NEOLD U2a Whimsical Mojo Machine Vintage Vacuum Tube Processing Unit Plugin User Manual
- June 1, 2024
- NEOLD
Table of Contents
NEOLD U2a Whimsical Mojo Machine Vintage Vacuum Tube Processing Unit
Plugin
Specifications
- Product Name: MOJO MACHINE Wunderlich
- Based on: Arcturus tubes from 1932
- Sound Profile: Vintage vibes and old-school tones
- Unique Features: Offbeat topology, analog hardware prototype
Product Usage Instructions
Quick Start
- Saturation Control: Sets the amount of saturation produced by the Arcturus tube circuit.
- Low Filter: Controls low frequencies with a shelving filter for cutting or boosting.
- High Filter: Cuts or boosts high frequencies with a shelving filter.
- Peak Reduction: Defines the amount of peak reduction applied to the incoming signal.
- Threshold Shift: Shifts the threshold towards higher levels affecting knee and ratio.
- Compressor: Offers attack/release time combinations, activates or bypasses the compressor, engages an additional sidechain filter, and provides makeup gain.
- Meter Display: Shows input level, gain reduction, or output level. Turn the screw to change the mode.
Basic Workflow
- Create a vibe with Drive and Travel controls. Bend tone with Low and High filters. Adjust output level with the Level control. Mix dry and processed signals with Mix control.
- Tweak dynamics with compressor section. Engage or bypass the signal processing chain.
Parameters
- Drive: Provides 0 to 40 dB of gain for saturation control.
- Low: Controls low shelf equalization (-4 to +8 dB range).
- High: Sets high shelf equalization (-4 to +8 dB range).
- Travel: Blends from modern to Lo-Fi signal path using a highcut filter and gains staging modification for additional THD.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
Q: What is the purpose of the Travel control?
A: The Travel control blends between a modern signal path and a Lo-Fi path, simulating a time warp effect.
Q: How can I adjust the saturation level?
A: Use the Saturation Control to adjust the amount of saturation produced by the Arcturus tube circuit.
Usage Instructions
MOJO MACHINE
- Wunderlich means time traveling in sound. Based on highly esoteric Arcturus tubes from 1932, this one-off experiment is the epitome of vintage vibes and old-school tones.
- Its unique sound profile grows from the offbeat topology and components of the analog hardware prototype developed exclusively for this plugin.
BACK THEN
- The harmonics living inside the age-old Wunderlich tubes appear incredibly rich and authentic, coupling the drive stage and the variable mu compressor for inspiring interaction between saturation and dynamics.
- A classic EQ stage provides excellent tonal balance and shaping, while the Travel control takes you from now to then in just a second.
FLUX RECAPPED
- Wunderlich is a tone marvel for creating all kinds of exciting patina and lo-fi textures – a stunning mixing tool for providing that old character whenever a track requires it.
- Beyond that, it shines as a creative playground for exploring venerable styles: Instant Motown, true analog vibes, vintage mojo galore… beautiful things are going to happen.
COBALT
- There is no doubt about it: Introduced in 1927, the blue series by Arcturus belongs to the most beautiful tubes ever built.
- They were a clever promotion stunt in a time when the market for radio tubes was extremely crowded and the bulbs were still visible from the outside.
- The latter changed shortly after, so around 1932 the blue period came to an early end.
ARCTURUS
- Unfortunately, not much is known about the history of this company these days. Arcturus began as an independent tube manufacturer in the 1920s, producing the typical types needed for radios at the time.
- However, they also filed many patents on tube technology and released some pretty special types in the form of the AD, AE, AF, AG, and… the Wunderlich! The business lasted into the early 1940s when the company went bankrupt in the end.
WUNDERLICH
- The Wunderlich is a full-wave detector designed for AM radio receivers.
- Named for its inventor, Norman Wunderlich, this special tube was announced in July of 1932.
- Only very few were ever built since the unusual design effectively prevented it from conquering the market. And yes, using Wunderlichs in a pro audio environment is somewhat experimental – to say the least.
QUICK START
- Sets the amount of saturation produced by the wonderful Arcturus tube circuit.
- Controls a shelving filter for cutting or boosting the low frequencies.
- Cuts or boosts the high frequencies. This is a shelving filter type as well.
- Defines the amount of peak reduction applied to the incoming signal. Think of it as the threshold.
- Shifts the threshold towards higher levels and simultaneously affects the knee and ratio.
