Intel ReValver MK III Stereo Amplifier User Manual
Contents
1. Module name Ph2 Phaser Description Phasing works by mixing the original signal with one that is phase shifted This phaser features a feedback and width control for stereo effects Module name SCH 1B Noise gate Description A noise gate is a simple way to get rid of noise in the signal The traditional way this effect works is by lowering the volume of the signal when the signal itself becomes very weak The SCH 1B is different in two ways First this noise gate does not operate on a closed only or open only basis but is variable Second SCH 1B does not affect the actual volume but continu ously changes the filter parameters of an intelligent filter circuit You may notice that the noise gate is half closed when playing softly Compared to traditional noise gates this has the effect of being perfectly responsive The noise gate has four separate bands and the fourth has an adjust able frequency CD 30 oo MAT 4 ol ne A o pi i JO Module name Stereo widening effect Description Thismodule with combines ambience stereo widening and exciter enhancer effects to give your tone a wider fuller sound with more presence The enhancer operatesby the delaying the lower frequencies to allow the high frequencies to come first giving the sound a touch of presence and clarity Because of the delay the enhancer may appear to add distance to the sound You can blend the enhancement with the mix control2. Doc revision 1 12 l Table of contents Section Introduction Technical requirements Recording the Guitar Working with ReValver MK III The Modules Complete amplifiers Pre amplifiers Power amplifiers Stomp boxes Pedals Speakers Cabinets General Effects Miscellaneous Utilities Tweaking Modules MIDI Control and automation Plug in automation Finding a good sound FAQ License and copy protection Credits and Copyrights Page 10 10 16 19 22 27 28 32 35 41 41 43 A4 44 Introduction Congratulations on your purchase of ReValver MKIII ReValver MKIII is a revolutionary 64 bit amplifier modeling software that captures the true characteristics of vacuum tubes while allow ing users unprecedented control over their tonality and gain structures ReValver includes 65 incredible linkable sub modules that model legendary amplifiers stomp boxes and rack effects making ReValver MKIII the most advanced virtual amplifier on the planet This program works both as a standalone using miscellaneous sound card driver models or as VST AU plug ins on vari ous hosts The program is designed for minimal latency input output delay which is only limited by the plug in host Technical requirements Mac OS Mac OSX 10 4 X PPC Intel CPU G4 or later 1GHz minimum for satisfactory usage certain presets require more CPU capac ity The Live Host of ReValver MK III requires CoreAudio for playback and MIDI for MIDI contro
3. SII ira 3 PE b Module name HomeBrew PP 2 Description The HomeBrew PP 2 is a low wattage push pull amp with two channels and a British style tone stack 16 Preamplifiers A module from this category is preferably placed before a module from the power amp catego ry ae E poro o i tac 4 La eee POSE 3 i ci i 5 ae vw fi tr RO SA SOA uve MO a POST Module name Peavey 6505 preamp Description The preamp from the 6505 amplifier All the tonal control without the power amp section Module name Peavey Classic 30 preamp Description The preamp section of the Classic 30 without the power section amp agx o Hic fe OF ell OL HIGH Low VOLL GAIN Module name Peavey JSX preamp Description All the functionality of the Peavey JSX without the power section Module name Peavey ValveKing preamp Description The preamp section of the ValveKing amplifier CD 17 Module name Pre HB Description Simple preamp for clean and slightly overdriven sounds The preamp goes easily into overdrive but distorts gently and relatively cleanly Module name Pre 02 Description This preamp has 2 parallel channels a triode tube path and a diode clipping path The tube sound mixed with diode distortion makes an interesting and dynamic mix as the two components deliver two different overtone spectra WITEN IL ta A a ET
4. D 19 Power amplifiers A module from this category is preferably placed after a module from the preamp category Module name Peavey 6505 power amp Description The 4 x 6L6GC power amp section from the Peavey 6505 amplifier Module name Peavey Classic 30 power amp Description The Classic 30 s power amp section is pure EL84 heaven By decreasing the drive on the preamp and increasing the level of the power amp you can achieve great EL84 saturation Module name Peavey ValveKing power amp Description The ValveKing s power amp section features the classic 4 x 6L6 lineup The ValveK ing however adds the patented Peavey Resonance control as well as a Presence control 20 YY 998 Module name M 998 Description This simple power amp uses 2 triodes in series for extra gain and also uses a pair of tonal character filters that can be tweaked in the Tweak GUI Module name Standard Power Amp 2 Description This power amp has a standard push pull end stage but not driven by the usual Long Tail Pair LTP It does have a clean switch for less drive and slightly different tonal char acter D gt TUEN ef EA TA DE E tal SK IAA E Ter Module name 62 BluesMaker power amp Description This power amp is taken directly out of the 62 BluesMaker It has a drive and pres ence control and has a standard Negative Feedback Loop NFB to which the presence control is attach
5. Ck 2 1106 uFarad ie SPR SRE PEELS a ILE 4 00 Hz Class A CessE Bypass cut frequency 105 Hz 7 0 de Miller frequency 18122 Hz r Bias Volt 0 00 V Transient Disable circuit 7 39 On the tube Tweak GUI the editable parameters are divided into two groups the Physical and the Non Physical which has no meaning in reality but can be used to enhance the sonic properties anyway Depending on which tube you wish to tweak you can choose between triodes or pentodes A power pentode is a tube type often used to drive the speakers therefore you will usually find them as the last tube s in the chain of any amplifier Triodes are voltage V amplifiers whereas power pentodes combined with a transformer in ReValver MK III are treated as current I generators You can replace any tube in the module with another tube of the same general type from a stock of templates The internal parameters of a tube consist of features like amplification linearity and driving strength These parameters cannot be changed and are not displayed on the GUI If you check the option Only Load Internals only these parameters will be loaded otherwise the entire GUI will be reset The Character parameter can be used to shape the frequencies of the distorted component On low input the Character has minimal impact on the sound If you are editing a pentode you have the option of configuring it as a single ended Class A ampli
