Mcdsp Futzbox User Manual

McDOWELL SIGNAL PROCESSING, LLC

User’s Manual

FutzBox

Lo-Fi Distortion Effects

McDSP FutzBox Plug-In Manual

McDSP
McDowell Signal Processing, LLC

1300 Crittenden Lane #401

Mountain View, CA 94043

Support

Email: [e-mail]

Technical Support: [e-mail]

World Wide Web: www.mcdsp.com

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Special Thanks to:

• Rob Barrett Jr., our #1 customer

• Crayonmaster Studios

• Stephen Hart

• Matt Dow & Zamar Media

• Leff Lefferts

• Brett Chassen

• The Hipple Farms CB Museum

• LA Sammy and Jay Baumgardner at NRG Records

• Tac Yamamoto

• Thomas Edison

• Our level 5 Beta Testers

from the entire McDSP development team.

McDSP FutzBox

Copyright Notice:

Copyright 1998-2008 McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company

All Rights Reserved. The McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company’s FutzBox Plug-In and
corresponding User’s Manual is copyrighted and all rights are reserved. Information in this document is
subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of McDowell Signal
Processing, Limited Liability Company. This document may not, in whole or part, be copied, photocopied,
reproduced, translated, or reduced to any electronic medium or machine-readable form for the purpose of
resale without prior consent, in writing, from McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company.

Trademarks:

McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company is a trademark of McDowell Signal Processing,
Limited Liability Company. Other brands and their products are trademarks of their respective holders and

should be noted as such.

Digidesign™ and Pro Tools™ are registered trademarks of Digidesign, Inc.

mcdsp.com

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Table of Contents

McDSP FutzBox Plug-In Manual ii

McDSP License Agreement ii

Getting Started with the FutzBox iv

System Requirements iv
Installing the FutzBox Plug-In vi

Installation on Mac OS X vi
Installation on Windows XP viii
Installation on VENUE D-SHOW systems x

Authorizing your McDSP Plug-Ins xii

Authorizing with a pre-programmed iLok Smart Key xii
Authorizing with an iLok License Card xii

Authorizing with iLok.com xvi
Registering your McDSP Plug-In xix
Using your McDSP Plug-Ins xix

FutzBox 20

The Quick Start Tour: The FutzBox Plug-In 21

FutzBox Overview 21
Controls 23

Main 23

SIM 23

Lo-Fi 23

Filters 24

Distortion 24

EQ/Filter 24

Noise Generator 25

Gate 25
Displays 26

Meters 26

Response Plots 26
General Information 26

Control Linking 27

Automation 27

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McDSP FutzBox

Presets: Using the Presets and Making Your Own 27
A Word on Preset Compatibility 28

Using the FutzBox Plug-In 29

Basics 29

Synthetic Impulse Models (SIMs) 29
High Pass Filter (HPF) 30
Low Pass Filter (LPF) 30
Parametric EQ 30
Distortion 30
Rectification 31
Noise Generator 31
Gate 31

FutzBox Closer Look 32

Separating Noise and Audio signals 32
SIM Tuning 32
Audio Signal EQ Using Resonant Filters 32

FutzBox Applications 33

Dialog and Vocal Distortion 33
Creating Low Fidelity Version of Music 33
Signal Dropout Effects 33

FutzBox Plug-In Reference Guide 34

FutzBox 34
DSP Delay 36
DSP Usage 36

HD and HD Accel DSP hardware 36
Maximum Instantiation Counts at 48kHz Sample Rate 36
Percentage of DSP used by one instantiation at 48kHz Sample Rate 36

mcdsp.com

Page v

McDSP License Agreement

The software described in this manual is furnished under a license agreement and may be used only in

accordance with the terms of the agreement.

McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company License and
Warranty:

The software which accompanies this license (the “Software”) is the property of McDowell Signal
Processing, Limited Liability Company or its licensers and is protected by copyright law. While McDowell
Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company continues to own the Software, you will have certain rights to
use the Software after your acceptance of this license. Except as may be modied by a license addendum
which accompanies this license, your rights and obligations with respect to the use of this Software are as

follows:

You May:

• authorize 1 (one) copy of the Software on 1 (one) PACE Anti-Piracy iLok USB Smart Key, for use with no
more than 1 (one) computer at any given time;

• make copies of the Software for archival purposes, or copy the software onto the hard disk of your
computer and retrain the original for archival purposes;

• after written notice to McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company, transfer the Software on
a permanent basis to another person or entity, provided that you retain no copies of the Software and

the transferee agrees to the terms of this agreement

You may not:

• copy, duplicate, or reproduce the documentation which accompanies the Software for the purpose of
resale;

• sublicense, rent or lease any portion of the Software to a third party without expressed written
permission from McDowell Signal Processing, LLC;

• reverse engineer, de-compile, disassemble, modify, translate, make any attempt to discover the source
code of the Software, or create derivative works from the Software;

• make any attempt to circumvent any copy protection software;

• use a previous version or copy of the Software after you have received a replacement set or an upgraded
version as a replacement of the prior version, unless you donate a previous version of an upgraded
version to a charity of your choice, and such charity agrees in writing that it will be the sole end user
of the product , and that it will abide by the terms of this agreement. Unless you so donate a previous
version of an upgraded version, upon upgrading the Software, all copies of the prior version must be
destroyed.

