MeldaProduction MTurboEQ Distortion Plug in Instruction Manual

MeldaProduction MTurboEQ Distortion Plug in

Specifications

• Plugin Type: Equalizer
• Available Modes: Stepped, Continuous
• Supported Platforms: Windows, Mac OS X

Overview

MTurboEQ is a powerful equalizer plugin that allows you to shape the audio frequencies in your recordings. With its intuitive interface and advanced features, you can achieve precise control over your sound.

Globals

The Globals section provides global settings for the plugin. Here, you can select the mode, adjust the filter settings, and access additional features.

Filters

The Filters section allows you to configure the equalizer filters. You can adjust the frequency, gain, and bandwidth of each filter to target specific areas of the audio spectrum.

Mids using a peak filter

The mids section focuses on adjusting the mid frequencies using a peak filter. This allows you to boost or cut specific mid-range frequencies to shape the overall sound.

Stepped / Continuous

• MTurboEQ offers two modes for adjusting parameters – Stepped and Continuous. In Stepped mode, you can choose values from a predefined interval, which provides easy and quick adjustments. Continuous mode, on the other hand, allows you to choose any value within the available interval, providing more precise control over the equalizer settings.
• You can switch between these two modes freely to make major adjustments in Stepped mode and then fine-tune in Continuous mode.

Mid-side and other goodies

In addition to the main equalizer functionality, MTurboEQ also includes mid- side processing and other useful features. These additional tools allow you to further enhance your audio by adjusting the stereo image and applying advanced processing techniques.

Devices

MTurboEQ can be thought of as a collection of plugins, each represented as a device. By selecting a device, you can access its specific settings and controls. The device’s graphical user interface (GUI) will appear on the right side of the plugin window. Note that compared to other MeldaProduction plugins, MTurboEQ does not have an edit screen for modifying the internal functionality of the devices. If you require complex editing capabilities, we recommend checking out MXXX, the ultimate modular effect.

Presets

• The Presets section allows you to manage and load presets for MTurboEQ. Presets are preconfigured settings that you can apply to your audio to achieve specific sounds or effects.
• The Presets button opens a window displaying all available presets. You can load a preset by double-clicking on it or selecting it using the buttons or keyboard shortcuts. The arrow buttons next to the Presets button allow you to navigate between presets easily.
• Preset files are global, meaning you can use a preset saved from one project in another project. You can also back up presets using different methods, such as creating a single archive of all presets on your computer or exporting/importing individual folders of presets for one plugin. Additionally, you can use the Randomize button to load a random preset, and the Left and Right arrow buttons to quickly switch between the previous and next presets.

Settings

The Settings button provides access to additional plugin settings. Here is a brief description of the separate items:

Licence manager

The Licence manager allows you to activate or deactivate the plugins and manage subscriptions. You can drag and drop a licence file onto the plugin for activation, or enter your user account name and password for automatic activation.

GUI & Style

The GUI & Style section enables you to customize the appearance of the plugin. You can choose the GUI style and adjust the main colors used for the background, title bars, text, graphs, and highlighting.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• Q: Can I use MTurboEQ on both Windows and Mac OS X?
• A: Yes, MTurboEQ is available for both Windows and Mac OS X platforms.
• Q: How can I switch between Stepped and Continuous modes?
• A: To switch between Stepped and Continuous modes, simply select the desired mode from the Globals section.
• Q: Can I load presets from one project into another?
• A: Yes, presets are global and can be easily used in different projects.
• Q: How can I back up my presets?
• A: You can back up presets using three different methods: Backup and Restore buttons in each preset window, Export/Import buttons for individual preset folders, or by saving the actual preset files found in specific directories on your computer.

**Overview

**

MTurboEQ is an equalizer inspired by many of the good analog EQs of the past, made to be easy and quick to use, sound great, but not necessarily emulate the originals. It doesn’t produce any unnecessary noise or distort the signal (unless Saturation is used). MTurboEQ is designed in such a way that all the equalizers that it provides “feel” the same. They always have pretty much the same features, even when the original EQs didn’t come close to such versatility. We cloned what we decided to be advantageous, but discarded everything else. Each equalizer has a different filter design, which essentially defines which frequencies are affected and how. That’s after all the magic of these analog devices. Simply choose the one that sounds best to you. And, of course, you can use the A-H presets for comparison.

Globals

• First, there’s always a Globals section, which is the same for all EQs. It provides the basic processing one often needs.
• Input gain lets you adjust the input level to your needs. Note that when saturation is used, the gain affects the amount of saturation/distortion.
• Saturation lets you bring some character, or analog feel, to the signal. It generally simulates the nonlinear characteristics of most analog devices and produces higher harmonics. Be careful not to overuse this feature.
• High-pass and Low-pass filters are essential for mixing. For most tracks, which don’t contain bass frequencies, it is advantageous to remove the low-end using a high-pass filter. This clears the area of unnecessary rumble, noise and other artifacts, and clears the space for the instruments, which actually need it – bass and bass drum usually. It is often useful for these instruments too however, to remove DC for example. The low-pass filter is less widely used, but it can still be advantageous for tracks, which don’t require the high frequencies, hence it lets you clear additional space in the mix.
• Dry/Wet provides an easy way to adjust the amount of equalization. Please note that since this is a minimum phase equalizer, it’s not a true dry/wet as that would cause problems with phase cancellation. Instead it emulates how the dry/wet would work, if it were actually possible. It does not affect the input HP/LP section though.

Filters

Low-shelf and high-shelf filters are most likely the most essential filters. Low-shelf lets you control the bass frequencies and high-shelf targets the high frequencies and lets you get some sparkle. Be careful not to overuse them, since positive gain almost always sounds
“better”, but that’s due to the psychoacoustical hi-fi effect. It is common to perform some slight high end boost though, to make the output brighter as that usually sounds more professional and microphones tend to lower the level of high frequencies.

