Blue Cat Audio MB-7 User manual

Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer User Manual
"The multiband mixing console and VST/ AU host."
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Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer User Manual
Copyright (c) 2011-2016 Blue Cat Audio

Table Of Content
Introduction
Description
Features
System Requirements
Installation
First Launch
Using Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer
Introduction
The User Interface
Operation
Blue Cat Audio Plug- ins Basics
User Interface Basics
Controls
Keyboard
Mouse
Presets Management
MIDI & Automation Control
More
Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer Parameters
Input
Output
Plug- in Settings
The Global Settings Window
The Preset Settings Window
About Skins
Changing the Skin
Create a Custom Skin
Frequently Asked Questions
More
Extra Skins
Tutorials
Updates
Versions History
Note: An online version of this user manual is available here.
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Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer User Manual
Copyright (c) 2011-2016 Blue Cat Audio

Introduction
Description
Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer is a unique plug- in that splits the signal into several frequency bands and lets you mix and process them as if
they were separate tracks.
Each band proposes controls that can be found on a mixing console, and more: bypass, mute or solo each band separately to isolate
frequencies you want to work on, adjust the gain, the "stereoness" and the position in the stereo field. When manipulating the stereo
image, a master mono switch also lets you check mono compatibility.
The plug- in can also operate as a multiband VST, VST3 and Audio Unit host: you can process each band independently with your
favorite VST, VST3 or Audio Unit plug- ins! Up to four plug- ins can be loaded on each band, pre or post fader. Latency compensation,
presets management, undo/ redo integration, and individual plug- in bypass are included for optimal operation.
The plug- in also proposes unique linking and grouping options thanks to our multi- instances technology. You can link bands together
within a single instance or between several instances of the plug- in on different tracks. This lets a simple fader control as many bands
on as many tracks as you want. This is particularly useful when adjusting the placement or the balance of several competing tracks.
And as usual with Blue Cat Audio, the plug- in provides comprehensive visual feedback to let you know what's exactly going on: for
each channel, monitor the spectrum, the in/ out levels and the frequency response.
Thanks to its advanced MIDI and automation input capabilities, when combined with our other plug- ins, Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer is
capable of advanced side- chaining features that really unveils its potential. Check out our MB-7 Mixer Tutorials for more details.
If you are looking for a simpler plug- in to host VST, VST3 and Audio Unit plug- ins, please try Blue Cat's PatchWork. If you are looking
for a multiband dynamics processor that can be combined to this plug- in for side chain effects, check out the Blue Cat's MB-5
Dynamix plug- in. Also, any Blue Cat Audio plug- in is compatible and can be hosted by this plug- in.
Copyright Note: VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.
Typical applications: Multiband levels correction, multiband VST hosting, spectral enhancement, multiband stereo widening,
multiband stereo placement, frequency isolation, EQ, spectrum inspection, mastering, spectrum- based side chain effects, apply
audio effects to a selected frequency range, VST plug- in bridge.
Features
Main Features:
Multiband mixing console: adjust the levels, panning and
"stereoness" of each band separately.
Multiband VST, VST3 and Audio Unit Host: insert third party VST,
VST3 and AU plug- ins and process each band independently.
External side chain support for sub plug- ins on each band.
Flexible Audio routing: connect sub plug- ins i/ o to any audio
channel for multi- mono effects or creative side chain.
Pre and post fader VST/ VST3/ AU plug- in inserts, with full latency
compensation.
Up to 7 bands, with crossover filters from 6 to 96 dB/ Oct for
optimal separation.
Multiple instances linking: group bands within a single instance or
between multiple instances of the plug- in. Modify the spectrum on
multiple tracks with a single slider.
Bypass, mute, solo on every band.
Mono switch on master for mono compatibility check.
Dual Mode: independent left and right or mid and side channels
control.
Complete visual feedback with real time response curves,
spectrogram, and levels display for each band.
Side chaining made easy: a unique way to perform multi- band
side chain compression, ducking, gating and much more.
Fully customizable modular user interface, with multiple sizes.
No additional latency.
Blue Cat Audio Standards:
Available as: Mac- AAX, Mac- AU, Mac- RTAS, Mac- VST, Mac-
VST3, Win- AAX, Win- DX, Win- RTAS, Win- VST, Win- VST3, Win
x64- AAX, Win x64- DX, Win x64- VST, Win x64- VST3.
Native DSP code for optimal performance.
