Sonnox Oxford SuprEsser User Guide
Contents
1. Auto Level Tracking Time Constant 0 1 to 10 seconds Listen Modes Mix Inside Outside Processing Modes Trigger Audio Band Wide Band Wide 1 At sample rates below 44 1 kHz the internal dynamics algorithm still uses 20 samples of look ahead So for samples rates lower than 44 1kHz you may need to reduce your attack and release times in order for the processing to sound as expected 6 Specifications back to contents page 33 Sonnox 6 1 SuprEsser DS Pro Tools HDX amp S3L Instances per chip 48 kHz 96 kHz 192 kHz Mono 3 Stereo 2 7 Preset Manager Toolbar The Oxford SuprEsser plug in comes equipped with its own onboard Preset Manager which is displayed as a toolbar at the top of the plug in window just as if the host created it see above The reasoning behind this is to allow increased portability of your presets across all the host applications while also providing a consistent and versatile interface Although most host platforms allow the creation and loading of presets those host created preset files are not portable between different host applications With the Oxford plug ins preset manager you can create a named preset in one host application and load it when using an alternative application The Preset Manager ToolBar is enabled via the Sonnox button Options Menu see Description of Controls The Sonnox Preset Manager is fully described in a companion docu2. delayed input signal Wide Wide Mode In this mode the trigger signal to the compressor sidechain and the main compressor signal are both fed from the delayed input signal In other words you now have an ordinary compressor with no frequency specific sidechain processing This mode offers one major advantage over the Oxford Dynamics compressor you have a WET DRY control on the output stage so that you can mix the original signal back into the compressed signal This can be used to create that unique 3 Operation back to contents 3 3 Advanced Operation page 14 3 3 2 sound in which a fully compressed signal with no dynamic headroom has some punch added back into it In this mode the LISTEN section has no effect on the signal because the output of the compressor is already a complete wide spectrum signal Automatic Level Tracking Auto Level Tracking mode is enabled by selecting the LEVEL TRACKING AUTO IN button This is ON by default The purpose of this mode is to automatically adjust the threshold level to follow the general signal level of the wide band input This means that if some vocals wander from loud to quiet the same amount of relative gain reduction is applied when a transient peak occurs above the general level Generally speaking once you have isolated as narrowly as possible a troublesome sound in the frequency spectrum you will see the red peak hold marker inside the bandpass filter on the graphic
3. kHz The SuprEsser DS includes AAX DSP and AAX Native components This allows offline bouncing in Pro Tools HDX 11 and session portability between HDX and Native Pro Tools systems as long as the SuprEsser DS is installed on each system and a PTXSUPGS licence is connected The DSP and Native components of the SuprEsser DS have different amounts of delay despite having the same kernel size Unlike the Native only SuprEsser LL Normal HR this delay is constant and does not change with host buffer size DSP delay 93 samples 1 9 ms at 48 kHz Native delay 180 samples The Oxford SuprEsser DS is compatible with 44 1 kHz and 48 kHz sample rates 5 Oxford SuprEsser DS AAX DSP page 32 6 Specifications Supported Sample Rates Native LL Normal HR Native LL Normal HR AAX DSP SuprEsser DS 22 05 to 44 1 kHz E 44 1 48 88 2 96 176 4 192 kHz 44 1 and 48 kHz Input Output Parameters Input Trim 12 to 12 dB Output Trim Oto 12 dB Wet Dry O to 100 Filters Width LL Normal HR Width SuprEsser DS Slope Frequency LL Normal HR Frequency SuprEsser DS 0 2 to 10 octaves 0 2 to 4 45 octaves 12 to 72 dB octave 20 Hz to 20 kHz 1 kHz to 20 kHz Compressor Threshold Attack Hold Release Ratio degrees Ratio Gain Makeup Soft Knee 0 to 84 dBFS 0 01 to 52 ms 0 01 to 30 seconds 0 01 to 3 11 seconds 45 to 0 to 22 5 1 1 to Inf 1 to 2 5 1 O to 24 dB 0 5 10 15 20 dB
4. signal In other words the smaller the damping value is the more quickly the threshold level will rise or fall to a new level the larger the value the more stable the threshold value Generally speaking you want to have the largest value possible consistent with the material you are working with For general dialogue or vocals a larger value will be adequate because there is not so much variation in general signal level For a speaker who rapidly changes from mumbling to shouting then a smaller constant will be required for the compressor to adapt quickly enough The algorithm used to implement Auto Level Tracking responds more quickly to rises in the input level and more slowly to drops in level This means that the plug in will tend to under gain reduce when the level drops rapidly and minimise over gain reduction when the level rises rapidly This helps to compensate for the nature of vocals and speech in which the troublesome sounds often leap out of silence REACTION ENVELOPE Section The ATTACK HOLD and RELEASE controls together define the shape of the gain reduction envelope created when a transient breaches the threshold 4 Description of Controls back to contents 4 2 Advanced Screen Controls page 26 Sonnox ATTACK Touch Pad This defines how quickly the gain reduction can kick in While fast attack times often seem to be the best idea slower attack times can sound more musical and natural In general for de ess
5. threshold line while there is no signal or a silent signal present you are setting the presumed level that will occur when the signal returns This will be indicated on the graph as a dotted line or ghost threshold line Central FFT Peak This holds for your attention that important frequency in the band window which has the peak energy This will most likely indicate a consonant or fricative that you may want to deal with Clicking on this peak will then centre the band filter to this frequency and help to isolate it Zoom In Out This allows you to zoom in or zoom out when clicking and dragging Additionally you can use the jog scroll wheel forward backward to achieve the same thing Useful Shortcuts Jogwheel up down or forward backward to zoom in out Left Right Click anywhere to centre the band filter to that point 4 Description of Controls back to contents 4 3 Graphical Screen Controls page 31 Sonnox 5 Oxford SuprEsser DS AAX DSP Auto De ESSS E BYPASS E COMPARE SAFE DSP OXFORD SUPRESSER DS OUTPUT MONITOR LEVEL TRIM dB The Oxford SuprEsser DS is a highly featured professional De Esser AAX DSP plug in for use with Avid S3L live consoles and Pro Tools HDX In order to provide high quality processing with low latency the kernel size has been reduced to 128 samples and the GUI focusses on frequencies greater than 1 kHz This enables highly effective deessing with less than 2 ms of delay at 48
