click on the button to open a file chooser dialog If you have several instances of the plug in opened in your session you will have to re open the user interfaces of these plug ins to see the skin change Skin file path C Progam Files Blue Cat Audio Skins Defaut defauk xml Output data refresh rate 20 Hz The output data refresh rate can also be customized for all instances of the plug in It controls the refresh rate of non audio data produced by the plug in parameters curves It also controls the refresh rate of output MIDI CC messages or outpu
37. t automation data The higher the refresh rate the better precision but also the higher cou usage some host applications may also have trouble recording MIDI data at high refresh rates The default value is 50 Hz Global Control Input Settings MIDI and Automation The plug in offers a couple of settings that affect the way it is controlled by MIDI messages or automation While the first settings only apply to MIDI control the Control Response Min and Max settings apply to both automation and MIDI control For each parameter you can define a default MIDI channel and CC number You can then control the plug in with an external MIDI controller or one of our plug ins that generate MIDI messages The settings below are available for each plug in parameter MIDI Settings e Enable MIDI enable disable the MIDI control of the parameter e Channel MIDI Channel for the parameter control If set to 0 the plug ins will accept Control Change Messages from all MIDI Channels MIDI Omni mode e CC Control Change Number e Learn click on this button to activate the MIDI learn functionality When it is activated you can move your MIDI controller and the plug in will automatically set the MIDI Channel and CC Number MIDI and automation settings e Response response curve of the MIDI or automation control from very fast to slow control e Min minimal value of the parameter when MIDI controlled or automated e Max Maximum val
38. ts plus MIDI control Which version VST Audio Unit RTAS or DX should I use in my host application Here is a list of host software and the version we recommend you to use Many other applications are supported check your application user manual to choose the best version AU stands for Audio Unit and DX for DirectX Host Application Plug in Version Cakewalk Products Sonar Project5 DX sony Products Vegas ACID Soundforge DX for old versions VST for new Steinberg Products Cubase Nuendo Wavelab VST Mac or PC Ableton Live VST Mac or PC Adobe Audition any EnergyXT VST Magix Samplitude VST Avid Digidesign Pro Tools RTAS Apple applications Logic Pro Logic Express Garage Band AU Cockos Reaper VST Mac or PC In general we recommend using VST over Audio Unit on Mac when both are supported particularly for the plug ins that can output automation or MIDI CC messages Where can find more information about this topic e www steinberg net e WwWw microsoft com e www kvraudio com e www apple com e www digidesign com Installation have installed my software and it is not listed as an application Why What can do How can I launch it Most software you can purchase on this website is plug ins for host applications It means you need another application to use it See the Plug ins Formats section in this FAQ for more information have installed my plug in and it does not show up in my
39. ue of the parameter when MIDI controlled or automated Control Input E Bypass Faram 1 1000 ms NU 500 ms Param 2 Param 3 3000 ms Param 4 2000 ms Param 3dB Param 6 S000 ms Param 7 60 dB s Param amp 100 Param 9 Reversed Param 10 ch Vee F FFF FFIFEE a a 8 8 8 NEARE ARCANE 4 74 74 ay day pa pa fal pa pa 4 Param 11 Param 12 Param 13 ERE REGGE Bie I A aaua Ga Omm 14 ame Lima NANA ri Mm ARKLFANHRNH CAA i AN AAC RAT AArFF ACAANnN A ta th A ARTIIO AliiAN 1 r MmRALrOQmMmaATALre generic screen snot aoes not correspond to tne actu al D lu go IN parameters Note if the Min value is higher than the Max value the response curve will be reversed increasing the control value will decrease the parameter value Note if you double click on the parameter text control boxes for the max and min values a fine tuning edit box will appear and let you change the min and max values with more precision The Current Preset Settings Window In this window you can change the settings for the current preset of the current instance of the plug in only Preset Skin You can choose to use the global skin setting or to change the skin for the current preset This way you can have different skins for different instances of the plug in in the same session in order to differentiate them Use global skin Skin file path C Frogam Files Blue Cat Audio Skins Defautt defa
40. utt xml Browse Preset Control Input Settings MIDI and Automation Use the global settings or override them for the current preset The parameters are the same as for the global input settings Blue Cat s Plug Use global setting Parameter Name Enable Channel CC Control MIDI 16 127 Response All Parameters 0o Linear Bypass eam Linear Param 1 L eam Linear Param 2 2 j Linear Param 3 0 f i eam Linear Param 4 I l 4 am Linear Param 5 iC E eam Linear Param 6 D l bo o am Linear Param 7 d pl ear Linear Param amp l E eam Linear Param 9 o Linear Param 10 lo i i i eam Linear Param 11 La am Linear Param 12 2 eam Linear Param 14 IT linear generic screen shot does not correspond to the actual plug in parameters About Skins Blue Cat s Liny EQ integrates Blue Cat s skinning engine that allows you to customize the user interface You can download new skins for your plug in at the following address http www bluecataudio com Skins Product LinyEQ If you don t find a skin that fits your need or if you want a really custom one you can choose to create your own skin Changing the Skin You have two ways to change the skin of your plug in you can change the default or global skin in the global settings or change the skin for the current preset only either in the preset settings page or from the main menu The global skin applies to all plug in
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