6. The widening effects applies a rotating phase distortion to each channel and in combination with the ambience component you can place your audio in a rich virtual room Module name Channel Delay Description This module can delay the left and right channels 0 100 ms independently each channel can be adjusted 16dB With the Ambiance option engaged the module acts as if the time delay represents a distance in a room The farther away from the source a channel is the fewer high frequencies and less volume it has a Da Pr OO HEL OUT el LOAD PLUG IN FACTORY PRESETS GUI OUT F His Module name VST host module Description This module does not provide any effect or signal processing by itself but simply allows you to load a third party VST plug in and run it as a regular ReValver MK III module This allows you to use your favorite plug in inside of the ReValver MK III system VST Plug In Tech nology by Steinberg Note While Peavey makes every effort to ensure compatibility with a wide range of VST plug ins occasionally combining certain VSTs will require more CPU power than some computers are capable of providing and may result in unstable performance Always save your preset before loading a third party VST plugin into the VST host module D 31 PN TUEE COMPRESSOR E z o GS l IL ILL SATURATION ROLL OFF e Module name CS3 Tube Compressor Description A compressor is used to even
7. accept input from electrical devices which have adequate driving signal a Guitar does not have enough signal The input impedance of a sound card is in the order of a few thousand ohms kOhm while ideally you want it to be around a million ohms 1 meg ohm 2 Another option is to use a Direct D I box or Preamp DI stands for Direct Input or Direct Interface It is an electrically powered box that can be used to match the input impedance of the sound card and the output impedance of the Guitar The simplest DI box could cost around 20 but there are boxes that could easily cost 200 if you want all the extras too A DI box has a Hi Z input Z is the unit of Impedance High Impedance input in other words To record you just plug the DI box directly into the computer Line In jack 2 DI box or Preamp 3 The middle road which probably won t cost you anything but could be almost as good as a DI box is the use of an ordinary stomp box which in fact is a sort of DI box It could be a pedal of any kind a distortion pedal chorus echo etc as long as a It is electrically powered and you actually use the battery or power source b You use it in bypassed mode i e off c Itis not a true bypass device In other words in off mode if the sound disappears when you remove the battery then it is a device that you do want to use as a DI box A Guitar pedal is obviously a device which is designed
8. active Bottom Body and Hair low mid high controls rece dii hai eh LI lieti plant de Nar n uo n NORMAL RED VINTAGE MODERN i GAIN TREBLE RIVE OUTPUT Module name Flathill Description This high gain rectifier amplifier has 5 modes Normal Clean Modern Red Vintage each with individual frequency characteristics and gain 13 Module name Basic 100 Description With one channel for Guitar and one for bass this 100 watt amp has a lot of bottom and is favored for it s clean tones The Guitar and bass channels have different gain and tone stacks The bass channel even has a Deep switch that shifts the frequency response of the Bass knob On the Guitar channel the Bright switch gives you a brighter sound on lower gain Module name Le Petite Description This amp contains 3 preamp chains in parallel which are fed into one power amp The 3 channels can be mixed individually with the blend knobs The three types are Clean Diode Triode The second part of the amp consists of 1 triode tube and a push pull pair of pen todes 14 Module name Fox ACS 45 Description This amp has three channels all running at the same time a Normal Brilliant and Tremolo channel The Tone controls Bass amp Treble only work on the Brilliant channel The Tone Cut control removes some high treble on all channels and works like a reversed presence control AOOOOOOOOOONONIO
9. down menu You will be asked to name it When you have entered a name press the Done button or the Enter key To cancel press the Escape key After you rename a preset or a bank ReValver automatically saves it Pressing Save will save the current preset or bank into the currently selected position overwrit ing the old To import or export a preset or a whole bank press the Imp import or Exp export but tons CD Quality modes By pressing the gearwheel icon on the title module you can select the Startup quality mode The mix down quality mode forces 64 bit processing at 4x oversampling This mode fully exposes the qualities of the program whereas the normal real time mode may be alittle more noisy and is likely to contain some aliasing noise especially in high gain amps It is recommended to always use the mix down mode when freezing rendering or when mixing a track Please be aware that the additional requirements of mix down mode could make the multitracker stutter or drop out if run at real time The CPU requirements is more than 5 times that of the real time mode To switch the mode you must restart the VST AU host to allow all instances of ReValver to fully reload Every new instance of ReValver will be started in the cur rent startup mode In some cases the sound of ReValver can be different when switching modes That is because not all features can be accurately expressed in re
10. non physical tweaks Normally a tube s output swing is determined by the VPP along with the various loads in the circuit Setting Clip Limit to something higher than 1 0 gives the circuit a greater dynamic range The output gets higher and the distortion on one side decreases Clip softness is used to smooth out the sharp dynamic edge and gives the distortion a smooth sound The default value of the Dynamic Bias offset amount is 1 0 and scaling this value changes the dynamics of the signal The signal is usually not entirely free to move through the tube and strong transients and high volumes affect the bias of the tube moving up and down as a function of volume Cathode biased treble boost where applicable changes the filter effect that the cathode resistor amp capacitor has on the frequency response The Bias adjust slider simply adds or subtracts a certain voltage to or from the tube s bias Other wise this bias is defined by the tube and its surrounding components Extra input headroom gives the stage more dynamic headroom making the tube distort later if given a greater headroom For a triode this means the signal is attenuated before the input and amplified after the output thus restoring the signal strength to the following tube The tube Tweak GUI features the following graphical displays A bode plot frequency amp phase response an oscilloscope with input and output signal display overlaid a
11. system that is entirely software based There is no need to buy or purchase a driver to make the program work A license for the program or a sub feature of the program is handled through license files in text format These license files are locked to a particular hardware component on the computer in question The actual component can be chosen from a number of types but at the time of writ ing only the system drive can be chosen You may upgrade your hardware any number of times requiring a new license file which can be downloaded through the Peavey web site or the accompanying Activation Tool Credits and copyrights Copyrights ReValver MK III relies in part on the following technologies PortAudio copyright Ross Bencina and Phil Burk PortMIDI copyright Ross Bencina Phil Burk and Roger B Dannenberg FFTReal copyright Laurent de Soras ASIO VST Plugin Interface Technology by Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH Some speaker IR samples copyright Chris Hurley Dimi tar Nalbantov Murray McDowall FamFamFam Silk icons http www famfamfam com lab icons silk CD
