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1. COMP i 4 THA 30 0 4 THA 24 0 4 THA 18 0 4 KNEE H i DOMP 6 0 DOMP 6 0 DOMP 6 0 4 BITE KNEEF 12 0 HNEEF 12 0 KNEEF 12 0 4 BITE 2 0 4 BITE z 0 4 BITE 40 ATTK REL a z E ATTK REL ATTK REL ATTK REL EOL MPI GL As Ga ot WU fd VILLETTE TI bVITLIILITI a PErr rrr PICCIONI I bVITLEITTE II tH bILFLIET III lr lt Mooi ditiititi 4 mn CH 0 0 AUTO TYPET TYPET TYPE2 TYPE 2 E REL F REL2 gt 144 250 5 00s 35 DE 5 00s 2i F 7 MCZ2000 2 3 mcdsp com Page 5 To adjust any of the controls with sliders including the pop up sliders for Threshold Thr Compression Ratio Comp Knee Bite in the band sections and the Input In control in the master section just click the control name you can e Click and drag the sliders or e Hold the lt command gt key on OS X or lt Ctrl gt key on Windows XP while dragging the slider for fine control or e Click on the text box to highlight and edit the numeric value to get precise control if a value outside the valid range is input the control will default to the nearest allowed value when enter is hit and hit lt Enter gt or e Click on the text box to highlight the numeric value and then use the arrow keys to increase or decrease the numeric value or e Use the lt option gt key on OS X or lt Alt gt key on Windows XP to bring all the controls to
2. OUTPUT e Any band can be configured as the master band e Metering of band so ATTK compression gain AUTO gt E i band input or Sayeed aie output and master output mcdsp com Page 3 Crossover Display Each band crossover shown in unique color matching color of band compression curve in Compression Display Compressor x4 in this example Threshold 0 to 45 dB Compression 1 1 to 10 1 Knee 10 0 to 15 0 0 hard knee 10 to 0 undershoot 0 to 10 overshoot 10 to 15 overshoot w comp tail Bite Bi directional Intelligent Transient Enhancement 1 0 to 50 0 50 max Bite Band Solo and In Out LED Compression Gain Input or Output metering with peak LED TC Circuit Attack 0 03 to 250 msec Release 5 msec to 2 5 sec Release2 5 msec to 5 0 sec TC Circuit Types Auto automatic attack and release Type 1 pure peak detection Type 2 adaptive release McDSP MC2000 Compression Display Mastering Section Each band compression Output 24 dB with phase curve shown in unique color polarity switch matching color of band crossover in Crossover Display Input 12 dB popup slider Link Unlinked off or set with any band as the master band as shown below Master 1 setting indicates that band 1 is the master Meters Select input or output metering for compression bands 100 0 1 00k i 10 00 10 kHz 4 THR 36 0 m
3. Yellow LED is lit and ATTACK RELEASE and RELEASE2 controls are disabled Type 1 Type 2 Time Constant Circuit Type Type 1 indicates the standard pure peak detection and Type 2 indicates a more advanced adaptive release based on multiple signal peaks RELEASE2 0 005 to 5 0 The secondary rate at which the compressor stops responding sec to signals as they fall below the THRESHOLD Only active when Type 2 TC CIRCUIT TYPE is selected MASTER SECTION MASTER 60 to 0 dB Displays plug in output level Red LED s are lit to indicate output OUTPUT has clipped Click LED to clear METERS OUTPUT 24 to 24 dB Amount of make up gain applied to master signal LOCK ON OFF Locks right and left OUTPUT controls stereo configurations only PHASE ON OFF Polarity phase of the final output When yellow LED is lit signal is 180 degrees out of phase from the original Unlinked Selects Master band which can control settings across all Master 1 individual bands When Unlinked each band is controlled Master2 individually When a master is selected moving a control in master band affects the corresponding control in slave bands accordingly NOTE SOLO and BAND IN OUT are not linkable METERS Band Ins Band Selects the source for the OUTPUT METER display in the individual Outs bands When Band Ins is selected each bands inputs are displayed in the OUTPUT METER Note that the MASTER OUTPUT METERS always displays the output IN INPU
4. Here are a few tips about automating the MC2000 plug in e If stereo or linked automation is desired for a left right output control pair the user only needs to automate ONE of the left right control pair The stereo or link offset is preserved during automation playback Both left and right controls may be automated simultaneously however the automation data is simply duplicated in the left and right control pair e If discrete automation is desired for a left right control pair then the Output control mode Lock LED should be disabled This will allow each left right control to operate independently mcdsp com Page 9 e If automation of all bands is desired select a Master band only automate that band s controls The Master will affect the slaved bands This minimizes automation duplication and the processing overhead it creates Presets Using the Presets and Making Your Own The MC2000 presets are inspired by compressors such as the UREI 1176 LN Teletronix LA2A Neve 2254E 33609 Avalon Designs 2044 Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor dbx 165 and Altec Lansing 9473ATM A variety of other presets are named for their application vocal drums guitar The presets can be accessed from the ProTools plug in Librarian and plug in Settings pop up menus To make and save your own presets see the plug in Librarian Functions section of Digidesign s DigiRack plug ins Guide
5. OS 10 4 x Tiger 10 5 x Leopard Windows XP and require Pro Tools 7 x 8 x or greater McDSP plug ins require an iLok USB Smart Key Configurations McDSP plug ins are available in TDM RTAS and AudioSuite configurations See individual products for specific available configuration sets Applications Pro Tools 7 x 8 x or higher is required for TDM LE and M Powered systems Additionally a third party software application that supports the Digidesign TDM RTAS or AudioSuite plug in standard may be supported See http Awww digidesign com developers plugin_info for more information McDSP plug ins are compatible with the entire Pro Tools 7 and 8 product line Hardware McDSP plug ins support any Digidesign or approved third party hardware supported in Pro Tools 7 x and 8 x This includes HD HD Accel 003 and Mbox host based systems All McDSP HD plug ins except Synthesizer One also support the Digidesign VENUE D SHOW systems See http Awww digidesign com compato for more specific information The McDSP Mac versions are compatible with both Intel and PowerPC based computers The McDSP Windows versions require an Intel Pentium 4 or greater processor Getting Started McDSP Windows test machines are chosen to follow the Digidesign recommended systems guide which currently is the Dell Precision Workstation 670 with 2 79 GHz Xeon processor All products are guaranteed to run on that system Older Intel pro
6. click the Next button to continue e Check the Use License Card box and n press the Next button figure 2 3 _ _ Note Although the Authorization nek the box Store Wizard may appear to allow e i authorization by challenge response that method is currently NOT SUPPORTED MCcDSP Plug Ins next gt d Cancel e Separate the small punch out iLok License Chip the removable metal and plastic tab from the License Card by pushing the cutout up and out with your thumb Do not force your finger downward com CompressorBank The Complete Compressor e The iLok License Chip may now be inserted into the key slot of the iLok USB Smart Key figure 2 6 If the iLok USB Smart Key does not appear to be present on the system ensure the iLok USB Smart Key is connected to a valid USB port and that the green LED is lit inside the iLok USB Smart Key To insert the License Chip into the iLok USB Smart Key orient the iLok USB Smart Key s USB end to the left and the loop end to the upper right Insert the metal chip end of the iLok License Chip the License Chip tab should have the metal chip side facing up towards you not down You should be able to visually verify that the License Chip makes contact with the iLok USB Smart Key metal card reader e The green LED in the iLok USB Smart Key will light when it is ready to receive and transmit data e Upon inserting
7. controls giving the user complete control of dynamic compression Common controls such as Output make up gain Threshold Compression Ratio Attack and Release are provided as well as non standard Knee and Bite controls which allow the articulation of compression characteristics in unique and exciting ways Multiple peak detection circuit types provide flexibility previously achieved only by owning different compression units The crossover sections in the MC2000 are steep 24 dB oct filters minimizing cross talk between the compression bands These filters are taken directly from McDSP FilterBank the most highly regarded digital equalizer on the ProTools platform mcdsp com Page 1 Feature List e Power and Flexibility Six different multi band compressor configurations are available with two three and four band compressors in both mono and stereo versions Many of the MC2000 multi band configurations can share the same DSP chip See the Reference section for a complete listing of all MC2000 configurations and their specifications e Compression Curve Modeling In addition to the standard Threshold and Compression Ratio controls the actual shape and response of the compression curve can be adjusted with the Knee and Bite Bi directional Intelligent Transient Enhancement controls Knee can soften the compression curve creating a smoother response and or add pumping breathing compression effects Unique and unprecedented K
8. i Buy a Dongle section will provide you with important messages regarding your that link Buddy 0 corona trons Goteusra verisore ri between holes chek here Authorizing Your McDSP Plug Ins The next page wi d ispl ay Pending licenses available for download th e pe n d i n g i ce n ses Product Company Type Deposited Expiration available for download ona Th IS pa g e wi a SO d isp ay Compressor Bank McDSP NFR 09 14 2004 09 14 2005 th e name of the PI ug l n FilterBank McOSP License 09 14 2004 03 14 2005 its manufacturer the type aaa ri of authorization demo Not For Resale or License the date the authorization was deposited and the date when the authorization will no longer be available for download from the Before downloading licenses you must insert one or more iLoks as needed and press the se rver Synchronize button Once your iLoks are synchronized with your account you will be able to 7 select the licenses to download and the target iLok to receive the licenses Insert your iLoks and synchronize Note that the synchronization process may take some time Please press the button only once Befo re a ny tra nsfer of a uthorizations don t remove or insert your iLoks and don t touch your browser until the process completes A g progress page should be displayed within a few seconds of pressing the button can take place you must synchonize a a a Synchronie your iLok Sma
