bx_XL manual - Floridamusicco.com
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1. brainworx bx_ XL manual The New Loud 2010 by Brainworx Music amp Media GmbH p Bypass prainworx 9 px XL WS Mastering Limiter 4 t e ud Side m dbo mr o pa E E 46 4 4 L2 E 729 57 At f E a ES M 0 10 ms ka Rel 40 REGAN i 0 00 dB 50 0 ms Lis 1 00 ms ds Active Active E E l E 3 T il Solo 2t c Teresnoic 3 Fader Link LEE 2234 Fader Li HE d ader Link EE Fader Link E 16 2 5 Sidechain Hj in z Sidechain Sidecha i 25 z z wv in out iM fs 35 n v in out Site 25 g Y a eu eene E ms L za 2 reser i v Sidechain Mix qun Mono Waker m MP 20 s oet be t Pto ttioe esposo oio Sid 200 X LLL beetle tT Tee J D ES lt i Sidechain Signal m Redo undo Master Correlation XL Balance Manual 12 6 i LI N r ii EN LI oO Peak Stop brai inworx I uu TX em AWSSSSSSSNS J oe NE 3 a ll L3 E a 3 r g F 4 24 n 7 AFH m d B his I amp where we develop our pro ISIT brainrox com brainrox de s the Bra brainworx C9 Install and activate your new plugin Check the Activation Manual PDF for details or visit www plugin alliance com activation The Activa2. A blue LED means the channel is active on working 8 3 10 Solo L To listen to that channel solo press the Solo switch Soloing any other channel deactivates the channel Solo You can also deactivate by clicking the same Solo switch again when it is active Several Solo knobs cannot be linked One Solo knob can be activated only at the same time Sidechain 8 3 11 Fader Link Fader Link on will link the Gain boost fader and the Threshold fader to drive that channel into the limiter harder or softer without altering the overall volume of that channel The Gain Boost and Threshold sliders will automatically be moved contrarily when Fader link is ON blue LED indicates ON gt Gain boost up results in the Threshold being pulled down automa tically and vice versa 8 3 12 Sidechain Active Use this knob to activate the Sidechain audio to be the trigger for that respective channel If Sidechain is active the limiter of that channel will no longer target the internal audio signal of that channel but the oidechain Mix audio you have selected 8 4 Sidechain Mix Sidechain Mix MI Use two 2 of the following signals to mix together a signal that will serve as a triggering signal for any of the 3 channels in bx XL Mid Lo Mid Hi and SL a Side 4 20 sidechain Signal You can select from 5 different signals on both sides of the fader and seamlessly blend from one signal into another Mid Lo IMid
3. 9 3 Settings A B C D 17 17 17 17 17 17 48 48 49 49 49 eo eo eo eo eo 9 4 Manual 9 5 Help general info 10 0 Brainworx keyboard shortcuts 11 0 Troubleshooting e e e e brainworx Qv 1 0 bx XL Quick Guide Insert bx XL into the stereo master buss place behind all EGs and compressors Play a stereo song you know well and press Solo M and Solo S center section to understand what M and S are Turn up the Input Gain until the Peak Meters of the stereo main LED s hit O zero on peaks Turn up Master Gain Boost and note how your mix gets louder and more squashed the more you crank up The MidHi signal will most likely hit the Max Gain ceiling now Adjust the individual Gain Boost sliders of MidLo and S if necessary Watch the MidLo MidHi and Mid Side meters change Turn down the individual Max Out sliders of M low and S mainly to tighten up these channels by driving them to the wall Do not overdo this too much gain reduction causes distortion Play with the Crossover Frequency slider and use the Solo MidLo feature to adjust precisely Try to separate the bass drum with it Adjust the individual Attack and Release times of the MidLo MidHi and Side channels Use the individual Solo knobs to do so Turn up the Master XL knob and or the individual XL knobs in the channel to saturate your mix or parts of the mix only for more perceived volume more loudness You cannot win the loudnes
4. Hi Mid Hi amp Lo combined Side External this is the external Sidechain input that most hosts offer gt Inthe example above you would be blending a little bit of the M mid signal into the S side signal This would give you a combination of lets say all of your stereo guitar or keyboard sounds from your mix with a bit of bass drum and snare peaks added If you used this signal to trigger your S channel the S channel limiter would react on the peaks of the bass drum and snare a little bit to make your music groove with the beats of your track e 15 brainworx QV 8 4 1 Pro Tip Mastering stems with bx XL using the External Sidechain If you like to mix a stereo version of your tracks and then like to bounce multiple stereo stems for example stereo drums stereo vocals with or without effects stereo keyboards stereo guitar groups etc to have greater control and access in the final mastering stage you have probably used a limiter on your stereo master buss when you bounced the full stereo master But if you solo certain stereo groups now and bounce them with the same master buss settings you will most likely not even get similar results when it comes to the dynamics and the behavior of your master limiter Single signals are just never as loud as the whole stereo mix Was so your limiter which was reacting nicely on the overall stereo mix will not even detect peaks if you bounce for example the
