Focusrite Liquid Mix Plug-in Owner's Manual

Liquid Mix Plug-in

User Guide

FA0000-01

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1. COMPRESSOR SECTION ..................................... 3

INPUT LEVEL ............................................................3

COMPRESSOR EMULATION SELECT .........................3

COMPRESSOR ON .....................................................3

THRESHOLD ..............................................................3

RATIO ........................................................................4

COMPRESSOR GRAPH ..............................................4

GAIN REDUCTION METER .........................................5

ATTACK .....................................................................5

RELEASE ..................................................................5

GAIN MAKEUP ..........................................................5

LINK ..........................................................................6

SIDECHAIN ................................................................ 7

FREE SWITCH ...........................................................8

COMPRESSOR POST EQ ............................................8

MID METER ............................................................... 9

2. EQ ...................................................................... 9

EQ EMULATION SELECT ............................................9

EQ ON ........................................................................9

BAND ON ...................................................................9

GAIN ....................................................................... 10

FREQUENCY ............................................................ 10

Q ............................................................................. 10

SHAPE ....................................................................10

EQ GRAPH ............................................................... 10

EQ O/P (OUTPUT) .................................................... 11

3. BUILDING A HYBRID (MIXED) EQ .......................11

EQ BYPASS ............................................................. 12

4. ADDITIONAL CONTROLS ...................................12

GLOBAL BYPASS ..................................................... 12

NAMING THE LIQID MIX PLUG-IN ............................ 12

LIQUID MIX INFORMATION ...................................... 12

LIMIT AND CLIP LIGHTS .......................................... 12

5. SNAPSHOTS - SAVING LIQUID MIX SETTINGS ...13

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1. COMPRESSOR SECTION

This section describes all controls related to the compressor section of the Liquid Mix plugin.

INPUT LEVEL

This sets the level of the input signal. The current input gain is displayed in the box above the dial, and the level of the
audio signal is shown in the meters. If the input metering goes into the red, then this indicates that the audio level is
overloading the inputs. In order to avoid distortion of the input signal, the input gain should be reduced if the input
metering is exceeding 0dBFS (ie, if the metering goes into the red).

COMPRESSOR EMULATION SELECT

The compressor emulation can be selected by clicking in this region. Select the desired compressor emulation from the drop down
list. Note that loading a new emulation will load that emulation with its default settings – switching between emulation will require
you to set up all compressor settings as desired.

COMPRESSOR ON

The compressor is activated by pressing the ‘Compressor On’ button. Once an emulation has been selected the compressor will
default to ‘On’.

THRESHOLD

The Threshold control sets the minimum level which the incoming audio signal must reach before the compressor kicks in.

When the level of the input signal is lower than the threshold value, output level from the compressor will be unaffected; only
passages that exceed the threshold will be compressed.

The range of threshold values varies depending on the chosen compressor emulation (unless the ‘Free’ switch is active), and the
exact value is shown in dB on the LCD screen and directly above the dial in the software graphical user interface (GUI).

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RATIO

The Ratio control determines the amount of compression applied to the signal with increasing input, and is the ratio of change in
input level compared to change in output level.

For example, if the ratio is set to 2:1, then for every 2dB of level increase on the input, the output level will increase by 1dB. For a 6dB
input increase, output increases by 3dB.

Higher ratio settings will produce more noticeable compression, so for the least noticeable result, the ratio should be set at the
minimum necessary for the application. For example, to get a certain amount of gain reduction, using low threshold and low ratio
will produce a less noticeable effect than a high threshold and high ratio, even though the total amount of compression may
be the same.

Low ratio, low threshold

High ratio, high threshold

The range of selectable ratios varies depending on the chosen compressor emulation, and the exact value is shown directly above
on the display window.

COMPRESSOR GRAPH

The compressor graph gives a graphical impression of the Threshold and Ratio settings of the selected compressor.

Note that different compressor emulations will show a different curve, depending on the performance of the original compressor
that the selected emulation is based upon. Identical threshold and ratio settings on two different compressors may not show the
same cur ve.

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GAIN REDUCTION METER

The Gain Reduction Meter displays the amount of attenuation of the input signal by the compressor, thus
the difference in level between the output (pre gain makeup) and the input signals. Metering is in expanding
increments down to –36 dB.

ATTACK

The Attack control determines how quickly the volume is reduced once the level of the source signal has risen above the threshold.
When at low settings, the response is fast, which tends to make the compressor react to the peak levels of the signal. This is
sometimes desirable, but short transients can cause unwanted ‘pumping’ of steadier low-level signals. A slower attack will cause
the compressor to ignore short transients and respond more to the average loudness of the signal; however this may seem to
increase the relative volume of the transients. The range of selectable attack times varies depending on the chosen compressor
(unless the Free switch is active), and the exact value is shown in milliseconds (ms) on the LCD screen and directly above the dial
in the software GUI.

RELEASE

The Release control determines how quickly the volume returns once the level of the source signal has fallen below the threshold.
When at low settings, the compression releases quickly, which may be appropriate on rapidly varying signals to avoid compressing
the beats that follow, but can result in excessive distortion on more sustained material. Clockwise rotation increases the release
time, giving a smoother effect, but may also result in transients causing audible ‘pumping’. The Release time varies depending on
the chosen compressor (unless the Free switch is active), and the exact value is shown in milliseconds (mS) directly above the dial
in the software GUI.

GAIN MAKEUP

Compressing a signal will result in an overall reduction in signal level. The Gain Makeup control allows you to increase the gain of
the compressed signal. The range of selectable values varies depending on the chosen compressor, and the exact value is shown in
dB on the LCD screen and directly above the dial in the software GUI.