IMPORTANT: If you are upgrading an existing installation of the VoxCiter/VoxCiter Demo software, make sure you remove the older VoxCiter plug in from your 'VstPlugIns' folder prior to running the installer. Any existing authorization will not be touched by the installation process or if the plug ins are removed manually.
Installation
• Make sure you carefully read the copyright regulations prior to installing the software.
• Insert the disk into any floppy disk drive on your Macintosh.
• Double click the installer icon.
• Click the 'Continue' button to continue with the installation.
• Select the 'VstPlugIns' folder on the harddisk containing your VST program as destination folder. The installer will copy all necessary files to this folder.
Please make sure all files are copied to the directory 'VstPlugIns', otherwise VST will fail to load the plug in and you cannot use it from within the VST environment. In case the installer did not put the Prosoniq VST PlugIn in the correct place please do it manually. For that, put the plug in in the "VstPlugIns" folder on the disk containing your VST application.
• You should now have successfully installed the new plug in demo software.
The demo will be restricted in that it will stop processing after some time. To re-enable processing select a different plug in in the effects rack and then re-select the demo plug in. If you have authorized your VoxCiter software with the master disk you have purchased, the demo version will automatically operate as a full version. We recommend you check the software version (by selecting 'Get info' in the Finder) to ensure you are always using the latest software version. You can get free updates from http://www.prosoniq.com/vstdetails.html.
Introduction
First of all, welcome to this unique PROSONIQ plug in for your copy of Steinberg Cubase VST. As you very well know, PROSONIQ is a company dedicated to developing state of the art high quality audio DSP products for various platforms. Not only are we developing music and post production software tools like sonicWORX® Artist and Studio for sound designers and engineers that meet the highest standards in music processing, we are also licensing realtime and non-realtime effect algorithms to major companies in the music business. If you like to know more about us feel free to visit our web page at http://www.prosoniq.com/ or ask your local dealer for details on our other audio programs and how to expand your VST platform with further PROSONIQ products and enhancements.
You now have the possibility to access a large amount of our products directly from within your favourite Cubase VST program without having to switch to another application. What's more, all of our VST plug ins work completely in real time, letting you adjust all available parameters while mixing or composing for utmost integration in your music.
System requirements
You'll need at least a Power Macintosh with an 601 PPC Processor running at 100MHz with 256k second level cache to use the software. However, we strongly recommend you use a faster machine to make full use of the software in multitrack recording.
What VoxCiter does
The PROSONIQ VoxCiter plug in is a unique software dedicated to processing vocal or instrumental recordings. To do this, it contains a variety of modules that allow for both a flexible and creative sound processing and enhancement from within your VST environment. VoxCiter offers the following modules and features:
• internal Bypass swith for instant comparison without switching to other windows
• Noise Gate with Threshold, Attack, Hold and Release times
• 2 flexible EQs which can be configured to be Lo Pass, Hi Pass, Band Pass and Band Reject
• versatile instrument/voice compressor with Auto switch for easy compression without
adjusting all parameters manually
• Sidechain feature with bandpass filter and monitor function
• Sidechain Neural De-Esser function that automatically finds sibilancies
• Drive Module for simulating analog distortion and adding 'dirt' and 'punch' to the signal
• Refresh module that adds high harmonics of adjustable order to your signal to enhance
'presence' and brilliance.
Additionally, you have numerous visual displays to have full control over the achieved effect.
User interface overview
The following section details the user interface of the program and explains the various display and control elements.
Module On/Off bar
The topmost section of the VoxCiter window consists of the Module On/Off bar. Here you will find the names of the various modules along with an on/off switch to enable and disable them. Modules switched to 'off' do not require any processing power. Simply click the yellow rectangle beneath the text 'ON' in a module to switch that module on or off.
Bypass switch
In the 'IN' section of VoxCiter you will find an additional 'ON' switch directly above the input peak meter display. When switching it to off, you will hear the unprocessed signal. Switching it to on will send the VoxCiter output signal to VST. This provides you with an easy method to compare the original and processed signal to e.g. adjust the Refresh level, as the human ear will easily adapt to high refresh settings and repeated comparison is highly recommendable.
