Creative Emu 1820m Manual
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5 - Effects FX Edit Screen E-MU Digital Audio System61 To Delete a User Preset 1.Select the user preset you wish to delete from the user preset menu. 2.Click on the Edit button. A pop-up menu appears. 3.Select Delete. A pop-up dialog box appears asking you to confirm your action. 4.Click OK to delete the preset or No or Cancel to cancel the operation. To Rename a User Preset 1.Select the user preset you wish to rename from the user preset menu. 2.Click on the Edit button. A pop-up menu appears. 3.Select Rename. A pop-up dialog box appears asking you to rename the preset. 4.Type in the new preset name, then click OK to rename the preset or Cancel to cancel the operation. To Overwrite or Save a User Preset This operation allows you to overwrite an existing preset with a newer version. 1.Select the user preset you wish to modify from the user preset menu and make any changes you wish. 2.Click on the Edit button. A pop-up menu appears. 3.Select Overwrite/Save. The current preset will be overwritten with the new settings. Core Effects and Effects Presets The Core Effects cannot be removed or copied. Effect presets (stored in “C:\Program Files\Creative Professional\Digital Audio System\E-MU PatchMix DSP\Effect Presets”) can be copied, e-mailed or shared like any other computer file. Hint: You can open the effects presets with “NotePad” or other word processor to view and edit the name and parameters.
5 - Effects List of Core Effects 62Creative Professional List of Core Effects DSP Resource Usage There are two main factors which determine the total number of effects available for use at any given time: Tank Memory and DSP Instructions. Using too much of either resource will cause effects to be unavailable (grayed out) in the FX menu. In addition, the strips themselves use DSP Instructions, so only create strips that you actually need. fTip: Saving a session “defragments” the effect/ DSP resources. If you have used all your effects and need another, try saving the session.Tank memory is the memory used by delay-based effects such as reverb and digital delays. All the reverbs and delays aside from the Mono Delay 100 and Stereo Delay 100 use varying amounts of tank memory. The DSP instructions are used by all the effects. Effects with multiple stages, such as multi-band EQs or the speaker simulator use more DSP instructions than a 1-Band EQ. Tank memory tends to get used first, and so we’ve provided many delay line effects to allow maximum conservation of this precious resource. Use only the longest delay you actually need. The chart below shows three possible effects combinations. These were created by using up the reverb resources first. Even more simultaneous effects are possible if fewer reverbs and shorter delays are used. Stereo ReverbRotaryMono Delay 250 Lite ReverbPhase ShifterMono Delay 500 RFX CompressorFrequency ShifterMono Delay 750 CompressorAuto-WahMono Delay 1500 ReshaperVocal MorpherMono Delay 3000 gate1-Band Para EQStereo Delay 100 Leveling Amp1-Band Shelf EQStereo Delay 250 Chorus3-Band EQStereo Delay 500 Flanger4-Band EQStereo Delay 750 DistortionMultimode EQStereo Delay 1500 Speaker SimMono Delay 100 Examples of Effects Usage (with a WAVE, ASIO Return & 2 Inputs) Example 1No.Example 2No.Example 3No. Stereo Reverb2Lite Reverb5Stereo Reverb1 4-Band EQ43-Band EQ5Lite Reverb2 3-Band EQ21-Band EQ4Stereo Delay 15001 1-Band EQ6Compressor1Mono Delay 2501 Compressor6Mono Delay 15001Compressor6 Chorus1Mono Delay 2501Chorus2 Mono Delay 15001Auto-Wah1Flanger2 4-Band EQ3 3-Band EQ3 Total Effects 22Total Effects18Total Effects21
5 - Effects Core Effects Descriptions E-MU Digital Audio System63 Core Effects Descriptions 1-Band Para EQ This single band parametric equalizer is useful when you just want to boost or cut a single range of frequencies. For example, if you just want to brighten up the lead vocal a bit, you might choose this EQ. This EQ offers up to ±15dB cut or boost. 1-Band Shelf EQ This single band shelving equalizer is useful when you just want to boost or cut a single range of frequencies at the high or low end of the spectrum. For example, if you just want to add a little more bass, there’s no need to waste a 3-band EQ. Just choose low shelf, then adjust the gain and frequency. This EQ offers up to ±15dB cut or boost. ParameterDescription GainSets the amount of cut (-) or boost (+) of the selected frequency band. Range: -15dB to +15dB Center FrequencySets the range of frequencies to be cut or boosted with the Gain control. Range: 80Hz to 16kHz BandwidthSets the width of the frequency range for the Center Frequency band that will be cut or boosted by the Gain control. Range: 1semitone to 36 semitones ParameterDescription Shelf TypeAllows you to choose either low shelving or high shelving EQ. GainSets the amount of cut (-) or boost (+) of the shelf. Range: -15dB to +15dB Corner FrequencySets the frequency where the signal begins getting cut or boosted with the Gain control. Range: 80Hz to 16kHz Center Frequency Boost Gain Cut - + +15dB -15dBWidth Frequency Low Shelfor…High Shel f Boost Gain Cut Corner FreqCorner Freq - + +15dB -15dB