5. Mid Lo or the Mid Hi channel depending on the setting of the Crossover Frequenoy 8 6 Solo buttons with Auto mode for M amp S LGR and the Sidechain THERA You can listen to the various constituents of your stereo mix by using our Solo knobs The phase corrected Solo S is a true Brainworx invention Solo M Sobo S 8 6 1 Solo M Listen solo to your M mono signal This is the mono sum of your overall mix the Left and Right channel combined Auto L R Solo Solo Sidechain 8 6 2 Solo S The S signal is a part of any stereo signal but it is phase reversed on the right channel which makes it tough to judge bx XL will automatically phase correct the S signal and play it monoed on both output channels SO you can listen properly to all the stereo information of your mix Tightening the S channel by limiting it smoothly and boosting it by 1 or 2 dB is very often the key to achieving maximum volume without audible distortion artifacts Also try to use the XL knob with higher settings on the S channel than on the M channel The M channel almost always contains the lead vocals and the human ear reacts very disturbed to drastic changes made to human voices But slightly saturating the guitar and keyboard sounds in your mix and limiting them more in your face will most of the times work well and sound pleasant to your customers ears and their fans Having the Solo S on board of an M S weapon such as the bx XL make
6. is shared between L and R channels Use the Gain L R and or the Pan M amp S knobs to alter the Balance if desired Correlation is a standard correlation meter It can be handy to check phases when doing bigger changes in M S The Mid Lo Mid Hi meter indicates the ratio between the 2 bands of the M signal in refernce to the original unprocessed audio If the needle moves to the left towards Mid Lo this means that your processed mix contains more lo end than the unprocessed mix You may adjust this or keep things as they are depending solely on your taste The Mid Side meter indicates the ratio between M and S in refence to the original unprocessed mix If the needle moves to the left towards Mid this means that your processed mix contains less S signal less stereo width than your unprocessed mix You can adjust the stereo width with the M and S gain knobs anytime 9 0 The Master Panel 9 1 Bypass Bypass With the Bypass button you can bypass the whole bx_XL plug in to compare your original mix and your corrections improvements with the bx_XL 9 2 Undo Redo S2 steps One of the new features of bx XL is the 32 steps Undo Redo functionality Now you can just experiment and Undo whatever you don t like Together with the new A B C D settings and Copy Paste see 9 3 this is an engineer s dream 9 3 Settings A B C D I jevini ME E E EN Copy You can now store up to 4 Settings of bx_XL with
7. stereo with a second M S matrix sounds quite confusing Well bx_XL does all that work for you internally just feed it with a stereo mix and you ll be able to individually limit and listen to your M and S signals The input and output signals of bx XL are always regular L H stereo For additional details about this technique you may have a look into any decent audio book Please do so if you want to learn more about this method to create very mono compatible stereo signals e g when recording classical music drums choirs or acoustic instruments in general 4 1 What is M S good for in Mastering Well it may sound simple but the bx XL has a builtin M S matrix that will separate any stereo signal into its mono sum and the stereo difference signals Thus you are able to separately control these 2 signals which can be very useful when you work on a stereo mix that has certain problems or if you simply want to enhance the perceived volume of your mix with as few audible artifacts as possible Ever tried to crank up the guitars and keyboards of your stereo mix while keeping the punch of your drums and the power of your lead vocals With bx XL and its built in M S technology you can do exactly that 5 0 But what s so new about bx XL then First of all bx XL works different than any other limiter out there Different in a nice way The M S mode and the internal split of the M signal into 2 bands allow for a huge incre
8. 50 Hz Try 60 Hz to start with this is also the default setting of bx XL e Split the M signal rather high to separate hi end sizzling sounds such as vocal sibilance and cymbal noise to eventually detect and suppress them using the Mid Hi channel limit the M Hi channel without boosting it in this case e Split at any other frequency to emphasize certain good sounding elements of your mix or to hide any bad sounding elements of your mix dynamically Examples for a standard pop rock mix Crossover Frequency below 100 Hz Your Mid Lo channel will mainly contain bass drum information and the gain reduction of that channel will therefore be caused by bass drum peaks hitting against the threshold You Mid Hi channel will contain the rest of the mix except for the bass drum and some low end bass frequencies The Mid Hi channel can be looked at as the Main M channel in that case It will contain much more level energy than the Mid Lo channel gt The Threshold slider of the Mid Hi channel should be set to O zero or slightly below zero to make sure you get the maximum undistorted sound of bx XL gt The Threshold slider of the Mid Lo channel will have to be pulled down quite far in that case approx 12 dB Place the Threshold slider slightly above the Output LED s of the M Lo channel until the Gain Reduction meters start blinking on occasional peaks bass drum hits most likely Crossover Frequency above 6kH