12. the original or reissue schematics have been used Sometimes a blend of schematics were used and some amps have components that were tweaked by ear afterward and do not totally match the original CD 44 Q have some very cool Impulse Response IR files Can use them with ReValver MK III A Yes The speaker convolution modeler RIR can load files in wav format provided they are reasonably short RIR is using a real time engine that requires no particular sample chunk size so it can operate less efficiently with larger files All input is therefore shortened considerably if needed No reverb echo or delay type of IRs can be used Q In ReValver MK III you can switch between push pull and single ended stages What about the phase inverter The phase splitter Long Tail Pair Phase Inverter has two outputs each being essentially the same signal but with one being inverted 180 degrees This is a common circuit to drive a push pull stage that in fact requires two signals one being 180 degrees apart If you wish to drive a single ended stage you need only one signal and there is little advantage in driving it with a phase inverter In a module that in fact has a phase inverter you can still switch the push pull stage to a single ended stage What happens is simple the inverted signal is ignored Only the top half of the inverter signal is used Licensing and copy protection ReValver MK III utilizes a copy protection
13. to be used with a Guitar To record just plug the pedal directly into the sound card Line In Adjust the output levels on the pedal A Guitar pedal is an example of a device with a Hi Z input If you could find another device with Hi Z inputs Instrument input you should try that as well Dist pedal Chorus Echo etc 4 The best option is of course to purchase a good quality Digital Audio Interface There are sev eral on the market made specifically for Guitar for under 100 Look for a device with ASIO audio stream input output drivers which is an industry standard and will work well with Re Valver MKIII After you install the device the Audio Devices menu under the File menu will allow you to choose that device for input and output then the Control Panel button will be activated and serve as alink to your device Since there are so many available options on the market it is impossible for us to comment on the specifics of a particular product Just keep in mind that most ASIO driven audio interfaces operate in a similar fashion and the control panel will enable you to make changes to the buffer size changing the length of time the computer has to make calculations and resulting in more or less latency Generally the smaller the buffer size the lower the latency However you will have to experiment with buffer sizes to find the opti mum settings for your computer based on your processor speed and amount of memor
14. used to add small amounts of color and spice to the bass sound 27 Speakers cabinets A module from this category is usually placed after any amp module Default 417 SPEAKERS AND CABINETS Module name Convolution speaker simulation Description This module uses real time convolution to mimic actual speaker and cabinet setups Convolution can be very CPU intensive so there are 2 optimization options Resample and Hi Res Forcing downsampling of the signal reduces the CPU utilization to an amazing 25 while still retaining virtually the same tonal quality This is possible because Guitar speakers generally do not have a frequency range of more than 5 6 kHz The available speakers and cabi nets were sampled with several microphones placed at varying angles One sampling an Im pulse Response is a fixed moment in time and cannot be adjusted The Load button allows you to import your own Impulse Responses in wav format Module name Speaker Construction Set SCS Description Select from any of the predefined speaker models and put them in a cabinet with a physical size of your choice This simulated speaker cabinet is then miked by any of the 20 micro phone configurations This technique is considerably less CPU intensive than the RIR convolution module Remember ReValver MKIII is capable of building virtual speaker cabinets that really cannot exist in the physical world and depending on which componen
15. zw Module name Texas Treble Maker Description The Texas Treble Maker is a treble booster whose purpose is to equalize the fre quency spectrum of the Guitar to make the distortion smooth The overtones of most sounds are progressively fainter the higher up the spectrum they are This means that the distortion a sound generates in a distortion circuit mainly originates from the overtones of the lowest frequencies placing the frequency range of the distortion components in a particular place of the spectrum A treble booster is designed to reshape the clean sound so that the distortion components originate in equal amounts from each overtone The result is a much smoother distortion and of course more of it CD 24 GAIN ui i LEKE j Me g Module name The Sher ff Description The Sher ff stomp pedal is a tough but versatile distortion effect Loosely modeled after a 1980s era cousin it s perfect for blues and rock either by itself or with a clean amp channel 4 ara eran ye E Pee Eroe pe y F RE LAY 2 is o IS TAP Direct Tap 1 d FEEULACK LFO iep h Module name Re Lay 2 delay Description The Re Lay 2 is a double delay with a lot of options You can set the volume of each tap plus 2 individual filters per tap WINS 6 TS 0 a RE LAY 4 5s Direct Tapi Tap2 Tap3 amp FEBULACK LAO Depil TAP 6 ti Module name Re Lay 4 delay Description The Re Lay 4 is a quadruple del
16. 425 Hz and 455 Hz Never go out of tune again T N ul i can ZI can e B dia ae U N E et rel Module name Simul Tune Description This is not one but six independent strobe tuners running at the same time one assigned to each of a Guitars six strings The tuning is presented in strobe form and you can adjust each string s tuning chromatically The brightness of the strobe indicates the confidence level of a frequency in that particular range i e dark display not even close cD 34 Module name Single tonestack Description This module only contains one tone stack with Bass Mid and Treble knobs to adjust the filter aspects of any of the included tone stacks of ReValver MK III The Foxy tonestack does not use the Mid knob Module name Single triode Description This module contains a single triode tube with no filters with a level adjustment before and after the tube Using a couple of these in a series is like building your own amp 35 Tweaking modules One of the most powerful features of ReValver MK III is the ability to tweak each parameter of a module other than the usual knobs and buttons on the front of the module In an effort to explain the Tweak mode in ReValver we ve written some short explanations of each tweak in the tube tweak GUI TheTweak mode in ReValver was written on an engineering level using real schematics by a real tube amplifier company and it takes years to learn t
