sonic studio mastering eq table of contentspage 7 learn: see appendix a below for complete...

Sonic Studio Mastering EQ Table of Contents

1.0 Sonic Studio Mastering EQ ................................................................ 3

1.1 SonicStudioMasteringEQAudioUnitPlug-in..................................................4

1.1.1 Overview..................................................................................................................................... 4

1.1.2 Operation.................................................................................................................................... 4

1.1.2.1 MasteringEQVisualizer.................................................................................................................................5

1.1.2.2 GainFader......................................................................................................................................................6

1.1.2.3 High-DefinitionMeters..................................................................................................................................6

1.1.2.4 PeakHoldSettings.........................................................................................................................................6

1.1.2.5 EqualizerBandswith17UniqueFilters.......................................................................................................6

1.1.2.6 EQGlobalOn/Off............................................................................................................................................7

1.1.2.7 DitherSelectionArea.....................................................................................................................................7

1.1.2.8 EQBandOn/Off..............................................................................................................................................7

Appendix A Sonic Studio Mastering EQ Filter Specifications and Descriptions .................... 8

Appendix B Sonic Studio Mastering EQ Dither Specifications and Descriptions ................ 17

1.0 .............................................Sonic Studio Mastering EQ

ThankyouforpurchasingSonicStudioMasteringEQ™!You’vemadeanexcellentchoiceowingtothefactthatthefiltersandalgorithmsfeaturedinthisequalizerhavebeenusedoninnumerabletracks.It’sperfectforeverytypeofmusic-AmbienttoACappella,JazztoJive,SymphonytoSpokenWord,ZydecotoZeitGeist.Youmaynotbeawareofit,butyou’veheardthisEQbefore!

SonicStudioMasteringEQisaminimal-phasefourbandfilterAudioUnit™plug-in.Eachbandoffersyourchoiceof17filtertypesortopologieswithsomebestusedforrestorationanddamagecontrolwhileotherareexcellentforchangingcolorortimbre.Itcanbeusedasamono,stereoormultichannelinstantiation.

ThisdocumentcoversSonicStudioMasteringEQ’suseinoursoundBladeproduct.However,sinceit’sanAudioUnitplug-in,itwilloperateonanyaudiosoftwarethatsupportsAudioUnitplug-ins.

The Sonic Studio Mastering EQ User Interface.

1.1 SonicStudioMasteringEQAudioUnitPlug-in

1.1.1 Overview

InthesoundBladeenvironment,SonicStudioMasteringEQcanbeinsertedasaplug-ininthreedifferentpointswithinthesignalflowofsoundBlade:

1. AsaDeskEvent.

2. IntheEDLDesk(mixerwindow).

3. IntheMeterswindow.

LEARN: soundBlade offer the option to add“Desk Events” or plug–ins to aProjectorbus.Whenplug–insare instantiatedinaProject, theyprovidetime–based,“snapshot automation.”Also in Projects, plug–ins are constant latencyandareseamlesslycross-faded,evenwithinanindividualsegment.Thismeanssettingschangesmoothly,freeofaudiblediscontinuities,evenforplug–inswithhighlatency.Allplug–ininstantiationsarefullylatencycompensated,unlesstheplug–initselfcannotordoesnotreportlatency.SeethesoundBladeHDorSEusermanualformoreonusingplug-insasDeskEvents.

LEARN: Toinsertaplug–inintooneoftheslots intheEDLDesk,simplyclickontheslotbuttonandadropdownmenuappears,showingallvalidplug–insavailable.Then,selectthedesiredplug–infromthelist.Theplug–inwillbeinsertedintheslotandtheselectedplug–inwillopenformanipulationofitsparameters.Theseinstantiationsaremono,andunlikeotherworkstations,usingplug-insintheEDLDeskisgenerallynotrecommended.UseDeskEventsinstead.SeethesoundBladeHDorSEusermanualformoreonusingtheEDLDesk.

LEARN:TheMeterswindowisagoodplacetousetruestereoplug-ins.Whenaplug-inisinsertedintheMeterssection,thatplug-inisappliedtoallaudiothatisroutedoutthatbus.SeethesoundBladeHDorSEusermanualformoreonusingplug-insintheMeterssection.