9. NIH a AAA This multi meter simultaneously shows you the Peak and HMS average levels of the audio signal for the left and right output channels In addition there is a Dynamic Range meter on top of the meter displaying the overall dynamics to be found in your mix after the limiter stage The less dynamic range your mix has the louder it will sound but the more squashed it will also be M A mix with a Dynamic Range of 6dB will usually sound loud as hell and anything below that level 4dB for example will start sounding distorted Trust your ears stop at a reasonable level e 18 brainworx Qv 8 8 The M S Summing Amp Inu ihe M S Summing Gain will receive the 3 individual Uu EcLIN channel signals Mid Lo Mid Hi and Side and sum them together in a very special way to create a highly mono compatible stereo signal derived from the processed stems Link Mid Lo and Mid Hi will be combined to a phase coherent M mono sum The M amp S signals will be converted back to ll a regular L R stereo signal that will be fed to the Master Peak Stop Limiter which works in L R Stereo mode not M SI M S Left channel M S Right channel The Stereo Width of the overall output signal can be controlled via the o channel gain The Gains for the M id and S ide signals can be linked When Link is ON adjusting one of the Gain knobs will cause both knobs to turn Please note that you can offset both
10. V2 bx dynEG and bx hybrid It will cut away low end frequencies the ones below the frequency you dial in only in the S signal to make your mix mono below that frequency At the same time the Mono Maker automatically compensates for the overall loss of low end sound in the M signal so your mix does not loose bass audibly Mono Maker ensures phases below the selected frequency to be accurate and tight and helps preventing bad surprises from playing your music through subwoofer music systems Mono Maker is also essential for Vinyl Mastering Phase problems in the low end can literally make the needle of a record player jump off the groove and Mono Maker effectively eliminates these phase problems Try starting with settings around 60 Hz Much higher frequencies can cause audible loss in stereo width Crossover Frequency and Mono Maker can be linked for easier use with standard settings 8 3 Mid Lo Hi and Side Sections 8 3 1 Gain Boost Use the Gain boost faders internally to drive the respective Channel into the limiter The hotter you drive a channel the JE more Gain Reduction will be applied when the channel hits the ceiling set by the Threshold 8 3 2 Gain Reduction Meter d Any audio signal exceeding the Threshold level will cause the limiter of that channel to block the audio above that level This is the main purpose of the limiter To show you how much level is being cut we have implemented the Gain Hed
11. ase of overall volume and perceived loudness while keeping audible distortion and artifacts as low as possible bx XL is the first and only M S mastering limiter that allows you to listen to your M and S signals individually and phase corrected by using the same solo knobs that have already made bx digital the M S EQ of choice for many of the best engineers around the globe Why is this so unusual you might ask now Well although the S signal is included in any regular L R stereo signal it is not in phase on both channels so we had to come up with an easy way to phase correct it each time you want to listen to your S signal soloed Where do you start Start by playing some stereo mixes through your bx XL plug in and push the Solo button of the MidLo MidHi and most importantly the Side Section you will be amazed of what you will hear you will be able to work on details you have never even heard before in your mixes 7 brainworx Qv Then dig a little deeper try the Auto Solo Mode the Crossover Frequency split while soloing M lo and M hi use the XL knobs on all 3 channels etc You will quickly get the concept this way 6 0 Features of bx XL M S mastering limiter for stereo signals mixes oplits the stereo signal into M amp S oplits the M signal into Lo and Hi 2 bands Many Solo features including Auto Solo Mode Multiple Level meters to control Correlation Balance Loudness M amp S ratio Lo an
12. bled individually bx_XL remembers which of them gt a were set to ON or OFF before using the Master XL bypass 8 5 2 Master Gain Boost Master Gain Boost will remote control the 3 individual Gain boost sliders of the Mid Lo Mid Hi and Side channels Individual offsets for any of the 3 channels can be made by using a single Gain boost slider in the desired channel Offsets between the 3 individual Gain boosts will cause a shifted frequency spectrum Mid Lo vs Mid Hi or stereo image Mid Lo and Mid Hi vs S of your mix This can be desired but should be monitored via the Master Meters in the top row of the plugin graphics More often than not a slight boost of the M Lo and the Side channel results in a bigger low end and wider stereo image which is THE sound that most engineers and bands and fans are looking for e 16 brainworx Qv 8 5 3 Master Threshold The Master Threshold remote controls the 3 individual Threshold sliders of the Mid Lo Mid Hi and Side channels Individual offsets for any of the 3 channels can be made by using a single Threshold slider in the desired channel In more or less every stereo music mix the Side channel 2 S signal contains less energy than the Mid channels To achieve an evenly limited and tight mix it is therefore needed to set the Threshold of the Side channel much lower than the one of the main Mid channel The main M channel can be either the