17. CSi ly IS E Module name ACS CS1 compressor Description This compressor is used to even out the volume so that the lower levels do not completely disappear making the soft sounds louder and the loud sounds softer and adding a certain sustain Module name ACS LM3 limiter Description A limiter is a specially tailored dynamics compressor This particular limiter com presses the sound a factor 50 1 over the given threshold It will stop sounds or transients over this threshold limiting the output volume CD 25 Module name Slow Grow SG 1 Description An auto swell effect tracks the notes you play and removes the transients to make the music sound like it s being played backwards e OCTAPUS Module name Octapus Octaver Description Behind every great tone is another tone waiting to come out With Octapus you can release this sub octave taken from and added to your melody The Octapus is a tight and accu rate octaver stomp box that works best when you play one note at a time Be careful with chords or it will not sound as expected Module name FL Duo flanger Description This flanger effect mixes a varying delayed signal with the original signal to produce a series of phase cancellations These notches make up the sound of the flanger The FL Duo is actually two flangers Except for the mixing controls they share the same knobs Bri MOSE L AL Stoo OOO i
18. IOI INNINININIINININNNA HBISE So Module name HomeBrew SE 1 Description The HomeBrew SE 1 is a low wattage single ended amp with two channels For a low wattage circuit it has as many as 3 triode stages for gain The amp has 2 channels Clean Dist ee ae a A j i IN Module name The MatchBox Description The MatchBox is designed to provide clean to overdriven amplification with a minimum of clipping It has as many as 4 gain stages with considerable attenuation between stages It has a power amp in a push pull configuration but no negative feedback NFB The sound is fitting for both Guitar and bass This amp uses a very special tube configuration that gives you an extra bright sound For additional distortion please try any of the distortion stomp boxes in front of the amp 15 1 Hlues AMlaler DD PURE T a TA plage la cl ogre ey p Module name 62 BluesMaker Description Loosely based on a 1962 classic this amp has 2 channels normal and tremolo The original amp did not have a Drive control but we put one here to modulate the distortion in the power amp ACKA 900 Module name ACM 900 Description This amp is modeled after a Rock amp Roll amp built with both valve and solid state components It has only 1 channel but the two gain knobs control the gain at two stages in the preamp 1 I i I P siR j r J r iii J L bo n gi A Pi a f i amp
19. al time mode but only in mix down mode Selecting modules To insert a module anywhere in the signal chain right click your mouse on click for a new module here The module selector allows you to select modules from their categories and will display a brief description about each module Moving modules One of the coolest features in ReValver MK III is how easy it is to move modules around totally reconfiguring the signal chain on the fly To move a module simply move the cursor to the right of the module over the rack screw until your cursor turns into a 4 pointed cross then hold the mouse button down and move the module where you want it Release the button and you re done Be mindful however that not all routing will sound good For example putting your amp directly into a Chorus pedal is not very pleasing to the ear Toggling between mono and stereo Each module can be set individually to process the signal in either mono or stereo It either merges the channels or expands them depending on how the previous module is set Some modules such as REVERB VOLUME EFFECTS and DELAY are set to STEREO by DEFAULT If the host VST AU DirectX has patched ReValver MK III on a mono track all processing will be converted to stereo CD 10 The Modules Complete amps The modules in this category are integrated preamps and power amps thus no module from the preamp or power amp categories is needed along wi
20. ay with a lot of options You can set the volume of each tap plus 2 individual filters in the Tweak GUI per tap See page 35 for an explanation of the Tweak GUI 9 OO Greener _ eas Module name Greener Description A classic yet so simple This late 70s solid state stomp box utilizes a diode clipping circuit shaped by pre and post filtering for optimal smooth overdrive distortion CD 23 o DRIVER Module name Driver Description This is a very versatile stomp box that delivers anything from smooth overdrive with Blues turned up to a heavily distorted and overloaded sound Gain and Muffler turned up high The module uses a modified amp tone stack that allows for heavy mid scooping great for blues and rock amp roll Posey Elacironica lagna Vibe O Rel Module name MagnaVibe Description Not to be confused with Tremolo a vibrato is a frequency modulator that produces an effect similar to the sound you hear when you bend the string up and down changing its pitch This vibrato allows you to select a rate between 0 and 10 Hz as well as a general depth A knob for delay allows the vibrato to kick in after you pluck the string making it more transparent when vou play fast Two modes are available a standard digital and an emulation of a certain mag netic stereo amp tremolo Faery B faran M ai ia Module name Tremolo Description A
21. ed The NFB shapes the distortion character of the power stage 21 Module name Basic power amp Description This power amp is taken directly out of the Basic 100 Just like the original amp the power section has only a master control The Negative Feedback Loop NFB shapes the distortion character and can be adjusted in the Tweak GUI For an explanation of the Tweak GUI see page 35 Module name ACM 900 power section Description This power amp is taken directly out of the ACM 900 FN t ag Y XY i Poweramp PRESENCE AVE OUTPUT Module name Flathill power section Description This power amp is taken directly out of Flathill Za Stomp boxes pedals A module from this category is usually placed before an amp module They are designed to shape the sound before it is colored by the amp gt E k if wD L Gi Tac SUS LS Sa Te Module name OverDriver Description This stomp box is wired somewhat like a Guitar amp in that it uses 3 stages of diode distortion The Turbo acts like a Master adding some extra gain before the last stage This stomp box could be used to drive a speaker by itself Chorus CS 1 Module name Chorus CS 1 Description This is a versatile stereo chorus with adjustable speed and modulation depth stereo width feedback delay and 3 individually adjustable filter bands on the wet signal A chorus can be used to enrich the sound ACS