5 - Effects Core Effects Descriptions 64Creative Professional 3-Band EQ This versatile equalizer provides two shelving filters at the high and low ends of the frequency range and a fully parametric band in the center. Up to ±24 dB of boost or cut is provided for each band. ENote: The Wet/Dry Mix control on an equalizer should normally be set to 100% wet or unpredictable results may occur. Setting up a Parametric EQ 1.Turn up the gain on the band you are working with. This allows you to easily hear the effect of the filter. 2.Reduce the bandwidth if you are working with a mid-band. 3.Adjust the Center Frequency to “zero-in” on the frequencies you wish to boost/cut. 4.Set the Gain to a positive value to boost frequencies or to a negative value to cut out frequencies. 5.Widen the Bandwidth to create a more natural sound. 6.Adjust and tweak as needed. ParameterDescription High Shelf GainSets the amount of cut (-) or boost (+) of the high frequency shelf. Range: -24dB to +24dB High Corner Freq.Sets the frequency where the signal begins getting cut or boosted with the High Gain control. Range: 4kHz to 16kHz Mid GainSets the amount of cut (-) or boost (+) of the mid frequency band. Range: -24dB to +24dB Mid Freq. 1Sets the range of frequencies to be cut or boosted with the Mid Gain control. Range: 200Hz to 3kHz Mid BandwidthSets the width of the frequency range for the Mid Center Frequency band that will be cut or boosted by the Mid Gain control. Range: 1 semitone to 1 octave Low Shelf GainSets the amount of cut (-) or boost (+) of the low frequency shelf. Range: -24dB to +24dB Low Corner Freq.Sets the frequency where the signal begins getting cut or boosted with the Low Gain control. Range: 50Hz to 800Hz Frequency Low Shelf Mid Band High Shel f Boost Gain Cut Corner Freq.Corner Freq. - + CenterWidth +24dB -24dB
5 - Effects Core Effects Descriptions E-MU Digital Audio System65 4-Band EQ This 4-band equalizer provides two shelving filters at the high and low ends of the frequency range and two fully parametric bands in the center. Up to ±24 dB of boost or cut is provided for each band. Note: The Wet/Dry Mix control on an equalizer should normally be set to 100% wet or unpredictable results may occur. For more information about setting up a parametric EQ, see page 64. ParameterDescription High Shelf GainSets the amount of cut (-) or boost (+) of the high frequency shelf. Range: -24dB to +24dB High Corner Freq.Sets the frequency where the signal begins getting cut or boosted with the High Gain control. Range: 4kHz to 16kHz Mid 2 GainSets the amount of cut (-) or boost (+) of the Mid 2 Frequency band. Range: -24dB to +24dB Mid 2 Center Freq.Sets the range of frequencies to be cut or boosted with the Mid 2 Gain control. Range: 1kHz to 8kHz Mid 2 BandwidthSets the width of the frequency range for the Mid 2 Center Frequency band that will be cut or boosted by the Mid 2 Gain control. Range: .01 octave to 1 octave Mid 1 GainSets the amount of cut (-) or boost (+) of the Mid 1 Frequency band. Range: -24dB to +24dB Mid 1 Center Freq.Sets the range of frequencies to be cut or boosted with the Mid 1 Gain control. Range: 200Hz to 3kHz Mid 1 BandwidthSets the width of the frequency range for the Mid 1 Center Frequency band that will be cut or boosted by the Mid 1 Gain control. Range: .01 octave to 1 octave Low Shelf GainSets the amount of cut (-) or boost (+) of the low frequency shelf. Range: -24dB to +24dB Low Corner Freq.Sets the frequency where the signal begins getting cut or boosted with the Low Gain control. Range: 50Hz to 800Hz Frequency Low-Shelf Mid 1-Band High-Shelf Boost GainCut Corner FrequencyCorner Frequency - +Width Mid 2-Band Width Center Frequency Center Frequency
5 - Effects Core Effects Descriptions 66Creative Professional Auto-Wah This effect creates the sound of a guitar wah-wah pedal. The “Wah” filter sweep is automatically triggered from the amplitude envelope of the input sound. Auto-wah works well with percussive sounds such as guitar or bass. The Auto-Wah is a bandpass filter whose frequency can be swept up or down by an envelope follower, which extracts the volume contour of the input signal. The Envelope Sensitivity setting allows you to properly set up the envelope follower to receive a wide variety of input signals. This “envelope”, or volume contour, controls the frequency of the bandpass filter so that it sweeps up and down with each new note. The Attack controls the rate of the note-on sweep. As the input sound fades away, the filter sweeps back at a rate determined by the Release setting. The wah direction allows the filter to be swept either up or down in frequency. Use a higher Center Frequency setting when the wah direction is down. ParameterDescription Wah DirectionAllows you to sweep the wah up or down. Env. SensitivityControls how closely the wah sweep follows the input signal. Range: -12dB to +18dB Env. Attack TimeSets the starting rate of the “wah” sweep. Range: 0ms to 500ms Env. Release TimeSets the ending or release rate of the “wah” sweep. Range: 10ms to 1000ms Sweep RangeControls the amount of “wah” sweep. Range: 0% to 100% Center FrequencySets the initial bandpass filter frequency. Range: 80Hz to 2400Hz BandwidthSets the width of the bandpass filter. Range: 1Hz to 800Hz Center Frequency Auto-Wah Filter Attack Release Sweep Range Bandwidth Envelope Sensitivity Input Wave Envelope Follower