Peak filters are used to control a specific part of the spectrum and are often combined with shelves, which will most likely be the first to be used. For example, it’s common to equalize a bass drum by amplifying the bass spectrum with a low-shelf and then remove some of the

Stepped / Continuous

MTurboEQ lets you easily switch between 2 editor modes at any time. Stepped mode is inspired by analog devices, which couldn’t have a slider or knob for technical reasons, so instead they had a multi-position switch, which let you choose between a limited set of predefined values. The engineers had to take their time and use their expertise to select the most useful ones. There’s some appeal in having this limited set, since it is often hard to decide what is better, if you have potentially infinite possibilities. It is also easier to compare values that are further apart, so there’s some distinct difference in sound. In most cases we cloned the values that the designers of the original devices had chosen, but we often added some more. In Stepped mode (almost) all filter parameters provide the stepped behaviour, even if the originals provided a knob for example, simply to have a standardized behaviour. After all we are not limited by the problems of the analog world any more.

Continuous mode is the exact opposite – it lets you choose any value in the available interval, even if the original designs didn’t provide them. The advantage is that you can tune the equalizer much further, the disadvantage is that you need to be able to choose. In any case you can freely switch between the 2 modes and perform major decisions in Stepped mode and then switch to Continuous mode for fine-tuning for example.

Mid-side and other goodies

Similarly to most MeldaProduction plugins, MTurboEQ has several goodies you can use to speed-up your workflow and perform more complex tasks. These are documented below, but let’s have a quick review. L+R button controls the channel mode – which channels are affected. You can use it to make the EQ process only left or right channel for example, or even mid and side channels, surround etc. AGC may be handy to avoid loudness changes and getting fooled by your own ears. Safety limiter is generally handy if you want to make sure the output won’t get too loud no matter how crazy processing are you going to perform. Oversampling shouldn’t be necessary, but if you want to avoid even potential aliasing when using saturation for example, feel free to use it. A-H presets are essential for fast workflow and let you store, compare and morph between 8 settings.

**Devices

**

This plugin can be though of as a collection of plugins listed on the left side of the GUI. Select a device simply by clicking on it. Its GUI will appear on the right side. Compared to other MeldaProduction plugins it doesn’t have any edit screen, so you cannot edit the internal functionality, which may be extremely complex. If you are interested in complex editing, please check MXXX, the ultimate modular effect.

Presets
Presets button shows a window with all available presets. A preset can be loaded from the preset window by double-clicking on it, selecting via the buttons or by using your keyboard. You can also manage the directory structure, store new presets, replace existing ones etc. Presets are global, so a preset saved from one project, can easily be used in another. The arrow buttons next to the preset button can be used to switch between presets easily. Holding Ctrl while pressing the button loads a random preset. There must be some presets for this feature to work of course.

Presets can be backed up by 3 different methods:

• A ) Using “Backup” and “Restore” buttons in each preset window, which produces a single archive of all presets on the computer.
• B ) Using “Export/Import” buttons, which export a single folder of presets for one plugin.
• C ) By saving the actual preset files, which are found in the following directories (not recommended):
  • Windows : C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\MeldaProduction
  • Mac OS X: /Library/Application support/MeldaProduction

Files are named based on the name of the plugin like this: “{pluginname}.presets”, so for example MAutopan.presets or MDynamics.presets. If the directory cannot be found on your computer for some reason, you can just search for the particular file.

Please note that prior to version 16 a different format was used and the naming was “{pluginname}presets.xml”. The plugin also supports an online preset exchange. If the computer is connected to the internet, the plugin connects to our server once a week, submits your presets and downloads new ones if available. This feature is manually maintained in order to remove generally unusable presets, so it may take some time before any submitted presets become available. This feature relies on each user so we strongly advise that any submitted presets be named and organised in the same way as the factory presets, otherwise they will be removed.

Left arrow

Left arrow button loads the previous preset.

Right arrow

Right arrow button loads the next preset.

Randomize

Randomize button loads a random preset.

Panic

Panic button resets the plugin state. You can use it to force the plugin to report latency to the host again and to avoid any audio problems. For example, some plugins, having a look-ahead feature, report the size of the look-ahead delay as latency, but it is inconvenient to do that every time the look-ahead changes as it usually causes the playback to stop. After you tweak the latency to the correct value, just click this button to sync the track in time with the others, minimizing phasing artifacts caused by the look-ahead delay mixing with undelayed audio signals in your host. It may also be necessary to restart playback in your host.

Another example is if some malfunctioning plugin generates extremely high values for the input of this plugin. A potential filter may start generating very high values as well and as a result the playback will stop. You can just click this button to reset the plugin and the playback will start again.

Settings

Settings button shows a menu with additional settings of the plugin. Here is a brief description of the separate items.

• Licence manager lets you activate/deactivate the plugins and manage subscriptions. While you can simply drag & drop a licence file onto the plugin, in some cases there may be a faster way. For instance, you can enter your user account name and password and the plugin will do all the activating for you. There are 4 groups of settings, each section has its own detailed help information: GUI & Style enables you to pick the GUI style for the plug-in and the main colours used for the background, the title bars of the windows and panels, the text and graphs area and the highlighting (used for enabled buttons, sliders, knobs etc).
• Advanced settings configures several processing options for the plug-in.
• Global system settings contains some settings for all MeldaProduction plugins. Once you change any of them, restart your DAW if needed, and it will affect all MeldaProduction plugins.
• Dry/Wet affects determines, for Multiband plug-ins, which multiband parameters are affected by the Global dry/wet control.
• Smart interpolation adjusts the interpolation algorithm used when changing parameter values; the higher the setting the higher the audio quality and the lower the chance of zippering noise, but more CPU will be used.

WWW

WWW button shows a menu with additional information about the plugin. You can check for updates, get easy access to support, MeldaProduction web page, video tutorials, Facebook/Twitter/YouTube channels and more.

Sleep indicator

Sleep indicator informs whether the plugin is currently active or in sleep mode. The plugin can automatically switch itself off to save CPU, when there is no input signal and the plugin knows it cannot produce any signal on its own and it generally makes sense. You can disable this in Settings / Intelligent sleep on silence both for individual instances and globally for all plugins on the system.

Plugin toolbar

Plugin toolbar provides some global features, A-H presets and more.