Full MIDI control and automation support with silent, zipper- free
parameters update, advanced response control and MIDI Learn.
No CPU load on idle: when the plug- in is fed with silence, the
processing smoothly shuts down, to optimize the CPU usage of
your Digital Audio Workstation.
Skinnable and customizable user interface with transparency
management.
Automation and MIDI output: record output parameters as
automation curves or send MIDI CC messages to other plug- ins
for powerful side chain effects.
Smooth Bypass: activate/ deactivate the plug- in with absolutely no
noise.
Undo/ Redo.
Full featured integrated presets manager.
Copy/ paste the plug- in's state between instances using the
system clipboard.
Any sample rate supported.
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Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer User Manual
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System Requirements
For more information about supported platforms, see our FAQ.
Installation
The plug- ins versions cannot be run standalone: they require a host application (see the System Requirements chapter for more
information). Depending on which host application you use, you might need to install the plug- ins in different locations.
Before installing on of the plug- in versions, you will need to close all your host applications.
Windows
Install
All versions of the plug- in provide an installation program. Follow the steps of the wizard to install the software on your machine.
During the installation you will be asked where you want the software to be installed. For the VST version, you should install the plug-
in inside the VST plug- ins folder used by your host application(s). The default path set in the installer should work for most
applications, but you should check your host software documentation to know where it looks for VST plug- ins. For other plug- in
types, you should just use the standard path.
Some applications will not automatically rescan the new plug- ins, so you might have to force a refresh of the plug- ins list.
Upgrade
When a new version of the software is released, just launch the new installer: it will update the current installation.
Uninstall
To uninstall the software, simply launch the "Uninstall" program that is available in the start menu or in the configuration panel. It will
take care of removing all files from your computer.
Mac
Install
On Mac the plug- ins are available as drive images. After download, double click on the file to open it. You can then drag and drop the
file(s) to the shortcut that is provided within the image. It will install the software for all users on the machine.
In case you do not have admin rights on your Mac or if you want to install the software to another directory, just copy the files to the
appropriate location. If required, more information is available in the README.txt file that is included in the package.
Upgrade
When a new version of the software is released, open the new image and copy the files over the previous ones. The new version will
replace the older one.
Uninstall
To uninstall the software, simply remove the component(s) from the folder where you have copied them during install (move them to
the trash).
If you want to completely remove all settings and configuration files, you can also remove these additional directories that may have
been created on your computer:
~/ Library/ Preferences/ Blue Cat Audio/ [Plug- in name and TYPE], where TYPE is VST, AU, RTAS or AAX: global
preferences.
~/ Library/ Preferences/ Blue Cat Audio/ [Plug- in name]: license information
~/ Documents/ Blue Cat Audio/ [Plug- in name]: user data, such as presets, additional skins and user- created plug- in data.
Windows
An SSE2- enabled processor (Pentium 4 or newer).
Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, 8 or 10.
Any DirectX / VST / RTAS / AAX compatible host software (32 or
64 bit).
Mac OS X
An Intel processor.
Mac OS X El Capitan (10.11), Mac OS X Yosemite (10.10),
Mavericks (10.9), Mountain Lion (10.8), Lion (10.7), Snow Leopard
(10.6), or Leopard (10.5).
Any VST / Audio Unit (32/64- bit) / RTAS / AAX compatible
application.
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Please be aware that these directories may contain user data that you have created. Remove these directories only if you do not want
to reuse this data later.
First Launch
Blue Cat Audio plug- ins cannot be run standalone, they require a host application (see the System Requirements chapter for more
information). Some host applications will require you to scan the plug- ins before they are available in the application.
If the plug- in is not available in the application, please check that it has been installed in the appropriate directory (with no host
application running), and that the host application has scanned it.
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Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer User Manual
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Using Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer
Introduction
Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer can be called a "multi band mixing console": it splits the incoming signal into a variable number of bands (up to
7) that can be processed separately and mixed again together as if they were separate tracks. It thus provides controls that you would
usually find on a mixing console, in addition to frequency splitting configuration capabilities.
Each band can also host external VST or Audio Unit plug- ins, just like many DAWs.
Multi Band?
Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer is called a multi- band processor, because it splits the incoming signal into several frequency bands before
processing them separately:
It means that each band can be affected differently, depending on the chosen settings. You can for example monoize the low- end of
the spectrum while spreading the mids and keeping the highs unchanged. Since each band can host third party plug- ins, you can
even apply different audio effects to different parts of the spectrum!