5 - Effects Core Effects Descriptions E-MU Digital Audio System67 Chorus An audio delay in the range of 15-20 milliseconds is too short to be an echo, but is perceived by the ear as a distinctly separate sound. If we now vary the delay time in this range, an effect called chorus is created, which gives the illusion of multiple sound sources. A slight amount of feedback serves to increase the effect. A very slow LFO rate is usually best for a realistic effect, but a faster LFO rate can also be useful with minimal LFO depth (.2). Since this is a stereo chorus, an LFO phase parameter is included which can be used to widen the stereo image. Compressor In its simplest form, an audio compressor is just an automatic gain control. When the volume gets too loud, the compressor automatically turns it down. Compressors are useful in musical applications because they allow you to record a “hotter” signal without overloading the recording device. Since the compressor turns down the gain of the signal, you might wonder how can it make the signal level stronger. A Post Gain control allows you to boost the output gain of the compressor in order to make up for the gain reduction. The overall level is higher and only turned down when the signal level gets too loud. This level is called the Threshold, which just happens to be the most important control on the compressor. ParameterDescription DelaySets the length of the delay. Range: 0ms to 20ms. FeedbackSets the amount of delayed signal that will be recirculated through the delay line. Range: 0% to 100% LFO RateSets the frequency of the low frequency oscillator. Range: .01Hz to 10Hz LFO DepthSets how much the LFO affects the delay time. Increases the animation and amount of the chorus effect. Range: 0% to 100% LFO WaveformSelectable between Sine or Triangle wave. LFO L/R PhaseControls the stereo width by adjusting the phase difference of the LFO waveform between left and right channels. Range: -180° to +180° In Ou t Threshold Ratio AttackRelease Post Gain Signal path = Stereo VCA Level Control Delay
5 - Effects Core Effects Descriptions 68Creative Professional Basic Controls The three main controls of a compressor are the Ratio control, the Threshold control and the Gain control. If the signal falls below the Threshold, no processing will take place. Signals exceeding the Threshold will have gain reduction applied as set by the ratio control. This important control allows you to dial in the range of amplitudes you want to tame. For example, if you’re trying to trim off just the loudest peaks, set the threshold so the gain reduction meter only shows compression during these peaks. One of the biggest mistakes in using a compressor is having the threshold set too low. This adds noise as the compressor will always be reducing the volume. The Ratio control determines how strongly the compressor will affect the signal. The higher the ratio, the more reduction will be applied. If the ratio is high enough, (above 10:1) the signal will effectively be prevented from getting any louder. In this situation, the compressor will be acting as a Limiter, placing an upper limit on the signal level. In general, ratios from 2:1 to 6:1 are considered compression and higher ratios above 10:1 are considered limiting. The Post Gain control amplifies the signal after it has been compressed to bring it back up in volume. If you don’t increase the gain, the compressed signal will be much lower in volume. Two other important controls are Attack and Release. Attack controls how quickly the gain is turned down after the signal exceeds the threshold. Release controls how fast the gain is returned to its normal setting after the signal has fallen below the threshold again. An attack setting of about 10 milliseconds will delay the onset of compression long enough to preserve the attack transients in guitar, bass or drums while allowing the sustain portion of the sound to be compressed. Longer release times are generally used to reduce the so called “pumping” effect as the compressor turns on and off. Don’t make the release time too long, however, or the compressor won’t have time to recover for the next pluck or hit. In general, the attack and release controls are used to smooth out the action of