Oversampling

Oversampling can potentially improve sound quality by processing at a higher sample rate. Processors such as compressors, saturators, distortions etc., which employ nonlinear processing generate higher harmonics of the existing frequencies. If these frequencies exceed the Nyquist rate, which equals half of the sampling rate, they get mirrored back under the Nyquist rate. This is known as aliasing and is almost always considered an artifact. This is because the mirrored frequencies are no longer harmonic and sound as digital noise as this effect does not physically occur in nature. Oversampling reduces the problem by temporarily increasing the sampling rate. This moves the Nyquist frequency which in turn, diminishes the level of the aliased harmonics. Note that the point of oversampling is not to remove harmonics, we usually add them intentionally to make the signal richer, but to reduce or attenuate the harmonics with frequencies so high, that they just cannot be represented within the sampling rate.

To understand aliasing, try this experiment: Set the sampling rate in your host to 44100 Hz. Open MOscillator and select a “rectangle” or “full saw” waveform. These simple waveforms have lots of harmonics and without oversampling even they become highly aliased. Now select 16x oversampling and listen to the difference. If you again select 1x oversampling, you can hear that the audio signal gets extensively “dirty”. If you use an analyzer (MAnalyzer or MEqualizer for example), you will clearly see how, without oversampling, the plugin generates lots of inharmonic frequencies, some of them which are even below the fundamental frequency. Here is another, very extreme example to demonstrate the result of aliasing. Choose a “sine” shape and activate 16x oversampling. Now use a distortion or some saturation to process the signal. It is very probable that you will be able to hear (or at least see in the analyzer) the aliased
frequencies.

The plugin implements a high-quality oversampling algorithm, which essentially works like this: First the audio material is upsampled to a higher sampling rate using a very complicated filter. It is then processed by the plugin. Further filtering is performed in order to remove any frequencies above the Nyquist rate to prevent aliasing from occurring, and then the audio gets downsampled to the original sampling rate.

Oversampling also has several disadvantages of which you should be aware before you start using it. Firstly, upsampled processing induces latency (at least in high-quality mode, although you can select low-quality directly in this popup), which is not very usable in real time applications. Secondly, oversampling also takes much more CPU power, due to both the processing being performed at a higher sampling rate (for 16x oversampling at 44100 Hz, this equates to 706 kHz!), and the complex filtering. Finally, and most importantly, oversampling creates some artifacts of its own and for some algorithms processing at higher sampling rates can actually lower the audio quality, or at least change the sound character. Your ears should always be the final judge.

As always, use this feature ONLY if you can actually hear the difference. It is a common misconception that oversampling is a miraculous cure all that makes your audio sound better. That is absolutely not the case. Ideally, you should work in a higher sampling rate (96kHz is almost always enough), while limiting the use of oversampling to some heavily distorting processors.

Channel mode

Channel mode button shows the current processing channel mode, e.g. Left+Right (L+R) indicates the processing of left and right channels. This is the default mode for mono and stereo audio material and effectively processes the incoming signal as expected. However the plugin also provides additional modes, of which you may take advantage as described below. Mastering this feature will give you unbelievable options for controlling the stereo field. Note that this is not relevant for mono audio tracks, because the host supplies only one input and output channel.

• Left (L) mode and Right (R) mode allow the plugin to process just one channel, only the left or only the right. This feature has a number of simple uses. Equalizing only one channel allows you to fix spectral inconsistencies, when mids are lower in one channel for example. A kind of stereo expander can be produced by equalizing each side differently. Stereo expansion could also be produced by using a modulation effect, such as a vibrato or flanger, on one of these channels. Note however that the results would not be fully mono compatible.
• Left and right channels can be processed separately with different settings, by creating two instances of the plugin in series, one set to ‘L’ mode and the other to ‘R’ mode. The instance in ‘L’ mode will not touch the right channel and vice versa. This approach is perfectly safe and is even advantageous, as both sides can be configured completely independently with both settings visible next to each other.
• Mid (M) mode allows the plugin to process the so-called mid (or mono) signal. Any stereo signal can be transformed from left and right, to mid and side, and back again, with minimal CPU usage and no loss of audio quality. The mid channel contains the mono sum (or centre), which is the signal present in both left and right channels (in phase). The side channel contains the difference between the left and right channels, which is the “stereo” part. In ‘M mode’ the plugin performs the conversion into mid and side channels, processes mid, leaves side intact and converts the results back into the left and right channels expected by the host.
• To understand what a mid signal is, consider using a simple gain feature, available in many plugins. Setting the plugin to M mode and decreasing gain, will actually lower or attenuate the mono content and the signal will appear “wider”. There must be some stereo content present, this will not work for monophonic audio material placed in stereo tracks of course. Similarly amplifying the mono content by increasing the gain, will make the mono content dominant and the stereo image will become “narrower”.
• As well as a simple gain control there are various creative uses for this channel mode.
• Using a compressor on the mid channel can widen the stereo image, because in louder parts the mid part gets attenuated and the stereo becomes more prominent. This is a good trick to make the listener focus on an instrument whenever it is louder, because a wider stereo image makes the listener feel that the origin of the sound is closer to, or even around them.
• A reverb on the mid part makes the room appear thin and distant. It is a good way to make the track wide due to the existing stereo content, yet spacey and centered at the same time. Note that since this effect does not occur naturally, the result may sound artificial on its own, however it may help you fit a dominant track into a mix.
• An equalizer gives many possibilities – for example, the removal of frequencies that are colliding with those on another track. By processing only the mid channel you can keep the problematic frequencies in the stereo channel. This way it is possible to actually fit both tracks into the same part of the spectrum – one occupying the mid (centre) part of the signal, physically appearing further away from the listener, the other occupying the side part of the signal, appearing closer to the listener.
• Using various modulation effects can vary the mid signal, to make the stereo signal less correlated. This creates a wider stereo image and makes the audio appear closer to the listener.

