Analog Channel

Analog Channel gives the user complete control of analog gain staging (AC1), and analog tape and tape machines (AC2).

AC1

Pure digital tracks can suffer from harsh digital clipping. AC1 acts as a 'digital pre-amp' allowing even excessive amounts of gain without digital distortion. A drive control determines where the audio 'sits' in the saturation/compression region, and even the attack and release times of the distortion character are adjustable. And AC1 is the most efficient McDSP plug-In ever - up to 24 mono channels or 16 stereo channels on a single MIX dsp chip. Place it across the entire mix to create a custom analog console.

The Analog Channel Emulator AC1 plug-In is an analog amplifier, or analog channel. Instead of allowing the user to drive signal levels into digital clipping at 0 dB, the AC1 plug-In provides gentle, continuous soft-limiting/compression (or saturation pending the attack/release times), at a signal level selected by the user. AC1 can be used as a fail-safe for preventing unwanted clipping, or as a creative tool to smooth/warm-up digital tracks and provide otherwise unavailable analog character to a digital system. Even the sound of large analog mixing consoles can be closely matched using the AC1 plug-In.

AC2

Standard tape machine parameters such as bias, playback speed, and IEC1/2 equalization are provided. Control well beyond the limits of the 'reel-world' devices includes adjustable low frequency roll off and head bump - independent of playback speed. You can select from several playback head types, and even control the rate at which tape saturation is dis-engaged. And instead of frequency sweeps and test tones, the playback head and tape saturation responses are displayed in realtime - updated with every control change.

Tape Formulations

• Modern: current manufacturing technologies create a tape with a much greater dynamic range than earlier formulations. These tapes have a large linear region, and hence have a smaller non-linear (saturation) 'character'. This makes for recordings as true as possible to the original material.
• Vintage: older tape mediums tend to have less dynamic range, and suffer from greater distortion/saturation. These tapes, however, have 'character' that newer ones do not, and have been used with great success in recording audio.

Fortunately in the digital domain, the 'good' things about tape machines and the tape medium can be modeled, and the models can perform consistently over time. Additionally, the 'optimal' setup is only a few control changes away (instead of a tedious calibration session).

*All Trademarks are property of their respective owners. Studer, Otari, MCI, Ampex, Sony, and Tascam are all trademarks of their respective companies. These companies are not affiliated in any way with McDSP, nor do they endorse the Analog Channel plug-In. The trademarks of these companies are used solely for the purpose of describing the sounds produced by the McDSP Analog Channel plug-In.

Analog Channel features include:

Power and Flexibility:

AC1 - control drive, attack, and release of amplifier characteristics;

AC2 - control every aspect of analog tape 'reproducers', as well as parameters not found in the original devices.

Double Precision Arithmetic:

Analog Saturation Modeling:

Performance:

ProControl, Control 24, and HUI compliant; control automation (PT 4.0 or higher); TDM, AudioSuite, and RTAS versions; supports d|24, MIX, HD, and host-based ProTools systems.

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