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VP-8IP / Sep 2013
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P R O C E S S M O D E S
Attack Time Screen
Clicking on the Attack tab opens up the attack adjustment screen.
The attack time of a limiter is a measure of how fast it responds to an audio peak
once the peak exceeds the limiter threshold. Shorter attack times cause the limiter to
respond to audio peaks quicker, which affords more accurate peak control; excessively
short attack times, while creating “perfect” peak control, can literally suck the life
out of musical material.
At the other extreme, excessively long attack times can allow audio peaks to
escape the limiters largely unmanaged, leaving them to be controlled solely by the
final look ahead output limiter (if enabled) or the final clipper.
The attack times for each band are adjustable from 0.1 milliseconds
(100 microseconds) to 100 milliseconds. As explained above, faster attack times exert
more control over audio peaks, while slower attack times allow peaks to escape the
limiter section with less control.
Attack times are generally adjusted to taste, keeping in mind that the slower the
attack time the more work the final clipper or limiter must do, while conversely the
faster the attack time the fewer short term dynamics the program material will have.
Generally, lower frequencies require slower attack times and higher frequencies
require faster attack times for a given amount of control.
The attack times of each band may be individually or collectively modified using
the GUI operating instructions provided earlier.
AM
Multiband Limiter Attack Screen
