PSP Xenon Full Band Precision Limiter
Acknowledgements Programming and Design: Hubert Pietrzykowski Additional Assistance: Mateusz Wozniak Graphics: Hubert Pietrzykowski Product Manager: Antoni Ozynski Documentation: Orren Merton Beta Testing and Design Assistance: Alan Silverman, Arf! Mastering, NYC, NY, USA Bob Katz, Digital Domain Studio, Orlando, FL, USA Bob Ludwig, Gateway Mastering, Portland, ME, USA Bob Olhsson, Audio Mastery, Nashville, TN , USA Joachim Krukowski, Achim Studio, Poznan, Poland Paul Abbott, Zen Mastering, San Diego, CA, U
End User License Agreement PREFACE: 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.
Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................................... ........2 END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT.................................................................................................... ..3 TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................................................. .........4 ALGORITHM OVERVIEW.................................................................
Algorithm overview Thank you for your purchase of the PSP Xenon! PSP Xenon is a full band, dual-stage limiter featuring an integrated Leveller, advanced K-System metering and psychoacoustically optimized wordlength reduction. PSP Xenon offers 64-bit precision processing throughout its entire signal path, and can operate at sample rates up to 192kHz.
However, sometimes program material consists of dynamically louder and quieter parts. If the limiting parameters were set for the quiet passages, when the louder parts occur the artifacts mentioned previously will become very apparent. PSP Xenon Leveller applies a relatively constant, slow-changing gain reduction to loud passages before the limiting is applied. This is particularly useful for loudness maximization applications, in which the goal is to make each part of the song sound as loud as possible.
excellent perceived dynamic range, extending the nominal dynamic range of the media while keeping the noise at very low perceived level thanks to its psychoacoustically-optimized noise shaping. PSP Xenon’s requantizer uses triangular PDF (Probability Density Function) noise generation with the amplitude allowing for full dithering. Triangular PDF has been chosen so as to entirely eliminate noise amplitude modulation, which is audible when noise with rectangular or gaussian PDF is applied.
Protection system Retail version PSP Xenon requires iLok USB dongle with valid license to run. Below are the steps to follow to start using the plug-in: 1. Get an iLok dongle. It can be purchased in good music store or from local Digidesign dealer. 2. Open an account at http://www.ilok.com. You will be asked to choose the user id and password. 3. Open a PSP account at https://www.pspaudioware.com/login.php 4. Put the www.ilok.com user id (see step 2) into the proper field of your PSP profile. 5A.
System Requirements Before installing the PSP Xenon on your Windows or Macintosh computer, please make sure your system meets these minimum requirements: Windows * Windows XP with ServicePack 2, * Intel Pentium II CPU or later, * CPU with SSE2 support is strongly recommended, * 512 MB * VST or RTAS compatible host application, * ProTools TDM/LE 7.3 or later for running RTAS, * High Color S-VGA, 1024x768, * iLok Macintosh * Mac OSX 10.
Installation PSP Xenon is very simple to install. As mentioned before, we selected the iLok for PSP Xen on’s copy protection after much deliberation and many user requests. Thanks to Digidesign requiring the iLok for Pro Tools, the iLok has become the de facto standard copy protection system for many professional audio plug-ins. Moreover, we have received many requests from our professional users who have large libraries of plug-ins on their iLok and find this system very user friendly and convenient.
PSP Xenon Quick Start If you are so excited to start playing with PSP Xenon you can’t read through the manual first, here are some quick steps to get you going: 1.Instantiate the PSP Xenon into an insert slot in your host DAW. 2.Verify the Power button of the PSP Xenon editor is illuminated (ON). 3.Start playback on your host DAW. 4.Adjust the in knob, driving the limiter, until you get a solid signal coming into PSP Xenon. 5.
Layout of PSP Xenon Interface PSP Xenon’s graphical user interface is very intuitively designed to reflect the signal flow of your audio material from left to right •At the far left of PSP Xenon’s interface are the buttons and knobs relating to input and initial processing stages. •The large, accurate meters reside in the middle of PSP Xenon’s interface. •Finally, the right side of the interface offers buttons and knobs relating to the final processing and output stages.
predict - both of these settings use FIR-based envelope detectors with lookahead to smoothly catch transients and limit their level. transient knob This knob adjusts the attack time of the first stage of limiting, effectively controlling how much of the transient will be passed to the second limiting stage. Low values reduce distortion but may significantly soften the transient. High values typically increase the distortion of the transients, but the clarity of the transients may also be much greater.
power button The power button, located below the metering section, activates or deactivates the plug-in. When the power button is off, the internal engine and buffers stop running. wordlength section These buttons configure the wordlength reduction feature of PSP Xenon. Whenever truncation would occur, PSP Xenon applies its high quality dithering algorithm to keep the perceived dynamic range as close to the original as possible.
link knob The link knob controls the extent to which the gain reduction of the left and right channels are tied together. When set to 100%, the gain reduction applied to both channels is identical. Setting this knob to 0% completely decouples the gain reduction coefficients, and each channel is then processed independently.
auto button For easier identification of the limiter’s action PSP Xenon is equipped with an auto output mode. When this mode is on, the output is automatically attenuated or amplified to compensate for the input gain, as set by the input knob. This makes it possible to compare the original and processed signals at similar loudness level by switching the bypass button on and off.
PSP Xenon Metering PSP Xenon offers three stereo meters and eight mode and calibration buttons to control metering and calibrate your listening environment to K-system standards.
oversmp This oversamples the signal going to the output meters to estimate the intersample peaks. When on, the output meters will attempt to show the signal level after the DA converter and its reconstruction filter. Some poor quality reproduction systems don’t have enough headroom to handle analog signal levels exceeding the equivalent of 0dBFS without distortion. Oversampled metering can be used to predict such excessive levels. At this point, you can reduce the PSP Xenon output to avoid them.
Preset Handling PSP Xenon comes with a number of presets designed as starting places for your own experimentation. Like other PSP Audioware plug-ins, PSP Xenon features the PSP Audioware Preset Bar. Please see the PSP Audioware Preset Bar Quick Guide for information on how to use the Preset Bar.
Support If you have any questions about the principles or operation of our plug-ins, please visit our website http://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: support@PSPaudioware.com . We will gladly answer all of your questions. As a rule we respond within 24 hours. PSPaudioware.com s.c. Dzikiej Rózy 11/8 Józefoslaw 05-500 Piaseczno Poland. ph. +48 601 96 31 73 www.
User Comments We welcome any opinions and comments related to PSP Xenon. We would also be grateful if you shared with us your experiences using PSP Xenon. For example, if you’ve created a useful preset then let us know. Please, contact us at: contact@PSPaudioware.