13. channels unlink them and set one channel to more or less volume than the other channel and still use them in linked mode afterwards whereas the level offset will stay in place This way you can alter the overall level being sent into the Peak Stop limiter without altering the overall Stereo width 8 9 The L R Stereo Peak Stop Limiter This one knob peak stop limiter works in standard L R mode with fixed very fast Attack and Release times to prevent short clippings that may occur when bx XL mixes together the 3 channels Mid Lo Mid Hi and Side again to a full stereo L R mix It can be compared with standard brickwall limiters from other vendors and is the final process step of the bx XL limiter before the audio passes the Master Output gain knob Master Output receives the final stereo L R signal limited and clip free from the M S Summing Amp stage and the Peak Stop limiter at OdB but many mastering engineers are used to delivering their mixes at O 2dB or D 3dB Use the Master Out gain knob to set the final output stage to any level you like gt Positive values greater OdB require additional limiters behind bx XL and may cause serious distortion in your audio signal and further processing stages gt We highly recommend to set Master Out to O 2dB and then forget about it e 19 brainworx Q 8 11 Master Metering Mid Lo Mid Hi Mid Side Correlation Balance Balance will show how the energy of the mix
14. d Hi ratio etc e Input Gain and individual Pan for M and S signals to control the output balance with more precision than ever e Stereo Width Control M amp S Gains in the Summing Amp e Output Gain to adjust overall level e New mouse wheel control place the cursor above any knob and use the mouse wheel e Mono Maker Adjust the MonoMaker from 20 Hz to 20000 Hz and your stereo mix will be Mono up to that frequency by cutting away the low end of the stereo difference of your stereo mix and adjusting the potential loss of bass frequencies in the Mono Sum automatically Ever had problems to cut your electronic music mixes with synthesizer basses to vinyl Do you want to make sure your bass sounds are tight on disco speakers that might be spread all over the place Try the Mono Maker e bx XL works in M S mode so you can give your mixes that extra lo end on guitars and synths that the pros have without rumbling bass drums basses etc e keeps the punch of your mix alive 7 0 How do I get started with bx XL in a typical mastering session Mastering music is all about hearing objectively and enhancing musical performances if possible but it is often enough about correcting mistakes that have been made in a mix session this sounds basic but we mean it very literally We assume that most if not all people who have purchased bx_XL are familiar with using a standard L R limiter so we will skip the total basics
15. djust so why don t Make your mix wider than it originally was by increasing the Stereo you just do it Width without losing the center of your recordings You will not loose bass drum power or vocals by making your mix wider this way and it Mastering in M S takes a little time to get used to its just really will not sound different played back in mono at all different limiting 3 separate mono sums than limiting conventional L amp HR signals with a 1 knob auto limiter But it s a very musical way of working and there is a reason why some of the top mastering studios in the world have been working like this for ages with custom made M S boards without really telling anybody M S Mastering might just be the key for your music to sound as big yet still open and clear as productions often referred to as being BIG Many people who have used the M S modes for the first time told us that they had the impression of a 3D like depth in their mixes after processing the M and the S Signals individually While using the M S technique for mastering does affect your phases in the stereo signal we do not see this as a problem In M S modes altering phases is done intentionally Once you are used to the basics of M S you might easily get into more detailed functions try balancing out a mix that is not centered 100 most mixes that come from an analogue desk with inserted compressors EGs in the main stereo insert etc are not bala
16. e bx XL with ease v Do you feed any sound into bx XL at all Please see 10 0 for these shortcuts and some tips 70 0 Brainworx keyboard shortcuts e Alt MMouse Click will reset any knob to its initial value e Apple key MAC or Ctrl key PC plus Mouse Click or Scroll Wheel Use above any parameter will allow for fine tuning of any knob e Scroll Wheel Control place your mouse above any knob and turn the mouse wheel to increase decrease values e yping In Values into your plug ins will save you some time General Typing 10 000 Hz can be typed in as 10k 12 000 Hz would be 12k etc e Individual bypass click on any feature label to switch it on white letters or off grey letters This is a very useful feature for comparing your settings with the unprocessed signal e g to monitor the meter tools while adjusting comparing your settings gt Also any bypassed feature of bx XL will not use any CPU power e 1 brainworx Qv ENJOY WORKING WITH bx XL Db ra NWOrKx eG music amp media gmbh gt For more information and a video demo please visit Hitdorfer Strae 10 www brainworx music de 40764 Langenfeld www brainworx usa com Germany VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH info brainworx music de RTAS is a trademark of Digidesign a division of Avid Technology Inc www brainworx music de AU is a trademark of Emagic Apple www brainworx usa com ep