22. fier or as a push pull Class B amp One push pull tube is actually an even number 2 or 4 but as the parameters are identical for all only one tube icon is displayed on the Tweak GUI A triode can only be configured as a plate follower a cathode biased voltage gain stage VPP is the power supply voltage delivered to the tube stage from the power supply Usually the VPP is slightly lower if the stage is located early in the signal chain In case the power supply is sagging usually due to heavy load and high volumes the VPP becomes temporarily lower but the amount depends on internal values in each ReValver MK IIl amp module Plate load triode and transformer impedance pentode and the parameters over which the signal is generated The value of the load affects the signal output strength Also the transfer characteristics of the load changes the voltage on and current through the tube itself Attenuation is not directly a part of the tube stage but can be thought of as a generic way of decreasing attenuating the signal after amplification Cathode resistor where applicable is a resistor which is used to bias the tube or in other words balance the symmetry of the waveform It is commonly set near 1 5 kOhms for triodes but the actual setting depends on the desired sound The setting will also affect the overall gain in an unbypassed stage See definition of unbypassed below Cathode capacitor where applicable i
23. i re Module name Peavey Classic 30 Description One of the most widely used and versatile amps in the music business the Classic 30 has a dual channel preamp allowing quick variations of the tone from vintage blues to mod ern hard rock to grunge The boost switch is particularly useful in obtaining the more traditional cranked amp tones without the harshness generated by sending too much low end to the power amp PRESENCE RESON ANCE 12 Module name Peavey JSX Description Loaded with three independent channels and comprehensive tonal control the Joe Satriani signature JSX puts the full spectrum of Guitar tones at your fingertips starting with a pristine clean channel the perfect foundation for layering outboard effects and including the exclusive FAT switch that adds extra heft to the Ultra and Crunch channels The amp also has presence control and the patented resonance adjustment for the ultimate in tone Module name Peavey Triple XXX BOT OM WOLLI Description The ULTIMATE tone machine As hot as the name implies the Triple XXX rips with four 12AX7 preamp tubes and four 6L6GC power amp tubes The amp is controlled by a master volume pot and independent volume knobs for each of its 3 channels The Ultra and Crunch channels have gain controls to further assist in taming this beast Tone contour is accomplished through passive controls on the Clean channel while the Ultra and Crunch channels utilize
24. ilable for each module as a whole and for any tube component thereof 31 44100 Hz Stereo 32 bit float You can save the Impulse Response IR of a module to a wav file in 44 1 kHz stereo The impulse response is practically the same view as the frequency analyzer but this tool allows you to save the response to disk This IR can be used in the convolution speaker module or any other IR plug in by third party manufacturers and can be very useful capturing a filter or a sound of any module in ReValver MK III or any VST plug in in the VST module You can even capture the sound of a third party speaker simulator from another VST plug in and run it inside of the speaker convolution module All modules offer some editing features and may include tubes and tube con figuration tone stack filter collection filter coloring rectifier properties trans former properties negative feedback speaker cabinet microphone and loud speaker D 38 The Tube Tweak GUI One of the most powerful features of ReValver MK III is the detail and number of parameters that can be used to fine tune any tube circuit in a module In the module s Tweak GUI click ona tube icon to bring up the tube Tweak GUI Tube type 12AX7 ECC83 Triode Syl Only load internals Edit internals Schematic details Plate follower fF Push Pull Single ended Cathode resistor RK 1 61 kOhm iv Cathode capacitor
25. l MIDI optional AU plug in requires AU host VST plug in requires VST host PC OS Microsoft Windows 2000 XP or later CPU Intel Pentium II AMD Athlon or later 1GHz minimum for satisfactory usage certain presets require more CPU The Live Host of ReValver MK III require either ASIO MME WDM or DirectSound for playback and MIDI for MIDI control MIDI optional VST plug in require VST host Compatibility issues While every measure has been made to resolve any compatibility issues with various VST AU hosts and sound cards some issues may remain If you believe you have found a new compatibil ity problem please browse to www peavey com products revalver There you will find product updates and user forums D Loading the VST or AU plug in into the DAW Ona Mac a plug in in the VST or AU format is automatically located by the host and no action needs to be taken for the VST AU host to find the ReValver plug in It should be automatically listed among the available plug ins after a rescan In Windows it is possible to install the VST plug in at any location To make the VST host aware of this location it must manually be pointed to During the installation of ReValver you are givena choice of location to install the VST separate from the stand alone version We recommended that you install ReValver to a location you have already used with the host Most DAWs provide a means to list available VST paths For examp
26. ld you use hardware compressors distortion or other effects before you record the signal It is your personal preference If you can t live without that special sound then you should prob ably record it that way But when it comes to compression EQ reverb and other special effects that could be produced in software then you should produce it in software and not in hardware That way you can always change your mind afterward To truly access all of the incredible tone shaping that ReValver allows you should take advantage of a process called re amping In a nutshell re amping simply means to record the Guitar dry as and then use the ReValver plug in to change the tones In this way you will have unlimited access to all ofthe amazing tones ReValver can offer Of course as in the paragraph above if you can t live without a certain distortion tone you can still use ReValver s effects modules as a rack of effects The sky is the limit and it s all at your fingertips There is one effect you generally should use before sampling the signal namely limiting It is a function which keeps the signal from clipping digitally in case you happen to use a too strong signal Some audio interfaces have a soft limiter built in however when you are recording a dry Guitar the presence of distortion means you are sending too hot a signal to the computer If you are recording a dry Guitar to re amp there should be no distortion whatsoe
