Sonic Charge Permut8 User Manual

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U S E R G U I D E

- version 1.0 -

Table of Contents

..............................................................................User Interface! 4

....................................................................................Operators! 5

...........................................................................Memory Control! 8

............................................................................Analog Section! 9

...................................................................................Programs! 10

..............................................................................MIDI Control! 11

......................................................................Signal Flow Chart! 12

............................................................................Requirements! 13

................................................................Credits and Contacts! 13

.....................................................Copyrights And Trademarks! 14

I N T R O D U C T I O N

Permut8 is an effect plug-in that embraces the sounds of primitive digital signal

processing hardware. It is programmable to produce a wide range of effects

from traditional delays and flangers to beat-repeaters, bit-crushers and yet

unheard of circuit bent madness. At its core is a 12-bit digital delay with

variable sample rate from 0 to 352 khz. The delay is controlled by a

programmable processor with an assortment of operators, allowing you to

create almost any type of effect you can imagine and many more that you

can't. The input and output stages offers virtual analog components for

saturation, limiting and filtering. The output can be fed back into the input to

create echoes, comb-filter effects and never-ending chaos.

With Permut8 we have made a serious effort to make a plug-in that feels and

sounds like a piece of physical digital hardware and not like your typical

software effect. Permut8 can make aliasing noises that would make any

Commodore 64 green of envy, but its aliasing is different from what you

normally encounter in software DSP. For example, it is unrelated to the host

sample rate and you can tune it exactly with the "clock frequency" knob.

Furthermore, the components that should not alias, e.g. the "analog"

saturation, employ heavy-duty anti-aliasing techniques to avoid doing so.

The Permut8 user-interface may seem a bit intimidating at first. Make no

mistake, this is complex machinery at work, but it is also a product that is

designed for experimentation and happy accidents. The best way to learn the

plug-in is probably to dive right in and start flipping those switches at random

and then reading the reference section in this manual or turn to the built-in

"Popup Help" for a better understanding of what is actually going on. On your

journey to master this product we are sure you will encountered many

unexpected and rewarding results.

/ Magnus Lidström

User Interface

The heart of Permut8 is the 128 kilowords 12-bit memory, visualized by the LED array at the bottom of the user interface. The red dot shows incoming audio that is written to memory, i.e. the "write position". The green dots represent playback positions for left and right outputs, i.e. the "read positions". Use the two instructions to change and modulate the read positions with different "operators". They are processed in

order, i.e. instruction 1 is executed first and then instruction 2 is calculated on the result of instruction"1.

There are two eight-bit parameters per instruction, called "operands". You can set individual "bits" of these parameters with the switches. If you set MIDI CONTROL to BITS you can use MIDI keys to flip the bits. In most hosts it is also possible to

"automate" the switches. Shift-click and drag to set single bits more easily.

The current operand settings are also shown in "hexadecimal" format to the left of the switches. For your convenience you can click and drag these displays to adjust the settings or click the small up and down arrows to increment and decrement one step at a time.

Operators

AND

The AND operator creates sudden jumps with the read position. It works by clearing

selected bits in the read position data word. Turn on SYNC and flip the higher (left-

most) bits to create beat-repeating effects. The middle bits generate granular "buffer

underrun" effects while the lowest bits can be flipped to achieve "aliasing" like from a

bit-crusher effect.

MUL

MUL changes the rate of the read position in relation to the write position. In other

words it will change the pitch and / or speed of the input audio. The operand is a lin-

ear rate multiplier (expressed in fixed-point notation with sign bit).

Some examples:

0200 = double rate (1 octave up) 0100 = normal rate (no change) 0080 = half rate (1 octave down) 0000 = stop 8100 = reverse (leftmost switch flips the sign to reverse mode).

(Unlike a proper pitch shifter, there is no crossfading in Permut8 which means there

will be audible clicks as the read position and write positions meet.)

OSC

OSC makes the read position swing backwards and forwards in a triangular motion.

The results range from wobbly backward / forwards effects to subtle pitch vibrato to

extreme frequency modulation. Flanger effects can also be achieved by turning up

the FEEDBACK amount.