The split between bands is realized with crossover filters which let you control the separation (the higher the slope of the filter, the
sharper the separation):
Crossovers filters frequency response (24 dB/ Octave slope)
The slope of the crossovers can be set up to 96 dB/ Octave. You should however be aware that such sharp separation may cause
artefacts (such as ringing frequencies), so you might want to keep the crossovers below 60 dB/ Oct in most usual cases.
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Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer User Manual
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Band Mixing Controls
The plug- in comes in three flavors: a mono, a stereo and a dual channels ("Dual") version.
For each band, the mono version provides mute and solo switches that have the same behavior as the
ones you can find on a mixing console: "mute" will mute the current band, whereas "solo" will mute all
other bands.
The mono version also provides a gain control that affects the volume of the band, as well as a bypass
option that lets the signal unchanged, which is particularly convenient for A/ B comparisons: all
processing performed on this band is bypassed.
4 plug- ins slots are available, in order to insert external VST or Audio Unit plug- ins on each band. Two
slots are placed before the band fader, meters and other controls ("pre- fader" slots), and two others are
placed after the controls and meters ("post fader" slots). More information about third party plug- ins
hosting is available below.
The stereo version has two additional parameters to control the stereo width and placement of the chosen
band:
You can increase or decrease the width of the signal with the "spread"
control. It adjusts the amount of mono and stereo signal in the chosen
band. When set at its minimum value, the sound is completely mono (same
signal on the left and right channels), while with the maximum value the left
and right channels are out of phase. A typical usage of this control is to
keep the bass in the center of the stereo field ("monoize") and increase the
stereo spread for higher frequencies. Beware that out of phase signals disappear from a mono
mix, so you should not in general overuse positive spread values.
The "pan" pot lets you control the placement of the band in the stereo field. You can move it to the
left or right independently from other frequency bands. You can thus create interesting stereo
effects or correct stereo placement issues in a mix.
The dual channels version lets you control the gain for the left and right channels independently, and
also pan them freely in the stereo field. Each channel can also be muted independently.
A Mid/ Side switch is also available to switch the controls to mid/ side mode (instead of default left/
right). When switched on, you can control the mid and side gains separately, and pan the mid and side
signals from mid (-100%) to sides (+100%). More information about mid/ side processing is available
below.
With the dual channels version, gain sliders for both channels can also be linked together in order to
provide a single gain control for both channels.
Master Controls
In addition to its multiband mixing capabilities, the plug- in offers a master section to control the master gain and the output level. The
stereo version also comes with a mono switch to check the mono compatibility of the output: using panning and stereo spreading
heavily may affect the mono component of the signal, so you may want to check that the sound is still fine in mono.
Grouping
With so many bands available in the plug- in and with multiple instances on several tracks, there are a whole bunch of parameters to
control! That's where grouping can be useful, just like on modern mixing consoles.
The plug- in proposes three different types of groups:
"Local groups" let you link several bands together within a single instance of the plug- in.
"Global groups" are shared by all instances of the plug- in within a host application. They let you adjust controls accross
several instances of the plug- in.
The "quick group" is a special form of local group. Using the quick group deactivates any other grouping option. It is useful to
temporarily adjust several bands at the same time quickly.
The stereo version
The dual version
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When a band is linked to a group, any change to any parameter on this band is reflected to other bands in the same group. The link to
the group can be reversed so that increasing the value of the gain, spread or pan parameters on the reversed band decreases these
same parameter on non reversed bands.
VST or Audio Unit Hosting
The plug- in is able to host VST or Audio Unit plug- ins on each band, so that you can apply any kind of audio effect on selected
frequency ranges. This is particularly useful on pre- mixed tracks, when you want to affect only a part of the mix, but it can also be
used on individual tracks, to affect only a part of the spectrum. For example, you can apply a chorus effect only to the low- end of a
vocal track, or a delay only to high end of a guitar track, etc.
DISCLAIMER: while we guarantee that Blue Cat Audio plug- ins are compatible with this plug- in, we cannot ensure full compatibility
with all existing VST or Audio Unit plug- ins, especially in all host applications. If you find an issue with a third party plug- in, please
report it to us. You may also have to contact your plug- in vendor to find a solution to the problem.
Third Party Effects and Mid/ Side mode
With the dual version, when using the mid/ side mode, inserted plug- ins are operating on the mid and side channels (instead of left/
right). This can be a way to transform any regular stereo effect into a mid/ side effect.