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McDSP

Limited Warranty:

McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company warrants that the media on which the Software
is distributed will be free from defects. Your sole remedy in the event of a breach of this warranty will be
that McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company will, at its option, replace any defective media.
McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company does not warrant that the Software will meet your

requirements or that the operation of the Software will be uninterrupted or that the Software will be

error-free. THE ABOVE WARRANTY IS EXCLUSIVE AND IN LIEU OF ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, WHETHER
EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON INFRINGEMENT. THIS WARRANTY GIVES YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS.
YOU MAY HAVE OTHER RIGHTS, WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.

Disclaimer of Damages:

REGARDLESS OF WHETHER ANY REMEDY SET FORTH HEREIN FAILS OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE, IN NO
EVENT WILL McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY SPECIAL,
CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT OR SIMILAR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOST PROFITS OR LOST DATA ARISING
OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE EVEN IF McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability
Company HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE
LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES SO THE ABOVE
LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN NO CASE SHALL McDowell Signal Processing,
Limited Liability Company’s LIABILITY EXCEED THE PURCHASE PRICE FOR THE SOFTWARE. The disclaimers and
limitations set forth above will apply regardless of whether you accept the Software.

U.S. Government Restricted Rights:

RESTRICTED RIGHTS LEGEND: Use, duplication, or disclosure by the Government is subject to restrictions as
set forth in subparagraph (c) (1)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFARS

252.227-7013 or subparagraphs (c)(1) and (2) of the Commercial Software Restricted Rights clause at 48 CFR

52.227-19, as applicable, McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company, Mountain View, CA 94043

([e-mail]).

General:

This Agreement will be governed by the laws of the State of California. This Agreement may only be modied
by a license addendum which accompanies this license or by a written document which has been signed both
by you and McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company. Should you have any questions concerning
this Agreement, or if you desire to contact McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability Company for any
reason, please email: [e-mail]. By downloading, using, or copying this Binary Software, Licensee
agrees to abide by the intellectual property laws, and all other applicable laws of the U.S., and the terms of
this License. Ownership of the software shall remain solely in McDowell Signal Processing, Limited Liability
Company.

mcdsp.com

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Getting Started with the FutzBox

Each McDSP plug-in is delivered inside an installer application, and uses the Interlok
copy protection software to authorize each plug-in. This section describes how
to install and authorize a McDSP plug-in. General system requirements are also

described.

System Requirements

McDSP HD, Native, and LE plug-ins are compatible with Pro Tools™ HD, HD Accel
TDM systems, as well as Pro Tools™ LE and Pro Tools™ M-Powered host based
systems. McDSP plug-ins support Mac OS 10.4.x (Tiger), 10.5.x (Leopard), and
Windows XP and require Pro Tools 7.x or greater. McDSP plug-ins require an
iLok USB Smart Key.

Configurations

McDSP plug-ins are available in TDM, RTAS, and AudioSuite congurations. See
individual products for specic available conguration sets.

Applications

Pro Tools™ 7.x or higher is required for TDM, LE, and M-Powered systems.
Additionally, a third party software application that supports the Digidesign
TDM, RTAS, or AudioSuite plug-in standard may be supported. See http://www.
digidesign.com/developers/plugin_info/ for more information.

McDSP plug-ins are compatible with the entire Pro Tools™ 7 product line.

Hardware

McDSP plug-ins support any Digidesign or approved third party hardware
supported in Pro Tools™ 7.x. This includes HD, HD Accel, 003, and Mbox host
based systems. All McDSP HD plug-ins, except Chrome Tone and Synthesizer
One, also support the Digidesign VENUE D-SHOW systems. See http://www.
digidesign.com/compato/ for more specic information.

The McDSP Mac versions are compatible with both Intel and PowerPC based
computers. The McDSP XP versions require an Intel Pentium 4 or greater

processor.*

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Getting Started

* Our XP test machines are chosen to follow the Digidesign recommended systems guide, which currently is
the Dell Precision™ Workstation 670 with 2.79 GHz Xeon processor. All products are guaranteed to run on
that system. Older Intel processors (i.e. Pentium III and predecessors) and AMD processors are not officially
supported, although some users have had limited success with newer AMD processors (i.e. Dual Opteron

1.79 GHZ, Athlon 64 2.20 GHz, and Athlon 64 XP 3700). None of our XP product line will work with Pro
Tools™ 5.x. Also note that our XP product line does not support MIX, although RTAS versions will work if
they exist and the rest of your system (i.e. Pro Tools™ version and processor) is compatible.

Please visit mcdsp.com for the latest information about compatibility.

mcdsp.com

Page v

Installing the FutzBox Plug-In

Installation on Mac OS X

The FutzBox plug-in Package includes this manual, ReadMe and Release Notes,
a folder of presets for the FutzBox plug-in, and the FutzBox plug-in. Two copies
of the FutzBox Licensing Agreement are included - one in this pdf manual and a
second as a separate text le. The FutzBox plug-in manual requires that Adobe

Acrobat reader (or similar .pdf reader) is installed.