6. G All other product and Company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders 10 Copyright and Acknowledgements back to contents page 36
7. Hz you activate HF Cut Filter mode This means that the upper edge of the bandpass window is effectively at infinity Hz and this is useful for example when you want to duck the entire HF part of the signal In this mode you can think of operation as an HF Cut Filter that activates only when the signal reaches a certain threshold in which the cut off frequency is defined by the lower edge of the bandpass window This is how some more primitive De Essers work 3 Operation back to contents 3 3 Advanced Operation page 17 Sonnox 4 4 1 4 1 1 Description of Controls Basic Screen Controls OXFORD SUPRESSER OUTPUT MONITOR WET DRY 100 TRIM dB When you insert the plugin the display defaults to a zoomed out mode so you can see immediately the overall picture of where the centre band is in the spectrum Whenever you move the centre band in any way the centre frequency of the band is clearly displayed in yellow at both the top and bottom of the display in an easy to read format This is so that those who are aiming for a particular frequency can see the centre frequency clearly as they move towards it Experienced engineers often recognise the frequency they wish to subdue and so want clear guidance to aim for that frequency Touch Pad Controls Many of the controls on the Oxford SuprEsser are implemented using Touch Pads These give a clear display of the SI value of a control and respond to the fol
8. Sonnox Oxford SuprEsser User Guide Contents Introduction 2 Main Feature 3 Operation BETEN E PEA ERROR ee dos Seine 3 2 1 Delay Compensation and Audio Buffer Sizes en ee ee ee ee 3 3 Advanced Operation 0 00002 eee eee eee 3 3 1 Trigger and Gain Ducking Modes ee oe ee ee CD ci E ee a DS E 4 Description of Controls 4 1 Basic Screen Controls 02 2 0000 eee 4 1 1 Touch Pad Controls 2 2056 ee een a De a De et a ee eee ee o o en ie en doh ate ethene ts Ba oS dk ee nee a we Seo ane te as 4 1 7 OUTPUT MONITOR Section 4 2 Advanced Screen Controls 2 2 2 2 222 m nn 4 3 Graphical Screen Controls 004 4 3 1 Explanation of Controls 5 Oxford SuprEsser DS AAX DSP 6 Specification 10 11 12 12 15 16 18 18 18 20 21 21 22 23 24 25 29 30 32 33 34 34 35 35 36 Sonnox 1 Introduction OXFORD SUPRESSER OUTPUT MONITOR WET DRY 100 TRIM dB 9948 The Sonnox Oxford SuprEsser was designed primarily to be the last word in de essing applications While we worked on creating the best possible de essed sound we found that we needed more control than was available on conventional De Essers Most de essing work can be carried out in simple mode but sometimes to do the job properly it is necessary to utilise all the contr
9. Tracking therefore works well with continuous material or with conversation broken up with frequent pauses 3 Operation back to contents 3 3 Advanced Operation page 15 3 3 3 Setting the After Silence Start Level If the above algorithm is tending to under correct when the vocalist starts singing after a pause you can if you wish set the After Silence Start Level by moving the threshold fader while the plug in is receiving silence or is non active If you move the threshold level while there is silence or no signal this will tell the plug in what level to assume when the signal comes back after going away for a while This level will remain indicated on the graph as a ghost line Bandpass Filter Modes Bandpass Mode By default the Oxford SuprEsser uses a bandpass filter along with its inverse filter the band reject filter to isolate the audio in the frequency range selected The FREQUENCY and WIDTH controls defines the low and high edges of the filters used and the SLOPE Q control defines how quickly a signal blends from gain ducked to non gain ducked in the frequency spectrum The effect of less steep slopes is to give a smoother blend between gain reduced and non gain reduced regions of the frequency spectrum at the cost of a less specific trigger In this mode the bandpass filter is created by using pairs of Oxford R3 Filters giving a total of up to 72 dB per octave of separation There are three other modes po
10. ain Band Band Filtered Filtered Gain ducking occurs only in the signal signal narrow band triggered by the narrow band Band Wide Delayed Filtered Gain ducking of wide input signal input signal signal triggered by narrow band signal Equivalent to compressor in side chain EQ mode Wide Band Filtered Delayed Gain ducking occurs only in the signal input signal narrow band of the spectrum triggered by the wide input signal Wide Wide Delayed Delayed Equivalent to compressor with no input signal input signal side chain EQ 3 Operation 3 3 Advanced Operation page 12 Sonnox Band Band Mode In this mode the default both the trigger signal to the compressor sidechain and the main compressor signal is the narrow bandpass filtered signal The output of the compressor is then fed to the crossover block the Listen section for mixing back in with the version of the input signal that has been filtered with the corresponding narrow band reject filter The result is that the plug in affects only a narrow frequency band triggered by that same frequency band and does not affect the rest of the frequency spectrum In this mode when you also use the Auto Level Track function AUTO IN the threshold follows the general level of the signal post the band reject filter ie everything except the troublesome frequencies Band Wide Mode In this mode the trigger signal to the compressor sidechain is the narrow bandpass filt