Side (S) mode

• Side (S) mode is complementary to M mode, and allows processing of only the side (stereo) part of the signal leaving the mid intact. The same techniques as described for M mode can also be applied here, giving the opposite results.
• Using a gain control with positive gain will increase the width of the stereo image.
• A compressor can attenuate the side part in louder sections making it more monophonic and centered, placing the origin a little further away and in front of the listener.
• A reverb may extend the stereo width and provide some natural space without affecting the mid content. This creates an interesting side-effect – the reverb gets completely cancelled out when played on a monophonic device (on a mono radio for example). With stereo processing you have much more space to place different sounds in the mix. However when the audio is played on a monophonic system it becomes too crowded, because what was originally in two channels is now in just one and mono has a very limited capability for 2D placement. Therefore getting rid of the reverb in mono may be advantageous, because it frees some space for other instruments.
• An equalizer can amplify some frequencies in the stereo content making them more apparent and since they psycho acoustically become closer to the listener, the listener will be focused on them. Conversely, frequencies can be removed to free space for other instruments in stereo.
• A saturator / exciter may make the stereo richer and more appealing by creating higher harmonics without affecting the mid channel, which could otherwise become crowded.
• Modulation effects can achieve the same results as in mid mode, but this will vary a lot depending on the effect and the audio material. It can be used in a wide variety of creative ways.

Mid+Side (M+S)

Lets the plugin process both mid and side channels together using the same settings. In many cases there is no difference to L+R mode, but there are exceptions.

A reverb applied in M+S mode will result in minimal changes to the width of the stereo field (unless it is true-stereo, in which case mid will affect side and vice versa), it can be used therefore, to add depth without altering the width.

A compressor in M+S mode can be a little harder to understand. It basically stabilizes the levels of the mid and side channels. When channel linking is disabled in the compressor, you can expect some variations in the sound field, because the compressor will attenuate the louder channel (usually the mid), changing the stereo width depending on the audio level. When channel linking is enabled, a compressor will usually react similarly to the L+R channel mode.

Exciters or saturators are both nonlinear processors, their outputs depend on the level of the input, so the dominant channel (usually mid) will be saturated more. This will usually make the stereo image slightly thinner and can be used as a creative effect.

How to modify mid and side with different settings?

The answer is the same as for the L and R channels. Use two instances of the plugin one after another, one in M mode, the other in S mode. The instance in M mode will not change the side channel and vice versa.

Left+Right(neg) (L+R-) mode is the same as L+R mode, but the the right channel’s phase will be inverted. This may come in handy if the L and R channels seem out of phase. When used on a normal track, it will force the channels out of phase. This may sound like an extreme stereo expansion, but is usually extremely fatiguing on the ears. It is also not mono compatible – on a mono device the track will probably become almost silent. Therefore be advised to use this only if the channels are actually out of phase or if you have some creative intent.

There are also 4 subsidiary modes: Left & zero Right (L(R0)), Right & zero Left (R(L0)), Mid & zero Side (M(S0)) and Side & zero Mid (S(M0)). Each of these processes one channel and silences the other.

Surround mode is not related to stereo processing but lets the plugin process up to 8 channels, depending on how many the host supplies. For VST2 plugins you have to first activate surround processing using the Activate surround item in the bottom. This is a global switch for all MeldaProduction plugins, which configures them to report 8in-8out capabilities to the host, on loading. It is disabled by default, because some hosts have trouble dealing with such plugins. After activation, restart your host to start using the surround capabilities of the plugins. Deactivation is done in the same way. Please note that all input and output busses will be multi-channel, that includes side- chain for example. For VST3/AU/AAX plugins the activation is not necessary.

First place the plugin on a surround track – a track that has more than 2 channels. Then select Surround from the plug-in’s Channel Mode menu. The plugins will regard this mode as a natural extension of 2 channel processing. For example, a compressor will process each channel separately or measure the level by combining the levels of all of the inputs provided. Further surround processing properties, to enable/disable each channel or adjust its level, can be accessed via the Surround settings in the menu.

Ambisonics mode provides support for the modern 3D systems (mostly cinema and VR) with up to 64 channels (ambisonics 7th order). Support for this is still quite rare among the DAWs, so this needs to be activated in all DAWs using the Activate ambisonics item in the bottom. This is a global switch for all MeldaProduction plugins, which configures them to report 64in-64out capabilities to the host, on loading. After activation, restart your host to start using the ambisonics capabilities of the plugins. Deactivation is done in the same way. Please note that all input and output busses will be multi- channel, that includes side-chain for example.

First place the plugin on an ambisonics track, supported are all orders from 1st (4 channels) to 7th (64 channels). Then select Ambisonics from the plug- in’s Channel Mode menu. Finally select the Ambisonics settings in the menu and configure the Ambisonics order and other settings if needed. The plugins will regard this mode as a natural extension of 2 channel processing. For example, a compressor will process each channel separately or measure the level by combining the levels of all of the inputs provided.

AGC

• AGC button enables or disables the automatic gain control – the automatic adjustment of the output volume such that it matches the input volume. Human hearing is very adaptable. In fact differences in loudness, for example when loading a preset, may go unnoticed and instead be perceived by the listener as “better sounding”, leading to a misjudgement. This feature should prevent this effect, thus allowing the listener to focus on the sonic qualities only.
• AGC works by measuring input and output loudness, and then compensating for the difference while also taking into account any induced latency. The loudness measurement follows the ITU and EBU specifications with an RMS of 400ms, meaning that the reaction time is 400ms. This is very important, as you should be aware that AGC needs time to properly adjust after any change of settings. Also note that this is a nonlinear operation. It may cause some distortion due to the long measurement time. It should be negligible though.
• AGC makes sense in most applications including reverberation and equalization for example. However, in some cases it can work against the plugin. A simple example of this is a tremolo, where the plugin manipulates output volume. If the tremolo rate is slow enough, say 1Hz, it makes the period longer than the actual AGC measurement time. So whenever the tremolo changes audio level, the AGC starts compensating for it. This can of course be used creatively, since AGC will always be a little “late”, but it is definitely not a desired outcome in normal use. Another example of this is compression. When used with short attack and release times.
• AGC can effectively compensate for the attenuation of the compressor. However when the attack and release times are higher than 100ms, the compressor’s reaction time becomes too slow, and in conjunction with AGC, severe pumping can occur. As a general rule of thumb as for all audio processing tasks, use it only if you know you need it. AGC is a powerful tool that can make your workflow easier, but it can also be damaging.