Both online and boxed version will come with a FutzBox installer that will
automatically install the FutzBox plug-in and its presets on your system. The
authorization of the FutzBox plug-in is still required after running the installer,

and those steps are detailed in the following sections.

Installing the FutzBox plug-in and presets with the Installer:

The online version of the package has been prepared for Internet delivery, and
is transmitted as a compressed le in zip format (.zip). In Mac OS X 10.4.x or

10.5.x, simply double click the *.zip le to unpack the installer. The boxed plug­in package purchased at your local dealer will be on CDROM. As with the online
version, these ‘physical’ versions of the FutzBox plug-in package should be
copied into a local folder on your system.

• Insert the McDSP ‘HD Disk,’ ‘Native Disk,’ or ‘LE Disk’ CDROM onto an
available CDROM drive.

• Navigate to the FutzBox plug-in folder on the CDROM - the installer

application is contained therein.

• Run the FutzBox plug-in Installer application to install (copy) the FutzBox
plug-in, presets, and documentation to a local folder on your system. The
plug-in will be placed in the ‘Plug-Ins’ folder, and the presets will be placed in
the ‘Plug-Ins Settings’ folder.

• If a previous version of the FutzBox plug-in (or other HD, Native, or LE
version) was already in the plug-ins folder, it will automatically be updated
(or replaced) by the installer.

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Getting Started

Re-installing the FutzBox plug-in presets manually:

In you wish to restore the factory default presets, it may be useful to know how
to manually re-install only the presets.

• Go to the ‘Plug-in Settings’ folder:

• Root->Library->Application Support->Digidesign->Plug-in Settings

• If Pro Tools™ has not already done so for you, create a folder called ‘FutzBox’.

• Place a copy of the folder from the FutzBox plug-in package called ‘Presets’
into the ‘FutzBox’ folder. The presets are now viewable (after restarting Pro
Tools™) from the settings popup menu from the FutzBox plug-in.

Note it may be necessary to re-start Pro Tools™ in order for the newly added

‘Presets’ folder to be viewable from the Settings popup inside the
FutzBox plug-in window toolbar.

mcdsp.com

Page vii

Installation on Windows XP

The FutzBox plug-in Package includes this manual, ReadMe and Release Notes,
a folder of presets for the FutzBox plug-in, and the FutzBox plug-in. Two copies
of the FutzBox Licensing Agreement are included - one in this pdf manual and a
second as a separate text le. The FutzBox manual requires that Adobe Acrobat

reader (or similar .pdf reader) is installed.

Both online and boxed version will come with a FutzBox installer that will
automatically install the FutzBox plug-in and its presets on your system. The
authorization of the FutzBox plug-in is still required after running the installer,

and those steps are detailed in the following sections.

Installing the FutzBox plug-in and presets with the Installer:

The FutzBox plug-in package purchased at your local dealer will be on CDROM
and contain a Windows self extracting executable (.exe) similar to the online
FutzBox plug-in package prepared for Internet delivery. Both the boxed and
online versions the FutzBox plug-in executable le will automatically install
the plug-in and its presets on your system. Double click the le to launch the
installer which will install the FutzBox plug-in, presets, and documentation.
At any time after installation, you may access the documentation from the
Windows ‘Start Menu’ under the ‘McDSP’ group.

Authorization of the FutzBox plug-in is still required after running the installer,
and those steps are detailed in the following sections. Note that after installing
new versions of the PACE iLok drivers with the FutzBox plug-in installer, you will
be prompted by the FutzBox plug-in installer to reboot your system. If you are
not prompted by the installer, there is no need to reboot.

• Insert the McDSP ‘HD Disk,’ ‘Native Disk,’ or ‘LE Disk’ CDROM onto an
available CDROM drive.

• Navigate to the FutzBox plug-in folder on the CDROM - the installer

application is contained therein.

• Run the FutzBox plug-in Installer application to install the FutzBox plug-in,
presets, and documentation to a local folder on your system. The plug-in will
be placed in the ‘Plug-Ins’ folder, and the presets will be placed in the ‘Plug­Ins Settings’ folder.

• If a previous version of the FutzBox plug-in (or other HD, Native, or LE
version) was already in the plug-ins folder, it will automatically be updated
(or replaced) by the installer.

Page viii

Getting Started

Re-installing the FutzBox plug-in presets manually:

In you wish to restore the factory default presets, it may be useful to know how
to manually re-install only the presets.

• Go to the Plug-In Settings folder:

• C:\Program Files\Common Files\Digidesign\DAE\Plug-In Settings\

• If Pro Tools™ has not already done so for you, create a folder called ‘FutzBox’.

• Place a copy of the folder from the FutzBox plug-in package called ‘Presets’
into the ‘FutzBox’ folder. The presets are now viewable (after restarting Pro
Tools™) from the settings popup menu from the FutzBox plug-in.

Note it may be necessary to re-start Pro Tools™ in order for the newly added

‘Presets’ folder to be viewable from the Settings popup inside the
FutzBox plug-in window toolbar.

mcdsp.com

Page ix