17. eers world wide gt Just try it and judge for yourself 8 3 5 Attack time 0 1ms 1 5ms Attack time is the time the limiter needs to achieve maximum gain reduction when a peak in the signal has caused the signal hit the threshold Adjust the Attack time of the limiter of the respective channel Mid Lo Mid Hi or Side fast enough to cut off all the peaks in that channel you want to get rid off Too fast Attack times though can result in audible peaks too slow Attack times may not limit your signal effectively enough to cut of all the peaks you want to get rid of gt As there is a stereo Peak Stop Limiter behind the M S Summing Amp stage of bx XL you don t have to fear audible distortion because of slow Attack times Any peaks slipping through the limiters of the individual channels will hit the Peak Stop limiter if they are exceeding OdB at the Summing Amp stage and will be stopped by a fast fourth limiter in addition the the 3 limiters in the Mid Lo Mid Hi and side channels here reliably If the Peak Stop meters show Gain Reduction greater than 3 dB in the Peak Stop level LED s you should try to set the Attack times faster to let less peaks pass the respective limiter channel Mid Lo Mid Hi or Side f you experience audible clippings distortion while soloing individual channels Mid Lo Mid Hi or Side you might want to listen to the whole mix first switch OFF all solos before changing Attack times Sometimes a f
18. ew clippings in a single channel are not even audible in the whole mix 8 3 6 Release time 0 01ms 999ms The Release time is the time the limiter takes to let go and be reset after a peak has caused the limiter to reduce the gain of the channel hitting the threshold and after the level has dropped again below that level of course Faster Release times result in higher output level and higher RMS levels but might cause audible distortion at some point If you experience clipping sounds please dial in longer Release times olower release times will result in a more gentle gain reduction but might cause audible pumping sounds If you experience pumping audio signals please try shortening the release times of the channels containing more rhythmic material In most cases this will be the M channels e 13 brainworx Qv 8 3 7 Input Output and Sidechain LED s but the XL processor added to the limited signal may cause the LED s individual channel LED s and Threshold slider needle signal of the respective channel to exceed the Threshold level This is normal behavior and intended The needle lies Any peaks exceeding the Threshold settings of individual channels Mid Lo Mid Hi or Side will be stopped at the final Peak Stop limiter Bg These LED s show you the energy level of the respective stage channel Mid Lo Mid Hi or Side going into that channel and E leaving that channel to be bounced back to
19. hrough an additional fourth final standard brickwall peak stop limiter which offers an adjustable master out level bx XL also has a 3 band psycho acoustic loudness maximizer built in and offers 4 automatable settings with copy amp paste functionality All these features combined with 32 steps of Undo Redo and various detailed Level meters make for a sophisticated dynamics amp loudness control system second to none We recommend bx XL to be used as the final plugin on the stereo master buss for mixing and mastering purposes and it can work great on any stereo bus stereo sub group as well bx XL is based upon the M S technology taken from our modern classic M S EQ bx digital We developed this hi end analogue EG 2006 2007 and we have offered a plug in emulation of this EQ ever since Engineers and magazines around the globe rave about bx digital SO we decided to develop a limiter that teams up perfectly with our EQ in mastering situations Multiple Solo Auto Solo and Link features enable the engineer to precisely adjust all stages of this hi end mastering limiter bx XL looks quite complex at first but once you get the internal signal flow and audio splits you will be able to use it intuitive and fast It might be worth taking a look at the graphical layout of the internal signal flow see next page Please read about all the details in chapter 8 brainworx Qv 3 0 bx XL Flow Ghart Below is an o
20. lowering the Input Gain by O 5dB or 1dB The Input Gains for the L eft and R ight channels can be linked When Link is ON adjusting one of the Gain knobs will cause both knobs to turn Please note that you can offset both channels unlink them and set one channel to more or less volume than the other channel and still use them in linked mode afterwards whereas the level offset will stay in place If you experience uneven or unbalanced mixes at the output the Balance meter and the RMS level LED s are a good reference try adjusting the M and S Pan Panning the M shifts signals from the center of your mix bass drums snares lead vocals bass etc while panning the o signal rather tilts your stereo information guitars keyboards choir vocals strings pianos and effect sounds for example e 10 brainworx Qv 8 2 Crossover Frequency Mid Lo Hi amp MonoMaker Crossover Freq Mono Maker N eee 20 200 IK 8 2 1 Crossover Frequency With the Crossover Frequency slider you determine at which frequency bx XL will split the M signal mid signal mono sum into 2 bands Mid Lo and Mid Hi bx XL is an M S limiter that splits the M signal of any stereo track into a multi band 2 band mono signal Possible applications e Split the M signal rather low to separate the bass drum from the rest of the mono information and limit it different than the rest of the M signal Works best with settings below 100 1
