psp 85 operation manual

PSP 85

Operation manual

By using this software you agree to the terms of any license agreement accompanying it. PSP, the PSP logo, PSP 85, and Its the sound that counts! are trademarks of PSPaudioware.com s.c.VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft und Hardware GmbH.All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 2010 PSPaudioware.com s.c.

PSP 85 Operation Manual

END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT ................................................................................... 3

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS .................................................................................................. 4

OVERVIEW .............................................................................................................................. 5 FEATURES ............................................................................................................................. 5 APPLICATIONS ..................................................................................................................... 6

INTERNAL ARCHITECTURE .............................................................................................. 7 VARIABLE SAMPLE RATE DELAY LINES ....................................................................... 7 FILTER .................................................................................................................................... 8 MODULATION ...................................................................................................................... 9 REVERBERATOR ................................................................................................................ 9 MASTER SECTION ............................................................................................................. 10 BLOCK DIAGRAM ............................................................................................................. 10

USER INTERFACE ................................................................................................................ 12 MASTER SECTION ............................................................................................................. 12 DELAY SECTION ................................................................................................................ 13 MODULATION SECTION .................................................................................................. 14 VCO SECTION .................................................................................................................... 15 FILTER SECTION ................................................................................................................ 15 REVERB SECTION ............................................................................................................. 17

SUPPORT & FEEDBACK ..................................................................................................... 18

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End User License AgreementPREFACE: This End-User License Agreement (EULA) is a legal agreement between you and PSPaudioware.com s.c. (PSP) for the PSP product accompanying this EULA, which includes computer software and may include associated media, printed materials, and online or electronic documentation (SOFTWARE). By installing, copying, or using the SOFTWARE, you agree to be bound by the terms of this EULA. If you do not agree to the terms of this EULA, you may not use the SOFTWARE.The SOFTWARE is protected by copyright laws and international copyright treaties, as well as other intellectual property laws and treaties. The SOFTWARE is licensed, not sold.LICENSE: You may install and use a copy of the SOFTWARE, or in its place, any prior version for the same operating system, on a single computer. The DEMO VERSION of the SOFTWARE is NOT LICENSED FOR COMMERCIAL USE.RESTRICTIONS: You may not transfer, modify, rent, lease, loan, resell, distribute, network,electronically transmit or merge the SOFTWARE. You may not reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble the SOFTWARE, or otherwise attempt to discover the SOFTWARE source code. You are not permitted to copy the SOFTWARE or any of the accompanying documentation.COPYRIGHTS: All title and copyrights in and to the SOFTWARE (including but not limited to any images, photographs, animations, video, audio, music, text, and applets incorporated into the SOFTWARE ), the accompanying printed materials, and any copies of the SOFTWARE are owned by PSP. The SOFTWARE is protected by copyright laws and international treaty provisions. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of the SOFTWARE or documentation is subject to civil and criminal penalties.DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: The SOFTWARE is provided AS IS and without warranty of any kind. The entire risk arising out of the use or performance of the SOFTWARE and documentation remains with user. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, PSP further disclaims all warranties, either express or implied, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, with regard to the SOFTWARE, and any accompanying hardware. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall PSP be liable for any consequential, incidental, direct, indirect, special, punitive, or other damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, or other pecuniary loss) arising out of this EULA or the use of or inability to use the SOFTWARE, even if PSP has been advised of the possibility of such damages.MISCELLANEOUS: This EULA is governed by Polish law. Should you have any questions concerning this EULA, or if you wish to contact PSP for any reason, please write to:

PSPaudioware.com s.c. Kwadratowa 405-509 PiasecznoPoland

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SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

MAC:

PowerPC or Intel Mac

- AudioUnit:Mac OSX 10.5.0 or later Host application capable of running AudioUnits with Cocoa view

- VST:Mac OSX 10.4.0 or laterVST 2.4 compatible host application

- RTAS:Mac OSX 10.4.0 or laterProTools 8.0 or later

PC:

Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Vista or Windows 7 operating system

- VST:VST 2.4 compatible host application

- RTAS:ProTools 8.0 or later

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OVERVIEWPSP 85 is the product of our unfading fascination over the endless possibilities offered by variable sample rate delay line. It is a high-quality processor, capable of producing an extremely wide variety of delay-based effects from simple echoes to complex rhythmic patterns, from faithful magnetic tape delay simulations to twisted out-of-this-world pitch-shifting and resonant filtering effects.