Latency Compensation
The plug- in integrates a latency compensation engine, so that if you insert a plug- in that introduces latency, this does not affect the
reconstruction of the fully mixed signal. The latency is also reported to the host application in real time. Please note that some host
applications may require that you restart transport (or deactivate/ re- activate the plug- in) to take latency changes into account.
MIDI support
Incoming MIDI events are sent to all inserted plug- ins that support it. You can typically control inserted Blue Cat Audio plug- ins with a
MIDI control surface, or use our advanced side chaining techniques inside the plug- in, just like you would do if they were directly
hosted by the DAW.
Please note that the plug- in does not currently support MIDI output for inserted VST or Audio Unit plug- ins.
Undo Integration
For most VST and AU plug- ins, the plug- in is able to track changes and perform undo/ redo on inserted plug- in operations. This
feature is optional and can be disabled for some plug- ins that would not support it, or if you prefer not to include external plug- in
changes in the undo history.
External Side Chain
When the plug- in's external side chain is connected, it is distributed to all sub plug- ins, unprocessed. So each plug- in can use the
external side chain signal as if it was directly connected to the host application. Using audio I/ O routing (see below), it is also possible
to choose another source for the side chain for each plug- in (for example the signal of the current band), or apply effects to the side
chain signal.
Audio I/ O Routing For Plug- Ins
For each audio plug- in, it is possible to choose the audio channels to use for both inputs and outputs. It is thus possible to apply
effects to only a subset of audio channels (for multi- mono processing for example, or to apply effect to only the side chain channel). It
is also possible to achieve complex routing within the effect chain (such as sending specific channels to the side chain input of a plug-
in) and yet keep it simple.
Note: when using audio I/ O routing intensively, it is recommended to change the names of the plug- ins according to the channels
being processed
Note: each band operates separately, so it is not possible to send the signal from one band to another.
Mid/ Side Processing
Blue Cat's Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer offers mid/ side processing capability. With this feature you can process the mid (center) and side
(sides) channels instead of the usual left and right channels.
Concept Origin: Mid/ Side Recording
Mid/ Side recording is a famous recording technique that is preferred in some cases to the traditional left/ right recording. Looking for
“mid side recording”in an internet search engine will give you many tutorials about this technique.
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Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer User Manual
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The result of such a recording is a pair of mid/ side (M/ S) channels instead of classic left/ right (L/ R) channels in an audio stream. The
mid channel is also often called “Mono” and side “Stereo”: the mid channel contains the signal that is in the center of the stereo mix,
and the side channel contains the rest (everything that is on the sides of the mix):
(The triangles above represent the listener’s head)
From Mid/ Side Recording to Processing
The relationship between L/ R and M/ S channel can be computed so that you can transform any Mid/ Side recording to standard
listenable left/ right stereo stream. The reverse operation is also possible, which means that you can artificially separate mid/ side
information from your usual L/ R stereo tracks. That’s what is done by our mid/ side processing plug- ins.
Processing separately the mid/ side channels instead of left/ right channels offers more control over the stereo character of a sound.
Reducing the volume of the side channel makes it sound more "mono" and vice versa.
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The User Interface
Note: The main toolbar, menus and basic features available with all our plug- ins are detailed in the Blue Cat Audio Plug- ins Basics
section.
The plug- in is bundled with a single skin for each version (Mono, Stereo and Dual), and you may create your own and download new
ones on www.bluecataudio.com. Only the specific features of the included skins are discussed here. The next section describes the
other features that are common to all Blue Cat Audio plug- ins.
In this chapter we'll detail the user interface for the stereo and dual channels versions. The mono version is very similar to the stereo
version: it just has fewer controls.
Overview
Default skin for the stereo version of the plug- in.
Title Bar (1)
At the top of the plug- in stands the title bar, with multiple controls to configure the plug- in:
Generic bypass/ opacity/ controls settings buttons. More details are available in the next section.1.
Show/ hide the main graph display.2.
Show/ hide the bands, master and crossovers controls areas.3.
Show/ hide the pre and post fader plug- ins slots (the top half of the button is for pre- fader slots, and the bottom half for post-
fader slots).
4.
Select the appropriate size for the user interface (small, medium, large).5.
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Select the appropriate size for the user interface (small, medium, large).5.
Display the preferences pane.6.