9. in Fig 4 4 between 12 dB and 0 dB McDSP engineering also had the opportunity to evaluate an LA2A with the compressor limiter switch modification and the LA3A These measurements and the ones in Fig 4 4 above were used to create the LA too eh presets UREI 1176 LN blackface The UREI 1176 LN 1176 for short was one of the first classic compressors to offer user adjustable attack release and compression ratio controls Alleged to be superior to later production models the blackface front panel version is the 1176 edition measured by McDSP engineering UREI 1176 LN blackface left and the MC2000 right mcdsp com Page 19 The MC2000 s Knee control range of 0 to 10 models the 1176 knee shape nicely The possible compression ratios of 4 8 12 20 and 44 have been measured and transformed into MC2000 presets called blackface The modeling of the 1176 also shows how the MC2000 compression bands can be setup to have a compression ratio much greater than its apparent 10 1 maximum By using the Knee control 0 to 10 and Compression control interactively a flat compression curve can be created easily These controls combined with the fastest attack setting 0 03 msec i e one sample make for a great brick wall limiter Neve 2254E 33609 Originally part of larger Neve consoles the 2254E compressor limiter was made into a two channel stand alone unit called the 33609C The 33609 unit was evaluate
10. ratios for signals that greatly exceed the compression threshold Such an effect gives compressed signals more presence or top end as some strong signal transients are allowed to pass with less gain reduction from the compressor Such characteristics are common in devices like the Teletronix LA2ZA and other opto compressors It is important to note how these three variations of knee control transition smoothly from one to the other New and unprecedented compression techniques are available only in the MC2000 plug in The user can choose different knee shapes even changing compression paradigms from a dbx 165 to a Neve 336097M in a single continuous control change Consider these capabilities in a MULTI BAND COMPRESSOR Bite The Bi directional Intelligent Transient Enhancement control gives the Page 12 McDSP MC2000 compressor well more bite As this control is increased fast signal changes transients are allowed to pass through the compressor while the overall compression amount is the same The transients of a compressed signal will become more obvious as more bite is applied This control is useful in emulating the response of analog compressors Attack and Release Compressors use a circuit to track the signal changes over time as they exceed the threshold control level Such circuits have time constants attack and release to articulate the response of the circuit to signal changes h
11. the iLok License Chip a message will be displayed Authorization Successfully Installed indicating the authorization was successfull installed from your license card to installed successfully Click Ok in the message dialog successfully installed from your license card to your iLok Authorizing Your McDSP Plug Ins e Once the authorization is installed mq a a on the iLok USB Smart Key a dialog ak is displayed prompting the user to register their iLok USB Smart Key at the www ilok com website The iLok com website was created to allow users to manage the software authorizations on their iLok USB Smart Key THIS STEP IS NOT REQUIRED TO COMPLETE THE Gas GD Ca AUTHORIZATION OF MCDSP SOFTWARE The registration of the iLok USB Smart Key to an iLok com account can be bypassed by clearing the checkbox The user may also choose to not be asked to register again While iLok com is a great resource for the iLok USB Smart Key your iLok USB Smart Key may only be linked to one iLok com account That is an individual iLok USB Smart Key can only be registered to one account at a time but a single account can have multiple iLok USB Smart Keys If the iLok com account information is lost the iLok USB Smart Key cannot be registered to another account However an iLok USB Smart Key may be transferred between accounts if all the authorizations have been transferred off the iLok USB Smart Key Register the iLok USB Smart Key t
12. the plug in automatically making as efficient use of the DSPs available on a given system The MC2000 supports all higher sample rates 96 kHz and 192 kHz However due to the DSP usage of some of the larger MC2000 configurations not all configurations are available at the higher sample rates For 96 kHz operation the DSP usage is doubled x 2 and for 192 kHz operation the DSP usage is quadrupled x 4 mcdsp com Page 31 ProTools 24 Nubus and MIX DSP hardware The processing requirements of the MC2000 plug in exceed the capacity of the ProToolsl24 Classic DSP Farm and Nubus DSP hardware While McDSP recognizes the significant population of ProTools users who operate on these hardware cards the MC2000 is too large an algorithm to be supported on the ProToolsl24 and Nubus hardware MIX hardware support has been dropped as of version 3 3 1 Digidesign and ProTools are registered trademarks of Digidesign Inc McDSP MC2000 MC2000 Frequently Asked Questions For an updated list of Frequently Asked Questions see our website www mcdsp com FAQ html How is the MC2000 plug in different from other multi band compressors The MC2000 plug in gives you the most power and flexibility to emulate any other compressor and many limiters or create your own custom compressor limiter in a variety of multi band configurations e Consider first the number of configurations you get in this one plug in two three and four band
13. with the left control for example if you adjust the left gain to be equal to 6 dB the right gain will equal 6 dB too or e To link controls for relative link operation set the left and right Input controls to the desired offset from each other before enabling the Lock LED Adjust one of the left controls and note how the corresponding right control automatically adjusts relative to the left control for example if you adjust the left gain to increase by 2 dB the right gain will increase by 2 dB Unlike the stereo link operation this type of linking will allow the left and right controls to have different values e To disable automatic linking disable the Lock LED To link the compression bands e Select a compression band as the master band using the Link control in the Master section of the MC2000 e All band controls excluding the Auto and TC Type controls will link relatively to the master band for example if you adjust the master band Threshold by 2 dB the slaved bands will also change by 2 dB Moving the controls of the slaved bands will not affect the other bands nor the master band The relative offsets are recalculated when a slaved band control is updated e The Auto and TC Type controls link absolutely to the master band when initially selected but also allow customization of slave bands For example if the selected master band is using TC Type 2 i e Auto mode is off then all slave bands will als
14. 00 plug in was already installed it will be updated by the installer Important note for FilterBank HD and CompressorBank HD on VENUE Getting Started D SHOW consoles The first time you instantiate either of these plug ins a dialog box will appear asking you to choose a user interface preference Choose the Knobs interfaces as some of the Slider interfaces are too large for the VENUE display Creating a VENUE D SHOW Installer CD R from the online zip file If you do not have a boxed copy of MC2000 with the included HD Disk CDROM you can still obtain a copy of the VENUE compatible installers from the www mcdsp com website Once you have located and downloaded the latest VENUE compatible installers from the McDSP website you will have to take several additional steps to create a VENUE compatible Installer CD R For your convenience all VENUE compatible products are located in the same downloadable zip file so you will only have to create one CD R to install all compatible McDSP products e Unzip the downloaded file and locate the folder named TDM Plug Ins inside the unpacked folder e Using any CD R burning application burn this folder and its contents to an ISO format CD R It is recommended that you use a brand new CD R for this and do not rewrite an older CD R e Once you have burned this folder to a CD R you should see it at the root level of the disk i e D TDM Plug Ins Important If the TDM Plug In
15. 5 Band Compressor ATT AR s Me APIK REL AITO User Man al McDOWELL SIGNAL PROCESSING LLC McDSP MC2000 Plug In Manual McDSP McDowell Signal Processing LLC 1300 Crittenden Lane 401 Mountain View CA 94043 Support Email info mcdsp com Technical Support help mcdsp com World Wide Web www mcdsp com McDSP MC2000 Special Thanks to e Daniel Caccavo Will Catterson Mikail Graham Andy Gray Jonathan Goldstein Rhett Lawrence and Dave Pensado and the rest of our great beta team for their invaluable input and feedback e Dr Robert E Filman and Tom McTavish for the tech talk and encouragement e Florian Richter Ken Walden and the many other tape sat solicitors e Frank Filipanits Jr for the GeneratorX plug in his additional assistance with the abundance of details in bringing a software product to market e David Denny and Stephen Jarvis for the rental on the great gear e Jay McKnight at Magnetic Reference Laboratory for his expert commentary and vast catalog of papers on audio engineering e Jack Endino www endino com for providing some measurements of various analog tape reproducers he has worked with over the course of his career e Rob Barrett Jr our 1 customer from the entire McDSP development team Copyright Notice Copyright 1998 2009 McDowell Signal Processing Limited Liability Company All Rights Reserved The McDowell Signal Processing Limited Liability Co
16. A Word on Preset Compatibility Presets for the 2 3 and 4 band configurations of the MC2000 plug in are interchangeable except with regard to the number of bands available For example a preset created with a 2 band configuration can be used in a 3 or 4 band configuration mono and stereo However some of the controls in 3 or 4 band configurations are not available in the 2 band because there are fewer bands When a preset is saved those bands not contained in that configuration will be set to default values If an incompatible preset is used such as a McDSP FilterBank EQ preset the MC2000 plug in will display a warning message accompanied by a system beep and retain the control settings before the preset was applied For more information see Chapter 4 Using the MC2000 plug in All Trademarks are property of their respective owners UREI and Teletronix are trademarks of the Teletronix Universal Audio UREI companies dbx is a trademark of the Harmon Corporation Neve is a trademark of AMS Neve Avalon 2044 is a trademark of Avalon Designs Distressor is a trademark of Empirical Labs Inc and 9473A is a trademark of the Altec Lansing Division of LTV Lang Altec Inc These companies are not affiliated in any way with McDSP nor do they endorse the MC2000 plug in The trademarks of these companies are used solely for the purpose of describing the sounds produced by the McDSP MC2000 plug in ProTools is a registered trademar
