sonible true:balance Spectral Analyzer Plug In User Manual

: June 9, 2024
: sonible

sonible true:balance Spectral Analyzer Plug In

Welcome To True: Balance

true: balance is spectral analyzer plug-in that makes it easy to compare the spectral distribution of your mix in reference to different spectral targets. Additionally, the plug-in provides you with information on the width and correlation of your track that will help you to avoid issues with mono compatibility or a blurry low end.
Grab true: balance whenever you need reliable insights into the overall balance of your mix. You can use its common genre references or load custom reference tracks for comparisons. Plus, true: balance assists you with suggestions for modifications your track might need in order to match the spectral distribution of your chosen reference. If you appreciate additional guidance, just use the check features to get suggestions for modifications to rectify issues.
Get started with true: balance and have fun getting your track ready for its big release.

Install

System requirements

CPU
Intel Core i5 Apple M1
RAM
4GB
Operating systems
Windows 10+ (64 bit)
Mac OS 10.12+
Graphics
OpenGL Version 3.2+

You will need admin privileges to successfully install the true: level plug- in.

Mac OSX

To start the installation process, please open the disk image sonible_truebalance_osx_x.x.x.dmg. This will mount the image and open a finder window showing the content of the installation package.

To install true:balance on your system, run the installation file truebalance.pkg.

The installer will now guide you through the necessary steps to install true:balance on your computer. true:balance will automatically be installed in the default locations for audio plug-ins.

Default folders:

Audio Unit
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/
VST
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/
VST3
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/
AAX
/Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins/

Windows

To start the installation process, extract the downloaded zip-file sonible_truebalance_win_x.x.x.zip onto your hard disk and run the installer.
The installer will now guide you through the necessary steps to install true:balance on your computer. true:balance will automatically be installed in the default locations for audio plug-ins.

Default folders:

VST3
C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\
VST
C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST\
AAX
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins

Authorization

Licensing system

You can select between two licensing systems: machinebased or iLok (USB dongle). By creating a user account on www.sonible.com and registering your products – if they are not already visible in your Dashboard, you can manage your plug-in activations.

Machine-based
Each license key allows you to install true:balance on two computers with unique system IDs. These system IDs are computed during license activation.

The same license can be used by multiple users, but each user has to individually unlock the full version of true:balance under their account. In case a system-ID is changed (e.g. replacement of the hard drive), you can revoke/activate the plug-in next to the respective system-ID in the Dashboard of your sonible user account.

iLok
If you want to transfer one activation to your iLok, just make sure the plug- in is registered in your sonible user account. Click on the button „transfer to iLok“ next to the plug-in in your Dashboard and follow the instructions.
Note: 1st gen iLok dongles and the iLok Cloud are currently not supported.

Unlocking

If you purchased a license for true:balance online, you receive your license key via email.

Machine-based unlocking
When opening true:balance for the first time, a notification window will be displayed asking you to unlock true:balance with a valid license key.

Please make sure that your computer is connected to the internet before starting the registration process.
Enter your license key and click „register.“ The plug-in will now communicate with our server to check if the license is valid. If it is – enjoy! 🙂

iLok
If you transferred your license to an iLok, simply attach the iLok to your computer. The plug-in will then be automatically registered – enjoy! If you don’t receive the email within minutes please check your junk folder first before contacting our support (support@sonible.com).

Trial version

To run true:balance in demo-mode, simply click ”try” and you will then be able to use true:balance for a couple of days without any limitations. (Please refer to our website to find out more about the current demo period of true:- balance)
When the demo period expires, you will need to purchase a full license in order to continue using the plug-in.

Internet connection requirements
sonible plug-ins only needs an internet connection during the trial period and for initial license activation. During the trial period, the plug-in needs to go online every time it is used. Once the license of your plug-in has successfully been activated, an internet connection is no longer needed.

User Interface

Key Readouts

The spectral balance of a track is all about the overall level-relation of different frequency regions and not necessarily about the exact spectral shape. Three readouts showing the average levels in the low, mid and high frequency range help to focus on these key level-relations.
The indicator and the readout both turn green if the measured value meets the value of the reference.