11. andpass filter to just contain it this way the compressor affects only the absolute minimum of the frequency spectrum You can do this by clicking on the INSIDE button labelled with a bandpass symbol Others prefer to work in band reject mode where you listen to the narrow band reject filtered signal and narrow the band until you just begin to hear the troublesome sound You can do this by clicking on the OUTSIDE button labelled with the band reject symbol MIX Button This sets the cross fade exactly to 50 providing an equal mix of band reject signal and Compressed bandpass signal which will be sent to the output INSIDE Button This sets the crossfade so that you are listening to output of the bandpass filter as processed by the compressor You can then use the EFFECT IN button to listen with or without compression or use the WET DRY control to adjust the blend between compressed and non compressed signal In this mode if you sweep the centre frequency of the band up and down the frequency spectrum you hear only a narrow part of the spectrum and so it is easy to home in quickly to locate exactly where in the spectrum a troublesome noise is 4 Description of Controls back to contents 4 1 Basic Screen Controls page 21 OUTSIDE Button This sets the crossfade so that you are listening only to the output of the band reject filter which is everything outside of the bandpass window hence the name In this mode if you swee
12. d level up within a specific frequency band but want the peaks to stay where they are 4 Description of Controls back to contents 4 2 Advanced Screen Controls page 28 Sonnox 4 3 Graphical Screen Controls ower Drag Handle 5 entre Drag Handle 4 Peak Level 3 ain Reduction 2 hreshold Line 1 Upper Drag Handle 6 Input Signal 8 Peak Frequency 10 Inside Band Signal 7 The Oxford SuprEsser s graphical display is the key to its intuitive operation This display provides all the important pieces of information you need to access visually and quickly such as the correct threshold and filter frequency values In the following descriptions references are provided to the illustration s annotation in the form 1 In operation you will see a FFT Fast Fourier Transform of the input signal 8 with a pink region above showing the effect of the gain reduction The FFTs are plotted on a logarithmic scale and related to actual dB values so you get a clear idea of how much energy is in a given frequency band The FFT shows an important red peak held vertical line 10 This peak value is useful because it shows you the frequency with the highest energy within the bandpass window This gives a good indication of where the centre of the ess sound is Clicking on this peak will centre the window to this frequency thus 4 Description of Controls back to contents 4 3 Graphical Screen Controls page 29 4 3 1 is
13. display indicating the peak level of the troublesome sound Now enable Auto Track mode and bring the THRESHOLD level down until its corresponding line on the graph is below the red line You will then see the gain reduction meter ATTENUATION starting to show gain reduction If the general signal level of the material changes the threshold will now follow that level so that the gain reduction meter should continue to indicate the same amount of reduction of the peaks The algorithm to track the general signal level is not as simple as it appears First one of the most important characteristics of speech is its staccato nature and the frequent pauses or silence If the threshold truly followed the signal level each time there was a pause broken by a word starting with a consonant the threshold would have fallen too low and the consonant would be over gain reduced before the threshold recovered its normal level To get around this challenge the algorithm implements a working range of 24dB and any sample value outside this window is not included in the calculation of the general signal level If you were to intermittently mute the input signal you will see that the threshold effectively just stays where it was when there was an active signal and continues tracking again when the active signal is restored Yet if you slowly fade out the input signal level the threshold will follow only giving up after 36dB of gain reduction Auto Level
14. e on CPU resources When using very large kernel sizes in combination with small audio buffer sizes it is possible for the plug in to take longer than an entire audio block to complete processing with the result that from a monitoring point of view the playback breaks up This can manifest as obvious clicks and pops or more subtly as occasional quiet clicks If you experience clicks keep in mind that these are monitoring only They will not be present when bouncing down your mix If you experience clicks increasing your audio buffer size will resolve the issue Once again the best buffer size for the Oxford SuprEsser is the same as the kernel size or resolution Generally speaking the only reason for small audio buffer sizes is for tracking or live working requirements The plug in issues a red warning label next to the Sonnox button when you are using a combination of small buffer size and large kernel size that we have found to generally result in clicks This is not a reliable indicator however it completely depends on your system CPU speed sample rate and other factors 3 Operation back to contents 3 2 Resolution Kernel Sizes and Delays page 11 Sonnox 3 3 3 3 1 Advanced Operation Trigger and Gain Ducking Modes There are four major operational modes selectable via the TRIGGER and AUDIO buttons in the Advanced Mode MORE section as described below Mode Signal to Result Trigger Audio Comp Side Ch
15. ered signal and the main compressor signal is the wide delayed input signal This means that when the narrow band signal triggers gain ducking the ducking occurs over the whole frequency spectrum as in traditional sidechain EQ compression This mode offers one major advantage over the equivalent mode in the Oxford Dynamics compressor you have aWET DRY control on the output stage so you can mix the original signal back into the compressed signal In this mode when you also use the Auto Level Track function AUTO IN the 3 Operation back to contents 3 3 Advanced Operation page 13 Sonnox threshold follows the general level of the signal post the narrow band reject filter ie everything except the troublesome frequencies Furthermore the crossover controls in the LISTEN section have no effect on the signal because the output of the compressor is already a complete wide spectrum signal Wide Band Mode In this mode the trigger signal to the compressor sidechain is the delayed input signal and the main compressor signal is the narrow bandpass filtered signal This mode is useful for example when a broad spectrum trigger is required to trigger reduction of a specific frequency One example could be to process a kick drum bass combination to reduce a rattle or click whenever the kick occurs In this mode when you also use the Auto Level Track function AUTO IN the threshold follows the general level of the