FEATURES

High quality, 64-bit signal path and unique proprietary processing algorithms, Up to 20 seconds of delay time per channel (depending on internal sampling

frequency), Pre-delay for each channel Continuous control over the delay time, Cross-channel feedback and independent channel settings with channel link mode, Delay gating for improved control over number and level of echoes, Wet signal ducking for improved sound clarity, Modulation section consisting of tempo-synced LFO and envelope follower sources,

mixed in any proportions, 5 click-free LFO waveforms and variable LFO channel phase offset, LP, BP, HP filter with adjustable cutoff and resonance as well as saturation Flexible filter routing capabilities, Vintage reverberation module for faithful simulation of spring and plate reverb

characteristics, Parameter edge-filtering for smooth and click-free operation, Support for sample rates of up to 192kHz, MIDI and VST automation of all parameters, 60 brand new built-in factory presets plus supplementary PSP 84 bank.

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APPLICATIONS

PSP 85 is primarily meant to be applied to individual tracks and to be used for live performances. It is a great tool for experimenting with drum loops and instrumental patterns, too. The included presets reveal its significant potential in processing all kinds of tracks, from vocals to synth and guitar. It can be successfully used for creating classic sounding delays, but its capabilities go far beyond that. PSP 85 independent channel settings and cross-channel feedback allow for creating spatial delay effects that cut better through the mix than a simple statically-panned delay. The built-in ducking, which can be controlled by an external side-chain signal can greatly improve the mix clarity. Resonant filters, envelope detector and low freqency oscillator which follows song position and tempo changes give enormous modulation possibilities. Delay gating offers extended control over the number and level of echoes, something that was usually only possible with multi-tap delay.PSP 85 can create both pristine clean sounding echoes or dirty distorted delay effects - all depending on your needs - thanks to variable internal sample rate allowing the pitch-twist effects, rich vocal doublers, flangers and unsurpassed detune effects to be achieved. Last but not least, the reverberation unit will diffuse the sound even more, adding more space and warmth whenever requred.

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INTERNAL ARCHITECTURE

VARIABLE SAMPLE RATE DELAY LINES

The heart of the PSP 85 consists of two delay buffers operating at variable sample rate ranging from half to twice the host sample rate. There are two factors that determine the actual (audible) delay time of the plug-in:

the length of the delay line (buffer size in samples), the sample rate the delay line operates at.

The actual buffer length is set by the up/down buttons located in the delay section or by the invisible slider (please refer to the 'controls' section of this manual for further explanation). It can be expressed in either milliseconds as the rhythmic value.The internal sample rate can be adjusted manually (manual knob in the VCO section) or controlled by the modulation signal coming from the modulation block.The easiest and probably the best way to explain how these two factors affect the audible delay time is to highlight the analogy to a classic tape delay. A basic tape delay machine (picture 1) is constructed in very similar way to an ordinary tape deck and consists of two heads, one for recording and one for playback. The main difference is that the magnetic tape is looped - the audio, that has been recorded would be played back over and over again at time intervals which depend on tape length and speed it is running at. These two factors are the exact analog equivalents of PSP 85 delay buffer length and delay line sample rate:

tape length ~ delay line (buffer) length, tape speed ~ delay line sample rate.

Increasing the buffer length results in longer delay time. In contrast, increasing the sample rate shortens it.

Picture 1: simple magnetic tape delay

It might seem there is no point in having two ways of setting the delay time, but close consideration of the properties of each one reveals the significant differences. Although both methods can be used to set the desired delay time (within a certain range), they also affect other processing properties and are not equivalent. Changing the buffer length is immediately heard as a sudden jump to another part of the audio stored in it. Changing the sample rate (tape speed) is very different because the playback remains continuous. The playback position will not jump to another part of the recorded audio. Instead, it is played back faster or slower. The side effect is an obvious pitch change. If you increase the delay line sample rate, which corresponds to increasing the tape speed, sound is transposed up, and vice versa. After the whole buffer has been played back, the pitch stabilizes because the audio is being played back at the same speed as it was recorded at.