Set

Set button uses the AGC (automatic gain compensation) processor to calculate the ideal output gain to ensure that the output audio loudness is equal to the input level. To use it, simply enable playback in your host and click the button. The plugin’s output gain will be adjusted to match the input and output levels as closely as possible.

If the AGC is already enabled, the change will be instant and you can disable the AGC afterwards. Typically you will browse presets, generate random settings etc. During the entire time you will have AGC enabled to prevent you from experiencing different output loudness levels. When you find a sonically ideal setup, you simply click the Set button to set the output gain automatically and disable the AGC as you won’t need it anymore. If the AGC is not already enabled, clicking the Set button displays a window with progress bar for a few seconds, while the plugin temporarily enables AGC and analyses input and output of the plugin. After that the AGC is disabled again. To get the best results, you should feed the plugin with some “universal” signal. If you are processing a specific instrument, play a typical part, a chorus in case of vocals for example. If you are creating presets designed for general use, white/pink noise may be the best signal to use.

Limiter

Limiter button enables or disables the safety limiter. Its purpose is to protect you from peaks above 0dB, which can have damaging effects to your processing chain, your monitors and even your hearing. It is generally advised to keep your audio below 0dB at all times in all stages of your processing chain. However, several plugins may cause high level outputs with certain settings, often due to unprevented resonances with specific audio materials. The safety limiter prevents that.  Note that it is NOT wise to enable this “just in case”. As with any processing, the limiter requires additional processing power and modifies the output signal. It is a transparent single- band brickwall limiter, but you still need to be careful when using it.

A-H presets selector
A-H presets selector controls the current A-H preset. This allows the plugin to store up to 8 sets of settings, including those parameters that cannot be automated or modulated. However it does not include channel mode, oversampling and potentially some other global controls available from the Settings/Settings menu.

For example, this feature can be used to keep multiple settings, when you are not sure about the ideal configuration When you change any parameter, only the currently selected preset is modified.  The four buttons below enable you to switch between the last 2 selected sets using the A/B button, morph between the first 4 sets using the morphing button and copy & paste settings from one preset to another (via the clipboard).  It is also possible to switch between the presets using MIDI program change messages sent from your host. The set selected depends on the Program Change number: 0 selects A, 7 selects H, 8 selects A, 15 selects H and so on.

A/B

A/B button switches between the active and previously active A-H preset (not necessarily the A and B presets themselves). To compare any 2 of the A-H presets, select one and then the other. Clicking this button will then switch between these two. You can do the same thing by clicking on the particular presets, but this makes it easier, letting you close your eyes and just listen.

Morph

Morph button lets you morph between the A, B, C and D settings. Morphing only affects those parameters that can be automated or modulated; that does include most of the parameters however. When you click this button, an X/Y graph is shown allowing you to drag the position indicator to any position between the letters A, B, C and D. The closer you drag the indicator to one of the letters, the closer the actual settings are to that preset.

• Please note that this will overwrite and change the preset that is currently selected, so it is best to select a new preset e.g. ‘E’, then use the morphing method. This way you will define the settings for A, B,C and D, morph between them, and store the result in ‘E’ without any modification of the original A, B, C and D presets.
• Please note that the ABCD morphing itself cannot be automated and that, while morphing, the changes to the underlying parameters are not notified to the host (there may be hundreds of change events).

Copy

• Copy button copies the current settings to the system clipboard. Other presets, oversampling, channel mode and other global settings are not copied.
• Hold Ctrl to save the settings as a file instead. That may be necessary for complex settings, which may be too long for system clipboard to handle. It may also be advantageous when you want to send the settings via email. You can load the settings by drag & dropping them to a plugin or holding Ctrl and clicking Paste.

Paste

Paste button pastes settings from the system clipboard into the current preset. Hold Ctrl to load the settings from a file instead. Hold Shift to paste the settings to all of the A-H slots at once.

Undo

Undo button reverts the last change. Only changes to automatable or modulatable parameters and global settings (load/randomize) are stored.

Redo

Redo button reverts the last undo operation.

WAV

WAV button lets you process a file using the plugin with current settings. You can either click the button and select a file, or drag & drop the file (or multiple files) onto the button. If you let the plugin process WAV files, these will be saved with the original settings. If you use a different file type (such as MP3), the plugin will create WAV files with 32-bit bits-per- sample floating point. Please note that the files will be overwritten, so make a copy first if you want to keep the original.

IR

IR button lets you generate impulse response file, which approximates what the plugin does. You can use that in various IR players, including some hardware. Please note that any dynamic/modulated/somehow changing in time behaviour cannot be captured by an IR file. Also note that the IR will be generated as 24-bit WAV file ONLY if it is actually possible – if the output exceeds 0dBFS (or goes below -40dBFS), this cannot be accurately produced, so a 32-bit floating point WAV file will be generated. Some HW devices are known to have problems importing such files.

Collapse

Collapse button minimizes or enlarges the panel to release space for other editors.

Reload

Reload button reloads the device and sets all non-locked controls in the current device to their default values. It may be useful, since the plugin stores current settings when switching between the devices, hence this button is a quick and easy way to get the defaults for the devices, before you changed them. If you want to reload all parameters for the device, you must unlock the Easy screen locks or disable them all by turning off the On/Off button in the Global Locking panel in Edit mode.

Device selector

Device selector lets you choose from the predefined devices (previous ‘active presets’). These are different from normal presets as they can actually have Easy-mode controls available via knobs or buttons. Click on an device to load it. Check out our video tutorials for information about creating your own devices. Although you cannot put your own devices into this selector, you can still save them as normal presets and on loading they will work in the exactly same way.

When browsing the devices, the plugin stores the control values (multiparameters). It doesn’t store the full settings, only the multiparameters, so that if you switch between the devices, your settings will be kept intact, unless you switch to edit screen and perform some advanced editing, in which case it is recommended to use the  A-H presets to store your work.

Collapse

Collapse button minimizes or enlarges the panel to release space for other editors.