16. erformance from producing unexpected results For further information see Section 5l 3 Operation back to contents 3 2 Resolution Kernel Sizes and Delays page 9 3 2 1 Delay Compensation and Audio Buffer Sizes The plug in delay produced by the Oxford SuprEsser depends both on the kernel size resolution and the audio block size The block size is the size of the sample buffers passed to the plug in by the host and is usually specified in your audio hardware preferences configuration setup page The reason that the plug in delay depends on the block size is that the plug in must accumulate a whole kernel sized block of samples before it can process them In order to ensure the minimum plug in delay make sure the block buffer size is the same as or greater than the kernel size resolution setting For example if the kernel size is set to 512 ie you are using the Low Latency version and if your block buffer size is 512 or 1024 this will ensure that the plug in produces the minimum delay of 276 samples If you use a smaller block size than the kernel size the overall delay of the plug in will go up not down For example if the block size is 256 then the Low Latency version will produce a delay of 532 samples 3 Operation back to contents 3 2 Resolution Kernel Sizes and Delays page 10 3 2 2 Over Taxing the Host The Oxford SuprEsser uses a process called convolution to implement filtering a process that is expensiv
17. gher sample rates especially 176 4kHz or 192kHz This version will have a very significant delay that can be beyond the ability of Pro Tools HD to automatically compensate for The true delay is reported correctly in the track delay information and depending on your audio 3 Operation back to contents 3 2 Resolution Kernel Sizes and Delays page 8 buffer size the delay will be somewhere in the region of 4116 to 12308 samples See the section below for information on reducing the delay Oxford SuprEsser LL LowLatency This small kernel version has a kernel size of 512 samples This version gives superior performance in terms of having a small delay and thus is more suitable for live de essing work at low sample rates and for the tracking phase of a project where you are laying down new tracks from midi instruments and you don t want a significant delay between what you are playing and what you are hearing The smaller kernel size means the resolution at low frequencies will be poor and so cannot be used much below 400Hz Depending on your audio buffer size the delay or latency will be somewhere in the region of 276 to 3072 samples See the section below for information on reducing the delay Oxford SuprEsser DS AAX DSP This version has an even smaller kernel size of 128 samples in order to further reduce the processing delay Due to this the filter range has been reduced to 1 kHz minimum in order to prevent poor low frequency p
18. ication of how much gain reduction is occurring both instantaneously and with a peak hold level that indicates the maximum reduction in the previous couple of seconds The meter operates in increments of exactly one dB MORE ACCESS Button When you need to access the complete set of dynamics controls click on the ACCESS button to open up the advanced control set This includes many more controls than would generally be needed for normal operation controls that would otherwise clutter the primary functionality of the plug in Nonetheless these controls provide the advanced or curious user with many more creative or tweaking possibilities The ACCESS button is to be used especially if you want to change to an absolute rather than a relative threshold or if the time constant of the threshold signal tracking is too fast or too slow See Section 2 3 Advanced Operation for more information 4 1 7 OUTPUT MONITOR Section TRIM dB Touch Pad This allows you to reduce the output level by up to 12dB Dithering is applied after the output gain control so it may be necessary to reduce this value by a small amount to avoid clipping WET DRY Touch Pad This control enables you if you want to mix in some of the original input with the output rather like the Wet Dry control on a reverb The use of this is to allow you to generate a very fat compressed sound and then add a little of the original back in to regain some dynamic character This i
19. ich includes retention of the peak level and the frequency containing the most energy At the heart of the Oxford SuprEsser is an enhanced version of the compressor section of the Sonnox Oxford Dynamics plug in which is renowned amongst professional users for its consistent delivery of the precise and transparent control of peak signals Around this is built a pair of crossover filters to make the compressor react only to the defined frequency band These linear phase filters are modelled on the filters from the Sonnox Oxford EQ making the Oxford SuprEsser useful for precise mastering as well as mixing work Three listen modes allow the user to listen to the Mix the output of the bandpass filter Inside or the output of the band reject filter Outside Careful thought has been put into making the Oxford SuprEsser extremely easy and quick to use The screenshot on the title page shows the plug in as it appears when first activated Once the frequency band has been defined simply lower the threshold fader until the gain reduction meter starts to kick in The plug in then automatically tracks the general signal level and the threshold follows accordingly so that it gives the same relative amount of gain reduction as the signal level rises or falls This is perfect for vocals where for example a vocalist is louder in the chorus than the verse but you want to apply the same relative amount of de essing but don t want to over de ess in the cho
