DUENDE User Guide Version 2.0 Rev.
Duende User Guide Table of Contents 1. Safety and Installation Considerations ...............................................................................4 General Safety.............................................................................................................................................................. 4 Power Safety ................................................................................................................................................................
Duende User Guide Channel Processing Order .................................................................................................................................. 25 Side Chain Processing Order .............................................................................................................................. 25 7. Duende Stereo Bus Compressor ......................................................................................26 Introduction .........................................
Duende User Guide 1. Safety and Installation Considerations This section contains definitions, warnings, and practical information to ensure a safe working environment. Please take time to read this section before installing or using this unit. Please do not dispose of these instructions. General Safety • Read these instructions. • Keep these instructions. • Heed all warnings. • Follow all instructions. • Do not use this apparatus near water. • Do not expose this apparatus to rain or moisture.
Duende User Guide Instructions for Disposal of WEEE by Users in the European Union The symbol shown here is on the product or on its packaging, which indicates that this product must not be disposed of with other waste. Instead, it is the user’s responsibility to dispose of their waste equipment by handing it over to a designated collection point for recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment.
Duende User Guide 3. Introduction Hi – and thank you for purchasing Duende – the SSL processing solution for your audio workstation. As you’re sat here reading this, the chances are that you have a pretty good understanding of who we are and our outstanding reputation in audio recording technology.
Duende User Guide 4. Installation Unpack Your Duende Box should contain the following: Universal Power Supply + World-Wide AC socket adapters CD and Installation Guide 2m 6-Pin Firewire Cable The Duende Unit Configure the Power Supply (If required) Configure the Duende power supply to suit your local mains connection: * Illustration shows UK mains adaptor – AU, Euro and US adaptors are also supplied (see opposite).
Duende User Guide Software & Hardware Installation (PC) 1) Insert the Duende installation CD in your CD drive 2) Navigate to your CD drive 3) Launch the Duende installer by double clicking the Duende installer icon 4) Follow the installation instructions on the screen 5) Connect IEEE 1394 Firewire Cable 6) Connect Power 7) Switch Duende On After the Duende installer has installed all of the required software on your computer, click ‘Finish’ to quit the installer.
Duende User Guide 5. Operational Overview Once your Duende hardware and software has been properly installed, Duende plug-ins are accessed and used just like any host-based plug-in. You can run Duende plug-ins simultaneously with your other host based plug-ins in any combination. All Duende plug-ins support up to 40bit 96kHz operation. Please note that Duende plug-ins use twice as much DSP resources at 96kHz.
Duende User Guide 5.1 Duende Preferences/Control Panel OS X Windows XP The Duende Preferences/Control Panel shows information about your Duende such as serial no (Authentication ID), firmware version and driver version. It also displays DSP resource information and allows you to easily see how much DSP you have available at any time. OS X: The panel can be found by navigating to 'Apple Menu>System Preferences>SSL Duende'.
Duende User Guide Launching a Duende channel strip in Logic 7: Launching a Duende channel strip in Cubase SX: Page 11 of 29
Duende User Guide 5.3 DSP Resource Management Due to the nature of Duende having 4 DSP chips, a minimal amount of resource management should be done when running Duende at high load. If there are, for example 2 slots free and you wish to load a stereo plug-in, Duende will under certain conditions notify you that you are out of DSP resources. This will only happen if the two slots are on different DSP chips as Duende is not able to load a stereo plug-in across 2 chips.
Duende User Guide Most host applications automatically compensate for this latency by simply turning on the Plug-in Delay Compensation (PDC) or similar, usually found in the applications preferences. Some hosts even provide full plug-in delay compensation throughout the entire signal path, including sends, groups, and buses.
Duende User Guide Compensating for latency in Pro Tools LE and M-Powered Because Pro Tools LE and M-Powered do not feature PDC it must be done manually when Duende plug-ins are used. Due to the use of firewire and the nature of how signals are sent to and from Duende, a latency is introduced which will delay any audio track, aux input, master fader or instrument track by a specified amount.
Duende User Guide Any tracks that have a smaller latency than the maximum must also be delayed but by a smaller amount (i.e. tracks with 1 Duende plug-in where the maximum has 3). The delay value for these will be maximum latency minus the latency reported by that track. Using Automatic Delay Compensation in Pro Tools HD Pro Tools HD users have the luxury of being able to use Automatic Delay Compensation, as opposed to the manual method required in Pro Tools LE and M-Powered.
Duende User Guide This means that you can generally use up to 2 Duende plug-ins per channel without considering latency issues, but this will depend on the buffer size set in Pro Tools, the sample rate and which Duende plug-ins are loaded. Note that if an audio track with 1 Duende plug-in is routed to an aux channel with 2 Duende plugins the total latency for that audio getting to the mix bus will equal 3 plug-ins; this will however be clearly shown by Pro Tools.
Duende User Guide To view the latency introduced by plug-ins go to the bottom left hand corner of the Mix view, click on the small black/grey box and select ‘Delay Compensation’. Here you will find 2 values; ‘dly’ is the amount of latency introduced by the plug-ins on that channel and ‘cmp’ is the number of samples Pro Tools is delaying the other channels by. If the ‘dly’ value is less than the 4095 set in the Delay Compensation box then you don’t need to worry and everything will be compensated for.
Duende User Guide 6. Duende EQ and Dynamics Channel Strip 6.1 Introduction The Duende EQ and Dynamics Channel Strip plug-in is based on the EQ and compressor sections of the XL 9000 K Series console. SSL were the first manufacturer to feature dynamics and EQ on every channel on an in-line console with the SL 4000 B Series in 1977.
Duende User Guide When no buttons in the Filter section are pressed, the filters come after the Equalizer section With the INPUT button pressed, the filters come before the Equalizer section When the DYN SC button is pressed, the filters are switched into the sidechain of the Dynamics section. The term ‘sidechain’ and the process of sidechaining will be discussed in greater detail in the overview of the Dynamics section.
Duende User Guide 6.4 Equaliser Section ±dB Freq kHz ±dB G INPUT Freq kHz Q ±dB Freq kHz Q Freq kHz BELL BELL LF ±dB LMF HMF HF OUTPUT Operation The equaliser included with the Duende EQ and Dynamics Channel Strip plug-in is a four band parametric EQ. Based on the XL 9000 K Series EQ circuit, this plug-in includes two distinct EQ curves, one based on the SSL G Series EQ and another based on the latest version of SSL’s classic E Series EQ.
Duende User Guide When the EQ is switched to ‘E’ operation, the bandwidth of the HMF and LMF sections remains constant at all gains, so at lower gains the EQ curves are comparatively narrower for a given Q setting. This is particularly useful for drums, since relatively high Q is available at low gain settings. However, it is not so suitable for overall EQ or subtle corrections, as you need to adjust the Q to maintain the same effect when the gain is changed.
Duende User Guide 6.5 Dynamics Section The Dynamics Section comprises a compressor/limiter and an expander/gate. Both sections work independently, but can be operational at the same time, providing sophisticated control of signal levels. The Filter and/or the equaliser section can be assigned to the dynamics sidechain allowing for advanced processes like de-essing etc. Dynamics Section Diagram The Dynamics Section has a few routing buttons associated with it.
Duende User Guide Compressor/Limiter Introduction The Channel Compressor/Limiter Section has a number of key features including a variable compression ratio from 1:1 to Infinity:1, a variable threshold from -20dB to +10dB, auto sensing attack time (or selectable 1ms attack time), and a variable release from 0.1 to 4 seconds. The Compressor/Limiter has two modes of signal detection, Peak and RMS.
Duende User Guide 100 µs), a variable hold time from 0 to four seconds and a variable release time from 0.1 to 4 seconds. The sidechain signal is sourced from the signal feeding the dynamics section and the filters and/or equaliser can be inserted in this sidechain. The green LEDs indicate the amount of gain reduction on the expander/gate. By default, the Gate/Expander section functions as an Infinity:1 gate. When the EXP button is pressed, the section becomes a 2:1 expander.
Duende User Guide BYPASS ALL: Engaging this button will bypass all channel processing whilst still routing the signal through Duende. This avoids the time shift which occurs when a ‘hard’ bypass is done using the default DAW control, allowing for easier A/B comparison between processed and unprocessed signals. 6.6 Advanced Signal Routing Options Channel Processing Order There are two switches that control the order of the signal processing elements.
Duende User Guide 7. Duende Stereo Bus Compressor Introduction The Stereo Bus Compressor plug-in is a stereo version of the legendary bus compressor found on the XL 9000 K Series console. It provides high quality stereo compression, giving you critical control over the dynamic range of audio signals. Uses may include inserting the bus compressor over a stereo mix which has the effect of 'gluing' the mix together whilst still maintaining a big sound.
Duende User Guide 8. Duende Support Support FAQs To access the latest support information on Duende, please visit our online support site. The information there is kept up to date by our support staff to make sure all information is accurate. All information is available to you 24/7. URL: http://solid-state-logic-en.custhelp.com If you can’t find your answer or a solution to your issue, you can submit a question on the site to our support staff for resolution.
Duende User Guide 9. Warranty Warranty Period The warranty period for this unit is 12 months from date of purchase. In Warranty Repairs In the event of a fault during the warranty period the unit must be returned to your local dealer or distributor who will arrange for it to be shipped to Solid State Logic for repair. All units should be shipped to Solid State Logic in their original packaging. Solid State Logic can not be held responsible for any damage caused by shipping units in other packaging.
Duende User Guide Visit SSL at URL: http://www.solid-state-logic.