Stepped / Continuous

Stepped / Continuous button lets you switch between 2 editor modes – stepped, which resembles the vintage analog gear by providing only a limit set of values, and continuous, which is traditional for digital user interfaces. There is absolutely no difference in sound, however for some people it is easier to have limited set of options to choose from, hence they prefer stepped mode. Others enjoy the full capacity of the digital processing, hence they prefer continuous mode.

Reload

Reload button reloads the device and sets all non-locked controls in the current device to their default values. It may be useful, since the plugin stores current settings when switching between the devices, hence this button is a quick and easy way to get the defaults for the devices, before you changed them. If you want to reload all parameters for the device, you must unlock the Easy screen locks or disable them all by turning off the On/Off button in the Global Locking panel in Edit mode.

Time graph
Time graph button switches between the metering view and the time-graphs. The metering view provides an immediate view of the current values including a text representation. The time-graphs provide the same information over a period of time. Since different time-graphs often need different units, only the most important units are provided.

Pause

Pause button pauses the processing.

Popup

Popup button shows a pop-up window and moves the whole metering / time-graph system into it. This is especially useful in cases where you cannot enlarge the meters within the main window or such a task is too complicated. The pop- up window can be arbitrarily resized. In metering mode it is useful for easier reading from a distance for example. In time-graph mode it is useful for getting higher accuracy and a longer time perspective.

Enable

Enable button enables or disables the metering system. You can disable it to save system resources.

Collapse

Collapse button minimizes or enlarges the panel to release space for other editors.

Used controls

Here we discuss the general properties of all application controls. As a most important rule you should note, that you can always use any question mark button or F1 (or Ctrl+F1 or Ctrl+H) key with the mouse cursor over a specified control to get detailed information about what it does and how to use it.

Installation, activation, introduction to audio plugins

Installation

All MeldaProduction plugins are currently available for Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. You can download all software directly from our website. Since the installation procedures for the two operating systems are quite different, we will cover each one separately. The download files for the effects include all the effects plug-ins and MPowerSynth. During the installation process you can select which plug-ins or bundles to install. If you have not licensed all of the plugins in a bundle then you just need to activate each plugin separately. If you have multiple user accounts on your computer, always install the software under your own account! If you install it under one account and run it under a different one, it may not have access to all the resources (presets for example) or may not even be able to start.

Installation on Windows

All plugins are available for VST, VST3 and AAX interfaces. The installer automatically installs both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the plugins.

Note : Always use 32-bit plugins in 32-bit hosts, or 64-bit plugins in 64-bit hosts. 64-bit plugins cannot work in 32-bit hosts even if the operating system is 64-bit. Conversely, never use 32-bit plugins in 64-bit hosts. Otherwise they would have to be ‘bridged’ and, in some hosts, can become highly unstable. You can select the destination VST plugins paths on your system. The installer will try to detect your path, however you should check that the correct path has been selected and change it if necessary. In all cases it is highly recommended to use the current standard paths to avoid any installation issues:

32-bit Windows:

• C:\Program files\VstPlugins

64-bit Windows:

• C:\Program files (x86)\VstPlugins (for 32-bit plugins)
• C:\Program files\VstPlugins (for 64-bit plugins)

If your host provides both VST and VST3 interfaces, VST3 is usually preferable. If a plugin cannot be opened in your host, ensure the plugin file exists in your VST plugin path and that if your host is 32-bit, the plugin is also 32-bit, and vice versa. If you experience any issues, contact our support via info@meldaproduction.com

Installation on Mac OS X
All plugins are available for VST, VST3, AU and AAX interfaces. Installers create both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the plugins. If your host provides multiple plugin interface options, VST3 is usually preferable. If you experience any issues, contact our support via info@meldaproduction.com

Most major hosts such as Cubase or Logic should work without problems. In some other hosts the keyboard input may be partly non-functional. In that case you need to use the virtual keyboard available for every text input field. You may also experience various minor graphical glitches, especially during resizing plugin windows. This unfortunately cannot be avoided since it is caused by disorder in Mac OS X.

Uninstallation on Windows

The Uninstaller is available from the Start menu and Control panel, in the same way as for other applications. If you don’t have any of these for any reason, go to Program files / MeldaProduction / MAudioPlugins and run setup.exe.

Uninstallation on OSX

The Uninstaller is available from Applications / MeldaProduction / MAudioPlugins / setup.app.

Deleting all data, presets etc.

Even if you uninstall the plugins, some data will be left behind – because of potential crossdependencies or because these are your presets, settings, configurations etc. If you want to wipe out everything, please manually delete following folders:

Windows:

• C:\ProgramData\MeldaProduction
• C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\MeldaProduction

OSX:
Macintosh HD/Library/Application support/MeldaProduction/HOME/Library/Application support/MeldaProduction

Performance precautions
In order to maximize performance of your computer and minimize CPU usage it is necessary to follow a few precautions. The most important thing is to keep your buffer sizes (latency) as high as possible. There is generally no reason to use latency under 256 samples for 44kHz sampling rates (hence 512 for 96kHz etc.). Increasing buffer sizes (hence also latency) highly decreases required CPU power. In rare cases increasing buffer sizes may actually increase CPU power, in which case you can assume your audio interface driver is malfunctioning.

You should also consider using only necessary features. Usually the most CPU demanding features are oversampling and modulation of certain parameters. You can reduce modulation CPU usage at the cost of lower audio quality in Settings/Settings/Modulator protection.

Troubleshooting

The plugins are generally very stable, there are known problems however.

GPU compatibility

The software uses hardware acceleration to move some of the processing (mainly GUI related) from your CPU (processor) to your GPU (graphics processing unit). It is highly recommended to use a new GPU, as it will provide higher performance improvements, and update your GPU drivers. Older GPUs are slower and may not even provide required features, so the software will have to perform all calculations in the main CPU. We also have had extremely bad experiences with GPUs from ATI and despite the fact that software is now probably bulletproof, it is recommended to use NVidia GPUs as there has not been a single case of a problem with them.