The high operand sets the rate of the oscillation and the low operand sets the magni-

tude / depth of the modulation. Both follow exponential scales. The highest (leftmost)

bit can be turned on to achieve a wide stereo effect by inverting the modulation of

the right audio channel. A rate of 00 will freeze the oscillation and turn this operator

into a fixed delay.

RND

Use RND to add sweeping random motion to the read position, effectively modulat-

ing the pitch and / or speed randomly. The high operand sets the rate and the low

operand sets the depth of the modulation. Both follow exponential scales. If you turn

on the highest (leftmost) bit, a wide stereo effect is achieved by randomizing the right

channel separately from the left.

At moderate rate and magnitudes, this operator adds subtle pitch modulation in the

style of chorus effects. At extreme settings it turns into white noise that follows the

level of the input. A rate of 0 will effectively prevent the "sweeping" effect and make

the read position hop to a random offset each time the write position completes a full

cycle, resulting in a "sample-and-hold" style of modulation.

(The pseudo random number generator will generate the exact same sequence

every time you flip the RESET switch.)

The OR operator works like AND but instead of clearing the selected bits, it sets

them. This means OR will "push" the read position in front of the write position, un-

like AND. If you want to repeat the last section of a beat, OR is your friend. (However,

if you put Permut8 in REV mode, OR will work exactly like AND and vice versa.)

XOR

XOR works on the bits of the read position data word (similar to AND and OR). It in-

verts the bits that are set in the operand. This changes the order of playback in dif-

ferent ways. If you set all the bits to 1 (FFFF) the read position will move backwards.

If you leave the higher bits cleared you will reverse short slices of audio, and if you

set only the higher bits the slices will play forwards but in reversed order. Flip the

lowest bits to create ultra nasty "aliasing" effects. The highest (leftmost) bit turns on a

stereo effect that offsets the right channel against the left.

MSK

Use MSK to selectively "mask out" the result of instruction 1. This is most useful in

SYNC mode. Each bit in the STEP MASK operand represents an eighth of the full

"memory cycle", i.e. if CLOCK FREQ is set to 1/1, each bit represents an eighth

note. When a bit is zero (switch is down), Instruction 1 is ignored. The SUBTRACT

operand lets you delay the output signal. It uses the same exponential scale as SUB.

SUB

With the SUB operator you simply subtract fixed amounts from the read positions of

the left and right channel. This create delays where the exact time is defined by the

operands and the clock frequency. The two operands follow exponential scales

where values under 80 are typically used for tuning "comb filter" effects. If you hover

the mouse over the hex displays a popup hint will show the effective delay lengths as

percentages of the full "memory cycle". E.g. if you enter STD SYNC mode and set

the CLOCK FREQ to 1/1, F0F0 will create a delay of 1/2 bars.

If you put Permut8 in REV mode the actual delay lengths become inverted. E.g. 00

will be exactly 100%. If you need a SUB operator for the first instruction, use OSC

with a RATE of 0. If you want to control the delay length of both left and right chan-

nels from a single operand, use MSK with a STEP MASK of FF (all bits set).

NOP

NOP is short for "No Operation" and does exactly that. Nothing. It is the bypass op-

erator.

Memory Control

CLOCK FREQ

The CLOCK FREQ knob sets the running rate of the instructions. Changing the rate affects both the audio quality and the speed and delay times of the effects. The greater the frequency, the brighter and clearer the sound, but the maximum delay time will also be shorter. If SYNC is OFF, the clock frequency goes from 0 Hz (full

stop) all the way up to 352.8 kHz. In any of the other "synchronized" modes, the

clock frequency adapts to the host tempo so that Permut8 will complete a full "mem-

ory cycle" in the chosen time signature and division.

If you shift-click CLOCK FREQ when SYNC is on, it will be turned to OFF and CLOCK FREQ will be positioned so that the tempo-synchronized rate is preserved.

You can then fine-tune the frequency, e.g. for a delay that should be slightly out-ofsync.