1.1.2 InstallationandOperation

ToinstallSonicStudioMasteringEQ,double-clickonthe‘SonicMasteringEQ_Installer.pkg’andfollowtheon-screeninstructions.IfyouareasoundBladeuser,you’llalsoneedtorun‘InstallSonicStudioOptions.mpkg’locatedintheSonicOptionsfolderofyoursoundBladeappfolder,selecting‘SonicMasteringEQ’intheoptionsinstallerdialogbox.

ToenableaSonicStudioMasteringEQplug-inasaDeskEvent, in theEDLDeskorMeterswindow,select‘SonicMasteringEQ’fromthecontextualmenuthatappears.TheSonicStudioMasteringEQwindowwillappear.

Select ‘Sonic Mastering EQ’ from the contextual menu. After selection, the Sonic Studio Mastering EQ window will appear:

1)MasteringEQVisualizer 2)GainFader

3)High-DefinitionMeters 4)PeakHoldSettings5)EqualizerBandswith17uniquefilters 6)EQGlobalOn/Off7)DitherSelectionArea 8)EQBandOn/Off

1 2 3 4

5

67

8

1.1.2.1 Mastering EQ Visualizer

Thisareadisplaysthecurrentfiltersettingsasavisualrepresentation.Eachcolor-codedfilternodecanbedraggedandadjustedfromwithinthiswindow.

1.1.2.2 Gain Fader

Adjuststheoverallgainoftheplug-in.Parametersare+12to+12dB.Optionclickto(re)settozero.

1.1.2.3 High-Definition Meters

TheMeterssectiongraphicallydisplaysreal-timeindicationsofPeak,RMSandVUvalueswithhyper-ballisticaccuracy.Atthetopofthemeterstrips,PeakandRMSvaluesaredisplayedinnumericrelationtozero;-forunderzero,+foroverzero.Boththemeterstripandthenumbersinthissectionwillturnredwhenanover-zerolevelisdetected.

WhenSonicStudioMasteringEQisusedasamonoinstantiation,onlychannelone,ortheleftchannel,willdisplaylevel.

1.1.2.4 Peak Hold Settings

Inthissection,PeakHoldpreferencescanbesettoreflectyourneeds.ThedefaultvalueisonesecondforPeakHoldand100millisecondsforMeterReleasetiming.ThissettingissavedwiththeEQ.

1.1.2.5 Equalizer Bands with 17 Unique Filters

Thebottom lefthalfof theSonicStudioMasteringEQwindowcontains themastercontrolsforeachofthefouravailablefilterbands.Thecontrolsarecontext–sensitiveandapplytotheselectedfiltersectionandchangesarereflectedintheMasteringEQVisualizersection.

Clickingonthetoprevealsalisttheavailablefiltertypes:

Filter Selection Menu.

Select your desired filter from the menu to instantiate. Extra control sections will me enabled depending on filter type.

LEARN: SeeAppendixAbelowforcompletefilterdescriptionsandgraphicalrepresentationsoftheircapabilities.

LEARN:Valuescanbeenteredbykeyboardorbyclick+hold+mouseup/down.

1.1.2.6 EQ Global On/Off

ThisbuttontogglestheSonicMasteringEQonoroffandisusefulforcomparingthesumofallchangesmadewiththisinstanceofEQ.

1.1.2.7 Dither Selection Area

ThissectionselectswhetherditherisenabledonthisinstanceofEQ.ThechoicesareOff,DitherandNoiseShaped.

LEARN:SeeAppendixBbelowforcompleteditherdescriptions.

1.1.2.8 EQ Band On/Off

ThisbuttontogglesindividualbandsofSonicMasteringEQonoroffandisusefulforcomparingthechangeinducedinasinglebandofEQ.

Appendix A ................... Sonic Studio Mastering EQ Filter Specifications and Descriptions

Theparametricfiltersareclassic,threeparameterversions,withResonantFrequency,gain,andQ.QorQualityFactorisdefinedastheresonantfrequency,orcenterfrequencyinthecaseofasymmetricalfilter,dividedbythebandwidth.Thebandwidthis,inturn,definedastheoneortwofrequenciesatwhichthefilterresponseis3dBupordownfromunitygain.