If you experience problems with your GPU (crashing, blank/dysfunctional GUI), and that you cannot disable the GPU acceleration from the plugin’s Settings window itself, download this file: http://www.meldaproduction.com/download/GPU.zip

And place the GPU.xml included in the zip into

• Windows: C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\MeldaProduction
• Mac OS X: ~/Library/Application support/MeldaProduction

Memory limits of 32-bit platform

Most hosts are now 64-bit ready, however some of them are not or users willingly choose 32-bit edition, because the required plugins are not 64-bit ready yet. All our software is 64-bit ready. Please note that you must NOT use the 64-bit plugins in 32-bit hosts, even if you have a bridge. If you are stuck with a 32-bit host for any reason, note that there is a memory limit (about 1.5 GB), which you may not exceed. This can happen if you load too many samples or different plugins for example. In that case the host may crash. There is no other solution than to use a 64-bit host.

Updating
You can use “Home/Check for updates” feature in any of the plugins. This will check online if there is a newer version available and open the download page if necessary.

To install a newer (or even older) version you simply need to download the newest installer and use it. There is no need to uninstall the previous version, the installer will do that if necessary. You also do not need to worry about your presets when using the installer. Of course, frequent backup of your work is recommended as usual.

Using touch-screen displays
Touch screen displays are supported on Windows 8 and newer and the GUI has been tweaked to provide a good workflow. Up to 16 connections/fingers/inputs are supported. Any input device such as touch-screens, mouse, tablets are supported. These are the main gestures used by the plugins:

• Tap = left click
• Double tap = double click
• Tap & hold and quickly tap next to it with another finger = right click. Tap & hold is a classic right-click gesture, however that doesn’t provide a good workflow, so came up with this method, which is much faster and does not collide with functionality of some elements.

Purchasing and activation

You can purchase the plugin from our website or any reseller, however purchasing directly from our website is always the quickest and simplest option. The software is available online only, purchasing is automatic, easy and instant. After the purchase you will immediately receive a keyfile via email. If you do not receive an e-mail within a few minutes after your purchase, firstly check your spam folder and if the email is not present there, contact our support team using info@meldaproduction.com so we can send you the licence again.

To activate the software simply drag & drop the licence file onto the plugin. Unfortunately some hosts (especially on Mac OS X) either do not allow drag & drop, or make it just too clumsy, so you can use Home/Activate in any of the plugins and follow the instructions. For more information about activation please check the online video tutorial.

You are allowed to use the software on all your machines, but only you are allowed to operate the software. The licences are “to-person” as defined in the licence terms, therefore you can use the software on all your computers, but you are the only person allowed to operate them. MeldaProduction can provide a specialized licence for facilities such as schools with different licence terms.

Quick start with your host

In most cases your host will be able to recognize the plugin and be able to open it the same way as it opens other plugins. If it doesn’t, ensure you did installation properly as described above and let your host rescan the plugins.

Cubase

• Click on an empty slot (in mixer or in track inserts for example) and a menu with available plugins will be displayed. VST2 version is located in MeldaProduction subfolder. However VST3 version is recommended and is located in the correct folder along with Cubase’s factory plugins.
  • For example, dynamic processors are available from the “Dynamics” subfolder.
• To route an audio to the plugin’s side-chain (if it has one), you need to use the VST3 version. Enable the side-chain using the arrow button in the Cubase’s plugin window title. Then you can route any set of tracks into the plugin’s side-chain either by selecting the plugin as the track output or using sends.
• To route MIDI to the plugin, simply create a new MIDI track and select the plugin as its output.

Logic

Choose an empty insert slot on one of your audio tracks (or instrument tracks for example) and select the plugin from the popup menu. You will find it in the Audio Units / MeldaProduction folder.

• To route an audio to the plugin’s side-chain (if it has one), a side-chain source should be available in the top of the plugin’s window, so simply select the source track you want to send to the plugin’s side-chain.
• To route MIDI to the plugin, you need to create a new Instrument track, click on the instrument slot and select the plugin from AU MIDI-controlled Effects / MeldaProduction. The plugin will receive MIDI from that track. Then route the audio you want to process with the plugin to this track.

Studio One

Find the plugin in the Effects list and drag & drop it onto the track you would like to insert the plugin to.

• To route an audio track to the plugin’s side-chain (if it has one), first enable the side-chain using the “Side-chain” button in the Studio One’s plugin window title. Then you can route any set of tracks into the plugin’s side-chain from the mixer.
• To route MIDI to the plugin, simply create a new MIDI track and select the plugin as its output.

Digital performer

• In the Mixing Board, find an empty slot in the track you would like to insert the plugin to. Click on the field and select the plugin from the effects list.
• To route an audio track to the plugin’s side-chain (if it has one), choose the track you want to send using Side-chain menu, which appears at the top of the DP’s plugin window.
• To route MIDI to the plugin, simply create a new MIDI track in the Track view and select the plugin as its output.

Reaper

• Click on an empty slot in the mixer and a window with available plugins will be displayed. Select the plugin you want to open by double clicking on it or using Ok button.
• It is highly recommended to select all MeldaProduction plugins in the plugin window the first time you open it, click using your right mouse button and enable “Save minimal undo states”. This will disable the problematic Undo feature, which could cause glitches whenever you change certain parameters.
• To route an audio track to the plugin’s side-chain (if it has one), click on I/O button of the side-chain source track in the mixer. Routing window will appear, there you click “Add new send” and select the track the plugin is on. In the created send slot select the channels (after the “=>” mark) for the send, in stereo configuration 3/4 for example. Note that this way the whole track receives the side-chain signal and all plugins with it. It is possible to send it to a single plugin only, but it is more complicated, please check the Reaper’s documentation about that.
• To route MIDI to the plugin, create a new MIDI track and do the same thing as with side-chain, except you don’t need to change output channels.

Live

• In Session view, select the track you would like to insert the plugin to. At the left top of Ableton Live’s interface, click on the Plug-in Device Browser icon (third icon from the top). From the plug-ins list choose the plugin (from MeldaProduction folder), double click on it or drag & drop it into the track. The X/Y grid usually doesn’t provide any parameters of the plugin. This is because the plugins have too many of them, so you have to select them manually. Check Live’s documentation for more information.
• To route an audio to the plugin’s side-chain (if it has one), select the track you want to send to the side-chain and in the ‘Audio To’ menu, choose the audio track that has the plugin on it. Then in the box just below that select the plugin from the menu.