Module signal level indicators
These indicators inform you on the signal flow within the modules. There are two different indicators available.
IN : This indicator lights up when a signal above -18dB FS arrives at the module. By looking at this indicator you will always have a precise overview of the signal path.
OL : This indicator lights up when the internal signal level exceeds a certain limit (i.e. 0 dB FS). Unlike with other modules and recording equipment and due to the internal 64bit precision used in VoxCiter, this will not cause any clipping. It is intended to inform you on a loss in precision that will occur when exceeding this limit. Although by itself not necessarily audible, you are advised to at least adjust the output volume to prevent clipping in the output and subsequent processing stages in VST. To do this, adjust the Output volume until the OL indicator in the Output section of VoxCiter does no longer light up.
Effect Routing Setup
It is absolutely necessary to set up the routing in the following manner to enable the plug in to work correctly, or at all. Since VST as of version 3.5 does not support insert effects, you have the following two options to use this plug in:
Master Effect: VoxCiter needs to replace your audio data and is not intended as an add-on effect (like a reverb for example). Thus, it is predestined to work as a master effect. To use it as such, simply proceed as described in your VST manual.
Using the send/return path: To use the plug in for a single channel, you have to switch the channel mode to 'pre' and turn down the volume of that channel by setting the channel slider to its minimum.
Otherwise you will get a mixture of the original and processed version and effects like compression and noise gating will not work properly. Set the effects send knob to fully maximum and turn on the effect in the effects rack. In order to make it work, you also have to set the effect's input volume in the effects rack to any value greater 0. You will now hear the effects signal only, as required.
PlugIn Modules and Parameters
In the following section you will find a discussion of the various modules and their parameters found in the Prosoniq VoxCiter plug in and their effect on the audio output. All internal processing is done with 64bit accuracy to ensure utmost quality and precision.
Parameter adjustment
To adjust parameters, simply place the mouse on the knob or slider, click and hold the mouse button and adjust the value until satisfied. You may also place the mouse on the text field and adjust the values with either the arrow keys on the numeric keypad or with the mouse like in VST.
Reset to factory default
To reset the value of a parameter to its default setting, hold the Command key and click on the slider. It will return to its factory value.
Noise Gate
A noise gate is a means of cutting off unwanted low level noise in a vocal recording. To achieve this, a noise gate opens (at a speed set with Attack time) and lets the signal through if it exceeds a certain (adjustable) threshold. It stays open for the specified Hold time and starts decaying until it reaches zero after the selected Release time. If the gate is closed (the OPER. indicator is red), no signal gets through. It is recommended to set Hold time to a small non-zero value to avoid false and repeated triggering of the noise gate due to the signal exceeding the threshold at different, closedly spaced positions in time.
THRESHOLD
Threshold determines the level of the signal needed to open the gate. The lower this value, the lower the level needed to open the gate, but the more background noise will get through. If you set it to a higher level, the gate will open more rarely or not at all, possibly cutting off some of the vocal track. Adjust this level until the gate shuts down only during background noise.
HOLD TIME
Hold time determines how long the gate will stay open once it has been triggered. If it is triggered during it is in hold mode, the hold will continue for the specified time after the signal has fallen below the threshold.
ATTACK
Determines how fast the gate will open, once it has been triggered. A smaller value will open the gate at a higher speed, thus creating a staccato type of sound and possibly cutting off some of the signal. To avoid this and to make it sound more natural, set ATTACK to a higher value. The gate will open more slowly, thus creating a 'fade' at the beginning of the sound.
RELEASE
Determines how fast the gate will close. The higher the level, the longer it takes until the signal becomes silence.
Equalizer 1 and 2
VoxCiter offers you two powerful Equalizers to adjust the sound of your recording. It can be used in Low Pass (only the signal below the FREQUENCY setting will get through) , High Pass (only the signal above the FREQUENCY setting will get through), Band Pass (only the signal shortly above to shortly below the FREQUENCY setting will get through) and Band Reject (the signal shortly above to shortly below the FREQUENCY setting will be eliminated) mode thus achieving a variety of processing functions.
Both Equalizers use the same algorithm, note however that it will yield a different result if you use an Equalizer before or after Compression.