21. myself wondering several times why it seems to be a must have in the audio world today to limit your mixes to the extreme While you can do so with bx XL we truly believe that there is a certain stage at which you should STOP to squash your mixes more and more to eventually achieve huge loudness or volume From a certain level on we at BX feel that too much loudness is a true limitation for your music Limitation in dynamics in power and e brainworx QV strength Certain music styles seem to require that squashed sound and loud first impression but you might achieve a bigger and longer lasting impact with a powerful mix that is loud not dead Please do keep this in mind when cranking up your mixes bx XL internally converts stereo signals into M mid sum and S side difference signals and splits the M channel into 2 bands hi amp lo This way you can limit and level 3 individual channels to increase loudness and improve clarity of stereo mixes drastically with much less distortion artifacts and while keeping much more punch than any other limiter system Via the Crossover Frequency slider the MidLo channel can be used to separate the bass drum and limit it different than the rest of your mid signal easily This is great for all kinds of dance rap techno and rock music After these 3 channels have been mixed back together to a regular L H stereo signal internally the signal runs t
22. nced 100 by Solo ing the S section and adjusting the Balance Gain until all the things that should be centered like bass drums snares lead vocals bass etc in your mix disappear completely If that s the case you can be sure that your mix is balanced Use the Sidechain mixer and let your music bounce to the groove of your bass drum record stem mixes that are still being triggered by the brainworx Qv Lindo Redo brainworx bx XL WANN ns E Rel i a M Summing Amp Gain Threshold 2 1 00 ms S s E A M Active Active A Link HULU 0 00 dB S Width Fader Link 23 di Fader Link Fader Link H SoloL SoloR gt aaa EM Sidechain Sidechain Sidechain SoloM SoloS Solo Peak Stop Sidechain Peak RMS Auto Side Solo IW k S 225 i Sidechain Signal 0S 8 1 Input Gains L amp R 6dB 6dB and M S Pan 50 50 The input gain lets you level the signal you want to process with bx XL from 6dB to 6dB before you actually start tweaking knobs to adjust all the details Watch the RMS Meters and make sure that peaks in your audio material will not cause constant OdB Link 0 00 dB 0 00 dB us in levels Peaks around 1dB OdB are a good choice to d start with The Input Gain also lets you adjust the overall level and intensity of the limiter sound once you have tweaked all the details If you feel your mix sounds good but maybe just a bit too squashed try
23. of how to use a limiter and go on with less common known limiter techniques Let s assume we have an average stereo signal e g a mix with some problems that we want to correct missing loudness for example the band you produced just complained that the last CD by XYZ is sooo much louder than their own recording you just mixed and mastered It s just how can you change anything for the better if you can t even hear exactly where the problem lies But that s over now with its built in M S mastering mode bx XL can transform your stereo mix into 2 easy to adjust mono sums M amp S or eum amp Difference and the bx XL lets you hear both sections perfectly in phase In addition to separating M and S bx XL also splits the M signal into 2 bands for you and let s you listen to all channels in Solo mode This way you can hear any problem of your mix very obviously and also make any improvements to your mix simple but precisely We propose you start working with bx XL by simply listening to some of the mixes that you know very well or to some of your favorite CD tracks While you do so press the Solo buttons of the M and S sections e brainworx Qv alternately to get used to how your mixes sound separated into these 2 whole mix through the external Sidechain input mono sums respectively 3 bands You will quickly be able to hear stuff Inside your music that you might want to process a
24. out using the audio sequencer s Preset window most of them are not really fast and Intuitive to use Start with one Setting A by default copy it to B press copy click B click Paste done then compare A and B The same goes for C and D of course Also you can reset single settings Using Automation can be helpful to get the maximum out of your mixes Maybe your mix needs different Stereo Width settings for various parts of the song settings are the way to go you don t have to do it but you can eg o brainworx Qv Presets in your audio sequencer host program 11 0 Troubleshooting All 4 Settings of bx_XL will be stored with each Preset Incomplete signals v You might have clicked on one or or more Solo buttons of one section L R or M S so you only hear parts of your signal Make 9 4 Manual sure both Solo buttons are switched OFF to hear your stereo mix v Switch all Solo switches OFF and you should hear your regular Press Manual to open the PDF version of the manual which stereo signal will be saved on your computer during installation Phasing wrong panoramas v Ifyou hear parts of your stereo signal not properly in place panorama 9 5 Help general info wise you might have panned M and or S in the master panel Click here to get info about bx XL version no credits etc This splash screens will also explain the most common shortcuts to NO sound operat