WRITE PROTECT

Enable WRITE PROTECT to "freeze" the memory content and create an infinite loop of whatever audio is currently in memory. You can still change programs, edit the in-

structions etc to modify how the memory is played back. However, the INPUT and FEEDBACK controls will be of no use (obviously), and the only FILTER PLACEMENT that will be useful is OUT.

"Write protected" memory content is even saved and loaded with your song file so you can actually use Permut8 as a very simple loop player. If SYNC is OFF, clicking

RESET will re-trigger the loop from the beginning.

REV

The REV switch makes the write and read positions move in reverse. This can be used to reverse short audio snippets in real-time. After a full "memory cycle" has

been completed, the audible effect of the reversal will be less obvious (or disappear

entirely) as the entire memory now contains reversed audio material. Notice however

that the operators will function differently in REV mode.

RESET

If you flip the RESET switch the memory will be emptied (if it is not "write protected") and the read and write positions will be reset. Notice that you should be able to "automate" this button in your host, just like any other button or knob.

Analog Section

INPUT LEVEL

INPUT LEVEL is applied before anything else, including the soft clipper, the limiter and converting to 12-bit sample data. If you turn INPUT LEVEL very low you will introduce a lot of quantization noise, i.e. "bit crushing" (compensate with a high OUT-

PUT LEVEL). If you turn the level high you will either get a lot of distortion or make

the limiter work harder and obtain a more compact sound.

The soft clipping algorithm in Permut8 has very low aliasing in itself, so you can use it as an analog distortion module. Turn up CLOCK FREQ to maximum for the least amount of digital noise.

LIMITER

The LIMITER switch enables the built-in "brick-wall" limiter. The limiter has a fixed

threshold and reaction time, but it is placed after the input gain adjust. Thus the INPUT LEVEL will determine the amount of volume compression. The limiter is also placed inside the feedback loop and with proper bal-

ancing of INPUT LEVEL and FEEDBACK AMOUNT you can make the feedback signal "duck" when there is audio input (creating a

less busy sound). If you turn FILTER

PLACEMENT to IN, the filter is applied before the limiter. You can then tweak FILTER FREQ and MIX to compress only the low or high-end of the audio signal.

FILTER FREQ

FILTER FREQ determines both the filter

mode and its cutoff frequency. The left half of

the knob puts the filter into lowpass mode

while the right half puts it into highpass

mode.

FILTER PLACEMENT

Turn the FILTER PLACEMENT dial to choose where in the signal chain you want to

apply the filter. The OFF setting disables it entirely. The IN setting puts it before the

soft clipper / limiter, but still inside the feedback loop so that each successive itera-

tion of the feedback signal will become increasingly filtered. The FB ("feedback") set-

ting places it on the feedback signal only while OUT applies the filter to the final out-

put (as well as to the feedback). The different placement settings can make a big dif-

ference to the sound if you have a lot of digital distortion going on.

FEEDBACK AMOUNT

The FEEDBACK AMOUNT knob determines how much of the output signal is fed

back into the input again.

FLIP L/R

With FLIP L/R you can switch the left and right feedback channels so that for each

iteration the audio will bounce from left to right and vice versa.

INVERT

Turn the INVERT switch on for a 180 degrees phase inversion of the feedback sig-

nal. With very short delay times this produces a totally different sound.

OUTPUT LEVEL

The OUTPUT LEVEL knob controls the final volume of the "wet" signal. To give you

that sweet saturated sound there is a soft clipper on the output gain stage, just as

there is on the input stage.

MIX

Use MIX to adjust the balance between the "dry" input and the "wet" processed sound. Because of the variable clock frequency technique in Permut8, the total input

/ output latency varies and this cannot be compensated perfectly by the host. The

MIX knob on the other hand makes perfect latency compensation even if the clock frequency changes. Therefore it is better to mix the dry / wet signals within Permut8

rather than mixing them in your host.

Programs

All the settings you see on the front panel constitutes a Permut8 "program" and Per-

mut8 can have 30 such programs in memory at a time. You can instantly switch be-

tween these programs either by clicking the program number display or the rocker switch next to it. You can also use "MIDI Program Change" messages to switch programs on the fly or put MIDI CONTROL in PROG mode and use MIDI keys.

