A TDM Plug-in
OPERATOR'S MANUAL
Version 3
Dec. 9, 2005
LTD.
2117 East 5th Street
Superior, WI 54880 USA
tel: 715-398-3627
fax: 715-398-3279
www.cranesong.com
© 2004, 2005, 2006 Crane Song, LTD. Subject to change without notice. Printed in the U.S.A.
Phoenix
erties of a magnetic tape machine. Designer Dave Hill has crafted this software with the
same attention to detail he used to create the electronics for ATR Service’s much heralded
“Aria” discrete tape recorders. His intimate knowledge of analog electronics, as well as
decades of experience as a recording engineer has spawned a very useful, musical suite of
plug-ins. The
tics created by magnetic tape itself, but also includes the interrelation of an analog tape
recorder’s record/reproduce electronics and equalization curves. The Phoenix suite is not
merely a downscaled version of the Crane Song
tion derived from
Digidesign’s TDM architecture.
Five different TDM plug-ins emulate different tape characteristics, each one incorporating a
color change button allowing three choices to modify the process. The
position where the color is approximately flat in frequency response, with
brighter, and
Phoenix
you hit the tape.” Because the DSP process is level dependent, reducing the input level will
also cause a change in sound.
The input trim can also be used to prevent clipping in the rare cases where clipping may be
a problem. This can be useful on material that is hitting close to or at digital zero. When
the input trim is at 0dB, (no change in gain) and no tape process is being added to the
sound, the plug-in is bit accurate, meaning the output exactly matches the input.
is Crane Song’s suite of TDM only plug-ins designed to emulate the unique prop-
Phoenix
Opal
process integrated into the audio signal, and an input trim determines “how hard
process not only incorporates the nonlinear saturation characteris-
HEDD
HEDD
being a warmer tonality. A level control determines the amount of the
technology, and specifically engineered and optimized for
processor, but a ground-up applica-
Gold
button is the
Sapphire
being a
The
Phoenix
•
Luminescent
•
Iridescent
This plug-in is the most similar to the tape knob on HEDD-192.
•
Radiant
•
Dark Essence
range—when used on a vocal
increasing the apparent loudness of the rest of the signal.)
•
Luster
as
suite contains five separate plug-ins:
is the most neutral sounding process of the five.
has a similar magnetic character, but with a fatter bottom and midrange.
is characterized by a more aggressive compression curve
is even more aggressive. (The effect is a color with a wider frequency
Dark Essence
starts more gently than the other four processes, but becomes as aggressive
Dark Essence
when the process is at full scale.
can reduce sibilance problems by
Running within Digidesign’s TDM architecture, Phoenix is very DSP efficient. It will run
approximately twenty instances of a plug-in on a single DSP chip (HD system at 44.1 kHz
sample rate).
Phoenix’s color is dependant on signal level, program material and sample rate. A higher
sample rate results in smother sounds
Phoenix
The
sound warmer, fatter, and more analog. The plug-ins can be somewhat subtle, but the
cumulative affect when used on a number of tracks can bring back the warmth and richness which only analog recording has been able to provide.
plug-in suite provides a wide range of choices to make your digital world
By grabing the text “INPUT TRIM” with the mouse and moving in the vertical direction the
input trim level can be adjusted. It can also have a value between 0 and -12db entered into
the window. The Process level can be moved by a mouse by grabbing it’s knob and moving the mouse vertically. It can also have a value entered into it’s window with 0 db being
the maximum value. Phoenix is mono, multi-mono, stereo and 5.1 capable.
Installation
Install the plug-in in and osX system by putting the decompressed file into the
Applications/DigiDesign/ProTools/Plug-Ins
Under os9 the decompressed file is put into the
The latest version of Phoenix contains an installer for PT7 and PT6.9 and manual installation is
not required.
alias directory.
System/DAE Folder/Plug-Ins
directory