16.03a release candidate

[MeldaProduction]

Hey folks, a farily big update now! Check it out and let me know if you find any issues (not expected).

https://www.meldaproduction.com/downloads

CHANGES
Added a powerful Compander module to all modular plugins such as MXXX, MSoundFactory and MDrummer.
[MCabinet] Added cabinets : Aluminium, Bismuth, Cabmium, Cobalt, Hard key, Iridium, Lithium, Nitrogen, Radon, Xenon
[MGuitarArchitect] Added stompboxes : EQ-Bass, WahVolume
[MRecorder] added record only above threshold feature, which will start recording only if input peak audio level is above set threshold. Added info about saving.
[MRecorder] added retrospective recording, which if enabled, records automatically in background, even if normal recording is OFF or paused.
[MSoundFactory] Improved modulation visualisation to display only one voice even if multiple are played at the moment.
[MSoundFactory] Added filter visualisation to FilterBasic plugin.
[MTurboAmp] Added Compander to all stages.
[MGuitarArchitect] Added DelayTap module.
Added native ARM AAX support on macOS.
[MTuner] Detected cents visualisation parameter now shows proper value in cents, so that it is displayed better in most DAWs.
“MPs to update in root” option for banks in modules in modular plugins exchanged to “MPs to update level” providing more flexibility.
Advanced right click menu on easy screens now works even in submodules.
Various minor improvements and fixes.

[MRecorder] Fix: When “Synchronize all instances” was used and record was canceled, it did not delete records from all instances.
Fix: Destroying a plugin with tabset, in which some tabs are disabled as popups, could lead to a crash.
[MSoundFactory] Fix: Huge peaks could occur in Wavetable when enabling Unison while playing in some specific settings.
Fix: Sample rate reducer caused infinite feedback when the reduced sample rate was above the project’s sample rate.
[MTurboReverb] Device ‘Cobalt plate’ was loading with incorrect parameter values.
[MTurboComp] Devices where displaying incorrect title and help.
Fix: Reordering multiparameters with partly enabled “Assignable parameter ranges” could mess up the targets.

[aMUSEd]

Retrospective recording is a killer feature for MRecorder - thanks - should please a lot of people and generate some sales

[smadger]

Win10 here, seems good to me and some sweet new features, you fixed the GUI bugs in the Spectraldynamics midules for MXXX too, thank you

[Nspace]

Something that wasn't obvious to me at first sight and could be of help to someone:

"Added a powerful Compander module to all modular plugins such as MXXX, MSoundFactory and MDrummer.", most likely refers to a module that both has "compressor" and "expander" capabilities.
*(Thanks to wikipedia)

Have a great new year!

[Held]

16.03 has been released and the Compander seems amazing based on the manual

Compander controls the companding functionality of this module. If you disable this panel, the module will work as an ordinary modular. If you keep it enabled however, the module will compress/expand the input depending on the settings, then let the modular do whatever you set it to do, and then reverts the original compression. Side-chain input is kept intact.

This nearly magical transformation may be a little hard to grasp initially, but it will extend your music production arsenal heavily. Due to its dynamic nature it is mainly useful on dynamic material, such as drums, percussion, rhythmic guitars. Let's demonstrate what it does on a few examples.

When using distortion and saturation the usual problem is that the input needs to have proper level. If the level is changing, so does the amount of distortion. Compander lets you first compress the input, so that the level range becomes smaller, then you can distort the hell out of your audio, and finally the compander undoes the compression, bringing the original levels. This way you can produce more distortion to lower levels without destroying the higher levels.

Similar situation happens with more brutal compression techniques. For instance, highly processed snare sounds used in metal & edm production for example have a tendency to create 'that punchy' sound only if the drummer hits the snare drum heavily, so that the levels are high enough. Lower velocity notes won't be affected too much. Often this may not be wanted, in which case you can use the compander in the exact same fashion as in the distortion example - compress the input using the compander, then compress it artistically to get punchy sound, and the compander will then restore the original dynamics.

Interestingly compander finds a way into equalization too. While it may seem that linear-time-invariant process such as equalization would simply end up ignoring the companding, it's very not true. Filters always produce post-ringing (and potentially preringing too). That may be quite audible especially when using on lower frequencies with higher resonance. That leads to this "ringing effect", which is rarely wanted. Here compander can help too, but in a little different way than before. By compressing the input signal the compander doesn't really effect the way the EQ will work. But restoring the original dynamics will make a big difference, since it will be efficiently lowering the levels of the ringing.

You could easily come up with more examples, and lots of use is yet to be found, especially in expansion mode, which hasn't been investigated to much yet.

[MeldaProduction]

Something that wasn't obvious to me at first sight and could be of help to someone:

"Added a powerful Compander module to all modular plugins such as MXXX, MSoundFactory and MDrummer.", most likely refers to a module that both has "compressor" and "expander" capabilities.
*(Thanks to wikipedia)

Have a great new year!

No no! Compander name sounds like Compressor+expander, but it something very very different

[Nspace]

Something that wasn't obvious to me at first sight and could be of help to someone:
"Added a powerful Compander module to all modular plugins such as MXXX, MSoundFactory and MDrummer.", most likely refers to a module that both has "compressor" and "expander" capabilities.
*(Thanks to wikipedia)

No no! Compander name sounds like Compressor+expander, but it something very very different

Great to find out there is more to it to what could had been expected!

Re-reading above's Held selected text from Compander's manual, I see that it refers to the areas it touches (distortion and saturation, compression, equalization)... (EDIT) and yes, it doesn't act like those. It appears to act as a input/output signal conditioning module and does this dynamically, so to fine tune what the actual EQs, Compressors, Saturation, and etc. other stages finally do.

And it singles use cases where it would have specific benefits... Kind of reverse engineering description. Within time Compander module use cases could be mapped and its effects singled out so to arrive to a usage description more from the perspective of the final user.

Anyway, thanks for the heads up, and will welcome those specific user case 'insights' as they are discovered.

[Held]

The word Compander is a portmanteau of the words compressor and expander, and that's what it does. Sweetwater has the following explanation:

A processor that uses companding, which is a combination of a COMPressor and an exPANDer. The signal is compressed before recording it to tape (which maximizes the signal-to-noise ratio), then expanded as the tape is played back. As the signal is expanded, tape noise effectively is “pushed down,” resulting in a quieter signal.

So the input and output sounds exactly the same.

Unlike traditional companders, this module allows you add some processing between the compression and expansion stages. Here you can get creative and try some things. The most obvious applications are distortion and saturation.

Try adding Distortion to a kick via the compander. It sounds very different from applying it directly. MSaturator already has a built-in compander so you can also play around with that one if you don't have MXXX.

[jan-sandahl]

Sweet! Will dive into this later today.

On Spectraldynamics... I've yet to get it to receive and use the sidechain, even after following Chandler's tutorial on the topic. Maybe it changed in this update. I'll refrain from calling it a bug until I've had time to check today, but it would be interesting to know if more have had problems with it - if it was a user error (mine).

[VariKusBrainZ]

This sounds pretty awesome and creative! Coupled with the the various multi band options of attack/sustain splitting that Melda pioneered and is still the leader of, this once again makes these plugins standouts from everything else. Voj is truly a great Dev

[Hexspa]

I see that MRecorder has a 'successfully saved' notification. Thank you for that.