- Offers slow, medium, and fast attack/release time combinations.
- Activates or bypasses the compressor. SCF en-gages an additional sidechain filter.
- Provides makeup gain to compensate for the level drop resulting from compression.
- Shows either input level, gain reduction, or output level (meter screw changes mode).
- Time warps sound from now to then by applying increasing aging effects when turned clockwise.
- Adjusts the output level, implemented as linear gain without additional coloration.
- Mixes the dry and processed signals for on-board parallel mojo blending.
- Engages or bypasses the entire signal processing chain.
Basic Workflow
- Create a vibe with Drive and Travel.
- Bend tone with Low and High filters.
- Tweak dynamics with compressor section.
- Finish off by adjusting the Level and Mix.
PARAMETERS
Drive
- Provides 0 to 40 dB of compensated gain for controlling the intensity of saturation produced by the driven Arcturus tube circuit.
Low
- Controls the amount of low shelf equalization. The actual cut/boost range is about -4 to +8 dB.
High
- Sets the amount of high shelf equalization. The cut/boost range is about -4 to +8 dB as well.
Travel
- Use the travel screw to blend from a more modern signal path (Left = Now) to all the way Lo-Fi (Right = Then). The trip is implemented through a highcut filter and modifying the gain staging, which results in additional THD.
- Note: If you push the Drive to full throttle and still feel you could use some extra edge, why not ben-efit from some additional dirt coming from the Travel stage… its parallel highcut filter will help to prevent things from sounding overly scratchy.
AC Thresh
- Controls the amount of peak reduction applied to the incoming signal – the threshold. Unlike a typical analog topology, this parameter is de-coupled from the input gain, so its effect remains independent from the Drive setting.
DC Thresh
- Sets the DC voltage offset added before the rectifier tube. This imposes an additional threshold shift and also affects the knee and compression ratio: 0 = hard knee at 10:1 ratio, 10 = very soft knee at 3:1 ratio.
Timing
- Offers slow, medium, and fast attack/release time combinations.
Status
- Off bypasses the compressor completely. On acti-vates it and SCF engages an additional 40 Hz side-chain filter.
Makeup
- 0 to 24 dB of gain which is only applied if the Sta-tus switch is in On or SCF position, infusing subtle THD by driving the following buffer stages.
Drive vs. Compression
- A special trait of the variable mu feedback topolo-gy is the interdependency of its drive and compres-sion stages. As a result, saturation is modulated by compression in subtle yet very musical ways.
- Wunderlich features a compensated Drive control, so you don’t have to adapt the overall output level all of the time.
- The Drive level feeding the side chain of the compressor is compensated as well, so you don’t have to adjust the threshold when the input gain is changed.
- However, stronger Drive settings will cause increasing signal clipping which will continuously cancel both compensation mechanisms. As a result, plethoric Drive may also reduce the intensity of compression at a given threshold setting.
- At this point, the convenient compensation can no longer take effect, so you need to increase the AC and/or DC threshold settings manually to counteract this phenomenon if desired.
Meter
- The VU meter displays either input level, gain reduction, or output level in dB. Its mode can be changed with the black screw at the bottom of its housing. The reference point is 0 VU = -14 dBFS.
Level
- This control provides linear/clean gain applied to the output signal within a range from -24 to +24 dB, which allows accurate manual level compensation.
Mix
- This knob blends between the dry and the wet signal and therefore provides instant on-board parallel coloration/compression/filtering.
Power
- Drag-click the power switch to engage or bypass the entire plugin, or use the mouse wheel control alternatively. Try the Wunderlich rating plate if you prefer click-only instead.
TOOLBARS
- This icon provides a master bypass function for the entire plugin.
- Undo/Redo offers up to 32 steps of your recent settings. Just go back and forth.
- Four individual preset banks which can also be automated in your DAW.
- Copy and paste current settings to/from the clipboard or reset current settings to default.
- Opens GUI preferences (set interface size/qual-ity and mouse sensitivity).
- Clicking the Plugin Alliance logo will send you to the PA website via your web browser.
- This icon will guide you to the Plugin Alliance Store via your web browser.
- Brings up the activation dialog for authorizing plugin licenses for your devices.
- Here you will find the manual (which requires a PDF reader installed) and other useful info.
- System Requirements & Supported Platforms Installation, Activation, Authorization, FAQs
Read User Manual Online (PDF format)
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