20. ilter s upper or lower frequency markers See Section 3 3 Graphical Screen Controls for more details When you reduce the width down to 0 2 octaves this triggers the bandpass filter to switch to a new type of filter a High Q notch filter This is useful when a very narrow frequency band needs removal such as a whistle at a particular frequency See Section 2 3 Advanced Operational Modes for more information SLOPE Q Touch Pad This controls the slope of the filters used to implement the bandpass and 4 Description of Controls back to contents 4 1 Basic Screen Controls page 22 band reject filters Generally speaking you want the highest setting for maximum separation between troublesome and non troublesome sounds However you may find musical or creative possibilities in using gentler slopes For example when using lower settings there is a smoother blend between gain ducked components and the original which will be more noticeable when using large amounts of gain reduction The slope can also be changed on the graph itself by dragging vertically on the red arrows at the top of the filter s left and right width lines see Section 3 3 Graphical Screen Controls for more details 4 1 6 DYNAMICS Section THRESHOLD Fader and Touch Pad The THRESHOLD Fader is linked to a cyan threshold line on the graph where it has a relationship with the red peak level line The THRESHOLD may also be changed by dragging vertically on its touch
21. ing fast attack times are required as fast as possible without distortion When working with low frequency sounds however you may want slower attack times HOLD Touch Pad This defines how long the gain reduction holds its level before it is allowed to decay away Generally speaking this needs to be as small as possible for de essing work RELEASE Touch Pad This defines how quickly the gain reduction can decay back to normal after the trigger that caused the onset of gain reduction has disappeared Generally speaking this needs to be more than the minimum setting to avoid distortion With the attack and release too fast especially the release the gain envelope fits around the waveform itself rather than fitting the general level envelope of the signal so causing distortion RATIO Section RATIO Fader and Touch Pad This defines the input to output gain ratio of the compressor once the signal has reached the level of the threshold value The Ratio setting is indicated in degrees as an angle because this allows you to picture the input output gain characteristic as shown below 45 degrees 26 degrees 14 degrees Ratio 1 1 Ratio 2 1 Ratio 4 1 No compression Gentle compression Significant compression Note the useful legends to the right of the Ratio fader 4 Description of Controls back to contents 4 2 Advanced Screen Controls page 27 For example when set to 2 1 at around 26 degrees the compressor gently compresses signa
22. low frequencies but longer overall plug in delays Small kernels Adequate performance at high frequencies and shorter plug in delays While small kernels are adequate for high frequency work such as de essing the performance at low frequencies will cause poorly defined filter slopes and poor separation of Inside from Outside We have found that host applications are generally not able to readily adjust their delay compensation engines if the kernel size is adjusted dynamically at run time The Native Oxford SuprEsser is therefore released as three separate plug ins each with a different fixed kernel size Oxford SuprEsser This is the standard version and has a kernel size of 2048 samples This is suitable for work across the entire frequency range at 44 1kHz sample rate and thus is the standard plug in to reach for especially for the mixing stage of a project Depending on your audio buffer size the delay or latency will be somewhere in the region of 1044 to 3092 samples See the section below for information on reducing the delay Oxford SuprEsser HR HighRes This is the large kernel version with a kernel size of 8192 samples This version gives superior resolution at the lowest frequencies and thus is particularly suitable for low frequency mastering work Remembering that as you increase the sample rate the resolution at the low end will be correspondingly reduced this version is particularly suitable for use at hi
23. lowing actions Left Click and drag up down Increase decrease the value Right Click and drag up down Fine adjustment of value Double Click Directly edit value Scroll wheel up down Increase decrease value 4 Description of Controls back to contents page 18 Sonnox In VST and Audio Unit hosts Shift Left Click and drag up down Fine adjustment of value Control Command Left Click Set to default Shift Scroll wheel Fine adjustment of value In Pro Tools Command Left Click and drag up down Fine adjustment of value Alt Left Click Set to default Command Scroll wheel Fine adjustment of value Other controls for example faders buttons and the graphic display are generally consistent with the rules outlined above for touch pad control Most controls have an explanatory fly out help window that is activated by hovering your mouse over the control for two seconds 4 Description of Controls back to contents 4 1 Basic Screen Controls page 19 4 1 2 Options Menu Clicking the Sonnox button produces a drop down options menu Sonnox Clip Lights Hold Indefinitely Clip Lights Hold 2 seconds Clip Lights Hold 5 seconds Enable Sonnox Toolbar Default to Easy View Enable Tool Tips About Oxford SuprEsser AAX Clip Lights These options determine the approximate time that an overload indicator will stay on for when the plug in has detected a full level sample at either its input o
