Antares Mic Mod EFX User Manual

Owner’s Manual

©2010 Antares Audio Technologies. All rights reserved.
Certified Isinglass-free™
Antares®, Auto-Tune®, AVOX®, and Harmony Engine® 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

Printed in USA Rev 1.0 PN 41031-0910-M01

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
law and constitutes a punishable violation of
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 3

Installing and Authorizing
Technical Support

Chapter 2 Introducing Mic Mod EFX 5

About the Technology
So What Exactly Does It Do?

Chapter 3 Using Mic Mod EFX 7

Live or Mixdown
Signal Flow
Controls

Input Section 7
Source Mic Section 8
Modeled Mic Section 10
Tube Saturation 12
Output Level 12

Chapter 4 The Modeled Microphones 13

Mic Model Files
Customizing Mic Menus
Automation

Chapter 5 Realistic Expectations 15

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

Chapter 6 Get Creative 17

Chapter 7 Appendix: The Mic Models 19

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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 farther, 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.) Also, if you’re planning on discarding that lovely Mic
Mod EFX box, it’s probably a good idea to write down the serial number that appears on the bottom
of the box for future reference. (The inside cover of this manual would be a good place.)

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

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Chapter 1: Getting Started

3

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 covering the
available authorization options will be found
in the file “Authorization Read Me” which is
included on the installation DVD ROM or with
your software download.

Mic Mod EFX authorization requires
an iLok USB smart key. If you already
own other audio plug-ins, you probably
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.

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 and install
the latest version of Mic Mod EFX from the
following web page:

http://www.antarestech.com/download/

update.shtml

2. If you are having problems authorizing your
software, be sure that you have the latest
version of the PACE Interlok drivers. You
can download and install the latest version
for your operating system from:

http://www.paceap.com

IMPORTANT! Windows users: After

downloading and installing the
PACE drivers, 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. Consult our searchable knowledgebase at:

http://www.antarestech.com/support/

index.html

3. Check our web site for tips, techniques, or
any late-breaking information:

http://www.antarestech.com

4. Join the Antares online Community. The
Antares Online Community 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. Check it out at:

http://www.antarestech.net

5. For the quickest access to new
developments, follow us on Twitter and
“Like” our Facebook pages:

http://twitter.com/AntaresAudio

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Antares-

Audio-Technologies/68524457680

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Auto-

Tune/81891651280

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