Adobe Audition/Cool Edit Pro Plugin - PSP MasterQ EQ VST Plugin

Controls

PSP MasterQ EQ VST PLUGIN

   The graphic user interface of the PSP MasterQ is designed to be both elegant and functional, offering a convenient and aesthetically pleasing layout which gives you easy access to all of its functions.

Basic Operation

To activate the buttons, simply click them. They will glow yellow to indicate that they are active. To avoid accidental resets, the Reset button requires double-clicking. The Latency numbers may also be clicked to force dynamic latency compensation. To adjust the knobs, click on the knob and rotate your mouse clockwise or counterclockwise. The numeric display of the current value below the knob you are adjusting will change to reflect your mouse position. All knobs react to your mouse movement speed. The faster the mouse speed, the faster the knob’s value changes. If you press the SHIFT key pressed before you click on a knob, for as long as you hold the key down the knob will be in Fine Movement Mode, which allows you to make more minute value adjustments. The knob value display below each knob can be clicked to reveal a text box. You can directly type a desired numerical value into this box. Clicking on the name of currently chosen LIM-SAT algorithm opens a popup with a list of available LIM-SAT algorithms to choose from. You can also use the arrow buttons below the LIM-SAT header to scroll through the available LIM-SAT algorithm. You can also directly click on any of small LED-like buttons below the algorithm name to directly switch algorithms. Finally, you can click on the PSP • Tested On Musicians icon to switch the graph display to an information panel with details about the plug-in authors, the version number, and to whom the plugin is licensed. Simply click on the information panel to return to the standard graph display.
Displays
EQ GRAPH

PSP MasterQ EQ Graph

Certainly, the PSP MasterQ’s most obvious display is the EQ graph. The EQ Graph shows the exact EQ curve of each activated filter in the same color as the line bordering that filter’s Filter Activation button, as well as the thick black line indicating the combined EQ curve of all activated filters. Note that the EQ graph is not only just a display—you can manipulate the EQ curves by clicking active points on the graph itself.
LATENCY DISPLAY

PSP MasterQ
LATENCY

Under the LATENCY header at the bottom of the PSP MasterQ is displayed the current internal latency of the plug-in in samples and milliseconds. Click on the latency indicators, stop and resume playback, or reset the audio application’s engine to force delay compensation. NOTE: precisely how to force the host application to recalculate delay compensation depends on the application used;this will only work properly if the application supports this feature.
LEFT/RIGHT LEDS

PSP MasterQ
LEDS

Next to the LEFT and RIGHT buttons are the LEFT and RIGHT LEDs. These indicate when yoursignal exceeds 0dBFS. They remain lit dark red until clicked after a digital over occurs. Textindicators below the LEDs indicate the held peak level.
BUTTONS
PROC

PSP MasterQ
Proc

The PROC button switches the plug-in into processing mode. Without this button engaged, theplug-in is bypassed. Please note that bypassing the PSP MasterQ using this button is not the same asturning the plug-in off (or bypassing) using your audio application’s plug-in window controls.
FAT

PSP MasterQ
FAT

This button activates the Frequency Authentication Technique – a high quality double sampling technology which results in more accurate and transparent high frequency filtrations. This algorithm produces a slight internal latency of 128 samples. In general, you will always want the FAT button engaged, however you might need to turn the FAT off if you must have the lowest possible latency, or need to conserve CPU computation power.
LEFT/RIGHT BUTTONS

PSP MasterQ
L-R

You can use these buttons to turn on or off processing for the left and right channel independently. This allows you to process only one channel while keeping the second channel synchronized.
LIM-SAT

PSP MasterQ
LIM-SAT

These arrow buttons allow you to switch between the different soft clipping algorithms available to you. You can also choose to turn off the soft-clipping algorithms completely. The small LED-like buttons below the algorithm name allow you to directly select a Lim-Sat algorithm. Finally, you canalso click on the algorithm’s name to open a popup list with all available algorithms.
RESET

PSP MasterQ
Reset

Double-clicking this button will instantly reset the Range knob and all of the filters’ settings to their default values. This is particularly useful if you find yourself wanting to zero out all your settings and start over.
FILTER ACTIVATION BUTTONS

PSP MasterQ Filter Activation Buttons

Each of PSP MasterQ’s filters can be turned on or off individually via its Filter Activation button.Note that when you activate a filter, a line in the same color surrounding that filter’s Filter Activation button will appear in the EQ graph to represent that filter’s EQ curve. 24 dB/OCT

PSP MasterQ
24dB/oct

Both the low cut and high cut filters have a 24 dB/oct button. Activating this button places low cut and high cut filters into 24dB/oct mode. If buttons are not lit low cut and high cut filters operate in 12dB/oct mode.
KNOBS
FREQ