24. ls into half the dynamic range they currently occupy above the threshold level When set to 0 degrees the compressor acts as a limiter the output never goes beyond the threshold level except for transients that escape the compressor because the attack time is too slow The ratio control is not however limited to positive values If you want the compressor to over react to a breach of the threshold then set the ratio to a negative value such as 22 degrees this will roughly double the amount of gain reduction for a given breach of the threshold For example if the threshold is 6dB below the peak then with a ratio of 22 you will get 12dB of gain reduction This is useful when you want to eliminate esses when they occur rather than simply keeping them below a threshold SOFT KNEE Button This control allows for a gradual onset of gain reduction as the signal level approaches the threshold level rather than a sudden onset of gain reduction when the signal level actually hits the threshold The larger the value set here in 5dB steps up to 20dB the earlier the onset of gain reduction prior to reaching the threshold For general frequency specific compression work this control allows for more natural compression rather than brick wall limiting 10 dB Soft Ratio Threshold Section MAKEUP Touch Pad This defines how much gain is applied after compression Makeup is useful in cases where you want to bring the backgroun
25. ment onnox Toolbar and Preset Manager Operation Manual available for download on the Support Documentation page of www sonnox com 7 Preset Manager Toolbar back to contents 6 1 SuprEsser DS Pro Tools HDX amp SSL Instances per chip page 34 Sonnox 8 Supported Platforms Avid Pro Tools RTAS AAX Native and DSP 32 64 bit e VST hosts 32 64 bit e AU hosts 32 64 bit Mac Intel OSX 10 6 or higher e Windows XP 7 and 8 32 64 bit 9 System Requirements For latest System requirements please visit www sonnox com All versions Free iLok account Appropriate product licence e iLok2 Pro Tools Approved Digidesign Avid CPU and hardware configuration Pro Tools 8 Native or HD or higher VST Native VST compliant host application e g Cubase Nuendo etc Audio Units Approved Apple CPU and OSX 10 6 or higher Audio Unit Host application e g Logic Digital Performer etc 9 System Requirements back to contents page 35 Sonnox 10 Copyright and Acknowledgements Trademarks and content copyright 2007 present Sonnox Ltd All rights reserved Sonnox and the five dots logo are registered trademarks of Sonnox Ltd This product is manufactured and supplied by Sonnox Ltd This product is protected by one or more European and or US patents DIGIDESIGN AVID and PRO TOOLS are trademarks or registered trademarks of Avid Technology Inc VST is a trademark of Steinberg A
26. olating it better To help you find the threshold the most important place to look is the red time domain peak reading 3 This gives the peak dB level of the audio signal leaving the bandpass filter Below this you will see a blue line representing the threshold 1 The distance between these two lines indicates the amount of gain reduction of peaks that you will achieve With a ratio of 2 1 the default if the threshold is 12dB below the peak you will tend to get 6dB of gain reduction when the peaks occur Once you see how it works you will be able to set the threshold almost without listening Explanation of Controls Band Filter Lower and Upper Cut off Drag Handles These can be dragged to move the lower or upper edges of the band filter as desired Using the Left mouse button the handles follow the pointer The Right mouse button or Shift Left mouse button provides a much finer adjustment The handles sit on top of a vertical blue line that indicates where the lower and upper limits of the band filter are or to be more precise the used filters 3dB cut off points Bandpass Filter Audio Output Peak Hold Level The bandpass peak hold meter shows the peak signal level leaving the bandpass filter prior to being fed to the Dynamics processing This is a very important piece of information because the distance between this line and the threshold line 6 is the amount of gain reduction of peaks that you will end up with The h
27. old time is 2 seconds Central Filter Drag Handle This handle allows you to drag the centre frequency of the band window up and down the scale by moving left right It also allows you to widen or narrow the band window by dragging up down Using Shift Left mouse button or Right mouse button allows you to achieve finer adjustment Alternatively clicking on any arbitrary point on the graph will centre the band filters around this point in the frequency spectrum Furthermore if you hold the mouse down you can then drag the filter up or down or widen narrow it in the same way as with the centre drag handle This allows you to very slickly widen the window look at the FFT peaks and then home in on one by clicking and dragging down in one single 4 Description of Controls back to contents 4 3 Graphical Screen Controls page 30 movement This way you can quickly isolate and listen to each of the peaks that occur regularly to find out for example what consonants they represent Gain Reduction Indicator This red shaded area gives a real time indication of the shape and amount of occurring gain reduction The shape follows the slope indicators and roughly corresponds to the shape of the pink FFT region see 7 above Threshold Line This line shows the current threshold level The line will wander up and down as the general signal level rises and falls unless you have switched the threshold to Absolute mode If you move the
28. ols of the underlying engine a full blown dynamic EQ or frequency conscious compressor Thus a new concept was born a simple and intuitive De Esser plus access to a much more sophisticated frequency specific compressor giving complete control over aggressive frequencies wherever they may be in the audio spectrum With the Oxford SuprEsser you can take out unwanted frequency peaks as and when they occur unlike applying a fixed EQ to the whole channel As a De Esser the Oxford SuprEsser is designed for the treatment of sibilance and fricatives in vocals and the treatment of unwanted whistles and spirant artefacts associated with wind instruments However it can equally be applied to removing low end plosives and thuds from over close vocal work without affecting nearby components in the frequency spectrum keeping the low end intact For the most natural sounding results the Oxford SuprEsser de esses only the frequency band you select so you won t end up with an over de essed lisp like voice with all the high frequencies gone Detailed visual feedback is provided by a highly intuitive graphical display allowing quick identification of the frequencies that need treatment and where to set the threshold The threshold level and peak hold level of the user definable 1 Introduction back to contents page 3 band are shown on the graph alongside the FFT Fast Fourier Transform display of the narrow band signal wh
