Published 30/10/08
New mastering plug-ins from British developers
UK-based plug-in developers Sonalksis have released four new plug-ins as part of a suite of mastering processors. Sporting clean but detailed GUIs, MultiLimit, MaxLimit, StereoTools and Ultimate D offer the user the tools required to turn multi-track arrangements into neatly chiselled, well-groomed master mixes.
As its name suggests, MultiLimit is a multi-band limiter plug-in. It has five phase-linear bands, the crossover points of which are defined using an array of virtual faders. Every filter band has a drive control, with which the user can add distortion to the band, and a conventional gain control can dial-in ±12dB.
Each band can be switched off (only activated bands are displayed on the frequency-response graph), and can also be soloed, allowing the user to listen only to the material that falls within the assigned crossover points. A setup screen provides options for choosing different types of metering types (BBC, VU, PPM and digital PPM), while different standards of K Metering (which show average power rather than peak levels) can be selected.
MaxLimit is described as a “maximising mastering limiter”: the type used for the ‘brick-wall’ limiting initially devised to prevent digital clipping but now derided for their role in creating overly loud and undynamic mixes. Sonalksis, conscious that “maximisation can destroy the mix dynamic, creating a fatiguing sound” have added a ‘smooth’ parameter, which can be used to “define the density of the maximisation”, giving the plug-in “greater subtlety and flexibility than typical digital limiters”. It also has a Clip control, which can be used to force both digital and analogue-modelled clipping. This can be set to ‘off’. Another useful feature of MaxLimit is a Max Ceiling setting, which can be set to -0.1dB meaning, even when audio is slamming against the end stops, it never reaches digital full scale, or 0dBFS.
StereoTools is a multi-function plug-in that can be used to alter the balance, width and panning of a stereo signal. Further features enable the user to sum the signal below a defined frequency to mono, and the phase of either of the channels, or both, can be flipped, as can their orientation (so left appears on the right and vice versa). What’s more, material recorded using the Mid/Side microphone configuration can be decoded into conventional left-right signals. There are numerous types of metering on offer: the large square screen can display graphical information on the stereo image, the frequency content and the phase correlation of the signal, while the output section has conventional bargraph displays that can be set to correspond to a number of different metering standards.
The last of the new plug-ins is called Ultimate D, a real-time dither processor that’s unlike any other plug-in we’ve seen. Instead of relying on the user to have a knowledge of the various different types of dither, Ultimate D applies different noise curves depending on how the user sets the Content, Application and Character parameters. A fourth and final control lets them quantize the output of the plug-in to a number of different wordlengths. Simple!
All four plug-ins form the Sonalksis Mastering Suite, which costs £319. A second bundle, comprising just the MaxLimit and StereoTools processors, costs £199. The plug-ins are also available separately: MultiLimit costs £289, MaxLimit is £159, while StereoTools and Ultimate D cost £129 each. They run on Mac and PC, and work within VST-, Audio Units-, Direct X- and RTAS-compatible hosts. Sonalksis say that TDM versions are in development.
Sonalksis +44 (0)870 7660303
www.sonalksis.com
As its name suggests, MultiLimit is a multi-band limiter plug-in. It has five phase-linear bands, the crossover points of which are defined using an array of virtual faders. Every filter band has a drive control, with which the user can add distortion to the band, and a conventional gain control can dial-in ±12dB.
Each band can be switched off (only activated bands are displayed on the frequency-response graph), and can also be soloed, allowing the user to listen only to the material that falls within the assigned crossover points. A setup screen provides options for choosing different types of metering types (BBC, VU, PPM and digital PPM), while different standards of K Metering (which show average power rather than peak levels) can be selected.
MaxLimit is described as a “maximising mastering limiter”: the type used for the ‘brick-wall’ limiting initially devised to prevent digital clipping but now derided for their role in creating overly loud and undynamic mixes. Sonalksis, conscious that “maximisation can destroy the mix dynamic, creating a fatiguing sound” have added a ‘smooth’ parameter, which can be used to “define the density of the maximisation”, giving the plug-in “greater subtlety and flexibility than typical digital limiters”. It also has a Clip control, which can be used to force both digital and analogue-modelled clipping. This can be set to ‘off’. Another useful feature of MaxLimit is a Max Ceiling setting, which can be set to -0.1dB meaning, even when audio is slamming against the end stops, it never reaches digital full scale, or 0dBFS. StereoTools is a multi-function plug-in that can be used to alter the balance, width and panning of a stereo signal. Further features enable the user to sum the signal below a defined frequency to mono, and the phase of either of the channels, or both, can be flipped, as can their orientation (so left appears on the right and vice versa). What’s more, material recorded using the Mid/Side microphone configuration can be decoded into conventional left-right signals. There are numerous types of metering on offer: the large square screen can display graphical information on the stereo image, the frequency content and the phase correlation of the signal, while the output section has conventional bargraph displays that can be set to correspond to a number of different metering standards.
The last of the new plug-ins is called Ultimate D, a real-time dither processor that’s unlike any other plug-in we’ve seen. Instead of relying on the user to have a knowledge of the various different types of dither, Ultimate D applies different noise curves depending on how the user sets the Content, Application and Character parameters. A fourth and final control lets them quantize the output of the plug-in to a number of different wordlengths. Simple!
All four plug-ins form the Sonalksis Mastering Suite, which costs £319. A second bundle, comprising just the MaxLimit and StereoTools processors, costs £199. The plug-ins are also available separately: MultiLimit costs £289, MaxLimit is £159, while StereoTools and Ultimate D cost £129 each. They run on Mac and PC, and work within VST-, Audio Units-, Direct X- and RTAS-compatible hosts. Sonalksis say that TDM versions are in development.
Sonalksis +44 (0)870 7660303
www.sonalksis.com