Header (2)
Just below the title bar stand various global controls:
You can select the number of bands for the plug- in. It ranges from one (broadband) - to seven.
You can customize the range for the gain faders and the response curve graph.
Main Graph Display (3)
Overview
The main graph display occupies a central spot at the top of the user interface. It shows a lot of information about what is happening
inside the plug- in:
If not displaying the maximum range (+/-60 dB), dragging this area lets you offset the range of the gain controls and display.
This also affects the band and master faders. Please note that it does not apply to the spectrum analyzer.
1.
Crossover frequencies: the vertical lines can be dragged left and right to modify the crossover points.2.
Spectrum: the built- in spectrum analyzer shows the spectrum of the signal at the output of the plug- in. For the stereo version,
the left channel is represented with a blue curve, and the right channel with a pink curve.
3.
Gain control: you can drag the band controls vertically to change the gain for each band. Clicking on this control also selects the
band as current.
4.
The frequency response of the crossover filters is displayed with a different color for each band. The displayed curve is the
actual curve of the filter, not a theoretical or simplified representation of it. The response curve of the selected band is filled with
the associated color (band number 3 in the screen shot above).
5.
Global response: this curve represents the global spectral response of the plug- in (it does not include the gain stage of the
master section).
6.
Show/ Hide selector: you can use the controls at the bottom of the screen to hide most of the components described above. It
can be helpful to reduce the amount of information simultaneously displayed, or to reduce the cpu consumption of the user
interface (spectrum and response display are typically more cpu intensive).
7.
Spectrum Analysis Modes
Two modes are available for output spectrum display. In spectrum mode, curves representing the instant spectrum of both channels is
displayed (blue is channel 1 and red is channel 2):
In spectrogram mode, the evolution of the spectrum over time is displayed as a color (or greyscale) map. In color mode, louder parts
of the spectrum are visible as bright red spots, whereas quieter parts will show in dark blue/ black. In greyscale mode, the brighter also
means the louder:
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For stereo signals, you can also select for which channels you want the analysis curves to be displayed.
Crossovers (4)
The crossovers area displays controls for each band to modify either the frequency or the slope of the crossover filters:
The slopes of the crossovers range from 6 to 96 dB/ Octave. They can be controlled independently thanks to the black drop- down
boxes.
Bands (5)
Below the crossovers section stand the various mixing controls for each band:
Gain control.1.
Bypass, Mute and Solo buttons.2.
Peak level meters.3.
On the stereo version only: spread ("stereoness") and pan controls.4.
The group drop- down box lets you choose a group to link with.5.
Quick group button. Using the quick (local) group overrides any other group that has been chosen with (5)6.
Reverse link: reverses the link with the selected group (if any).7.
Pre- fader plug- ins slots.8.
Post- fader plug- ins slots.9.
With +/-12 and +/-24 dB ranges, this area can be dragged to offset the operating range of the fader as well
as the main display.
10.
Grouping affects the following controls: bypass, mute, solo, gain, spread and pan. The reverse button affects only
the gain, spread and pan controls.
Master Section (6)
The master section lets you manage the main output levels. It also shows output peak level meters.
On the stereo version, a mono switch can be used to check the mono compatibility of the effect. The gain control
can also be part of a group.
You can reset the max level meters available at the top of the master section by clicking on them. Note: these
meters become red when the maximum output level is above 0dB.
The Dual Channels Version
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With its two independent channels, the dual channels version has a couple of differences with the other versions of the plug- in.
First, most controls are available as pairs, channel 1 on the left, channel 2 on the right. In stereo mode, channel 1
is simply the left channel and channel 2 the right channel, while in mid/ side mode, channel 1 is the mid channel
(the mono part of the signal), and channel 2 is the sides channel (the stereo part of the signal).
You can switch from left/ right to mid/ side mode thanks to the "mid/ side" switch available at the top of the user
interface.
Additional features are also available, compared to the stereo version:
Link gain controls for both channels.1.
In addition to the general band mute button, each channel can be muted independently.2.
Each channel can be panned independently.3.
Using VST, VST3 or Audio Unit Plug- Ins
Note: before using VST plug- ins, it is strongly recommended that you setup your main VST plug- ins directory in the preferences
pane, as detailed later in this manual (this setting does not affect VST3 plug- ins).
Warning: in a 64- bit application you can only load 64- bit plug- ins, and in a 32- bit application you can only load 32- bit plug- ins,
unless your are using a third party bridging application.