PSP MasterQ
Freq

This knob sets a cut-off or center frequency of individual filter. The range of each filter’s FREQ knob depends on the chosen filter. Each FREQ knob has a different default setting based on its range.
"Q"

PSP MasterQ
"Q"

The “Q factor” knob sets the width for a filter. The lower the Q, the wider the range of filter (which results in a softer slope to the EQ curve). Higher Q values result in the filter affecting a narrow frequency range (which looks more like a notch or resonance than a curve on the EQ graph) The default value for each filter was set to match the purpose for that given filter (see Operations for details).
GAIN

PSP MasterQ
Gain

This knob sets the gain/attenuation for a filter. Its range is –24 dB to +24dB with increased resolution closer to 0dB. Note that the high and low cut filters do not have GAIN knobs.
RANGE

PSP MasterQ
Range

The RANGE knob acts as sort of a boost or cut for the entire EQ. It sets the multiplier assigned to all Gain controls of the individual filters. It allows you to increase, lessen or even invert amplitude characteristics of all filters except low cut and high cut. You can dial in settings from –150% to 150% giving you an extra 50% of filters’ boost or attenuation. Certain key numeric values are colored to make them stand out: 100% is indicated by green numbers, -100% is indicated by blue numbers, and 0% is indicated by red numbers. The default value is 100%, which does not alter the gain settings of the filters at all.
OUTPUT

PSP MasterQ
  Output

At the bottom right of the interface, the OUTPUT knob sets the output signal level of the EQ before it enters the limiting-saturation section.
OPERATIONS
Filter Frequencies The frequency range of each filter has been specifically tailored to be as useful and dynamic as possible for its given range. You’ll notice that most of the filters in the PSP MasterQ actually have a far wider range than most other EQ plug-ins give their filters. This is to give you the maximum flexibility in adjusting each filter. The frequency ranges and default values for each filter, from left to right across the PSP MasterQ interface, is as follows:

• Low Cut Filter: 10 Hz — 20 kHz 10Hz by default
• Low Shelving Filter: 20 Hz — 2 kHz 100Hz by default
• Low Parametric Filter: 16 Hz — 16 kHz 250Hz by default
• Mid Parametric Filter: 20 Hz — 20 kHz 1kHz by default
• High Parametric Filter: 24 Hz — 24 kHz 4kHz by default
• High Shelving Filter: 300 Hz — 30 kHz 10kHz by default
• High Cut Filter: 10 Hz — 30 kHz 30kHz by default

Adjusting the Q
While there are no hard and fast rules as to how to set the Q factor for each filter, there are a few general rules that can help you get the most out of the PSP MasterQ. The Low shelf and high shelf Q factors within the range of 0.35 to 0.71 result in a smooth shelf curve. Values as low as 0.35 give the smoothest possible curve while values greater then 0.71 add a peak above and while below the set frequency. The Low cut and high cut Q factors in the range of 0.35 to 0.71 result in a typical low cut and high cut curve without any resonance gain. A value of 0.71 value creates a curve of 12dB/oct or 24db/oct depending on if you have engaged 24db/oct switch. Lower values decrease the steepness of the curve down to 6dB/oct (for 12dB/oct filter's mode). Values greater then 0.71 raise the resonance. The Q ranges and default values for each filter, from left to right across the PSP MasterQ interface, are as follows:
Low Cut Filter: 0.35 — 1.41 0.71 by default

• Low Shelving Filter: 0.35 — 1.41 0.5 by default
• Low Parametric Filter: 0.05 — 20 0.41 by default
• Mid Parametric Filter: 0.05 — 20 0.26 by default
• High Parametric Filter: 0.05 — 20 0.41 by default
• High Shelving Filter: 0.35 — 1.41 0.5 by default
• High Cut Filter: 0.35 —1.41 0.71 by default

Presets

PSP MasterQ Presets

As Sakis stated in the Forward, when you are dealing with EQ, you need to tailor the plug-in to your specific needs; rarely will anyone’s else’s settings be exactly what you need. But the PSP MasterQ includes a number of settings that should offer you a good place to start your own explorations.
You can access these presets from the PSP Audioware standard PRESET bar at the bottom of the plug-in interface. Here you can select from among the factory presets, and load and save individual, as well as banks of presets. There are three sections to this bar, the PRESET section, the Preset window, and the BANK section.
PRESET SECTION  Click the green “from disk” icon to load a preset  Click the red “to disk” icon to save a preset
PRESET WINDOW
Click the menu button to the right of the preset window to see the menu of all the presets in the currently loaded preset bank. Click the name of the preset to rename it.
BANK SECTION
Click the green “from disk” icon to load a bank Click the red “to disk” icon to save a bank