29. p the centre frequency of the band filter up and down the spectrum the troublesome noises will disappear when you have hit the area to work on 4 1 5 FILTERS Section This section allows you to speficy the filter characteristics FREQUENCY fader and touch Pad The horizontal fader below the graphical display and its associated touch pad in the Filters section control and display the centre frequency of the bandpass and band reject filter pair The control range goes all the way down to 20Hz to allow for low frequency treatment as well as mid and high frequency treatment The centre frequency of the band filters can also be changed on the graph itself by dragging horizontally the yellow centre symbol at the top of the display See Section 3 3 Graphical Screen Controls if you are unclear about the location of this latter control When the low edge of the bandpass filter reaches 20Hz the plug in switches over to using just the high edge crossover which means the bandpass window extends all the way down to DC providing a new useful mode See 2 3 Advanced Operational Modes for more information WIDTH Touch Pad This controls in octaves the width of the bandpass and band reject filter pair The control range is wide enough to allow almost the entire spectrum from 20Hz to 20kHz You can also change the filter width also relative to its centre point with vertical drags of the graph s yellow centre or by dragging horizontally on the f
30. pad Generally speaking after you have isolated as narrowly as possible a troublesome sound within the frequency spectrum using the bandpass filter adjustment controls Frequency Width or the drag controls on the graph you should then lower the threshold fader until the gain reduction begins to kick in By default the threshold is relative to the general signal level and this is why the threshold line moves up and down on the graph as the level of the audio signal changes You should aim to move the threshold until you hear the right amount of gain reduction taking place The plug in by tracking the general signal level attempts to keep this gain reduction amount constant as the signal level climbs or falls EFFECT IN Button This enables disables dynamics processing of the main compressor signal and allows you to do glitch free with without comparisons of the gain reduction effect ATTACK Touch Pad The Attack control quickens or slows down the reaction time of the compressor Smaller numbers mean faster reaction times and harder sounding results Go too fast and you may hear distortion when working at lower frequencies Bigger numbers mean slower reaction times and softer sounding results Go too slow and you may not react to fricatives quickly 4 Description of Controls back to contents 4 1 Basic Screen Controls page 23 enough to catch the hard front edges of consonants like T s ATTENUATION Meter This meter gives an ind
31. r modes that are concerned with which signal is passed to the sidechain and which signal is passed to the main input of the compressor See Section 2 3 Advanced Operational Modes for more information on this The following diagram provides a more complete signal flow to illustrate the elements required for advanced modes of operation Threshold Input Follower Output pe Band BAND erases PASS CHAIN FILTER Wide les Envelope Delay DYNAMICS Inside Comp Wide nt Cross WetlDry one Reker ZZ Outside FILTER Comp E Advanced SuprEsser signal flow The Wet Dry control is a frequently requested feature that allows you to add back the uncompressed signal to a highly compressed signal to add in some punch As you can see from the diagram above the Wet Dry blend control is implemented inside the dynamics module and therefore only operates as expected when you are listening to the Mix or Inside 3 Operation back to contents 3 1 Signal Processing Overview page 7 3 2 Resolution Kernel Sizes and Delays The linear phase filters used by the Oxford SuprEsser require an Impulse Response Kernel to model the response of the internal Oxford Filters The size of this kernel as measured in samples determines both the plug in delay and the accuracy of the model which in turn affects the performance especially at lower frequencies Large kernels Better performance at
32. r output Enable Sonnox Toolbar Displays or hides the Sonnox Preset Manager Toolbar see Section 4 Show Preset Name Path Shows the hierarchical directory path for Presets that are stored in sub folders of the default Preset folder Default to Easy View Determines whether the plug in will default to Easy or Advanced mode on opening Enable Tooltips Enables disables the fly out help windows that are activated by hovering the mouse over a control for two seconds Abbout Sonnox Oxford SuprEsser Displays the date version and build number of the plug in 4 Description of Controls back to contents 4 1 Basic Screen Controls page 20 4 1 3 Input Monitor Section Input Level Meter This meter is designed to give exactly 1dB per LED for the top 18dB of dynamic range and 2dB per LED thereafter This gives a clear and intuitive impression of the working headroom Level Trim dB Touch Pad This allows you to adjust the input signal level by up to 12dB Although it is true that in default operation the threshold of the compressor is more or less level independent you may wish to adjust the input level to bring peaks down below OdB because the threshold cannot go above OdB Listen Section This section of the plug in allows you to control what you are listening to in terms of the crossover that mixes the outputs of the two signal streams Some users prefer to isolate the troublesome sound and keep narrowing the b
33. rus This Auto Level Tracking mode lets the Oxford SuprEsser do all the hard work It can also be switched off for a fixed threshold In its default mode of operation the Oxford SuprEsser feeds the defined Band signal to the compressor to affect only this narrow band signal The result is that the compressor reacts only to specific frequency components when they reach a specific threshold and applies compression only to these specific frequency components leaving the rest of the spectrum untouched Audio Wide mode can also be selected to allow full band compression reacting to only specific frequencies or any combination of Band and Wide defining when the compressor reacts and what it compresses The Oxford SuprEsser comes complete with many presets to act as good starting points alternatively the advanced section provides full access to all controls for precise correction or even creative use 1 Introduction back to contents page 4 Sonnox 2 Main Features Highly featured professional De Esser Linear phase Dynamic EQ Transparently controls aggressive frequencies Automatic level tracking follows energy level eliminating the need to automate threshold Large intuitive graphic display makes finding frequencies very easy Full spectrum operation 20Hz 20kHz Three different Listen modes Very easy to use Advanced mode for ultimate control of the Dynamic EQ Many creative as well as corrective uses Prese