Each Plug- in slot lets you insert a third party plug- in. When clicking on an empty slot, the following menu appears:
Selecting "Load VST" will open a standard system window where you can select the VST plug- in you want to load. If the preferences
have been properly set, the window should open the appropriate location where you can find the VST plug- ins.
Selecting "Load VST3" will open a standard system window where you can select the VST3 plug- in to be loaded.
On Mac, an additional "Load AU" menu item is available to load Audio Units. It opens a file open dialog in the standard location for
Audio Units on your system. Note: if you want to load the system Audio Units provided by Apple, you will need to open the CoreAudio
component located in the / System/ Library directory.
You can also choose to paste an existing VST or Audio unit plug- in if previously copied into the system clipboard from another slot (or
another plug- in, such as Blue Cat's PatchWork).
Once a plug- in has been loaded into a slot, a mouse click will display the following plug- in menu that offers various controls over the
plug- in:
Show (Hide) Editor: display or hide the plug- in's user interface.
Bypass: toggle bypass for the plug- in.
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Bypass: toggle bypass for the plug- in.
Presets: access the plug- in's factory presets if any.
Copy: copy the plug- in and its settings into the system clipboard. Onced copied, it can be pasted to any other slot, in any
instance of the MB-7 Mixer plug- in (even in a different application).
Cut: copy the plug- in and its settings into the system clipboard and remove it from the slot.
Center Editor: bring back the editor of the plug- in to the center of the screen, in case you cannot find it.
Load VST: load another VST plug- in in the slot (will replace the existing plug- in if any).
Load VST3: load another VST3 plug- in in the slot (will replace the existing plug- in if any).
Load AU (Mac only): load another Audio Unit plug- in in the slot (will replace the existing plug- in if any).
Paste: paste a plug- in and its settings from the system clipboard into the slot.
No Plug- in: remove the plug- in.
Audio I/ O: opens the audio i/ o routing window for this plug- in (see below).
Rename: rename the instance of the plug- in. Setting an empty name reverts back to the plug- in's default name.
Track Undo: toggle undo tracking for the slot. If enabled, inserted plug- ins changes will be inspected and added to the MB-7
Mixer plug- in undo history when possible. Please note that some plug- ins may not work properly when this feature is enabled.
When the mouse is over a plug- in slot, the following buttons appear:
Clicking on the power button on the left will bypass/ unbypass the plug- in in the slot. The button on the right can be used to show/ hide
the plug- in's editor.
Missing Plug- Ins
In some cases, it may happen that you are working on a workstation that does not have all plug- ins that were previously loaded into
your PatchWork session. In this case, the MB-7 Mixer plug- in will display a "Missing Plug- in" message on corresponding slots. You
can still continue working on your session: the MB-7 Mixer plug- in will retain the state of the missing plug- ins as if they were here.
The session can be saved later: the data for missing plug- ins will be saved as well, and the session can be restored later without
losing data.
For VST and VST3 plug- ins, if the plug- in is missing because of a path issue (the plug- in is located in another directory, or the 64- bit
version has a different name from the 32- bit version...), you can choose to relocate the plug- in:
This lets you find the plug- in on your workstation and re- link to it. The state of the plug- in that was previously saved in the preset or
the session will be restored, making sure all data is kept.
Note: the plug- in chosen with the relocate function has to be compatible with the plug- in that was originally loaded in this slot.
Relocation will fail otherwise.
Audio I/ O Routing
Using the "Audio I/ O" command in the plug- in menu, it is possible to manually change which audio channels are processed by each
plug- in.
Automatic Selection
By default, Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer will automatically detect the number of channels to use for each plug- in depending on its own
configuration: effect plug- ins will process only the main audio channels and leave side chain channels unaffected. Plug- ins which
appear to have a side chain input will receive the side chain channels.
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About mono plug- ins: in automatic mode, mono plug- ins will process only the first audio channel, and the wet mono output will be
copied to all channels of the main bus (side chain unaffected). If you want to only apply the plug- in to one of the incoming audio
channels instead, you can use the manual configuration.
Manual Selection
Automatic detection may however not work properly for some plug- ins, and you may want to change which channels the effect
applies to (for multi- mono effects, or to process side chain channels for example). That's what the audio I/ O window is for:
By default, audio i/ o selection is automatic
When selecting a specific number of inputs and/ or outputs instead of using "automatic", you can choose which channels are
connected to each i/ o for this particular plug- in:
manual audio i/ o configuration
Notes:
if the same channel is selected for multiple outputs, only the last selected plug- in output will be audible (plug- in outputs are not
summed).