25. s it much easier to understand what you are tweaking right away If you are new to the M S processing of stereo mixes do try the Solo S knob to simply LISTEN to a few stereo mixes or CD tracks that you know well You will get the concept right away this way Also if you are interested in M S processing in general Brainworx offers a lot of tools that make use of the M S idea in general our best known product is probably bx digital V2 THE M S EG 8 6 3 Solo L amp R Listen to only the L eft channel or H ight channel monoed out on both output channels speakers 8 6 4 Solo Sidechain Listen solo to the combination you mix together to be your trigger signal for any of the 3 channels Mid Lo Mid Hi and Side You can apply the Sidechain signal to any of the 3 channels in the e 17 brainworx Qv channel section Or to any combination of the channels Mid Lo and 5 for example or to ALL 3 channels To enable you to really judge what you are using as a Sidechain signal we have added the Sidechain solo knob 8 6 5 Auto Solo Enabling Auto Solo will automatically solo the channel of the feature you are just using for example Threshold as soon as and as long as you are clicking that knob Example clicking the Threshold fader of the Side channel and holding it will solo the Side channel until you release the mouse click 8 7 Stereo Master Output LED s Peak RMS Dynamic Range Dynamic L
26. s war without the XL knobs If the Peak Stop meters show too much gain reduction gt 4 6dB use the Summing Amp Gain to reduce the overall level Use M amp S gains individually to adjust or correct the stereo image VVatch the Mid Side meter Use the Master Out to turn your overall master output down by 0 2 dB if desired many mastering studios do so to avoid clippings at CD project crossfades etc Advanced steps e Sidechain mix Mix any combination of 2 signals MidLo MidHi Mid Side or External to be your Sidechain signal and let this SC signal key the MidLo channel MidHi channel Side channel or any combination all of them e Pan M and S to balance out uneven mixes e Watch the 4 big needle VUs as they display important level changes between Mid and Side signal 2your stereo width and between MidLo and MidHi which affects your low end a lot e Use Level Link on MidLo and S channels to drive signals more into the limiter without boosting the actual volume of that channel Be creative follow your ideas We believe that there is not really much that you cannot do with bx XL when it comes to levels and CD loudness 2 0 What is the bx XL limiter bx XL is a low latency M S mastering limiter Its main purpose is to help you get your mixes loud and clear As loud as any major label production and less squashed aka distorted than many of them While we developed the bx XL processor found
27. stereo in the M S summing Amp stage of bx XL The Input LED s can be adjusted will be affected by the BE settings of the Master Input Gain the Master Gain boost knob BE and the individual channel s Gain boost slider The Output LED s will be affected by the Master Threshold knob the individual channel s Threshold slider and the XL settings cn If you activate Sidechain in any channel this channel will display a third LED chain the Sidechain meter This LED meter is a copy of the oidechain meter in the Sidechain Mix window and represents the audio signal of the Sidechain Mix Use this meter to adjust your Threshold if oidechain is active as the Sidechain audio signal can vary quite radically from the internal audio of that channel Example if you use the Mid audio signal in the sidechain to limit the Side channel the internal audio of the Side channel will be much lower than the Mid audio signal The Sidechain meters are the slim LED s between the regular input and Output LED s gt As the XL processor is post limiter in every channel the Output LED s can actually flash higher than the Threshold slider needle The slider indicates the level that will cause the limiter to cut off peaks e 14 brainworx Qv Channel switches fete Channel Active Solo on off Fader Link on off Sidechain active 8 3 9 Channel Active All features including the XL knob will be bypassed when the LED is off
28. stereo guitar group through the same master buss settings With bx XL now you can e adjust bx XL to your full stereo mix e bounce the whole stereo mix with bx XL bypassed e route the bounced stereo mix into the Sidechain input of bx XL see your audio host manual for details as this procedure varies slightly from host to host e now re activate bx XL and activate the Sidechain for all 3 channels Mid Lo Mid Hi and Side e Solo certain instruments or groups of your mix and play them through bx XL with the Sidechain active on all 3 channels e Although the individual instruments will not exceed the Thresholds of the 3 channels you will see bx XL reacting on the music as if the whole mix was playing That is because the whole mix is actually playing through the input of the Sidechain and your channels are using the whole mix as a trigger e Now if you blend together the multiple stems you have recorded or bounced you will get a mix that is still reacting limited on every individual stem but you have total control over all nuances from the multi stems you have in place rock on 8 5 Master Section 8 5 1 Master XL Turning Master XL will remote control the 3 individual XL knobs in the Mid Lo Mid Hi and Side channels The master XL bypass switch respectively activation switch deactivates ALL 3 individual bypass switches and alter ae nately activates all of the XL knobs that have not been Boost disa