27. le Reaper Menu Options gt Preferences gt Plug ins gt VST Press Add to browse to the VST path where the ReValver VST is installed You then press Rescan directory When the host recognizes ReValver you should insert the program on each track that you wish to use it This method varies between DAWS Recording the Guitar Recording a Guitar is not as easy as it might seem but it doesn t have to be difficult If your Guitar is not powered by a battery and very few are then it is generating an electrical signal which is not compatible with most sound cards There are common electrical standards between audio gear and unfortunately the Guitar falls completely outside those standards because it is passive The electrical signal from the Guitar is the result of the movement of metallic strings over a magnetic pickup and this is rarely accept able as an electrical source when you connect it directly to a computer sound card Connecting the Guitar to the sound card Here are three ways to connect your Guitar to the computer 1 The simplest option is to hook it up to the sound card Line In jack using a suitable connector usually a 1 4 to 1 8 adapter The advantage is that you don t have to buy any additional gear except maybe the cable adapter but the sound is not ideal probably not even good The reason for the dull and boring sound is due to an impedance mismatch The sound card input is designed to
28. ll be restored when you reload the preset Plug in automation ReValver has an automation feature that allows you to make changes when you are mixing a song This can be particulary important when recording a virtual wah wah track for example where you need to be able to make those changes just like you would with the pedal However due to the modular structure of ReValver MK III it is not possible to map all GUI elements to plug in automation events For example if you have two distortion pedals in the chain only the first in the chain will receive the events even if they were recorded from the second To use automation your VST AU host must be capable of reading and writing automation events from plug ins Please refer to your DAW s manual for more information on its particular use of automation Table 1 Plug in automation parameters Distpedal Gain Primary gain knob on a dist effect Ped Gai2 Distpedal Gain2 Secondary gain knob on a dist effect Distpedal Output volume Distpedal Output volume 42 Table 1 Plug in automation parameters Distpedal Bass Distpedal Bass control Ped Mid Distpedal Mid Distpedal Mid control Ped Treb Distpedal Treble Distpedal Treble control Ped Tone Distpedal Tone Distpedal Tone control Ped Mix Distpedal Mix Distpedal wet dry mix Pre Gain Preamp Gain Preamp Gain Pre 1 Gain type 1 Preamp Gain 1 Pre 2 Gain type 2 Preamp Gain 2 Pre 3 Gain type 3 Preamp Gain 3 AmpBass Amp Bass tone co
29. nd transfer function a snapshot of the static input to output relationship The whole tube component can be disabled via the Disable circuit checkbox CD 41 MIDI control and automation In the stand alone version all knobs faders and buttons can be controlled by MIDI The VST and AU plug in can be controlled using native automation but not all parameters can be automated MIDI To setup MIDI control in the standalone version please select your MIDI interface from the menu File gt MIDI devices If you have added a new MIDI interface after starting the program please restart to allow the program to find it To assign a MIDI event to a GUI control please right click on the control button knob fader and select MIDI learn from the menu You will then be asked to activate the controller on the external MIDI controller It is recommended that you assign a MIDI button to a GUI button and a MIDI fader knob to a similar GUI element To remove the specific mapping from the GUI element right click and select MIDI clear Itis not possible to map the Load module preset Save module preset Mono stereo or Tweak buttons to MIDI but you can map the Enable disable module If you have assigned a GUI element in a module you are free to move around the module any where in the preset but if you delete the module the mapping will be cleared MIDI mapping is stored inside the preset and wi
30. ntrol Ampmodule tonestack bass control AmpMid AmpTreb Amp Mid tone control Ampmodule tonestack mid control Amp Treble tone control Ampmodule tonestack treble control AmpPres Amp Presence Ampmodule presence control CleanDrt Clean Clean dirty switch Drive Power amp drive Power amp master drive Out Vol Output level Output level TremDpt Tremolo depth Tremolo depth TremSpd Tremolo speed Tremolo speed Type A Type A Type A Type B Type B Type B Type C Type C Type C Type D Type D Type D Type E Type E Type E RevrbMix Reverb amount Reverb amount RevrbLen Reverb length Reverb length Wow Wah Amount Position Wow Wah Amount Position Wow Wah Mix Wah Pos Wah Mix Wow Wah wet dry mix D 43 Table 1 Plug in automation parameters Amp Out Power amp Output level Output adjust knob on amp or poweramp module Preamp Output level Output adjust knob on preamp module Finding a great sound FAQ Q What can I do to improve the frequency response of a preset A Use an EQ or change the tonestack of an amp but most of all experiment with the speakers A surprisingly large part of the sound comes from the speakers Most amps have bass mid and treble controls to adjust the tonestack s filter parameters You should assume the default values are actually the best for most users for that amp However the power of Revalver is the ability to experiment with all aspects of an amp s design Remembe
31. o streams are mixed into one signal again You can only use signal splitter once per preset 1918 4660 10k Module name Frequency analyzer Description The frequency analyzer can scan the audio in real time and present the frequency content on a live display The update speed can be switched between 50 ms and 500 ms The analyzer can create up to three snapshots and overlay them over each other By hovering your mouse over the graph you can get an accurate readout of that position The anti aliased display yields a very accurate picture Module name Leveler Description A utility module that can be inserted wherever you wish to monitor or change the volume levels The module monitors both the left amp right channels This module has a volume adjust and a Learn button to automatically adjust level to OdB D D Module name Stereo Levels adjust Description Same as Leveler module but with a control knob for each channel This utility module can be inserted wherever you wish to monitor or change the volume levels The module monitors both the left amp right channels This module has a volume adjust and a Learn button to automatically adjust level to 0 dB STROBE et TUNER Module name Tuner Description Guitar tuner with two simultaneous displays needle and strobe With anti aliased graphics this tuner displays your tuning with incredible accuracy The A is adjustable between
32. put volume 16dB adjustment with pre and post LED indicators Output volume 32dB adjustment with post LED indicator The adjustment knobs can automati cally adjust the input and output volume to OGB by pressing the Learn buttons Pressing the gearwheel icon brings up the Options window The Title module also hosts the bank amp preset management see below Presets and banks A preset of ReValver MK III is constructed from one or more sub modules The signal path moves down the path of modules from top to bottom If the signal splitter has been inserted the chain is split into two parallel chains until they are merged in the signal merge module There is no restriction on how to combine modules as they can be chained in any combination although some combinations are undesirable The idea is to imitate the behavior and applica tion of real life amps and effect units Normally you would find combinations with this order Stompbox if any Amp Speaker and Effect if any An amp consists of a preamp and a power amp and you may replace a module in the Amp category with a combination of a Preamp and Power Amp Presets are organized in banks To select a preset from a bank that bank must first be selected from the title module at the top of the chain A bank and preset can also be selected through MIDI command To save a preset or bank in a new position press New beside the drop