The programs are numbered A0-A9, B0-B9 and C0-C9, but you can also give them names that are shown in a popup list when you click the program number display. If

you do not name a program it will be given a default name consisting of the "operator" and "operand" settings (e.g. "[B0] and:4420 xor:0081"). Programs that have been modified since they were last named are marked with a *.

The "Main Menu" contains functions to load and save the entire "program bank" (all

30 programs), rename, copy and paste individual programs, randomize instructions

and more.

(There is a short-cut for randomizing the instructions by shift-clicking the "Main Menu" button.)

If you save a Permut8 "program bank", a VST .fxb or an Audio Unit .aupreset, all 30 programs are saved in the file. When you create a new instance of Permut8, the

most recently used programs will automatically load. (You may disable this feature

from the "Main Menu".)

MIDI Control

There are three different ways to control Permut8 via MIDI (provided that your host

application allows routing MIDI to effects).

BITS

The BITS setting will let you toggle individual "operand bits" (the 32 flip-flops under

INSTRUCTION 1 and 2) with MIDI keys .

FREQ

FREQ makes it possible to transpose effects with MIDI keys by adjusting the clock frequency up or down when keys are held. Note number 60 (C3) is the root key. While holding down a key you can use the pitch bend, e.g. bend it down quickly for a "tape stop" effect.

PROG

In PROG mode you can switch between the 30 programs in memory using MIDI keys. Great for sequencing glitchy effect patterns. Click the program number display

and check the popup list to see the assigned MIDI keys. (You probably want to avoid

"automating" parameters in this mode as parameter changes are permanent and cannot be easily undone.)

Signal Flow Chart

INPUT

LEVEL

AUDIO IN

AUDIO OUT

MIX

OUTPUT

LEVEL

LIMITER

FREQ

FEEDBACK

LIMITER

FILTER

INPUT GAIN

ADC

CPU

DAC

SOFT CLIP

FILTER

OUTPUT GAIN

SOFT CLIP

FILTER

OUT

Requirements

The minimum requirements for installing and running Permut8 are:

Microsoft Windows XP or Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)

•

A host that supports 32 or 64-bit VST 2.4 or AudioUnit 2 plug-ins

•

2GHz Pentium IV or equivalent

•

20MB of free disk space

•

Credits and Contacts

Sonic Charge Permut8 v1.0 (2012)

Created by:

! Magnus Lidström

Graphical design and additional development:

! Fredrik Lidström

Program banks:

! Coen Berrier (Mason)! http://facebook.com/musicofmason

! William Curtis (Pimp Daddy Nash)

!!http://www.eighthdimension.com/artists/pimpdaddy-nash.html

! Edward Ten Eyck! http://www.edtaudio.com

! Simon Field (Ones & Zeros)! http://www.spectraselecta.com

! Stephan Muesch (Rsmus7)! http://www.sounduniverse.de

! Randolph Rueba (Ariston)! http://www.soundcloud.com/ariston

! Torley Wong! http://torley.com

Technologies:

! NuXPixels, GAZL & AU/VST Symbiosis by NuEdge Development

! libpng by G. Randers-Pehrson

! zlib by Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler

! VST Plugin Technology by Steinberg

! Audio Units SDK by Apple

! (see Copyrights section below for more info)

Sonic Charge website:

! http://soniccharge.com

Copyrights And Trademarks

The Sonic Charge Permut8 software and documentation is owned and copyright by

Randers-Pehrson. zlib version 1.2.5, Copyright (C) 1995-2010 Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler. Symbiosis version 1.3, Copyright (c) 2012, NuEdge Development / Magnus Lidström. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the

United States and other countries. Mac OS X is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.

Permut8 software and documentation is protected by Swedish copyright laws and

international treaty provisions. You may not remove the copyright notice from any copy of Permut8.

Please, read the end user license agreement enclosed in the package for more legal mumbo-jumbo.

The contractor / manufacturer for Sonic Charge Permut8 is:

NuEdge Development / Magnus Lidström Högbergsgatan 16 S-116 20 Stockholm

Sweden

Sonic Charge Permut8 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual