Antares MicMod EFX Owner`s Manual

®

Owner’s Manual

Updated September 2015

©2015 Antares Audio Technologies. All rights reserved.
Certified Isinglass-free™
Antares®, Auto-Tune®, AVOX®, Harmony Engine® and Mic Mod® are registered
trademarks of Antares Audio Technologies. All other trademarks are property of their
respective owners.
The “Don’t Sue Us!” Disclaimer: All names of microphone manufacturers and microphone
model designations appearing in this manual are used solely to identify the microphones
analyzed in the development of our digital models and do not in any way imply any
association with or endorsement by any of the named manufacturers. This product is not
guaranteed to produce, and will not necessarily produce, audio results that are consistent
with or match audio results that could be achieved using any of the referenced microphone
models.

www.antarestech.com

The Obligatory Legal Mumbo-Jumbo

The Antares® Mic Mod® EFX software and
this User’s Manual are protected by copyright
law. Making copies, adaptations, or derivative
works without the prior written authorization
of Antares Audio Technologies, is prohibited by

w and constitutes a punishable violation of

la
the law.

Antares Audio Technologies retains all
ownership rights to the Mic Mod EFX software
and its documentation. Use of Mic Mod EFX is
limited by the following license agreement.

Please carefully read all the terms and
conditions of this license agreement. At
the time of installation of the Mic Mod EFX
software you will be presented with a copy
of the agreement and asked whether or not
you agree to it. Continuing with the installation
process beyond that point constitutes such
agreement.

Mic Mod EFX License Agreement

Antares Audio Technologies grants you a
non-transferable, non-exclusive license to use
Mic Mod EFX under the terms and conditions
stated in this agreement. Use of Mic Mod
EFX indicates your agreement to the following
terms and conditions.

License

You may:

1. Use Mic Mod EFX on only one computer at
a time.

You may not:

1. Make copies of Mic Mod EFX or of the
user manual in whole or in part except as
expressly provided for in this agreement.
Your right to copy Mic Mod EFX and
the user manual is limited by copyright
law. Making copies, verbal or media
translations, adaptations, derivative works,
or telecommunication data transmission
of Mic Mod EFX without prior written
authorization of Antares, is prohibited by
law and constitutes a punishable violation
of the law.

2. Make alteration or modifications to Mic
Mod EFX (or any copy) or disassemble or
de-compile Mic Mod EFX (or any copy), or
attempt to discover the source code of Mic
Mod EFX.

3. Sub-license, lease, lend, rent, or grant other
rights in all or any portion of Mic Mod EFX
(or any copy) to others.

Term of the Agreement

This agreement is effective until terminated
by you or Antares. You may terminate the
agreement at any time by notifying Antares and
destroying all copies of the manual, and erasing
Mic Mod EFX from all machine-readable
media, whether on-line or on archival copies.

In the event of breach of any of the terms of
this agreement, you shall pay the attorney’s
fees of Antares that are reasonably necessary
to enforce the agreement plus resulting
damages.

Limited Warranty And Disclaimer

MIC MOD EFX AND ACCOMPANYING
MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS”
WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Antares Audio Technologies does not warrant
that the functions contained in the program will
meet your requirements. The entire risk as to the
use, quality, and performance of Mic Mod EFX
is with you.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW
LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG AN IMPLIED
WARRANTY LASTS, SO THE ABOVE
LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. THIS
WARRANTY GIVES YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL
RIGHTS. YOU MAY ALSO HAVE OTHER RIGHTS
WHICH VARY FROM JURISDICTION TO
JURISDICTION.

Limitation of Liability

IN NO EVENT WILL ANTARES BE LIABLE
FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOSS OF
DATA, LOST PROFITS OR OTHER SPECIAL,
INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR INDIRECT
DAMAGES ARISING FROM THE USE OF MIC
MOD EFX OR ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS.
THIS LIMITATION WILL APPLY EVEN IF
ANTARES OR ITS AUTHORIZED AGENT HAS
BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE
LICENSE FEE REFLECTS THIS ALLOCATION OF
RISK. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW
LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR
INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES,
SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY
TO YOU.

Whew! Now that that’s over, let’s get on to the
good stuff.

Contents

Chapter 1 Getting Started

Installing and Authorizing
Technical Support

Chapter 2 Introducing Mic Mod EFX

About the Technology
So What Exactly Does It Do?

Chapter 3 Using Mic Mod EFX

Live or Mixdown
Signal Flow
Controls

Input Section
Source Mic Section
Modeled Mic Section
Tube Saturation
Output Level

Chapter 4

Realistic Expectations

Choice of Input Microphone
Microphone Variations
Microphone Technique
Excessive Frequency Boost
Polar Pattern Selection
Off-Axis Response

2

3

5

5

6
8
10
10

11

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Get Creative

Appendix: The

Mic

Models

13

14

Welcome!

On behalf of everyone at Antares Audio Technologies, we’d like to offer both our
thanks and congratulations on your decision to purchase Antares Mic Mod EFX, the
world’s only classic microphone modeler.

Before you proceed any further, we’d like to strongly encourage you to register
and authorize your copy of Mic Mod EFX. (You can skip ahead to the Authorization and
Installation instructions in the next chapter. We’ll wait.)

At Antares, we are committed to excellence in quality, customer service, and technological
innovation. With your purchase of the Antares Mic Mod EFX, you have created a relationship
with Antares which we hope will be long and gratifying. Let us know what you think. You can
count on us to listen

Again, thanks.

The Whole Antares Crew

1

Chapter 1: Getting Started

2

Installing Mic Mod EFX

Mic Mod EFX is designed to work with a wide
variety of digital audio applications. Please refer
to your host application’s user manual for more
information on installing and using plug-ins.
(Although in most cases, simply double-clicking
Mic Mod EFX installer and following the
resulting directions will be all you need to do.)

Authorizing Mic Mod EFX

Authorization is the process by which Mic
Mod EFX is allowed to permanently run on
your computer. Detailed instructions can be
found in the file “Authorization Read Me”
which is included with your software
download.

Mic Mod EFX authorization requires
an iLok USB smart key. If you already
own other audio plug
already have one. If not, they can be
purchased from many local music
stores as well as most online music
technology retailers.

NOTE: You will need to authorize Mic

Mod EFX before you can run it in your
host. If you plan to follow along with

the manual (a good idea), go do it now.

-ins, you probably

2. If you are having problems authorizing your
software, be sure that you have the latest
version of the iLok License Manager

application installed on your computer.

IMPORTANT! Windows users:

After downloading and installing
the iLok License Manager, you
must reboot your computer

before running your software.

If your problem is not resolved after taking the
above actions, try the following:

1. Make another quick scan through this
manual. Who knows? You may have
stumbled onto some feature that you
didn’t notice the first time through.

2. Visit our Support page.

3. Join the Antares Forum. The Antares

Forum is a place where Antares product
users can gather to exchange
information, compare notes, and get to
know other Antares users from around
the world.

4. For the quickest access to new
developments, follow us on Twitter and
like us on Facebook or check out our

YouTube and Google+ pages.

Technical Support

In the unlikely event that you experience a
problem using Mic Mod EFX, try the following:

1. Make sure you have the latest version

of the plug-in. You can download the
installer for the latest version from
our Latest Software Downloads page.

Chapter 2: Introducing Mic Mod EFX

A modern reincarnation of Antares’ renowned Microphone Modeler plug-in, Mic Mod
EFX lets any reasonable quality microphone sound like any of a variety of historical
classic and rare exotic microphones. Using our patented Spectral Shaping Tool™

technology, we’ve created precise digital models that reproduce the subtle sonic
characteristics that make each microphone unique. Simply tell Mic Mod EFX what microphone
you are actually using and what microphone you’d like it to sound like. It’s as simple as that.

3

With Mic Mod EFX, you can afford to record
each track through a model of the specific mic
that will best produce that ideal sound you’re
looking for. Or use it in live performance to get
the sound of mics you’d never consider using
on stage. You can even use it during mixdown
to effectively change the mic on an already
recorded track.

Not only do the models reproduce all of the
subtle sonic characteristics that make each
microphone unique, but they also give you
control of each mic’s specific options. Does the
mic have a low cut filter? If so, it’s in the model.
Wind screen on or off? Close or far placement?
Each option results in the same sonic effect
that it would have with the actual modeled mic.
And for that final touch of perfection, you can
even add some tasty tube saturation.

About the Technology

The models employed by Mic Mod EFX are not
derived from theoretical considerations. They
are generated by a proprietary analysis process
that is applied to each physical mic modeled.

The precision of these models allows Mic
Mod EFX to reproduce even the subtle (and
sometimes not-so-subtle) sonic variations that
one often finds in different samples of the
same model of microphone. Consequently, for
some important mics, we’ve provided multiple
models, each based on measurements taken
from individual mics.

Another advantage of our model-based
approach is that there is essentially no

processing delay apart from the natural phase
effects of the microphones being modeled and
any delay inherent in the operation of the host
application or hardware environment.

Finally, the quality and signal-to-noise
characteristics of the processing are pristine.
Because of our commitment to model-based
processing, there are none of the limitations
or distortions characteristic of FFT-based
algorithms. The quality of the output is limited
only by the quality of the input.

So What Exactly Does It Do?

While there is a lot of fairly complicated
stuff going on under the hood, the essential
functionality of Mic Mod EFX is really quite
simple. Basically, audio from a microphone
is input to Mic Mod EFX where it is first
processed by a “Source Model” which serves
to neutralize the known characteristics of the
input mic. The audio is then processed by a
second “Modeled Mic” model which imposes
the characteristics of the modeled mic onto the
previously neutralized signal. Finally, the audio
is passed through a model of a high-quality
tube preamp offering the option of classic tube
saturation distortion.

The details are found in the next chapter.