Expressing thewidthofafilterasaQualityFactor, rather thanbandwidth,providesamoreintuitivesenseofthefilter’ssubjective“sound,”sincethesamevalueofQwillproducedifferentbandwidthsatdifferentfrequencies.Thehigherthefrequency,thewiderthebandwidthwillbeforagivenQvalue,whichroughlycorrespondstoourauditorymechanism’sabilitytoperceiveafilter’saction.Asanexample,aparametricfilterwithaQof1hasabandwidthof100Hzwhenitscenterfrequencyissetto100Hzbut,ithasabandwidthof1000Hzwhenthecenterfrequencyissetto1000Hz.

Theorderorslopeofthefilteriscontrollable,with1stthrough4thorderor6to24dBperoctaveslope, respectively. Each of the four orders are separate menu choices.The family of curvesshownbelowincludeawideQof0.5,amediumQof2.0andanarrowQof10.

Figure 10.2: 1st order parametric with ƒR of 1000 Hz

Figure 10.3: 2nd order parametric with ƒR of 1000 Hz

Figure 10.4: 3rd order parametric with ƒR of 1000 Hz

Figure 10.5: 4th order parametric with ƒR of 1000 Hz

The high and low shelves are also three parameter filters, with Resonant Frequency, gain,andorder.Thefamilyofcurvesbelowinclude1stthrough4thorder.The4thorderresponseispracticallyverticalinthetransitionregion.

Figure 10.6: High shelf with ƒR of 1000 Hz

Thehighandlowpassfiltersalsohavethreeparameters.However,inthiscasestopbandripple,labeledStop,hastakentheplaceofgain.Aswiththeshelvingfilterabove,thefamilyofcurvesbelowinclude1stthrough4thorder.

Figure 10.7: High pass with ƒR of 1000 Hz

Stopbandrippledescribestheamountofamplitudevariationorrippleinafilter’soutofbandresponse.Indirectly,itdescribestwomoreimportantparameters.Oneisoutofbandsuppressionor,howmuch“leakage”ofunwantedsignalyoureceive,andtheotherisphaseshiftandgroupdelay.

Thestopbandrippleparameterprovidesarangeof-12to-108.Atthe-12setting,only12dBoflosswilloccuroutofband,nomuchforafilterofthistype.However,becausethestopbandripple value is so low, the phase response and resultant temporal response of the filter willbeexcellent.Attheotherextremeofitsrange,stopbandripplewillbe108dBdownfromthe(unity)passbandgainbut, thephaseresponsewillsuffer, thegroupdelaywillbesevereandtheresultingtemporalsmearingmaybeunacceptable.Aswithanyfilter,carefullisteningwilldeterminethetradeoffbetweenstopbandsuppressionandsideeffects.

Figure10.8belowshowsantypical3rdorderhighpassfilter.Superimposedonthatcurveisanother3rdorderhighpasswith6dBofpassbandripple&120dBofstopbandattenuation.Noticetherippling“bouncingball”amplituderesponseintheregionabovetheresonantfrequency.Thispassbandripplewouldcreatesomepossiblyundesirableamplitudeeffectsbut,becausetheripplespechasbeenrelaxed,thephaseresponsewouldbeimproved.

Figure 10.8: 3rd order high pass with 6 dB of passband ripple & 120 dB of attenuation

Comparetheresponseinfigure10.8withthenextfigure,whichshowsa3rdorderhighpasswith0.10dBofpassbandripple&10dBofstopbandattenuation.Thistime,thestopbandripplewouldallowsomematerialbelowtheresonantfrequencyto“leak”intothefilter’soutput.Againhowever,becausetheripplespechasbeenrelaxed,thephaseresponsewouldbeimproved.

Figure 10.9: 3rd order high pass with 0.1 dB of passband ripple & 10 dB of attenuation

Thebandpassandbandstopfiltersarestraightforward,threeparameterforms,andthenotchfilterhasonlytwoparametersasthegainisimpliedtobe-∞.Thenexttwofiguresonceagainincludequalityfactors(Q)of0.5,2and10.

Figure 10.10: 1st order bandpass with ƒR of 1000 Hz

Figure 10.11: 3rd order bandpass with ƒR of 1000 Hz

Figure 10.12: Notch filter with ƒR of 1000 Hz

TheRIAAfiltersprovideemphasis,forcreatingcuttingmastersforlacquer,andde–emphasisforcorrectingmaterialthatisdigitizedflatfrom331/3RPMphonographrecord.Thisapproachmeansthattheexcellent,minimalphasecharacteristicsofthisdigitalRIAAde–emphasisimplementationcanbeusedinplaceofanimpreciseandpotentiallycoloredanalogfilternetworkinaphonopreamplifier.