GAIN
Sets the amount by which the filter output is boosted. In Low or High Pass mode this compensates for the volume cut that appears when frequency ranges are removed, in Band Pass it controls the amount by which the selected frequency range is boosted and in Band Reject mode it determines how much signal in the specified frequency range will be removed.
FREQUENCY
Determines the frequency of the filters.
Q
Q (also known as 'Slope', 'Steepness' or 'Resonance') affects the steepness of the filter, i.e. how intense the attenuation will be around the FREQUENCY value. Use a higher value for a more radical effect.
MODE
Sets the filter to either Low Pass, High Pass, Band Pass or Band Reject mode (s.a.).
Compressor
A Compressor is a means to compress and thus limit the dynamic range of an instrument or a voice to achieve equal loudness at any time. This enhances intelligibility and makes it easier to integrate the instrument (or voice) into a mix. A compressor simply attenuates any signal above a certain threshold and keeps any signal below that threshold. However, due to the compression of the dynamic range it will also increase the amount of background noise and other side effects (like breath noises). For optimum results we therefore recommend combining it with the Noise Gate feature of VoxCiter (see above).
THRESHOLD
Defines the threshold above which the signal will be attenuated. Smaller values will yield a higher compression thus limiting the dynamic range of the recording more. If you set this value too low, you will get a 'dead' and 'liveless' sound or even 'breathing' or 'pumping' side effect common to all compressors. This is generally unwanted and in order to avoid this you are advised to use a threshold that is in the range of -4 to -24 dB.
RATIO
Determines the intensity by which the level above the threshold is attenuated. Values to the left of the 1:1 setting will yield compression, with the leftmost setting being most intense, values to the right of the 1:1 setting will produce dynamic expansion. The latter can be used to enhance the feel of a drum loop or to bring a 'dead' vocal track back to life again by expanding its dynamic range. We generally recommend settings between 2:1 and 14:1 for average vocal recordings.
GAIN
Defines the output gain of the Compressor. Due to the attenuating of any level above the threshold, the overall volume may be reduced. This gain knob can be used to compensate for this.
ATTACK
Defines the time that will pass by until the compressor scales the volume back by the selected amount. Smaller values will make respond the compressor more quickly to dynamic changes in the sound.
RELEASE
Defines how long the volume attenuation will persist after the signal has gone below the specified threshold. Longer values will yield a more overall adaptation of the signal's dynamic range, a smaller value will be more responsive.
AUTO
If this feature is active, both ATTACK and RELEASE will be set to a value automatically adapted to your signal. This will make the manual adjustment of ATTACK and RELEASE obsolete and you will not be required to adjust them manually.
GAIN RED. DISPLAY
Displays the amount of gain reduction applied to the signal. It is a visual counterpart of the achieved effect and will help you to adjust ATTACK and RELEASE as well as the other compressor parameters more easily.
GAIN DIFF. DISPLAY
This display shows the difference in level between the input and output of the compressor. You should adjust the compressor to a minimum or positive gain difference to make optimal use of the dynamic range and resolution.
Sidechain
Sidechain is a powerful feature that can be found on high end compressors. It allows you to process the input signal that goes into the compressor to make the compressor more 'sensitive' or responsive to certain features in the signal. This is useful if you wish to compress only the parts of the signal that contain a certain frequency, as is the case for sibilancies in a vocal recording. To make the compressor sensitive to a specific frequency you wish to compress, turn SIDECHAIN on, the activate MONITOR and adjust the Sidechain Equalizer until you have found the desired frequency. Then, turn MONITOR off to hear the achieved compression effect.
MONITOR
If MONITOR is enabled, you will hear the signal that is used for controlling the gain reduction in the compressor. It is most recommendable to turn it on while searching for a specific frequency to have a direct control over the achieved effect. You will not hear any of the other modules after the compressor (including the actual compression), they are temporarily disabled to let you hear the sidechain signal.
GAIN
It controls the amount by which the selected frequency range is boosted (positive values) or cut (negative values). It also defines the amount of compression (in connection with THRESHOLD) as it alters the signal volume that goes into the compressor. Higher values will yield a higher compression.