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The maximum frequency that can be reproduced by digital system is limited to half its sample rate (called Nyquist frequency). The significant drawback of working in the digital domain a sound engineer must be aware of, is the aliasing phenomenon. It occurs when the original audio is being down-sampled (which happens when PSP 85s internal sample rate is lower than the host sample rate). If the sound that is being down-sampled contains frequencies greater than the new Nyquist frequency (half the new sample rate), they become audible as very pronounced, usually unwanted anharmonic artifacts. There is no way to avoid aliasing in real-time applications unless very high sample rate is used. It doesn't mean it can't be minimized, though. PSP 85 implements a 4th order low-pass anti-alias filter prior to sample-rate converters, that cures the aliasing problem to a great extent. However, it cuts some of the high frequencies too, which may be unwelcome in certain applications where a crystal-clean full-band delay is needed. To address this need when PSP 85 sample rate conversion module (VCO) is switched off (which implies no aliasing), the anti-alias filter is deactivated making full-band processing possible.Every system doing sample rate conversion has to implement some kind of interpolation algorithm. The simple techniques of decimation and linear interpolation, found in many commercial products, introduce high harmonic distortion. PSP 85 uses high quality multi-point interpolators both at the input and output stage of the delay buffer. These interpolators have been designed to introduce low distortion while keeping the CPU-usage and latency at the reasonable level. The result is a pristine clean sound all across the allowed internal sample rate range.

FILTER

PSP 85 filter section can be used to shape the spectral content of the input, feedback or wet (processed) signal. Three filter types are available:

low-pass, band-pass, high-pass.

All of them have been mathematically derived from analog 2nd order resonant filter prototypes. Their frequency response faithfully emulates that of their analog counterparts over entire audible range thanks to oversampling. For each filter type, cutoff frequency and resonance can be set. Both can be modulated. The modulation depth can be negative and positive, letting the asymmetric LFO waveforms such as sawtooth to be inverted (up-saw becomes down-saw). The phase lag between cutoff and resonance modulation can be set by OFFSET LFO parameter.The filter implements the internal saturator which can be used to simulate magnetic tape properties or to achieve more pronounced distortion effects.As mentioned before, there are three locations within PSP 85 signal path the filter can be applied at:

input (IN) - input signal is subject to filtering before any other processing is done; filtration affects both dry and wet signals and the filtered signal is recorded into the delay buffers. This mode is the best for delayed wah-wah effects and is similar to having wah-wah and delay connected in series,

feedback (FB) - both feedback and wet signals are filtered; the result is that every consecutive delay repetition is filtered more and more. This mode is useful for simulation of frequency absorption coming from wall reflection as well as for exciting resonant effects.

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wet (FX) only wet (processed) signal is filtered; this mode allows for degeneration-free signal recirculation within the feedback path while controlling the output signal spectrum.

WARNING! The loud feedback may damage your speakers and ears! When the filter is operating in FB mode the plug-in can easily become unstable. Always start with low feedback and resonance values while in this mode and increase them gradually to achieve the desired effect. It is a good practice to lower the plug-in output level too or put the limiter at your master bus.

MODULATION

Filter cutoff frequency and resonance as well as delay line sample rate can be modulated (at the same time) by the signal that is generated by the modulation section. It consists of two main functional blocks:

low frequency oscillator (LFO), envelope follower.

The LFO is capable of generating the following waveforms: sinusoidal (SIN), pulse (SQR) with 50% pulse width, triangular (TRI), sawtooth (SAW), random (RND).

The waveforms having abrupt changes (SQR, SAW and RND), are low-pass filtered to make the plug-in operation click-free. All five can be synced to host tempo and song position.The LFO rate can vary within the range of 0.01 Hz to 15 Hz. The phase offset between right and left LFO channels can be set to non-zero value for fat chorusing and panning effects when applied to delay line sample rate. When modulating the filter parameters, the left LFO channel always controls the cutoff frequency, while right channel modulates the resonance. This allows for setting some phase lag between those two parameters.The LFO signal can be mixed in any proportion with the envelope follower signal, making up the final modulation signal. The envelope follower analyses the input signal and extracts its temporal envelope. Its value depends on the weighted average of the absolute signal level, calculated for a certain time window. The width of the window is adjusted with the SPEED knob, while its sensitivity to input signal level is determined by SENS knob.The PSP 85 ducker and gate are controlled by the envelope follower as well. The position of SPEED and SENS knobs will affect their operation as well.

REVERBERATOR

Included with PSP 85 is the vintage reverb module, capable of simulating spring and plate reverberators. Many commercial reverb units available attempt to simulate virtual spaces through precise early reflection shaping and generation of a dense reverberation tail. Unfortunately they often prove to be of little use in the mix, even if sounding convincing when listened to in isolation. At PSP, we made an attempt to meet the musicians and engineers demand for a classic mechanical reverberators simulation by analyzing their physical properties and implementing the reverb topologies that match those mechanical

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constructions close. The results produced by the two reverb types are significantly different. The Spring reverb creates a somehow periodic tail, something that is usually considered unwanted by reverb designers. However, this is close to the actual way the spring reverb acts and it turns out to sound surprisingly good in certain recording situations. Plate reverb has a denser, more diffused and brighter tail being not as periodic as spring.The reverb module can operate in two modes - processing wet signal or the overall (summed) output signal. It has an adjustable damping that effectively controls the reverberation time and the reverb amount, which in fact allows for setting the internal mix proportion.