29. tion Manual has been installed into the same folder as this Plugin Manual Alternatively please check the online version see link above PLUGIN ALLIANCE brainworx Qv Inclex 3 3 1 Gain Boost 12 1 0 bx_XL Quick Guide e 8 3 2 Gain Reduction Meter 12 2 0 What is the bx XL limiter e 8 3 3 Threshold 12 3 0 bx_XL Flow Chart e 8 3 4 XL 13 4 0 What is M S technology 7 8 3 5 Attack time O 1ms 1 5ms 13 4 1 What is M S good for in Mastering 7 8 3 6 Release time 0 01ms 999ms 13 9 0 But what s so new about bx XL then 7 8 3 7 Input Output and Sidechain LED s 14 6 0 Features of bx_XL Channel switches 15 7 0 How do get started with bx XL S B channel Activa 15 8 0 Overview and Details 10 8 3 10 Solo 15 8 1 Input Gains bu 8 3 11 Fader Link 15 3 2 Crossover Frequency Mid Lo Hi amp MonoMaker 11 3 3 12 Sidechain Active 15 8 2 1 Crossover Frequency 11 8 4 Sidechain Mix 15 Examples for a standard pop rock mix 11 8 4 1 Pro Tip 16 SEES MONG Neer 12 8 5 Master Section 16 8 3 Mid Lo Hi and Side Sections 12 8 5 2 Master Gain Boost 16 brainworx Qv 8 9 3 Master Threshold 8 6 Solo buttons with Auto mode 9 6 1 Solo M 9 6 2 Solo S 8 6 3 Solo L amp R 8 6 4 Solo Sidechain 8 6 5 Auto Solo G Stereo Master Output LED s 8 8 The M S Summing Amp 8 9 The L R Stereo Peak Stop Limiter 8 10 Master Output Gain 6dB 6dB 8 11 Master Metering 9 0 The Master Panel 9 1 Bypass 9 2 Undo Redo 32 steps
30. uction meter 4dB means that internally the audio signal of that channel is 4dB above the Threshold and the limiter turns down the output of that channel by 4dB at that moment Gain Reduction of 6dB or more may be quite audible and 41 result in pumping audio 8 3 3 Threshold With the Threshold faders you adjust the peak levels upon which the limiter will start working Setting the Threshold to J 2dB for example will cause Gain Reduction of any peaks exceeding this level e 12 brainworx Qv The XL knob allows to further push the signal and add some warmth by the application of smooth third and fifth order harmonics Aliasing is prevented due to a special filtering process Using the XL feature will let your mix sound way louder without really altering the actual audio level too much This way you can achieve mixes that seem to be louder than they actually are You may apply XL to all 3 channels Mid Lo Mid Hi and Side but we highly recommend using the XL process cautiously on the channel that contains the lead vocals and other natural signals This will be the Mid Hi channel in most situations gt XL settings up to 50 should be OK to be used with any material with no problems to be expected higher settings might work on the Mid Lo and Side chain best gt XL is a secret weapon for achieving loudness that can usually only be heard on recordings mastered by the very best mastering engin
31. verview of the signal flow to help you understand the concept and idea behind the bx XL Maybe print this page and check it while using bx XL for the first time Crossover Frequency Input m Boost a Out XL Crossover l Left Gain Prequenay Sidechain M Gain Input Mid Hi Gain Max XL Input m Boost Out Left 4 M L Right Gain M S Mono S Gain M S FN M S Peak Hemd Encoder S Maker Sidechain Pan S j Decoder Stop Gain Lost Input Bight X Boost Out XL Bt Input CAD Sidechain External P Sidechain P Sidechain Mix J d a s brainworx Qv 4 0 What is M S technology Most engineers who are recording music know about the M S micro phone technique 2 different microphones for stereo recordings they have to be an OMNI or CARDIOID microphone for the M mid signal and a FIGURE OF 8 microphone for the S side signal Hecording a signal with M S microphone technique means to create a stereo L R signal by mixing the M and the S signals together in a special way that will result in a very mono compatible stereo signal To master your music in M S you have to extract the M and S signals from your stereo mix with an M S matrix we offer bx control as a plugin M S matrix then limit your M and S mono sums with 2 mono limiters and bounce back to L R
32. z Your Mid Lo channel will now contain everything except for some hi frequency sizzling sounds cymbals parts of the guitar and keyboard sounds sibilance of the vocals etc The Mid Lo will be the Main M channel in that case It will contain much more level and energy than the Mid Hi channel gt The Threshold slider of the Mid Lo channel should be set to O zero or slightly below zero to make sure you get the maximum undistorted sound of bx XL gt The Threshold slider of the Mid Hi channel will have to be pulled down quite far in that case approx 12 dB Place the Threshold slider slightly above the Output LED s of the M Lo channel until the Gain Reduction meters start blinking on occasional peaks vocal sibilance and cymbal hits most likely e 11 brainworx Qv Once you have set the individual Threshold sliders according to your taste you may use the Master Threshold to adjust the overall Gain Heduction gt If you use the Fader Link of any of the 3 channels Mid Lo Mid Hi or Side you will drive that channel into the limiter harder or softer without altering the overall volume of that channel as the Gain Boost and Threshold sliders will automatically be moved contrarily Gain boost up results in the Threshold being pulled down automati cally and vice versa 8 2 2 Mono Maker The Mono Maker is another true Brainworx invention and is also featured in bx digital V2 bx control
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