FREQUENCY
Determines the frequency of the filter.
Q
Q (also known as 'Slope', 'Steepness' or 'Resonance') affects the steepness of the filter, i.e. how intense the attenuation will be around the FREQUENCY value. Use a higher value for a more radical effect.
DE-ESS
Turns on the Neural De-Esser. A De-Esser is a means to suppress high sibilancies (like 's' and 't' s) to achieve a less aggressive sound. You can create a similar effect if you enable SIDECHAIN and set the FREQUENCY value to a high setting while boosting the selected frequency range. This will make the compressor sensitive to high frequencies and it will only react if it detects the presence of such a signal. DE-ESS is different in that it works automatically. A small Neural Network has been trained to automatically spot 's' and 't' sibilancies in a vocal recording. This makes the De-Essing process most easy: Turn on the Compressor, turn on SIDECHAIN and enable DE-ESS to have a controllable De-Ess effect. MONITOR lets you hear the separated sibilance signal, use GAIN to adjust its loudness and thus its impact on the compression.
Drive
Drive can be used to achieve a 'Saturation' or 'Tube distortion' type of effect. It can be used to warm up the vocal recording or add some 'dirt' or 'punch' to it. High values will produce interesting side effects usable in sound design.
IN GAIN
Defines the input volume to the effect. The higher the volume, the more distortion will be added to the signal.
BIAS
Defines the type of distortion added. The leftmost setting will be a pure tape-machine-type of distortion, the rightmost setting will produce a tube-like distortion effect. A setting of 0 will use a 1:1 mixture of both types of distortion.
OUT GAIN
Compensates for the increase in volume if you set IN GAIN to higher values.
Refresh
Refresh will add more brilliance to your signal. This can be used to compensate for excessive post-processing of the signal or add some presence and brilliance to your recordings. This proprietary new algorithm for synthesizing new spectral contents developed by PROSONIQ comes with full anti-aliasing and refreshes the spectrum of a sound to provide richness and clarity even in cases where all high frequency contents have been lost.
DRIVE
Determines the amount of high partials generated by this device. Lower settings will produce a less intense effect. A setting around 50-60 is recommended in the general case.
SHAPE
Determines the mix between high and low partials (i.e. 1st and 2nd order harmonics) that are added to the signal. Higher settings will add higher harmonics, thus producing a more crispy overall sound.
TUNE
Determines the frequency of the signal that is generated by the Refresh module. Lower values will synthesize lower frequency partials, higher settings will produce higher harmonics.
INTENSITY
Defines the amount of refresh signal that is added to your material. Higher values will add more refresh. We generally recommend frequent switching between processed and original signal (via Bypass, see above) as the human ear rapidly adapts to a refreshed signal and there is a high risk to overdo this effect. INTENSITY should be between 5-20 for average signals.
Output
This is used to adapt the output volume to the subsequent processing stages in VST.
GAIN
Adjusts the output volume of the VoxCiter plug in. While it is of no major significance if the individual modules are temporarily used at too high levels (the OL indicators light up) it is always recommended to adjust GAIN that the OL indicator in the output stays off.
Important Settings for Best Performance
• Hard disks for audio must have an ASYNCHRONOUS driver installed.
For best results we recommend that you use a second hard drive for audio recording formatted with the FWB Hard Disk Toolkit 2.01 or higher. Make sure that 'Blind transfers' or similar are enabled.
• File Sharing should be turned off.
AppleTalk may cause performance problems as well, especially when server(s) are mounted.
• Virtual Memory must be switched off. (Control Panel 'Memory').
This also applies to Connectix RAM Doubler.
• You should set 'Modern Memory Manager' active in the Control Panel 'Memory'.
What to do about Audio Performance Problems
• If the audio stutters or mutes during playback.
The 'System Setup' Dialog can be used to adjust certain parameters. Please refer to the 'Audio Recording' Handbook that came with your VST program for details.
• Disk Buffer Size:
Experiment to see which works best with your hard-disk.
• Number of tracks:
Maybe try less with your current configuration.
• Memory per track:
Try increasing this value.
• Use the 'Performance' window (from the Audio Menu)