33. r o jen p 1 i BILI y F x L ull hi Precauirp e Tbe e F 1S Module name 62 BluesMaker preamp Description This preamp was taken directly from the BluesMaker 62 amp It contains both the clean and tremolo channels including the tremolo controls Module name Basic 100 bass preamp Description This is the bass channel preamp in the Basic 100 The tone section does not include a mid control as the original does not have one The Deep switch lowers the frequency of the bass control CD 18 Module name Basic 100 Guitar channel preamp Description This is the Guitar channel preamp from the Basic 100 It is rather clean due to it s dual 2 triodes neither of which typically saturates Module name ACM 900 preamp Description This is the preamp section from the ACM 900 The two gain knobs control the gain in two places in the chain FLATHILL FI sa E A pik e e 4 Gelo GAIN BASS MID TREBLE OUTAN Module name Flathill Modern preamp Description This is the Modern channel preamp from the Flathill Very high gain and bright FLATHILL gig se lt gt Gi ii 4 CROCI Red Preamp GAIN BASS MD TREBLE PRESENCE OUTPUT i I5 Module name Flathill Normal Red preamp Description This is the Normal Red channel preamp from Flathill This high gain preamp has a presence control which usually sits in the power section but gives extra control over the bright ness
34. r one important thing every EQ you use before an amp will affect the frequency range of the distortion harmonics If you only wish to fine tune the sound of a preset primarily use the EQ the farthest down the chain as possible Q How much does the sound of the Guitar matter A lt matters a lot One must never think that the final sound is the same if you switch to another Guitar The sound of a single coiled pickup is very different from that of a humbucker pickup Everybody has their favorite and the sound and feeling differs as much as any two amps Q Do the tonestacks in ReValver MK III actually sound like the originals A Yes The software version of the tonestacks are very similar to those on the original amps All Capacitors resistors and pots have been accurately modeled Q What about the presence controls A The presence controls are usually not a part of the tonestack but are part of the power amp Most amps use negative feedback to control distortion and output linearity of the power stage By applying a filter in the feedback path and controlling this filter with a knob a very nice mid high mid presence can be achieved Q Are the amps in ReValver MK III modeled after real amps A Most of them are The program is able to model about 90 95 of the electronic components in any given real amp including the tubes diodes filters transformers power supply and more When modeling a real amp in ReValver MK III
35. s connected in parallel with the cathode resistor It has two main effects on sound 1 The capacitor enables the stage to amplify the signal more and 2 It will act as a low shelf filter effectively cutting out some low bass The cutoff frequency is equal to 1 6 28 RC with C as the capacitor value and R as the value of the cathode resistor This in turn affects the distortion spectrum With a cathode capacitor the stage is called bypassed and without unbypassed CD 40 The coupling capacitor removes the high voltage DC offset from the output signal of the tube stage This high pass frequency is usually between 5 10 Hz but if it is set higher then a user can change the tonal and dynamic properties of the stage The grid resistor value is an all in one resistor used to calculate the effects of the stage s bandpass limitation Inside each tube there is an internal capacitance called Miller capacitance The greater the resistor the lower the bandwidth The bandwidth can be calculated at 1 6 28 RC where R is the grid resistor and C is the Miller capacitance usually around 150pF In a normal triode stage with a 12AX7 tube the bandwidth is around 15 kHz if the grid resistor is 68 kOhm The slider for Class A B is used for pentodes in push pull configuration only The Bias voltage slider can be used as an alternative This sets the bias of the tube stage such that it corresponds more to a Class A or B stage Some of the
36. th an amp in a ReValver MK III preset r 3 ai F f i LI amp gt FU Le be ae MM fhe aE j 3 7 EP A z B 2 B semi ct LO HiG g 1 2 7 Lis e 10 e 18 1 yen 2 um Di a PEST d Tie R LIT Ja SI pe Mr e Module name Peavey 6505 Description Loud mean and built for the road the 6505 was named in celebration of Peavey s first 40 years 1965 to 2005 6505 Series amps feature five 12AX7 preamp tubes and four 6L6GC power amp tubes with presence and resonance controls and three band EQ for taming their notorious tone 2 Ba 1 g l DI POST RESONANCE Module name Peavey 6505 Description Adding an extra preamp tube and even more gain to the 6505 the 6505 represents the pinnacle of metal tone The 6505 Series amps are the undisputed go to Guitar amps for scores of rock hardcore and metal bands due to their raw tone relentless power and road prov en reliability D 11 BOOST GHAMEL NCE RESONANCE REVERB TREBLE MIDI Module name Peavey ValveKing Description A true tone monster in its own right The ValveKing delivers a tone ranging from bluesy clean to crunchy and classic rock The amp has a built in spring reverb and separate ton estacks for the Clean and Lead channels The amp s preamp and power sections use 12AX7 and 6L6GC tubes respectively The ValveKing also features global resonance presence and reverb controls i t Omu ee tj Yj ee di ee x te ee
37. the volume so that the lower levels do not completely disappear Many music professionals believe that a tube compressor sounds warmer than a solid state variant due to the slight saturation of the tubes and because the transformer adds a subtle touch of crunch Pm Poi i Pm pr Pc E r i F i hy Fi T Pi Fi f h Cot PCC i i Ne Ne LA THRESH RATIO ATI Ad RELEADE VOLE Module name CS2 Compressor Description A compressor is used to even the loudness so that the lower levels do not com pletely disappear It will make any distortion module distort for longer Module name Gr8 Graphical equalizer Description This simple 8 band graphic equalizer has frequency bands placed strategically for bass and Guitar The bands can be adjusted manually by pressing the T button Pressing R will reset the band E ESI DD g Module name Convolution Reverb Description A convolution type reverb which uses pre sampled impulses as source templates The sound and reaction of the original sampled reverb is what you hear in C Verb You can load your own wav samples with the load button or select a factory sample from the list D 22 Miscellaneous utilities _ hain B mix Chain A B blend Module name Signal splitter Description The signal splitter divides the signal into 2 streams Each runs in parallel using it s own set of modules In the signal merge module these tw