MASTER SECTION

The input and output signals can be attenuated or amplified as set by INPUT and OUTPUT knobs. Since PSP 85 contains non-linear elements (saturation) and an envelope follower within its signal path, the INPUT knob position does not only change the volume, but can also affect the sound itself.Dry and wet signals can be mixed in any proportions. The '-6dB' mixing law is used. In center position both dry and wet signal are attenuated by 6dB prior to summing. Unless very short delay time is set, this might require some gain boost at either input or output to compensate for volume loss.To overcome the problems arising when using delay effects in real-world mixing situations PSP 85 can duck wet signal automatically. Quite often the delay tail gets masked by a busy mix. Its rhythmic attributes are no longer perceived. Instead, it only increases the overall hum and mess. The usual workaround is to use host automation to attenuate the delay when the mix gets busy and increase its level when there's place for it. The ducker does the same, but automatically. It can respond to PSP 85 main input signal or separate sidechain signal. The

BLOCK DIAGRAM

The diagram on the next page shows entire PSP 85 audio and modulation (control) signal paths. Note that the control signal consists of two channels. In this manual we usually refer to them as left and right, but it is important to keep in mind that this naming is correct for delay line resamplers only. The filter cutoff, in contrast, is always modulated by left control signal while the resonance is always controlled by right control signal. The result is that the cutoff and resonance values are always equal for both left and right audio channels (same filtering is applied to both channels). This solution has significant advantage, since you can control the LFO phase lag between cutoff and resonance by tweaking the OFFSET knob.

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PSP 85 Operation Manual 11

meter Linput L input R

meter R

input gain input gain

IN filter IN

flt mode=IN =IN

flt mode

antialias filter

antialias filter

feedback pan

+

+

+

mute inmute in

envelope follower

pre delay

resampler resampler

main delay main delayfb gain

resampler resampler

gate

phase offset

FB FB

flt mode

=FB =FB

filter filterLFO

flt mode

=FX

FXflt mode

=FX

FXdly pan

ducking ducking

reverbrvb

modervb mode

OUT

FX

OUT

FX

output L output R

+

+

+

+

++

z-n z-n

z-n

resampler

z-n

+

resampler

pre delay

gate


USER INTERFACE

MASTER SECTION

DISPLAY when parameter is being edited, its value is displayed. Otherwise shows the current tempo in BPM. When host doesn't provide plug-in with tempo information, it can be set manually by clicking and dragging over display area.BYPASS bypasses the plug-in processing. Note that the processing is still performed in the background, even though the results are not heard.

INPUT input gain; either attenuates or boosts the signal prior to any processing.

MIX proportions between dry (unprocessed) and wet (processed) signals. Sets the overall effect depth. Note the plug-in uses -6dB mixing law, which might require input or output boosting to compensate for gain reduction applied at mixing.

OUTPUT output gain, either attenuates or boosts the output signal.

DUCKING ducking threshold. When input remains hot, wet (processed) signal will be automatically attenuated. Improves the control over clarity of the results by reducing the level of the echoes that would have been masked by busy mix anyway. Ducking can also be controlled (triggered) by an external signal present at the auxiliary sidechain input (provided host applications supports it).

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DELAY SECTION

CHANNEL INDICATORS show selected delay channel. Unless LINK is on, any delay section adjustment will only affect the selected channel. LINK - allows both delay channels to be set at a time. When on, any adjustment will affect both delay channels.Right-clicking LINK copies all delay section parameter values from the selected channel to the other one.METERS show left and right channel input signal levels

PRE TIME initial (pre) delay time. It is applied to the input signal prior to feedback return. Its time is always expressed in relation to the main delay time, as a fraction of the latter.RANGE delay time setting range. The smaller range allow for finer delay time adjustments. Only active when in TIME mode.MODE delay time mode. Two modes are available:- TIME the time is expressed in milliseconds and doesn't follow tempo changes- BEAT the time is expressed as tempo-related rhythmic figureMAIN TIME main delay time. It is applied after feedback return. The hot area between arrow buttons allows for fast coarse setting.

FEEDBACK PAN feedback return panning. Can be used to route part or entire feedback signal to the other delay channel.