17. HE ABOVE WARRANTY IS EXCLUSIVE AND IN LIEU OF ALL OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON INFRINGEMENT THIS WARRANTY GIVES YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS YOU MAY HAVE OTHER RIGHTS WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE Disclaimer of Damages REGARDLESS OF WHETHER ANY REMEDY SET FORTH HEREIN FAILS OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE IN NO EVENT WILL McDowell Signal Processing Limited Liability Company BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY SPECIAL CONSEQUENTIAL INDIRECT OR SIMILAR DAMAGES INCLUDING ANY LOST PROFITS OR LOST DATA ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE EVEN IF McDowell Signal Processing Limited Liability Company HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU IN NO CASE SHALL McDowell Signal Processing Limited Liability Company s LIABILITY EXCEED THE PURCHASE PRICE FOR THE SOFTWARE The disclaimers and limitations set forth above will apply regardless of whether you accept the Software U S Government Restricted Rights RESTRICTED RIGHTS LEGEND Use duplication or disclosure by the Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph c 1 ii of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFARS 252 227 7013 or subparagraphs c 1 and 2 of th
18. I on co MCZO00 v2 3 McDSP MC2000 MC2000 4 Band Mono amp Stereo MC4 100 0 1 00k 10 00 ni 0 0 IN a 4 THR 36 0 d JE a THR 240 si THR 15 0 4COMP gt C e COMP i COMP 4 KNEE Tr og lt F 4 KNEE of 4 KNEE 4BITE 1 0 RIMESSA BIT GN GE BITER zo JE 4 BITE ATTK REL gt ATK REL ATK 3 0 AUTO FELL my Me2000 v2 3 mcdsp com Page 29 Linked Control Table The MC2000 plug in provides a variety of linked control functionality in its many configurations The table below lists all the linking capabilities of the MC2000 plug in For more information on control linking see the Control Linking section of the Quick Start Tour Linked Controls Link Action Link Type Left Right Output controls Enable the Lock LED in the Absolute or Relative Master section Compression band Gain Threshold Thr Enable master band by Relative Compression Ratio Comp Knee Bite selecting a master band from Attack Release Release2 the Link control Compression band Time Circuit TC type Enable master band by Absolute Auto TC type selecting a master band from the Link control in the Master NOTE These controls will stop responding section to the master band once altered from the master band s TC Type or Auto control values DSP Delay The delay incurred by on HD systems is 1 ONE sample There is still a two sample delay from the TDM connection to the MC2000 plug i
19. T 12 to 12 dB Amount of gain applied to input signal before processing by bands CROSSOVER DISPLAY FILTERING 24 dB oct Depending on configuration there are 2 3 or 4 crossover filters filters one for each band of compression CROSSOVER 20 to 20 000 Crossover between adjacent frequency bands Adjust by clicking POINTS Hz Frequency crossover point on display or entering values in the text box to the Plot right of Crossover Display COMPRESSION DISPLAY COMPRESSION Input vs Displays each bands compression characteristics as determined by DISPLAY Output Plot THRESHOLD and KNEE controls NUMBER OF BANDS MC2 Configuration Two Bands MC3 Configuration Three Bands McDSP MC2000 MC2000 2 Band Mono amp Stereo MC2 4 THR 215 ACOMPh 23 KNEE 6 5 ABITE 238 de ATTK REL AUTO s TYPEI TYPE2 5 005 70 0 400 MCZIOO v2 3 1 _ mcdsp com Page 27 4 THR 128 4COMPR 2 2 14KNEER 230 4 BITE ATK REL Ll l ai E AUTO TVPE1 TYPE2 i REL2 METERS 148 Sa fw MC2000 3 Band Mono amp Stereo MC3 i ULTI Wh I TLT LITRI SALI YL I I IPER I e I I I I I I 100 0 1 00k O I i Solo In lt 4 THA 30 0 4 THA 24 0 COMP 4COMP 4 KNEE KNEE 4 EITE b ATTK REL i i VIRILE Db LIITIN iIIi I T Ne il LINK METERS IN 0 0 l LIIL oa LILL
20. ate attack and release settings McDSP MC2000 AD2044 left and the MC2000 right at 5 1 compression Lowering the threshold of the AD2044 reveals the same type of compressor tail as found in the Teletronix LA2A AD2044 left and the MC2000 right wl tail MC2000 plug in presets derived from these models are titled Class A Opto xx mcdsp com Page 23 Other MC2000 Presets Several other presets have been included in your MC2000 plug in package These settings were created to highlight the flexibility and utility of MC2000 plug in Many of the MC2000 presets have been highlighted here named for the gear they emulate Other application specific presets are given names such that their use is easily understood such as vocal dialog drums etc The MC2000 plug in is the most flexible multi band compressor on the planet We hope you enjoy using it as much as we did creating it McDSP MC2000 MC2000 Plug In Reference Guide MC2000 Specifications Parameter Settings Function COMPRESSOR ONE PER BAND COMPRESSION 0 to 60 dB Amount of Compression applied to band The top meter in each GAIN METER band above OUTPUT METER displayed in orange and reading from right to left INPUT OR 60 to 0 dB Output level of band Meters below COMPRESSION GAIN METER OUTPUT displayed in green and reading from left to right Red LED s are METERS lit to indicate output has clipped Click LED to cl
21. ation Modeling in the crossover sections prevent digital clip and e The ability to model nearly every compressor limiter classic incorporating their processing characteristics into a variety of multi band configurations Would you expect any less from the company founded by Colin McDowell the mind responsible for FilterBank and CompressorBank What is Double Precision Arithmetic and why it is important The TDM bus is a 24 bit audio signal path with a dynamic range of 138 dB The MC2000 plug in s internal double precision 48 bits keeps the noise floor of its outputted signal at 138 dB In contrast with single precision 24 bit arithmetic the noise floor of a digital effect process can be dramatically higher than the 138 dB noise floor you would expect from a 24 bit data path Such adverse affects would be seen as DC offset in output meters even when there was no audio being processed Small amounts of such noise reduce the quality of 24 bit audio data What is Analog Saturation Modeling and why you want it Analog Saturation Modeling prevents pure digital clip that can ruin a mix Instead analog saturation modeling will approximate the sound of an analog box driven to a clipping state What MC2000 plug in presets are available Presets emulating a number of popular compressor sounds are included with the MC2000 plug in and are found in the Presets folder in the MC2000 plug in package These presets were create
22. ation such as automation Exiting a McDSP Plug In A McDSP Plug In is exited by clicking on the desktop or other window in the DAE application running the Plug In closing the Plug In window or de instantiating the Plug In Pro Tools sessions will save instantiated Plug In configurations and their settings Refer to the Digidesign Pro Tools Reference Guide for details on general Plug In operation Digidesign and Pro Tools are registered trademarks of Digidesign Inc mcdsp com Page xxiii McDSP MC2000 MC2000 Congratulations on purchasing the MC2000 plug in the multi band compressor from McDSP The MC2000 plug in has the power and flexibility to emulate any other compressor or create custom compressors in two three and four band configurations Imagine a three band stereo compressor with a dbx 165 on the low frequency band a Neve 33609C on the mid frequency band and a Teletronix LA2ZA on the high frequency band These kinds of mind boggling configurations which were previously impossible are now only presets away with the MC2000 plug in Add to that simultaneous access to each bands input output metering compression gain final output level crossover amp compression curve displays automation of every control and McDSP s MC2000 becomes the obvious choice for the multi band compressor of the new millennium Each compression band of the MC2000 uses the award winning McDSP CompressorBank algorithms and
23. blicense rent or lease any portion of the Software to a third party without expressed written permission from McDowell Signal Processing LLC e reverse engineer de compile disassemble modify translate make any attempt to discover the source code of the Software or create derivative works from the Software e make any attempt to circumvent any copy protection software e use a previous version or copy of the Software after you have received a replacement set or an upgraded version as a replacement of the prior version unless you donate a previous version of an upgraded version to a charity of your choice and such charity agrees in writing that it will be the sole end user of the product and that it will abide by the terms of this agreement Unless you so donate a previous version of an upgraded version upon upgrading the Software all copies of the prior version must be destroyed McDSP Limited Warranty McDowell Signal Processing Limited Liability Company warrants that the media on which the Software is distributed will be free from defects Your sole remedy in the event of a breach of this warranty will be that McDowell Signal Processing Limited Liability Company will at its option replace any defective media McDowell Signal Processing Limited Liability Company does not warrant that the Software will meet your requirements or that the operation of the Software will be uninterrupted or that the Software will be error free T
24. cessors i e Pentium III and predecessors and AMD processors are not officially supported although some users have had limited success with newer AMD processors i e Dual Opteron 1 79 GHZ Athlon 64 2 20 GHz and Athlon 64 XP 3700 None of McDSP Windows product line will work with Pro Tools 5 x Also note the McDSP Windows product line does not support MIX although RTAS versions will work if they exist and the rest of your system i e Pro Tools version and processor is compatible Please visit mcdsp com for the latest information about compatibility mcdsp com Page ix Installing the MC2000 Plug In Installation on Mac OS X The MC2000 plug in Package includes this manual ReadMe and Release Notes a folder of presets for the MC2000 plug in and the MC2000 plug in Two copies of the MC2000 Licensing Agreement are included one in this pdf manual and a second as a separate text file The MC2000 plug in manual requires that Adobe Acrobat reader or similar pdf reader is installed Both online and boxed version will come with a MC2000 installer that will automatically install the MC2000 plug in and its presets on your system The authorization of the MC2000 plug in is still required after running the installer and those steps are detailed in the following sections Installing the MC2000 plug in and presets with the Installer The online version of the package has been prepared for Internet delivery and is transmitted as a comp