All channels that are not used as outputs by the plug- in remain unchanged (copied from the same channels before the plug-
in). For example, on a stereo configuration, if a mono plug- in is set to process only channel 1 and use channel 1 as output,
channel 2 will remain unaffected.
The Preferences Pane
In the preferences pane, you can set the default VST plug- ins path by clicking on it or on the button labelled "...". This VST plug- ins
directory is used for several purposes:
It is the default directory that is opened when you want to load a VST plug- in.
It is used as the root path when saving/ loading presets that include VST effects: the path of VST plug- ins is saved relatively to
this root path, so that you can reopen your sessions on different machines that may have different VST paths (typically on a
Mac and a PC).
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If you happen to have your VST plug- ins installed in several paths, we advise you to choose the closest common directory path, or
the VST path that contains most of your plug- ins. Please note that this path is used for VST2 plug- ins only - it does not affect the
location of VST3 plug- ins.
If the "Restore plug- ins editors on open" option is checked (default), when the MB-7 Mixer plug- in is opened, inserted plug- ins user
interfaces will be restored at the same position as when the MB-7 Mixer plug- in was last closed. If the option is unchecked, all plug-
ins user interfaces will be kept closed when re- opening the MB-7 Mixer plug- in, and their position on screen will not be saved.
The various elements of the user interface (knobs, sliders, buttons...) are simple and intuitive to operate, but more information about
how to interact with them is available in the "Plug- ins Basics" chapter of this manual.
Operation
This section decribes several common use cases for the plug- in. A complete list of the parameters exposed by the plug- in is
available in the next section.
Setting the Crossover Points
Be it on a full mix or a single track, at this step your aim is to isolate particular frequencies to apply a specific treatment to it. The best
way to adjust the frequency ranges is to use the "Solo" button of the monitoring section to hear the signal processed by each band.
This method also applies to selecting the appropriate filters slopes. You will usually avoid very steep filters (artifacts at the crossover
points may be more prominent), but they can be useful to isolate very particular frequencies.
Using the plug- in as an Equalizer
Thanks to its flexible crossover filters and with the gain controls offered for each band, the plug- in can be used as a powerful
equalizer with very good control over the response curve. Isolating bands using the solo button helps finding the right spot to boost or
cut. The mute button will transform a band into a notch, high- cut or low- cut filter.
The additional grouping capabilities are very helpful to setup the balance between bands and boost/ cust several portions of the
spectrum simultaneously.
Using the Plug- in as a Stereo Enhancer
The extra features offered by the stereo version of the plug- in can help you control how the spectrum occupies the stereo field.
Using the Spread Control
As stated in the introduction, you may want to use the positive values of the spread parameter sparingly in order to avoid completely
out of phase left and right signals. The mono button on the master section will help you check that your settings do not affect the mono
part of the signal too much.
A common practice is to narrow the lower end of the spectrum (bass) to keep it centered. To do so, you just need to decrease the
spread value on the lowest band. It may be necessary to use this technique on a full mix or on stereo instruments with strong stereo
effects on the full spectrum.
Panning
Several panning techniques can be achieved very easily with the Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer plug- in.
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You may want to pan instruments in a mix without affecting the lower end of the spectrum (since you will probably want to keep it
centered). A simple two- band setup will let you do that, panning only the higher end of the spectrum.
It is also possible to create interesting stereo effects on single instruments in order to widen their presence in a mix: just pan various
parts of the spectrum differently (but try to keep the bass centered). Alternating left and right panning on a large number of bands can
completely the transform the perception of an instrument.
While mixing, you may also encounter problems with instruments that fight for the same frequencies at the same location. In this case,
you may want to pan differently the competing frequencies on both tracks and solve the conflicts.
Both panning and spread controls may also be used to fix recording issues (wrongly placed mics, unwanted room effects...) or revist
an existing mix.
Creative Grouping for Optimal Workflow
The grouping features included in the plug- in can be used for a wide range of workflow enhancements. Below are typical examples
where grouping can help work faster and more efficiently.
Single Instance
In a single instance you can group several frequency bands in order to move all of them in parallel with a single slider. Most of the time
you will be using the "quick group" feature to quickly switch linking on and off.