FEEDBACK GAIN the gain reduction applied to the feedback signal on each circulation. Controls the number and level of echoes.

DELAY PAN delay output panning. Each delay line (channel) can be panned independently.

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DELAY GATE noise gate threshold. Signal below this level will be further attenuated. Gating offers additional, more flexible control over number and level of echoes, closing the gap between standard and multitap delays.

PHASE INVERT switches the phase of the feeback return and/or delay signals. The effect is usually only audible when delay time is short. Useful for chorus/flanger effects.MUTE IN mutes the delay line input. On mono tracks, clever muting and feedback panning allows the two delay lines to be used in series.

MODULATION SECTION

MODE LFO operating mode; three different modes are available:- FRQ free-running; rate set in Hertz- BEAT free-running; rate expressed as tempo-related rhythmic value- POS like BEAT but phase stays locked to song positionRATE LFO rate; use hot area between arrow buttons for fast coarse setting

SHAPE LFO waveform; five are available:- sine- square- triangular- sawtooth- random (outputs different values even if POS mode is on!)

OFFSET phase lag between LFO channels. When modulating delay line sample rate (VCOMOD) this determines the left to right channel phase offset. When modulating filter, sets phase offset between cutoff and resonance modulation

SOURCE LFO vs envelope detector mixing. Sets their proportions in ultimate modulation signal.

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SENS envelope detector sensitivity. Preamplifies the signal before envelope extraction.

SPEED envelope detector time constant control. Determines both attack and release times of the main envelope detector (used for modulation purposes) as well as additional ducking and gating envelope detectors release times.

VCO SECTION

ON/OFF toggles the variable sample rate delay line on and off. When on, the highest frequencies will be slightly attenuated by the additional antialias filter designed to reduce the anharmonic distortion.

MANUAL delay line sample rate control. Will change the delay time and result in transient pitch shift, audible as long as the audio in the delay buffer is played back at the speed different from the one it was captured at.

VCO MOD delay line sample rate modulation depth.

FILTER SECTION

ON/OFF toggles the filter on and off

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MODE filter configuration switch. Sets the location of the filter within plug-in signal chain:- IN filtering is applied to the input signal prior to any further processing,- FBCK filtering is applied to the feedback signal, just before its return,- FX filtering is applied to wet (processed) signal, after all processing but before wet/dry mixing.TYPE filter type: low pass, band pass and high pass are available

CUTOFF filter cutoff frequency. When band-pass type is selected, controls center frequency.

RESO filter resonance. Determines the level of the response peak around cutoff frequency. High values will result in self-oscillation.

DRIVE the amount of internal filter saturation. Low values will add some harmonics, higher will result in audible distortion.

CUTF MOD cutoff (center) frequency modulation depth.

RESO MOD resonance modulation depth.

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REVERB SECTION

ON/OFF toggles the reverberator on and off

MODE reverb configuration; two available positions are:- FX reverb is applied as the last processing step just before wet/dry mixing- OUT reverb is applied after wet/dry mixingTYPE reverb topology (algorithm) selector - spring or plate reverberator simulations can be selected

DAMP reverb time; affects the high frequency damping as well. Greater values will result in faster decay and more pronounced high frequencies attenuation.

AMOUNT reverb mixing; determines the amount of reverberation.

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SUPPORT & FEEDBACKIf you have any questions about the principles or operation of our plug-ins, please visit our web site www.PSPaudioware.com where you can find the latest product information, free software updates and answers to the most frequently asked questions.You can also contact us by e-mail: [email protected] We will gladly answer all of your questions. As a rule we respond within 24 hours.

We welcome any opinions and comments related to PSP 85. We would also be grateful if you shared with us your experiences using PSP 85. If youve created an useful custom preset, let us know too.Please, contact us at: [email protected]

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PSP 85Operation manualBy using this software you agree to the terms of any license agreement accompanying it. PSP, the PSP logo, PSP 85, and Its the sound that counts! are trademarks of PSPaudioware.com s.c.End User License AgreementSYSTEM REQUIREMENTSOVERVIEWFEATURESAPPLICATIONS

INTERNAL ARCHITECTUREVARIABLE SAMPLE RATE DELAY LINESFILTERMODULATIONREVERBERATOR MASTER SECTIONBLOCK DIAGRAM

USER INTERFACEMASTER SECTIONDELAY SECTIONMODULATION SECTIONVCO SECTIONFILTER SECTIONREVERB SECTION

SUPPORT & FEEDBACK

psp 85 operation manual

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