25. conds which makes the control s effect on the release curve negligible Figure 4 1 shows the Type 1 green and Type 2 blue as well as the affect of decreasing the Release2 control purple 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 MC2000 compressor release curves As shown in the Type 1 green line in Fig 4 1 a second signal spike red does not alter the release response The green line continues to decay unaffected by the new signal information because the new signal level is below the release signal level In the Type 2 blue line the new signal affects the release level even though the new signal level is below the release level The Type 2 w Release2 added purple line total release time becomes shorter as the Release2 control is increased Note how this response can even produce release times faster than the original release as Release2 is equal to or less than Release Page 14 McDSP MC2000 A Closer Look at the MC2000 Crossover The MC2000 crossover is comprised of steep 24 db oct filter sections to minimize signal leakage into adjacent compression bands These filters are taken directly from the award winning McDSP FilterBank plug in design 48 bit precision calculations and analog saturation modeling in every filter section Crossover Control The MC2000 crossover can be control from the text displays just to the right of the Crossover Display or from the display itself To perform the later o
26. configurations all in stereo and mono versions e Consider next the maximum number and ranges of the independent controls available to the user to define the compression response curve Our design philosophy is maximum user control and here is the proof of our concept e Standard compression controls compression ratio threshold and output make up gain allow only the most basic manipulation of the compression response e Non standard compression controls Knee and Bite give the user complete control over the articulation of the compression curve The Knee control recreates the compression curves of many classic compressors while giving the user the ability to morph between these compressor types The Bite Bi directional Intelligent Transient Enhancement control gives our compressor the ability to pass fast signal changes transients while maintaining the overall compression level Both these controls are critical in the control of the over all compression response and allow the MC2000 plug in to emulate other vintage and modern compressors e Total Ul feedback is readily apparent in the Crossover and Compression Curve Displays mcdsp com Page 33 e The MC2000 plug in is a high end multi band compressor with e Double Precision Arithmetic which keeps the noise floor at 138dB In contrast it is possible for single precision arithmetic processors to raise the noise floor significantly above 138 dB e Analog Satur
27. d at McDSP Measured compression and limiter curves showed how the 33609 has the potential to create classic pumping breathing effects due to a subtle overshoot in the compression knee Using the Knee control 0 to 10 values the MC2000 models this behavior very closely In fact this part of the MC2000 knee curve was designed to specifically emulate the 33609 compression response Neve 33609 left and the MC2000 right at 6 1 compression Note how the overshoot portion of the MC2000 s Knee control can create a knee size less than equal to or greater than the 33609 This is a good demonstration of the modeling accuracy and flexibility of the MC2000 compression bands The 33609 limiter has a similar knee overshoot characteristic as its compressor Use of the Knee control can setup the MC2000 compression bands to function as a brick wall limiter as shown below in the emulation of the 33609 Page 20 McDSP MC2000 Neve 33609 Limiter left and the MC2000 right limiter emulation Using the MC2000 s Knee control to create an overshoot realizes a compression curve with a nearly flat or brick wall response The smooth transition seen in Fig 4 2 between 24 dB and 18 dB makes the limiting as transparent as possible Again the flexibility of the MC2000 compression bands provides another useful dynamic range control application Presets in the MC2000 plug in package derived from these models are called British Comp and Br
28. d from measurements taken at McDSP headquarters while emulating different analog classic compressors Other presets are included from industry professionals www mcdsp com Copyright 2009 by McDowell Signal Processing LLC All trademarks are property of their respective owners MCDSP is a trademark of McDowell Signal Processing LLC
29. e Commercial Software Restricted Rights clause at 48 CFR 52 227 19 as applicable McDowell Signal Processing Limited Liability Company Mountain View CA 94043 info mcdsp com General This Agreement will be governed by the laws of the State of California This Agreement may only be modified by a license addendum which accompanies this license or by a written document which has been signed both by you and McDowell Signal Processing Limited Liability Company Should you have any questions concerning this Agreement or if you desire to contact McDowell Signal Processing Limited Liability Company for any reason please email legal mcdsp com By downloading using or copying this Binary Software Licensee agrees to abide by the intellectual property laws and all other applicable laws of the U S and the terms of this License Ownership of the software shall remain solely in McDowell Signal Processing Limited Liability Company mcdsp com Page vii Getting Started with MC2000 Each McDSP plug in is delivered inside an installer application and uses the Interlok copy protection software to authorize each plug in This section describes how to install and authorize a McDSP plug in General system requirements are also described System Requirements McDSP HD Native and LE plug ins are compatible with Pro Tools HD HD Accel TDM systems as well as Pro Tools LE and Pro Tools M Powered host based systems McDSP plug ins support Mac
30. e Compression Band Metering below Should any peak LEDs light the user should scale back the input level until the LEDs remain clear The MC2000 Output control ranges from 24 dB to 24 dB The output stage follows the summing of the individual compression bands and the master output meter s show the level of the audio after being processed by this final gain stage Stereo versions of the MC2000 plug in have link able Output controls The link status is enabled disabled from the Lock LED The polarity or phase of the signal can be altered at this stage as well by enabling disabling the 9 LED The phase of the signal is unaffected when the 0 LED is off Compression Band Linking Any of the MC2000 plug in compression bands can act as a master band controlling that band and the other bands slaved to it Using the Link control a master section can be selected Master 1 2 3 4 or Unlinked Quick control setup expedited edits and new creative compression techniques are possible using the compression band Link control The MC2000 plug in compression band linking has the following operation characteristics e All band controls excluding the Auto and TC Type controls will link relatively to the master band for example if you adjust the master band Threshold by 2 dB the slaved bands will also change by 2 dB Moving the controls of the slaved bands will not affect the other bands or the master band The relative off
31. e MC2000 plug in can model a wide variety of vintage and contemporary compressor implementations IN MULTI BAND CONFIGURATIONS Imagine a dbx 165 on the lows a Neve 33609C on the mids and a Teletronix LA2ZA on the highs Such configurations would not have been attainable otherwise This section highlights how the McDSP CompressorBank plug in features contained in MC2000 are used to model some of these analog implementations The user is additionally directed to various presets included in the MC2000 plug in package Each of the following sections contains graphs representing the responses of analog gear as measured by the engineering staff at McDSP Although the names of other compressor manufacturers are mentioned in this chapter they are in no way affiliated with McDSP The MC2000 plug in presets are inspired by compressors such as the Urei 1176 LN Teletronix LA2ZA dbx 165 Neve 33609C Avalon Designs 2044 Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor and Altec Lansing 9473A The presets can be accessed from the ProTools plug in Librarian and plug in Settings pop up menus To make and save your own presets see the plug in Librarian Functions section of Digidesign s DigiRack plug ins Guide All Trademarks are property of their respective owners UREI and Teletronix are trademarks of the Teletronix Universal Audio UREI companies dbx is a trademark of the Harmon Corporation Neve
32. eak LED meters in the plug in The compression gain meter is orange to distinguish it from the input and output meters The amount of gain reduction is read from right to left the meter increases in this direction as compression gain is applied to the input signal Note that when the output gain is 0 dB unity the input and compression gain meters can be added to equal the current output level in the output meter This is a good way to develop an understanding of how compressors operate Along the bottom of the input output meter is a threshold marker orange triangle As the input signal shown in the input meter exceeds the threshold the compression gain meter begins to show dynamic range compression taking place Stereo versions of the MC2000 configurations have two input output meters but still only one compression gain meter in each band and two master output meters Stereo versions of the MC2000 base their compression gain on a composite signal derived from the current left and right input signal levels The Crossover and Compression Displays The MC2000 plug in provides important visual feedback to the user via its Crossover and Compression Displays These UI components allow quick setup and confirmation of control settings Crossover Frequency Response Graph The MC2000 plug in breaks the input signal into separate frequency bands using a multi band crossover The MC2000 crossover sections frequency McDSP MC2000 respo