Figure 10.13: RIAA de–emphasis

The“Emph”and“DeEmph”selectionarefor44.1kHzAES/EBUaudio.Thede–emphasistypeisquiteusefulwhenarchivalmaterialwasemphasizedduringrecordingbuttheEmphasisflagwasnotset.

TheNoDCtypeisaspecialformofhighpassfilterdesignedforarchivalrecordingsmadewithEIAJadapters,socalled“F1”recorders,whichwereshortlivedconsumerdigitalaudiorecordersmanufacturedbySony,Matsushitaandothers.Theyemployedverysimple,lowcostconvertersandofteninjectedalargeamountofDCoffsetintothesignaltoovercomecrossoverdistortion.ThisfilterwillremovethatDCoffset.Lastly,the“NoDC/DeEmp”typeis,again,aspecialfilterforrecordingsmadewithanEIAJadapterthatbothremovesDCoffsetandappliesde–emphasis.

Figure 10.14: DC reject plus RIAA de–emphasis, the “NoDC/DeEmp”

Appendix B ..................Sonic Studio Mastering EQ Dither Specifications and Descriptions

Selecting a Dither Type

Ditherisanintentionallyappliedformofnoiseusedtorandomizequantizationerror,preventingaudible artifacts from being induced when calculating sample rate or bit depth changes. Nosingleditherisamagicbullet,sotwodifferentvariationsofditherareavailableinSonicStudioMasteringEQ.

SonicStudioMasteringEQDitherSettings:

Off: Disablesalldither,passingallbitsasrendered.

Dither(TriangularProbabilityDensityFunction):Shapedtriangulardithercutsthenoiselevelat lowfrequencieswhileboosting itahighfrequencies. Thisresults inthedithernoisebeinglessaudible.Thisshapingorweightingreducestheaudibilityofthenoisetoadegree.Withtriangulardither,theaddednoiselevelisconstantandslightlyhigher.Itisrecommendedforuseonalltypesofmusic.

Noise Shaped:Thisdithertypealtersthespectralshapeoftheerrorthatisintroducedbyditheringsuchthatthenoisepowerisatalowerlevelinfrequencybandsatwhichnoiseisperceivedtobemoreundesirableandatacorrespondinglyhigherlevelinbandswhereit isperceivedtobelessundesirable. Sincethisditheris‘packed’atthehigherendofthehearingspectrum,thisshapingorweightingreducestheaudibilityofthenoisetoadegree.Thisditherisrecommendedforgeneraluse.

Note: Ingeneral,triangularPDFditherispreferable.

Note That witheithertypeofdither,theaddednoiseisverysmallandeachditheroptionactsdifferentlywithdifferenttypesofprogrammaterial.Youshouldexperimentwitheachdithertypetoachievetheresultsthatyoudesire.

Sonic Studio Mastering EQ Index

Symbols1storderbandpass131storderparametric82ndorderparametric83rdorderhighpass11,123rdorderparametric84thorderparametric8

AAudioUnit3,4

CContextualMenu4,5

DDC15De-emphasis14,15DeskEvent4Dither5,7DitherSelectionArea5,7

EEDLDesk4EQBandOn/Off5,7EQGlobalOn/Off5,7Equalizer5,6EqualizerBands5,6

FFilter17FilterCurve17

GGainFader5,6

HHigh-DefinitionMeters5,6

Highpass11Highshelf10

MMasteringEQVisualizer5,6Meter6Meters6Meterswindow4minimal-phase3

NNoiseShaped17Notchfilter14

PParametric8,10,11,13Peak5,6PeakHold5,6PeakHoldSettings5,6plug-ins4

latency compensation 4

QQ

Quality Factor 8QualityFactor8

RRIAA14,15RMS5,6

Ssnapshotautomation4SonicEQ

Bypass 6Group menu 6parameters 7pre-processor 4Q or Quality Factor 8sections 6stopband ripple 11

TTriangularProbabilityDensityFunction17

VVU5,6

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Comments,correctionsandsuggestionsregardingthismanualarealwayswelcome.Pleasecontactusat<[email protected]>. SonicStudioMasteringEQ_UM_v01r05

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