NOTE : Live does NOT support any interface correctly, it doesn’t use the reported buses properly, hence it doesn’t work with surround capable plugins. Therefore you need to use VST version, which reports only stereo capabilities by default. To route MIDI to the plugin, create a new MIDI track and in the ‘MIDI to’ menu, choose the audio track that has the plugin on it. Note that in Live only the first plug-in on any track can receive MIDI.

ProTools

• In the mixer click an empty slot to insert the plugin to and select the plugin from the tree. The plugin may be present multiple times, once for each channel configuration (mono->stereo etc.). As of now ProTools do not arrange them in the subfolders, which is a workflow dealbreaker, but we cannot do anything about it. The huge empty space on top of each plugin window, which occupies so much of the precious display area, is part of ProTools and every plugin window and again we cannot do anything about it. In some cases you may experience CPU overload messages, in which case please contact Avid for support. Note that ProTools 10 and newer is supported. RTAS compatibility for PT9 and older will never be added.
• To route an audio to the plugin’s side-chain (if it has one), open the plugin, click on the No key input button in the plugin title and select the bus you want the audio taken from. You might need to remember the bus number, unless your ProTools version supports bus renaming. ProTools doesn’t support stereo (or surround) side-chains at all.
• To route MIDI to the plugin, create a new MIDI track and in the mixer click the output field for that track and select the plugin, which should already be in the menu.

FL Studio

• First make sure plugins are scanned, either a full scan through the Plugin Manager or an automatic fast scan when you open the Plugin Database section of the browser in FL. The scanned plugins will show up in the Plugin Database > Installed section of the FL browser. The Effects and Generators sections in the Plugin Database will show all “favorite” plugins. These can be checked and unchecked in the Plugin Manager or added in some other ways. These favorites also show up in the Add menu, the menu for the “+” button in the channel rack, when you right click an existing channel button to replace or insert, in the plugin slot menu in the mixer and in the plugin picker (F8). The menus with favorite plugins also have a “More” choice that will show all scanned plugins. The full explanation is in our help file, on the page Installing Plugins.
• To route an audio to the plugin’s side-chain, first set up the mixer: make sure the track you want to receive audio from is sent to the track the plugin as a sidechain (help). Then set up the plugin wrapper: choose the desired input on the Processing tab of the wrapper options.
• To route MIDI notes to the plugin, first configure the sender: choose a MIDI port for the input device in the MIDI settings (for a hardware device), output port in the wrapper options (for a VST plugin that produces MIDI). For the receiving plugin, set the input port in the wrapper options to the same value you chose in step 1.
• To route MIDI controllers, the procedure is different. The usual method in FL is to link CC messages to plugin parameters (help file). VST plugins will also have 128 CC parameters published (through the wrapper) that can be linkes this way. Those will send the specified CC MIDI message to the plugin, instead of changing a published parameter.

GUI styles, editor modes and colors

MeldaProduction plugins provide a state of the art styling engine, which lets you change the appearance to your liking. The first time you run the plugins a style wizard will appear and let you choose the style and other settings. It may not be available in ProTools and other problematic hosts. By default each plugin has a certain color scheme, which differs based on what kind of plugin is that. Also, sections of some plugins are colorized differently, again, based on what kind of section is that (this can be disabled in global settings). Despite you can change the colors anyhow you want, it is advantageous to keep the defaults as these are standardized and have predefined meaning, so just by looking at a plugin’s color you can immediately say what kind of plugin and section is that. Same rules apply when designing devices for easy screens. This is the current set of colors:

Dynamics = orange

• Equalization, filtering = green Reverb, delay = brown/yellow Modulation = blue
• Distortion, limiting = red
• Stereo = cyan/yellow
• Time, pitch, unison… = purple/pink Tools = grey

Special colors:

• Synchronization = grey
• Detection = blue/green
• Side – chain = green
• Effects = red
• Advanced stuff = grey

About Melda Production

The best sound on the market, incredible workflow and versatility beyond your imagination. We create the deepest and the most powerful audio plugins with unbelievable sound and tons of unique features you cannot find anywhere else.

Innovative Thinking

At MeldaProduction, we make the most advanced tools for music production and audio processing. We get inspired by the whole range of tools from the ancient analog gear to the newest digital creations, but we always push forward. We’ve always felt the audio industry is extremely conservative, still relying on the prehistoric equipment making the job unnecessarily slow and complicated. That’s why we invent new technologies, which make audio processing easier, faster, better sounding and more creative.

Sound Matters

In the world full of audiophiles you just need superb audio quality. And that’s why we spend so much time perfecting audio algorithms until they sound unbeatable. Everything from dynamic filters to spectral dynamic processing. Our technologies just sound perfect.

Inspiring User Interface

Modern user interfaces must not only be easy and quick to use, but also versatile and the whole visual appearance should inspire you. MeldaProduction plugins provide the most advanced GUI engine on the market. It is still the first and only GUI engine, which is freely resizable and stylable. Our plugins can look as an ancient vintage gear, if you are working on old-school rock music. Or as super-modern futuristic devices if you are working on modern electronic music.

Easy to Use, Yet Versatile

The only limit is your imagination. Our plugins are with absolutely no doubt the most powerful and versatile tools on the market. Yet we managed to make the plugins easy to use via the devices and smart randomization system. But when you are ready, you are one click away from the endless potential the plugins provide.

Never-Ending Improvements

Most companies create a plugin, sell it and abandon it. We improve our plugins, add features, optimize… until there is nothing left to improve and there are no more ideas. Unfortunately that hasn’t happened yet :). And the best thing is that the updates are free-for-life!

MeldaProduction was founded in 2009 by Vojtech Meluzin and is based in Prague, Czech Republic.

www.meldaproduction.com info@meldaproduction.com MeldaProduction (c) 2017

References

• MeldaProduction
• MeldaProduction
• Linking External Controllers
• Installing Plugins
• Mixer Explained
• Plugin Wrapper
• Plugin Wrapper

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