33. ear Selected in the Master Section METERS GAIN 24 to 24 dB Amount of make up gain applied to band after the signal is compressed SOLO ON OFF Solos the band Yellow LED is lit when band is soloed Note that multiple bands may be soloed at once NO ON OFF Compressor enable disable Red LED is lit when band is enabled THRESHOLD 45 to 0 dB Level at which the compresson starts Also indicated by orange triangle on OUTPUT METER COMPRESSION 1 1 to 10 1 Ratio of input to output levels for compressor As input exceeds the THRESHOLD it is compressed by an amount determined by this control KNEE 10 0 to 15 0 The smoothing of the compression response immediately below and above the threshold level See COMPRESSION DISPLAY for visual display of differences 10 to 0 undershoot 0 hard knee 0 to 10 overshoot 10 to 15 overshoot with compressor tail BITE 1 0 to 50 0 Bi Directional Intelligent Transient Enhancement As this control is increased fast signal changes transients are allowed to pass through the compressor while the overall compression remains the same ATTACK 0 03 to 250 The rate at which the compressor responds to signals as they rise msec above the THRESHOLD RELEASE 5 to 2 5 sec The rate at which the compressor stops responding to signals as they fall below the THRESHOLD mcdsp com Page 25 Parameter Settings Function AUTO ON OFF Automatic ATTACK and RELEASE When AUTO mode is enabled
34. ed from this control This is illustrated in the example below Example Threshold 12 dB Compression 4 0 4 1 compression ratio Signal Level 0 dB The signal level is above the threshold by 12 dB This amount is compressed at a ratio of 4 1 to 12 4 3 dB The new compressed signal level is then 12 dB 3 dB 9 cB When a stereo compression configuration is used the maximum of the left and right input channels is used as the compressor input Knee The smoothing of the compression response immediately below and above the threshold level The effect of the knee control is best understood by viewing the MC2000 plug in Compression Display while adjusting the control The Knee control has three ranges of values undershoot range is 10 to 0 overshoot range is 0 to 10 and overshoot with compression tail is 10 to 15 The undershoot range creates a smoothed transition from unity gain 1 1 compression ratio to the selected compression ratio This effect emulates the trademarked over easy compression curves of the dbx compressors The overshoot range allows the compressor to miss or overshoot the desired compression ratio and ultimately recover to a linear compression curve This effect creates pumping breathing effects found in such compressors as the Neve 33609C The overshoot with tail range continues the overshoot response and adds a compression tail This tail reduces compression
35. ence the term time constant circuit or TC circuit These circuits in conjunction with the compressor controls shape the overall sound of the compressor The MC2000 compressors are unique because they give the user multiple variations on these circuits The Time Constant TC Circuit section of each MC2000 compressor is comprised of 4 controls Attack Release Release2 and TC Circuit Type Attack The rate at which the compressor responds to signals as they rise above the threshold A fast attack can track even sample by sample the changes in the signal data Note that such a fast setting can introduce unwanted gain cogging in analog or digital domains as the compressor response sounds erratic as it changes with every signal nuance Release The rate at which the compressor responds to signals as they fall back to and below the threshold level A fast release can track almost sample by sample the changes in the signal data Note that such a fast setting can introduce unwanted gain cogging in analog or digital domains as the compressor response sounds erratic as it changes with every signal nuance Release2 The secondary rate at which the compressor responds to signals as they fall back to and below the threshold level This secondary release control is available only in the Type 2 TC circuit and is used to fine tune the overall release response Note that when using Release and Release2 concurrentl
36. ese companies are not affiliated in any way with McDSP nor do they endorse the MC2000 plug in The trademarks of these companies are used solely for the purpose of describing the sounds produced by the McDSP MC2000 plug in Digidesign and ProTools are registered trademarks of Digidesign Inc All other trademarks are property of their respective owners McDSP MC2000 Quick Start Tour MC2000 Start Protools and Instantiate the MC2000 4 band configuration e Launch Protools and Open a Protools Session e Verify the Display gt Mix Window Shows gt Inserts View option is checked e In one of the inserts of a stereo master fader select the MC2000 plug in 4 band configuration called the MC4 Note the MC2000 will operate on master or regular audio tracks in mono or stereo versions e If the insert selection does not show MC2000 plug ins verify that the MC2000 plug in has been installed correctly e For more information on starting ProTools TM and working with plug ins see Digidesign s ProTools Reference Guide The MC2000 4 band Configuration Overview All configurations 2 band 3 band and 4 band of MC2000 feature the following e Each compression band is a full McDSP CompressorBank compressor with uniquely flexible Knee and Bite Bi directional Intelligent Transient Enhancement i a controls multiple i os Time Constant TC circuit types and the ability to emulate many compressor limiter classics
37. g in package called Presets into the MC2000 folder The presets are now viewable after restarting Pro Tools from the settings popup menu from the MC2000 plug in Note it may be necessary to re start Pro Tools in order for the newly added Presets folder to be viewable from the Settings popup inside the MC2000 plug in window toolbar mcdsp com Page xi Installation on Windows XP and Vista The MC2000 plug in Package includes this manual ReadMe and Release Notes a folder of presets for the MC2000 plug in and the MC2000 plug in Two copies of the MC2000 Licensing Agreement are included one in this pdf manual and a second as a separate text file The MC2000 manual requires that Adobe Acrobat reader or similar pdf reader is installed Both online and boxed version will come with a MC2000 installer that will automatically install the MC2000 plug in and its presets on your system The authorization of the MC2000 plug in is still required after running the installer and those steps are detailed in the following sections Installing the MC2000 plug in and presets with the Installer The MC2000 plug in package purchased at your local dealer will be on CDROM and contain a Windows self extracting executable exe similar to the online MC2000 plug in package prepared for Internet delivery Both the boxed and online versions the MC2000 plug in executable file will automatically install the plug in and its presets on your sy
38. ge xxi If you wish to go back into your account and visually confirm the transaction for yourself select View iLoks Then select the iLok you had the authorizations View the contents of your iLoks From here you can see what s on your iLok register your iLoks synchronize your iLok license contents with your account and identify which iLoks are installed on your machine You have 1 registered iLoks 0 are covered by Zero Downtime 1 are not covered Sign up for Zero Downtime here transferred to That s it Dont forget to logout and move the iLok Name Licenses Lastsync Inserted Covered Smart Key to your ProTools AE eda s System if you are using another computer for Internet access Also you may need to install a different version of the Plug In if you are upgrading or replacing If your iLok does not appear in the list below insert it now and press the Synchronize button To identify which iLoks you currently have inserted press the Identify button Inserted iLoks will have a green button by them in the Inserted column Note that the synchronize and identify processes may take some time Please press the button only once don t remove or insert your iLoks and don t touch your browser until the process completes A progress page should be displayed within a few seconds of pressing the button Transferring Authorizations with iLok com You may freely transfer any authorization within your iLok com acc
39. is a trademark of AMS Neve Avalon 2044 is a trademark of Avalon Designs Distressor is a trademark of Empirical Labs Inc and 9473A is a trademark of the Altec Lansing Division of LTV Lang Altec Inc These companies are not affiliated in any way with McDSP nor do they endorse the MC2000 plug in The trademarks of these companies are used solely for the purpose of describing the sounds produced by the McDSP MC2000 plug in While MC2000 emulates the sounds of these compressors McDSP makes no representation or warranty that the MC2000 is identical to or duplicates these compressors Teletronix LA2ATM Made first in Sunnyvale CA not far from McDSP headquarters this peak limiter has become one of the most sought after devices in music production The LA2A as well as other pure class A opto compressors are characterized by their soft knee and compression tail This gives the compression response more presence in the mix as the amount of compression actually decreases when Page 18 McDSP MC2000 enough signal is driven into it to reach the tail The MC2000 s Knee control range of 10 to 15 is designed specifically to emulate the LA2A and other contemporary opto compressors At a Knee of 10 the transition from 1 1 to X 1 compression is already very large As the Knee control is increased to 15 the compression tail is created Teletronix LA2A left and the MC2000 right The compression tail is seen
40. itish Limiter dbx 165 The dbx 165 like other dbx compressors is known for its over easy trademarked compression sound Using the MC2000 s Knee control 10 to 0 captures this characteristic very well dbx165 left and the MC2000 right at 4 1 compression mcdsp com Page 21 dbx165 left and the MC2000 right at 6 1 compression The transition from an un compressed sound 1 1 to the selected compression ratio 4 1 and 6 1 above is very gradual to the point of obscuring the compressor threshold Such a response allows the compressor to be transparent even when applying a significant amount of compression Additional emulation of the dbx 165 is accomplished by using the MC2000 s Bite control Instead of manipulating the MC2000 s attack control the Bite control was used instead to approximate the corresponding dbx 165 attack control The Attack control can be set anywhere from 10 to 50 msec during such operation Presets in the MC2000 plug in package derived from these models are called Old Smoothie Avalon Designs AD2044 Avalon Designs specializes in contemporary implementations of high end audio gear emulating the sounds of classics of earlier eras The AD2044 is a Pure Class A Opto Compressor The AD2044 compressor is very smooth and nearly transparent with few characteristics imparted into the audio The transition from 1 1 compression to X 1 compression is achieved by a medium knee and moder