Spectrum Display

The spectrum display provides detailed real-time information about the spectral distribution of a mix. To account for the human perception of levels in different frequencies, the analyzer uses a perceptually motivated frequency summing that leads to a bathtub-like distribution for pink noise and an upwards slope in high frequencies for whitenoise-like signals. Narrow band signals (e.g. sine waves) will have a constant level across all frequencies. This weighting helps to better represent critical level differences as perceived by a mixing engineer.

Spectral References

While true:balance can be used as a classical spectrum analyzer, its main strength comes into play when comparing a mix to different spectral references, like the typical spectral distribution of different common genres or the average distribution of multiple reference tracks.
true:balance provides two simple, yet precise ways to compare the qualities of a mix with references:

Common References

Channel Data Section

The lower section of true:balance focuses on the width and correlation of the analyzed signal. The values are computed for the overall signal as well as the three frequency regions low, mid and high.
While a good spectral balance is essential for a great mix, it’s also important to make sure that the overall sound and feeling of a (stereo) mix remains intact when played back in mono. Checking the width and correlation helps to identify potential mono-compatibility issues or spatial balancing problems in the mix.

A mono signal is generated by summing the left and right channel of a stereo signal. This loss of the width layer means, that all signals covering a certain frequency region are now all coming from the same direction and are no longer separated by their spatial distance to each other. The collapse of all sources into one location can lead to problematic masking effects. A mix with clearly distinguishable sources on stereo may sound muddy in mono and quiet components may even be fully masked by competing sources.
Besides, problematic temporal relationships between similar signal components on both channels can lead to phase-cancellation issues and the so-called comb- filtering effect. A comb-filter emerges when two signals are summed together that carry similar frequency-components with a problematic phase-shift (e.g. 180°). These frequency components will cancel each other out when summed together, leading to a metallic and hollow sound.

Width & Correlation

Width

The width indicates how wide the stereo image will be perceived. A very low width indicates that most of the signal’s energy is coming from the center (this is typically a good idea for the low end), while a very high width shows that a lot of signal energy is coming from the sides.

Make sure that your low-end is very narrow or mono.
Since very low frequencies are non-directional when played back, you should always try to keep them mono. Bass signals in stereo are particularity prone to phase-cancellation issues – so always make sure that the width of your bass is not unnecessarily wide.
Be careful with extremely wide panning.
The further left or right a signal is panned in the stereo mix, the better that sources overlapping in frequency are separated by the additional layer of width. If you listen to your mix in mono and realize that one of your sources suddenly disappears, you may try to pan them closer to the center in the stereo mix (reduce the width).

Correlation

The correlation value is a metric for the “similarity” of two signals. Hence, it’s a good indicator for the perceived width of the mix and for spotting potential phase-cancellation problems.

The section will be deactivated, if the input is a mono signal.

Although the actual correlation value of a signal heavily depends on the mix (instruments, number of sources etc.), it’s good to keep the following rules of thumb in mind when analyzing a mix:
The closer the value is to +1, the more similar are the left and right channel and the smaller is the perceived width of the signal.
The closer the value is to zero, the more unrelated are the left and right channel and the larger is the perceived width.
Close to 0, the signals become very wide and summing may cause unwanted frequency masking.

All signals with a correlation below 0 indicate out-of-phase components that will typically lead to unwanted phase cancellation effects if the signals are summed to mono. So negative correlation values should always be avoided if you want a signal to be mono-compatible.

Output Meter

Balance Check

The balance check feature analyzes the current spectral distribution of your signal and compares the result with the balance of the chosen reference target. Based on the analysis, small info boxes let you know if the levels in different frequency ranges are on track or if you should probably tweak the mix before publishing it.

Mono Check

Presets

A preset saves the settings of the plug-in, including all currently loaded reference tracks. This means that a preset can be used to compare multiple different tracks (e.g. of an album) against the same custom references.

To delete a preset or change its name, go to the preset folder in your local file explorer.
You can easily share your presets among different workstations. All presets are saved with the file extension “.spr” in the following folders:
Preset Folders
OSX: ~/Library/Audio/Presets/sonible/truebalance Windows: My Documents\Presets\sonible\truebalance

Settings

Update Notification
When a new version of the plug-in is available, you’ll receive a notification here and it’s also indicated by a little dot on the cogwheel in the main view of true: level. Click on the green text to download the latest version.