38. tremolo is an amplitude modulator This effect rotates the volume at the range of 0 10 Hz Two variants are included the classic digital tremolo multiplying the signal with a sine and the even more classic tube bias tremolo adding a sine to the bias of a tube partly saturating the signal The tube bias variant adds a natural overtone and clarity The digital variant can adjust the up down slope of the transition from soft to pulsing 26 m mr Wow Wah 0 0 m T rae Fy i AEAN 4 i E gt MIN HZ RESCANCE MAK HE PESOUANCE OVERTONES pr E m a F Module name Wow Wah Description A Wah pedal is a low high or band pass filter with adjustable frequency At the point of cut off there is a peak with adjustable resonance making the Guitar sound waaaoooow wwoooaaa The resonance has similarities with the human mouth hence the name The fre quency can be controlled either by a MIDI pedal or the main knob or by automatic rotation The resonance can range between any 2 frequencies of your choice An extra knob adds overtones that enhance tonal clarity Dasa box 99 Oo QQ Module name BassBox Description This is a distortion pedal with a harmonic spectrum tailored for bass Guitar The even harmonics are stronger than the odd making the distortion very smooth and borderline clean Asecond gain knob allow ordinary diode clipping somewhat asymmetrical This module can be
39. ts and settings you re change you could end up with some very unique sounds cD 28 General effects Module name 8Q Description An eight band parametric filter with adjustable frequency gain and Qin seven types high shelf low shelf high pass low pass band pass notch and peak Each band can be either a first order or second order IR filter Please note that first order filters cannot represent EQ band pass or notch curves Module name 3Q Description Triple parametric filters with adjustable frequency gain and Qin seven types high shelf low shelf high pass low pass band pass notch and peak Please note that first order filters cannot represent EQ band pass or notch curves Module name ACS R1 Stereo Reverb Description Stereo reverb designed to be placed last in the chain to give ambience or width to the result with adjustable echo pre delay and room size Three filters can be programmed to shape the character of the wet signal D 29 Character J Character 2 Module name ACS R2 Stereo Reverb Description Stereo reverb designed to be placed last in the chain to give ambience or width to the sound with adjustable pre delay and room size Three filters can be programmed to shape the character of the wet signal This reverb is thicker than the Reverb R1 it also has different default filter parameters Rotate za FO AVA
40. ube amplifier engineering so the awesome tweakability of ReValver MKIII will keep even the most experienced valve amplifier engineer busy for hours Users who don t have any experience with tube amps will have fun and you ll learn a lot about how tube amplifiers work Press the button on the module or select Tweak Module on the module menu to bring up the general Tweak GUI The Tweak GUI is a general GUI that holds specialized tweakable components that differ from module to module Some features include Frequency Analyzer Oscilloscope Total Harmonic Distortion analysis and save Impulse Response The Frequency Analyzer runs a frequency response test of the module in question It does so by inserting a short pulse and performing a FFT Fast Fourier Transform frequency analysis of the output Please note that such techniques may not yield expected results in non linear modules such as distortion modules The Frequency Analyzer also accurately displays the phase response of the module The analyzer window is displayed in logarithmic mode with the lower frequency shown in high resolution This emphasis can be adjusted via the slider at the bottom of the win dow D 36 The Total Harmonic Distortion THD analyzer displays the relationship between the input sound and the distorted output sound The Oscilloscope view illustrates how a module alters the sine wave It is ava
41. ver Using 16 bit or 24 bit sampling Many sound cards today offer 24 bit sampling at high sample rates While the CD audio standard is only 16 bit and still sounds quite good it makes perfect sense to use as many bits as possible during recording In general it is always good thinking to use more bits than you will need in the very end 16 bit audio gives you about 96 dB of dynamic range 24 bits gives you an additional 48 dB A high gain preset in ReValver MK III amplifies the signal a lot probably 40 80 dB and with those levels you would start to hear the sound card quantization noise bit noise With more bits there is less digital noise You will still hear electrical noise but that is usually significantly less Using 44 1 48kHz 96kHz or higher The higher the better normally but in ReValver MK III all vital parts are oversampled to the double sample rate to make sure there is a minimum of aliasing noise Aliasing noise simply put is an unpleasent background noise that can occur with any modeling software or amplifier when the CPU is asked to do more than it can do You should also consider that most good Guitar sounds are very bandwidth limited and you probably don t need the high frequency range that even 44 1kHz sample rate offers CD Working with ReValver MK III The title module At the top of the graphical interface of the program is a module containing general setup functionality including the In
42. y A Integrated DI and USB interface A word about latency Latency is a technical term that basically means for the time lapse between playing a note and hearing it When using ReValver as a stand alone program you need to set the latency to as low a number as your computer will allow If you are using your PC or Mac s original factory sound card you are almost guaranteed to have latency issues It really does make sense to get a high quality sound card and there are many models available at various price levels ReValver by itself does not control how much latency you will experience with the program neither the stand alone nor the plug in In plug in mode the latency is controlled entirely by the DAW To control the latency in stand alone mode you are advised to set the appropriate num bers in the sound card driver ReValver provides a shortcut to the ASIO control panel of your card In Audio Devices menu select ASIO your sound card then press Control Panel The latency is directly proportional to the sample chunk size Short latency equals small chunk size Recommended chunk size is 128 256 samples If the sound is breaking up choppy sound stuttering increase the buffer size Try these standard values 64 128 256 512 1024 2048 It is advisable to start with a smaller number and gradually increase until the sound is no longer choppy CD Recording the Guitar with or without effects Shou
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