34. s particularly useful when operating the Oxford SuprEsser as a basic compressor ie in Wide Wide mode see Section 2 3 Advanced Operation for more information At 100 you hear only the post dynamics signal at 0 you hear only the input At 50 you hear an equal blend of the two You will normally want this set to 100 Output Level Meter The output meter is designed to give exactly 1dB per segment for the top 4 Description of Controls back to contents 4 1 Basic Screen Controls page 24 Sonnox 18dB of dynamic range and 2dB per segment thereafter This gives a clear and intuitive impression of the working headroom and dynamic range There is a peak hold feature that holds the highest peak in the last two seconds helping to give you a better impression of the working dynamic range the number of segments between the peak and general level 4 2 Advanced Screen Controls Dep USTEN REACTION ENVELOPE VIEW ES MONITOR RIGG J z ATTAC OLD RELEASE i MONITOR WET DRY LEVEL TRIM OB FREQUENCY ee 5 aalala TRIM dB The advanced screen and its associated controls is provided to allow the Oxford SuprEsser to be used as a general purpose frequency specific compressor giving you access to all the controls within the plug in s dynamics section MODE Section TRIGGER Button This toggles between Wide and Band and controls the type of signal fed to the sidechain of the compressor ie the signal that
35. ssible which automatically switch into operation in certain situations High Q Notch Mode When you reduce the WIDTH control all the way down to 0 2 octaves you activate High Q Notch mode In this mode instead of using R3 Filters the plug in uses four Oxford EQ Type 2 Filters giving a total of 80dB of gain reduction at the centre point of the notch This mode is useful when the band of energy you are interested in reducing is extremely narrow or virtually a single frequency like a whistle In this mode if desired you can reduce the Q of the filters by reducing the SLOPE control The effect of this is to give a smoother blend between gain reduced and non gain reduced regions of the frequency spectrum at the cost of a less specific trigger 3 Operation back to contents 3 3 Advanced Operation page 16 LF Cut Filter Mode When you reduce the left edge of the bandpass filter all the way down to 20Hz you activate LF Cut Filter mode This means that the lower edge of the bandpass window is effectively at OHz and this is useful for example when working on eliminating sub bass plosives and thuds booms that contain DC components In this mode you can think of operation as an LF Cut Filter that activates only when the signal reaches a certain threshold in which the cut off frequency is defined by the upper edge of the bandpass window HF Cut Filter Mode When you increase the right edge of the bandpass filter all the way up to 20 k
36. ts provide good starting points 2 Main Features back to contents page 5 3 3 1 Operation Signal Processing Overview SideChain ynamics Filter Input Output Basic SuprEsser signal flow The Oxford SuprEsser contains a pair of mutually opposing filters by default one is a narrow bandpass filter the other is the complementary narrow band reject filter This results in one signal path containing just the contents of the band of interest and another signal path containing the input signal with this band entirely removed when mixed back together in equal ratios you get the original signal The bandpass signal is usually fed to the compressor both to the sidechain and to the main signal path so that it is just this signal that triggers gain reduction and it is just this signal that is affected by any gain reduction The bandpass reject filters will switch automatically to other EQ types when conditions warrant it giving a total of four EQ types For example when the Width control narrows the bandpass filter to its minimum a High Q notch filter is invoked that provides a much better reduction of a very narrow band of frequencies When either side of the band window touches the end stops 20Hz or 20kHz the bandpass filters change to LF Cut or HF Cut as necessary 3 Operation back to contents page 6 Advanced Mode Signal Flow In addition to the four EQ types there are four different compresso
37. will be used to trigger the gain ducking See Section 2 3 Advanced Operational Modes for a description of the modes AUDIO Button This button also toggles between Wide and Band and controls the type of signal fed to the main signal path of the compressor ie the signal that will be gain ducked See Section 2 3 Advanced Operational Modes for a description of the modes 4 Description of Controls back to contents 4 2 Advanced Screen Controls page 25 LEVEL TRACKING Section AUTO IN Button This controls the mode of the threshold functionality In Auto Level Tracking mode ie with the IN button selected the compressor s trigger threshold follows the general level of the wide input signal and the THRESHOLD fader adjusts the threshold relative to that general signal level If you want the same relative level of gain reduction for a quiet sound as for a loud sound for example in each case you want 6dB of gain reduction relative to the general signal level then use Auto Level Tracking mode and set the THRESHOLD fader 6dB lower than the peaks shown on the graph In Absolute mode ie with the IN button not selected the THRESHOLD fader controls the absolute level of the compressor s trigger threshold so if it is set to 10dB signals over that level will trigger gain reduction DAMPING Touch Pad In Auto Level Tracking mode this controls the time constant used for following the general level of the wide input
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