Effects and Effect Mode
Effects Overview
9-19
Flanger
Flanging is the process of adding or subtracting a signal with a time-displaced replica of itself,
which results in a series of notches in the frequency spectrum, generally referred to as a comb
filter. In the PC3A, the flanger is a multi-tap delay line, all (but one) of whose taps can have their
lengths modulated up and down by a low frequency oscillator (LFO). The rate of the LFO is
expressed in Tempo.
StatDlyLvl
(Static Delay Level) is the level of the first, non-moving tap. Negative values invert
the polarity of the tap. The range is -100 to 100%; 0% turns the tap off.
DlyCrs
and
DlyFin
are the coarse and fine length controls for the Static delay (
StatDly…
) and for
the minimum value of the moving delays (
Dly
n
…
). The coarse range is 0 to 228 ms, and the fine
range adjusts the coarse range in samples (= 1/48,000 sec = 20.8µsec) from -127 to 127.
Xcurs Crs
and
Xcurs Fin
determine how far the LFO-modulated delay taps can move from the
center of their ranges. The total range of the LFO sweep is twice the excursion. If the excursion is
set to 0, the LFO does not move and the tap behaves like a simple delay line set to the minimum
delay. The coarse range is 0 to 228 ms; the range 0 to 5 ms is most effective for flanging. The fine
range adjusts the coarse range in samples from -127 to 127.
Quantize
This effect produces digital distortion known as quantization noise, by limiting the number of
bits
available to the signal. See effect 329 “Aliaser”.
DynamRange
(dynamic range) controls how many bits to remove from the signal data words.
The lower the level, the greater the distortion. At 0 dB the hottest of signals will toggle between
only two quantization levels, thereby producing a square wave. Every 6 dB added doubles the
number of quantization levels, reducing the noise and getting closer to the original signal. If the
signal has a lot of headroom (available signal level before digital clipping), then not all
quantization levels will be reached. Range is 0 to 144 dB.
Headroom
sets the available signal level before digital clipping. Setting this properly prevents
the signal from getting too loud at low levels of DynamRange. You want to have it match the
amount of level still available above the input signal: this is done by finding the DynamRange
level at which the signal starts getting louder, and setting Headroom to match the DynamRange
value. Range is 0 to 144 dB.
DC Offset
adds a positive DC Offset to the input signal, which allows you to alter the position
where digital zero is with respect to your signal. At low DynamRange settings, this can cause the
output to “sputter”. Range is Off/-79.0 to 0.0 dB.
LaserVerb
LaserVerb is a type of reverb which produces a delayed train of closely spaced reflections, or
impulses. As time passes, the spacing between the impulses gets wider, which creates a
discernible buzzy pitch that gets lower as the spacing increases. The signal can be fed back into
itself to extend the effect.
Dly Coarse
is the overall delay length, which controls the duration or decay time. 0.5 sec is a
good starting point. Range is 0 to 1.3 seconds in the 2 DSP unit version of the effect, and 0 to 2
seconds in the 3 DSP unit version.
Dly Fine
adjusts the delay with a resolution down to 0.2 ms. Range is -20.0 to 20.0 ms.
Spacing
determines the starting pitch of the descending buzz and how fast it descends, by
setting the initial separation of impulses and the subsequent rate of increasing impulse