41. k of Digidesign Inc Page 10 McDSP MC2000 Using the MC2000 Plug in A Closer Look at the MC2000 Compressors The MC2000 compression bands are taken from the compression algorithms in the award winning McDSP CompressorBank plug in Each band has all the control and functionality of a CompressorBank CB1 configuration mono or stereo Never before has such control been available in a multi band compressor Output Gain Stage All MC2000 compression bands come with an output gain stage When a signal is compressed the maximum signal level is reduced Compressors provide a make up gain to allow the signal level to be returned to its previous level or other desirable level The make up gain control is useful in amplifying low level signal levels such as room ambience while the compressor reduces signal peaks that would have otherwise been masking such sounds Compressor The compression sections of the MC2000 plug in are comprised of 4 controls Threshold Compression Knee and Bite Bi directional Intelligent Transient Enhancement Threshold The signal level above which the compressor is engaged Audio below this level will not be compressed Audio above this level will be compressed by the amount the signal is above the threshold level Compression The amount of compression also known as the compression ratio mcdsp com Page 11 As audio exceeds the threshold level it is compressed by an amount determin
42. l only the presets e Go to the Plug In Settings folder e C Program Files Common Files Digidesign DAE Plug In Settings e If Pro Tools has not already done so for you create a folder called MC2000 e Place a copy of the folder from the MC2000 plug in package called Presets into the MC2000 folder The presets are now viewable after restarting Pro Tools from the settings popup menu from the MC2000 plug in Note it may be necessary to re start Pro Tools in order for the newly added Presets folder to be viewable from the Settings popup inside the MC2000 plug in window toolbar mcdsp com Page xiii Installation on VENUE D SHOW systems The MC2000 plug in Package for VENUE D SHOW systems includes presets for the MC2000 plug in and the MC2000 plug in The MC2000 Licensing Agreement is displayed when installing the product on D SHOW The pdf manual can be obtained by running the Mac OS X or Windows XP Vista version of the MC2000 Pro Tools plug in installer on any available computer Both online and boxed versions will come with a VENUE compatible installer that will automatically install the MC2000 plug in and its presets on your system The authorization of the MC2000 plug in is still required after running the installer and those steps are detailed in the following sections Note that all McDSP HD plug ins except Synthesizer One support the Digidesign VENUE D SHOW system Installing the MC2000 plug in a
43. mpany s MC2000 Plug In and corresponding User s Manual is copyrighted and all rights are reserved Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of McDowell Signal Processing Limited Liability Company This document may not in whole or part be copied photocopied reproduced translated or reduced to any electronic medium or machine readable form for the purpose of resale without prior consent in writing from McDowell Signal Processing Limited Liability Company Trademarks McDowell Signal Processing Limited Liability Company is a trademark of McDowell Signal Processing Limited Liability Company Other brands and their products are trademarks of their respective holders and should be noted as such Digidesign and Pro Tools are registered trademarks of Digidesign Inc mcdsp com Page iii Table of Contents McDSP MC2000 Plug In Manual McDSP License Agreement vi Getting Started with MC2000 vill System Requirements vill Installing the MC2000 Plug In X Installation on Mac OS X X Installation on Windows XP and Vista xii Installation on VENUE D SHOW systems XIV Authorizing your McDSP Plug Ins XVI Authorizing with a pre programmed iLok Smart Key xvi Authorizing with an iLok License Card xvi Authorizing with iLok com XX Registering your McDSP Plug In XXIII Using your McDSP Plug Ins XXIII MC2000 1 Quick Start Tour MC2000 W The MC2000 4 band Configu
44. n This is the absolute minimum number of delay samples a TDM plug in can have The McDSP plug ins are designed in this manner to provide the user with the closest analog mixing console experience possible since analog inserts such as EQ and compression do not cause a processing delay when inserted into a track DSP Usage HD and HD Accel DSP hardware The TDM versions of the MC2000 plug in configurations use a varying amount of DSP resources for each MC2000 configuration The table below is a listing of these DSP usages The DSP Allocator utility provided by Digidesign or the DSP Usage display in ProTools for ProTools version 5 0 and later may be used to display DSP resource allocation when ProTools is running Page 30 McDSP MC2000 Maximum Instantiation Counts at 44100 Configuration Instantiations per DSP on Instantiations per DSP on HD systems HD Accel systems MC4 mono i MC4 stereo Many of the MC2000 plug in configurations can operate on the same DSP depending on the configuration s DSP requirements See below for the percentages of a HD or HD Accel DSP used by a single instantiation of a MC2000 plug in Percentage of DSP used by one instantiation at 44100 Configuration of DSP used on HD systems of DSP used on HD Accel systems Using the data provided in the above chart the MC2 stereo and MC4 stereo plug in configurations can share the same DSP Many other combinations exist with
45. nd presets on VENUE with the HD Disk The boxed MC2000 plug in package purchased at your local dealer will contain a CDROM titled HD Disk that is specially formatted to work with your VENUE console The VENUE installers are also available online as a compressed zip file download however you will have to take additional steps to create your own VENUE installer CD R see additional instructions below before proceeding with these instructions Both the boxed and online versions of the MC2000 installer are the same and will install both the plug in and its presets on your system Note that after installing new versions of the PACE iLok drivers with the MC2000 plug in installer you will need to reboot your system You will not be prompted to reboot and if you don t you may see an error message saying TPkd driver required and a reboot Please reboot or reinstall the software If you see this message simply reboot the console and try again e Insert the McDSP HD Disk CDROM onto the CD drive Note that neither the McDSP Native Disk nor the LE Disk contains VENUE compatible installers e Ensure your system is in CONFIG mode you cannot install plug ins in SHOW mode e Navigate to the OPTIONS page and then select the PLUG INS tab e You should now see the MC2000 plug in available on the left hand side e Select the MC2000 plug in and select INSTALL e If a previous version of the MC20
46. nee design allows the user to morph between various compressor topologies such as the dbx 165 Neve 2254E 33609 and Teletronix LA2A Bite gives the compressor the ability to allow signal transients rapidly changing signals i e short bursts of high frequency data to pass uncompressed while the overall compression response is unchanged These controls allow the user to emulate responses of their favorite vintage gear or create something completely new e Multiple Peak Detection Circuits Every compressor uses a time constant circuit model to detect and track signal peaks and then apply dynamic compression Variations of basic models are available in the MC2000 Type 1 pure peak detection Type 2 pure peak detection combined with adaptive release times and Auto signal levels are automatically tracked e Double Precision Arithmetic at all stages of crossover and compression processing e MC2000 is compatible with ProTools and other DAW applications that support TDM RTAS and Audiosuite plug in formats The McDSP MC2000 plug in operates on Mac OS X and Windows XP systems Supports Digidesign s Command 8 ProControl and Control 24 and Mackie s HUI external control surfaces All Trademarks are property of their respective owners UREI TM and Teletronix are trademarks of the Teletronix Universal Audio UREI companies dbx is a trademark of the Harmon Corporation Neve is a trademark of AMS Neve Th
47. nses are shown in the I e Crossover Display Additionally MW E rene the crossover points themselves are adjustable from this display By clicking and s dragging the portion of the aaa A He 1 00k 10 00 graph where band crossovers intersect the user can update MC2000 Crossover Frequency Response the crossover frequency Graph value Note how each band s color code is the same in the Compression Display A frequency vs dB grid can be displayed with the graph by holding the lt Control gt key on OS X or lt Windows gt key on Windows XP which is the key between lt Ctrl gt and lt Alt gt on a PC keyboard while clicking on the graph Alternatively you may right click your mouse on the graph to display the grid on Windows XP Repeating this action will remove the grid Compression Curve Graph The Compression Curve Graph shows the Input vs Output response in dB of the compressor as determined by the Threshold Compression and Knee controls of each compression band Note how each band s color code is the same in the Crossover Display A dB vs dB grid can be displayed with the graph by hold the lt Control gt key on OS X or lt Windows gt key on Windows XP while clicking on the graph Repeating this action will remove the grid MC2000 Compression Display Automation All MC2000 controls are completely automatable See the Digidesign ProTools Reference Guide Automating plug ins section
48. nt The software described in this manual is furnished under a license agreement and may be used only in accordance with the terms of the agreement McDowell Signal Processing Limited Liability Company License and Warranty The software which accompanies this license the Software is the property of McDowell Signal Processing Limited Liability Company or its licensers and is protected by copyright law While McDowell Signal Processing Limited Liability Company continues to own the Software you will have certain rights to use the Software after your acceptance of this license Except as may be modified by a license addendum which accompanies this license your rights and obligations with respect to the use of this Software are as follows You May e authorize 1 one copy of the Software on 1 one PACE Anti Piracy iLok USB Smart Key for use with no more than 1 one computer at any given time e make copies of the Software for archival purposes or copy the software onto the hard disk of your computer and retrain the original for archival purposes e after written notice to McDowell Signal Processing Limited Liability Company transfer the Software on a permanent basis to another person or entity provided that you retain no copies of the Software and the transferee agrees to the terms of this agreement You may not e copy duplicate or reproduce the documentation which accompanies the Software for the purpose of resale e su
49. o an iLok com account only when you are ready to retain all the needed iLok com account information User ID and Password Ei iLok With iLok com you can see what is on your ilo k ri uthori pra and receive new authorizations from partici oe as au e publisher We recommend at this a t you register youl 22 k with iLok com To register connect to the In et check the Register my iLok check box below and then press the he xt button You will be uided through the strati z feet do not have an Internet connection on achin a stili r your iLol xo uil nternet enabled syst i do your Lk bring to n iter SSS sing your bro http www ilok com To suppress this registration request in the future select the Don t ask me check box v Register my iLok B Don t ask me again e A Finished dialog is displayed showing what authorization method was used e Click Finish to exit the Authorization Wizard mcdsp com Page xix Authorizing with iLok com Required for demo upgrade and replacement authorizations only iLok com can be accessed from any Macintosh or PC with an Internet connection You can do this at home a friend s or at the office as long as there is an internet connection to access iLok com note that you don t have to use your ProTools system computer You simply use this computer to connect to iLok com and transfer authorizations to your iLok Smart Key The iLok Smart Key can then be m
50. o use TC Type 2 Should one of the slaved bands be updated to select Auto or TC Type 1 that bands TC Type control NO LONGER LINKS TO THE MASTER BAND Usually a control change of this nature is done to address compression requirements of the band and so the update allows the control to remain independent of the master band e The Solo and In Out band controls are not affected by the Link control status and operate independently of each other The exception is when the Master Bypass control is engaged causing all compression band In Out controls to be set to Out ie bypassed A table listing all the control linking capabilities is provided in the reference section at the end of this manual mcdsp com Page 7 The Meters The MC2000 plug in has metering for each compression band compression gain and selectable input or output metering and final output metering Each white hash mark represents a change of 3 dB the top hash mark represents 0 dB The input and MC2000 compression output meters become bright green as signal is band metering section passed through the compressor and become bright yellow as the input or output signal exceeds 6 dB in its respective meter The Peak Meter lights when the signal is about to clip The peak meters can be cleared by clicking them with the mouse Clicking the master output peak LED while holding down the lt option gt key on OS X or lt Alt gt key on Windows XP will clear all the p
51. ote The Authorization Wizard will prompt the user to register their iLok USB Smart Key at iLok com iLok com is a service offered by PACE Anti Piracy Inc and this step is recommended but NOT REQUIRED by McDSP to complete the authorization of the Plug In If you choose to register your iLok USB Smart Key at iLok com care must be taken to record your ilok com account information i e write down your User ID and Password in a safe place If your iLok com account information is lost the iLok cannot be registered to another account and unfortunately there is nothing McDSP can do to help you See iLok com for more details about the benefits of using PACE s iLok com service Note Images in this section are for illustration only the actual product and screens will be the name of the product you are authorizing Authorizing Your McDSP Plug Ins Authorizing a McDSP Plug In from a License Card with the Authorization Wizard The Authorization Wizard is used to install an authorization from a License Card to the iLok USB Smart Key To use the Authorization Wizard for the Plug In you purchase perform the following steps e Insert your iLok USB Smart Key into an available USB port e On a Mac Locate and launch the Authorizer application found in the Authorize folder in the Plug In package for the McDSP Plug In you purchased on the CD ROM e On Windows XP or Vista just launch Pro Tools to authorize the individual McDSP Plug In
52. ount between any of your registered iLok Smart Keys If you wish to transfer an authorization out of your iLok com account to a different user it will require additional support from PACE Anti Piracy Inc and may be subject to a service fee or limited by manufacturer restrictions Check the www ilok com website for updates and developments regarding iLok USB Smart Keys and the Pace Interlok Copy Protection system Authorizing Your McDSP Plug Ins Registering your McDSP Plug In To register your McDSP Plug In fill out and return the product registration card enclosed with the boxed Plug In package by mail or fax 707 220 0994 Registering your product entitles you to future upgrades and advance information from McDSP Each individual product must be registered even if you have multiple copies and the product must be registered to an individual not an entity If you represent a company it is your company s responsibility to notify McDSP in writing if the individual who registered the Plug In is no longer with the company The Company must also be able to supply matching registration information to successfully transfer ownership of the Plug In Using your McDSP Plug Ins Starting a McDSP Plug In Follow the installation authorization and registration instructions above Launch Pro Tools and the McDSP Plug In and its presets are ready for use Refer to the Digidesign Pro Tools Reference Guide for details on general Plug In oper
53. oved to your ProTools system to complete authorization of your Plug In You will need e A computer with an Internet connection Either a Macintosh running OS 9 2 to OS 10 3 or a PC running Windows 98 ME 2000 XP or Vista e An iLok USB Smart Key e A valid iLok com account Visit www iLok com and set up a free account if you have not already done so 1 Download and install the required client software from iLok com 2 Download the desired McDSP Plug In Installer from http www mcdsp com support updating html 3 To receive an upgrade or replacement authorization send email your iLok com account information to support mcdsp com To receive a demo authorization email your iLok com account information to authorize mcdsp com Insert your iLok Smart Key into an iLok com Log Out Help available USB port and ensure that see the indicator light is lit Once your Pen Waima Gabi demo u pg rade or repl acement ae 1a ne Ae new improved iLok com New features with authorization is available for transfer Enhance your Support for moving licenses between iLoks a Optional Zero Downtime coverage for your critical iLoks your iLok com account will display Zero Downtime ee ance Safari browser the notice saying You have licenses What s new Improved automated help and support on the upper left Begin by selecting Buy an lak yaur account profile end nayian your ILok com Dista In addon tue
54. peration simply click on the Crossover Display at the point where two adjacent crossover bands intersect Mouse movement to the left or right while holding the mouse button down as with normal slider control updates the crossover for the adjacent compression bands Note the fine control via the lt command gt key on OS X or lt Ctrl gt key on Windows XP is also available as with normal slider control When a crossover point begins to overlap with other crossover points those points are updated as well preserving the 2 3 or 4 distinct compression bands On Windows XP a single right click in the Crossover Display will cause a frequency vs dB grid to appear in the Crossover Display Clicking this area again clears the grid from the display mcdsp com Page 15 A Closer Look at the MC2000 Master Section The MC2000 master control section provides user control of the input and final output levels phase polarity band linking and band metering display Input and Output The MC2000 Input control ranges from 12 dB to 12 dB The same input gain is applied to both left and right channels in stereo MC2000 plug in configurations This feature is primarily intended for post production facilities that work with audio typically at the 20 dB level a k a the Dolby Level Note that the input stage does NOT have any saturation handling The user should monitor the input levels in the band input meters of each compression band se
55. ration Overview Compressor x4 in this example TC Circuit Crossover Display Compression Display Mastering Section Control Linking To link the Right and Left Output Controls of stereo versions To link the compression bands The Meters The Crossover and Compression Displays Crossover Frequency Response Graph Automation Presets Using the Presets and Making Your Own A Word on Preset Compatibility 5 O 0 0 0 0NODODUIUOUDSDSLDSLW McDSP MC2000 Using the MC2000 Plug In 11 A Closer Look at the MC2000 Compressors 11 Output Gain Stage 11 Compressor 11 Attack and Release 13 Time Constant Circuits 14 A Closer Look at the MC2000 Crossover 15 Crossover Control 15 A Closer Look at the MC2000 Master Section 16 Input and Output 16 Compression Band Linking 16 Modeling Analog Compressors with the MC2000 18 Teletronix LAZATM 18 UREI 1176 LN blackface 19 Neve 2254E 336097M 20 dbx 1651 21 Avalon Designs AD2044 22 Other MC2000 Presets 24 MC2000 Plug In Reference Guide 25 MC2000 Specifications 25 MC2000 2 Band Mono amp Stereo MC2 27 MC2000 3 Band Mono amp Stereo MC3 28 MC2000 4 Band Mono amp Stereo MC4 29 Linked Control Table 30 DSP Delay 30 DSP Usage 30 HD and HD Accel DSP hardware 30 Maximum Instantiation Counts at 44100 DI Percentage of DSP used by one instantiation at 44100 31 ProToolsl24 Nubus and MIX DSP hardware 32 MC2000 Frequently Asked Questions 33 mcdsp com Page v IMcDSP License Agreeme
56. ressed file in zip format zip In Mac OS X 10 4 x or 10 5 x simply double click the zip file to unpack the installer The boxed plug in package purchased at your local dealer will be on CDROM As with the online version these physical versions of the MC2000 plug in package should be copied into a local folder on your system e Insert the McDSP HD Disk Native Disk or LE Disk CDROM onto an available CDROM drive e Navigate to the MC2000 plug in folder on the CDROM the installer application is contained therein e Run the MC2000 plug in Installer application to install copy the MC2000 plug in presets and documentation to a local folder on your system The plug in will be placed in the Plug Ins folder and the presets will be placed in the Plug Ins Settings folder e If a previous version of the MC2000 plug in or other HD Native or LE version was already in the plug ins folder it will automatically be updated or replaced by the installer Getting Started Re installing the MC2000 plug in presets manually In you wish to restore the factory default presets it may be useful to know how to manually re install only the presets e Go to the Plug in Settings folder e Root gt Library gt Application Support gt Digidesign gt Plug in Settings e If Pro Tools has not already done so for you create a folder called MC2000 e Place a copy of the folder from the MC2000 plu
57. rt Key with iLok com This may take a moment to process depending on you r Step 1 Select the pending licenses to download i nte rn et con n ect i O n Product Company Type Deposited Expiration O Analog Channel McDsP Demo 09 14 2004 03 14 2005 Once you have synch ronized Kg chrome Tone Mense License 09 14 2004 09 28 2004 your iLok you can select the Je I I a uth or i zati on s you wi sh to 5 MC2000 McDSP Demo 09 14 2004 03 14 2008 i transfer to your iLok _ Synthesizer One McDSP License 09 14 2004 09 28 2004 i If you have mu Iti ple iLoks Step 2 Select an iLok to receive the licenses Select which iLok should receive the licenses then press the Download Licenses button connected to your computer it Note that the download process may take nalts saprai plea discale Pres AI is important to select the correct Dade GIA DO Na iI WCU A INI DICCI Ok DAMINA ere Won COSA iLok you wish the authorizations SE a to be transferred to Then cl ick If the not in the list above insert the iLok now and click here Download Licenses to begin the process Again this may take a moment depending on your internet iLakcamn Los Out Help connection oe cei Download Licenses Complete The selected licenses have been downloaded to iLok1 When the transfer finishes you will be asked to confirm the completition of the transaction thereby letting you know that the transfer was successful mcdsp com Pa
58. s folder is not located at the root level of the CD R or has been renamed the VENUE console may not properly recognize the installer disk e At this point you can follow the HD Disk installation instructions above to complete the installation mcdsp com Page xv Authorizing your McDSP Plug Ins Authorizing with a pre programmed iLok Smart Key McDSP bundles such as the Emerald Pack come with a pre programmed iLok Smart Key Simply insert the iLok into any available USB port on your computer The iLok s indicator light will illuminate when the iLok has a proper connection The Plug Ins included in the bundle require no further authorization steps As with any iLok on your system it is recommended that your iLok be registered and synchronized with iLok com Authorizing with an iLok License Card AII McDSP Plug Ins require that a valid authorization is present on your iLok a USB Smart Key McDSP Plug ins that ios are purchased individually provide this aww authorization on a plastic License Card about the size of a credit card witha I a small punch out iLok License Chip After being separated from the License Card this iLok License Chip is to be inserted into the key slot of the iLok USB Smart Key in order to transfer the authorization from the License Card to the iLok USB Smart Key Note that each License Card holds ONE Plug In authorization The following instructions detail this process Important N
59. sets are recalculated when a slaved band control is updated e The Attack Release and Release2 controls link relatively to each other however the difference in time between linked control varies with the Page 16 McDSP MC2000 master control value This is due to the unique control scaling in the MC2000 time values of the Attack Release and Release2 controls While the user is provided a significant amount of control in the extremely fast ranges of attack and release times with this scaling fixed relative control offsets are not possible e The Auto and TC Type controls link absolutely to the master band for example if the master band has Auto off and is using TC Type 2 then all slave bands will do so as well Should a slaved band Auto or TC Type control be updated that Auto or TC Type control NO LONGER LINKS TO THE MASTER BAND Usually a control change of this nature is done to address compression requirements of the band and so the update allows the control to remain independent of the master band e The Solo and In Out band controls are not affected by the Link control status and operate independently of each other The exception is when the Master Bypass control is engaged causing all compression band In Out controls to be set to Out i e bypassed mcdsp com Page 17 Modeling Analog Compressors with the MC2000 The MC2000 plug in uses the compression algorithms from the McDSP CompressorBank plug in Thus th
60. stem Double click the file to launch the installer which will install the MC2000 plug in presets and documentation At any time after installation you may access the documentation from the Windows Start Menu under the McDSP group Authorization of the MC2000 plug in is still required after running the installer and those steps are detailed in the following sections Note that after installing new versions of the PACE iLok drivers with the MC2000 plug in installer you will be prompted by the MC2000 plug in installer to reboot your system If you are not prompted by the installer there is no need to reboot e Insert the McDSP HD Disk Native Disk or LE Disk CDROM onto an available CDROM drive e Navigate to the MC2000 plug in folder on the CDROM the installer application is contained therein e Run the MC2000 plug in Installer application to install the MC2000 plug in presets and documentation to a local folder on your system The plug in will be placed in the Plug Ins folder and the presets will be placed in the Plug Ins Settings folder e If a previous version of the MC2000 plug in or other HD Native or LE version was already in the plug ins folder it will automatically be updated or replaced by the installer Getting Started Re installing the MC2000 plug in presets manually In you wish to restore the factory default presets it may be useful to know how to manually re instal
61. their default values or e Use hardware controller surfaces supported by the MC2000 including the Mackie HUI and Digidesign s ProControl TM The three different TC circuit types Type 1 Type 2 and Auto can be selected by clicking the LED buttons next to each TC Circuit type text Note the Auto control will override the TC type selection as well as the attack and release controls The crossover points can be adjusted from the text boxes just to the right of the Crossover display or by simply clicking the crossover points themselves on the graph Holding the lt command gt key on OS X or lt Ctrl gt key on Windows XP while moving the crossover point will allow fine control The compression bands can be soloed using the yellow Solo LED and engaged bypassed i e In or Out using the orange In LED in the upper right of each section Control Linking To link the Right and Left Output Controls of stereo versions e Enable the Lock LED in the Master Section lit is enabled unlit is disabled The Left and Right controls will be linked relative to their positions prior to enabling the Lock LED This allows both linked stereo operation and relative link operation McDSP MC2000 e To link controls for stereo operation set the left and right Input controls to equal values before enabling the Lock LED Adjust one of the Left controls and note how the corresponding right control automatically adjusts to be equal
62. y the overall release time is faster than indicated by either release control Setting Release2 to its maximum release time of 5 0 seconds makes its effect on the release response negligible mcdsp com Page 13 TC Circuit Type Selects the TC circuit algorithm Type 1 Pure Peak Detection Type 2 Adaptive Release and Auto Automatic attack and release based on signal data Note when the Auto TC circuit type is selected the Attack and Release and Release2 controls have no effect Time Constant Circuits The MC2000 compressors have two types of Time Constant TC circuit algorithms to emulate the TC circuit responses and hence sound of other compressors There are two types of user controllable curves Type 1 Pure Peak Detection The release response is unaffected by new signals if those signal levels are below the current release level Type 2 Adaptive Release The release response is affected by new signal regardless of the signal level relative to the current release level The Release2 control allows further manipulation of the release response and is available when using the Type 2 release curve Because both Release and Release2 control operate independently and concurrently care should be taken when operating both If for example the Release2 response is decreased to an amount equal to the main Release control the overall release will be even faster For this reason the default control value for Release2 is 5 0 se
63. you purchased Note When authorizing the Plug In on Windows XP or Vista with a new iLok USB Smart Key you must insert the iLok USB Smart Key and complete the Windows Found New Hardware Wizard before attempting to authorize the Plug in e Select the Authorize button to be guided through the Authorization Wizard Note Selecting the Quit button at any time will not authorize the Plug In or allow it to be used for a trial period If Quit is selected the Plug In will not be available in the Pro Tools insert menu To authorize select the Authorize button to be guided through the process 4 This version of software does not have a demonstration period e McDSP Plug Ins require that the user Compressor Bank personalize their copy of the Plug In A dialog is displayed soliciting this information Name Company Colin McDowell McDSP Address P O Box 50611 Note that the product registration card enclosed with the Plug In MUST ALSO be filled out as well and returned to McDSP via mail or fax to 707 220 ad GD Cancel 0994 This additional mail in registration will entitle the user to future upgrades and advance information from McDSP City State Zip Country Palo Alto cA 8 34303 usa B Phone Fax Email 650 320 8452 707 220 0994 colin medsp com o Notify me with new product information mcdsp com Page xvii e Once the Plug In is personalized

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