the compressor, but they can also be used to create special effects. The Pre-Delay parameter lets the level detector “look into the future” up to 4 milli- seconds in order to anticipate upcoming peaks in the signal. This is accomplished of course, by inserting delay into the signal path. This lookahead technique allows the use of slower attack times without missing signal peaks. This parameter is especially effective on drums and percussion. The Input Meter allows you to monitor the strength of your input signal. Always try to boost the signal before the compressor if you can. The Compression Meter shows the amount of gain reduction being applied. Since this meter displays how much the gain is being turned down, the meter moves from right to left, instead of left to right like a normal meter. ParameterDescription ThresholdThreshold sets the input signal level above which dynamic range compression takes place. Everything above the threshold will be brought down in volume. Range: -60dB to +12dB RatioSets the ratio of input signal level to output signal level, or “how much” compression will be applied. Range: 1:1 to ∞:1 Post GainAmplifies the signal after it has been compressed to bring up the volume. Range -60dB to +60dB
5 - Effects Core Effects Descriptions E-MU Digital Audio System69 Distortion Most audio processors aim to provide low distortion, but not this one! The sole purpose of this effect is to add distortion, and lots of it. This effect provides “fuzz box” style, clipping distortion which is particularly effective on guitar, bass, organs, electric pianos or whatever. The input signal first passes through a lowpass filter. The Lowpass Filter Cutoff Frequency allows you to control the number of new harmonics that will be generated by the distortion element. The distortion element has an Edge control which controls “how much” distortion will be added. A bandpass filter follows the distortion generator. The EQ Center control lets you select a particular band of frequencies to be output. The EQ Bandwidth controls the width of the center frequency band. Finally, a gain control allows you to make up for any gain loss through the effect. Use the Wet/Dry mix control in conjunction with the Edge control to reduce the amount of distortion, or go wild and turn everything to 11! Attack TimeControls how quickly the gain is turned down after the signal exceeds the threshold. Range .1ms to 500ms Release TimeControls how fast the gain is returned to its normal setting after the signal has fallen below the threshold. Range: 50ms to 3000ms Pre-DelayAllows the use of slower attack times without missing signal peaks. Range: 0ms to 3 ms Input MeterAllows you to monitor the strength of the input signal. Gain Reduction MeterShows the amount of gain reduction being applied. ParameterDescription Pre EQ LP CutoffControls the amount of high frequency audio admitted to the distortion. Range: 80Hz to 24kHz EdgeSets the amount of distortion and new harmonics generated. Range: 0-100 GainSets the output volume of the effect. Range: -60dB to 0dB Post EQ Center Freq.Sets the frequency of the output bandpass filter. Range: 80Hz to 24kHz Post EQ BandwidthSets the width of the output bandpass filter. Range: 80Hz to 24kHz Parameter Description In Edge Lowpass FilterBandpass Filter EQ Center LP Filter CutoffGainEQ BW OutDistortion Signal path = Stereo
5 - Effects Core Effects Descriptions 70Creative Professional Flanger A flanger is a very short delay line whose output is mixed back together with the original sound. Mixing the original and delayed signals results in multiple frequency cancella- tions known as a comb filter. Since the flanger is a type of filter, it works best with harmonically rich sounds. A low frequency oscillator is included to slowly change the delay time. This creates a rich, sweeping effect as the notches move up and down across the frequency range. The amount of feedback deepens the notches, intensifying the effect. You can invert the feedback signal by choosing a negative feedback value. Inverting the feedback signal creates peaks in the notch filter and deepens the effect. ParameterDescription DelaySets the initial delay of the flanger in .01 millisecond increments. This parameter allows you to “tune” the flanger to a specific frequency range. Range: .01ms to 4ms FeedbackControls how much signal is recirculated through the delay line and increases resonance. Negative values can produce intense flanging with some signals. Range 0% to 100% LFO Rate Sets the speed of the flanger sweep. Range: .01 Hz to 10Hz LFO DepthSets how much the LFO affects the delay time. Increases the animation and amount of the flanging effect. Range 05 to 100% LFO WaveformSelectable between Sine or Triangle wave. LFO L/R PhaseControls the stereo width by adjusting the phase difference between the left and right sweeps. Range: -180° to +180° Flanger LFO In Ou t Feedback Delay Waveform Phase Signal path = Stereo