If you are boosting the levels, you can also add the master slider to the group you are using, in reverse mode. This way it will
compensate the overall increase in volume so that the output does not clip.
Multiple Tracks
If you are using the plug- in on several tracks, it can be very handy to use "global groups" to limit the number of controls that need to
be moved to get the sound you are looking for. Typically, when adjusting the spectral balance between two tracks and their location in
the stereo field, you can use several instances of the Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer plug- in and link them together in reverse mode: panning
a frequency range to the left on one track will pan it to the right on the other track and so on.
Pre and Post Adjustments on a Single Track
If you are using non linear processors (dynamics processors such as a compressor, a gate, an expander, or distortion, analog- style
processing etc.), it is sometimes very useful to change the content of the spectrum before applying the effect, because it may respond
very differently (for instance remove lower frequencies before a compressor).
In such a scenario you will usually apply an EQ before the non- linear effect. But the issue with that is that you will have to compensate
the boosts and cuts with another EQ after the effect so that the overall spectrum remains unchanged. The process can become very
tedious, and that's where using global groups with the Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer can help: simply add all bands (+master) to the same
global group on both instances (before and after the effect), switch all bands of one of the instances to reverse mode, and you are
done: the instance after the effect now compensates the modifications applied to the spectrum by the first instance.
Applying Audio Effects to a Selected Frequency Range
In many cases, applying an audio effect to the full spectrum range may result in unwanted side effects (too much ringing the higher
frequencies, increasing the DC offset etc.). With the MB-7 Mixer plug- in's ability to host third party plug- ins, you can select the
frequency range to which you want to apply effects:
Set the plug- in to use 3 bands.
Bypass the upper and lower bands (1 and 3).
Insert the VST or Audio Unit plug- in you want to use in the mid band (2).
Tweak the crossovers to select the appropriate frequency range the effect should apply to.
The VST or Audio Unit effect will keep the upper and lower frequencies unchanged and will apply only to the selected range!
The example below shows the Blue Cat's Chorus plug- in applied between 200 and 2500 Hertz:
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Using the Plug- in as a Spectrum Inspector
The plug- in includes a premium spectrum analyzer that lets you see the spectral content of a track. It can be used in combination with
the solo button of one or several bands to isolate parts of the spectrum and check with your ears what's going on.
The peak level meters available on each band are also very helpful to monitor the spectrum and check for unwanted frequencies.
Setting up the Plug- in as a MIDI Side Chain Destination
Thanks to its zipper- free MIDI controllable and automation- capable parameters, the plug- in can be used as a destination of a MIDI
side chain.
A typical application is multiband side- chain compression/ expansion/ gating, using the Blue Cat's MB-5 Dynamix plug- in as a side
chain source to control the gain of various bands of an instance of the Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer plug- in:
A complete step by step tutorial about this topic is available on our website. It explains how to setup the plug- in for such tasks.
Since MIDI events are sent to VST plug- ins inside the MB-7 Mixer plug- in, it is even possible to use a similar technique to control
plug- ins inside the plug- in!
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For other types of side chain applications, we also have many plug- ins that can output parameter values to be reused with another
plug- in such as this one.
Using the Plug- in as a MIDI Side Chain Source
The plug- in is also able to output MIDI or automation data (individual band and master levels). You can reuse these parameters for
side chain effects as explained above.
Using the Plug- in as a VST/ AU bridge
Since the plug- in is able to host VST and Audio Unit plug- ins and is available in multiple formats, it can be used to host VST and AU
plug- ins in a DAW that does not support the VST or AU formats. When used in broadband mode, the plug- in will simply operate as a
VST or AU plug- in bridge, with additional gain and stereo controls, like a simple channel strip.
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Blue Cat Audio Plug- Ins Basics
This chapter describes the basic features that are common to all our plug- ins. If you are already familiar with our products, you can
skip this part.
User Interface Basics
About Skins
Like all Blue Cat Audio plug- ins, Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer uses a skinnable user interface. It means that the appearance and behavior of
the user interface can be entirely customized.
Especially with third party skins, the experience may be quite different from the one offered by the default skins that we provide.
However, our plug- ins and our skinning engine have several standard features that will be available whatever your favorite skin.
More information about custom skins can be found in the skins section.
The Main Toolbar
In most skins, an optional toolbar at the top of the user interface gives you access to the main options and settings of the plug- in:
Presets Area
At the center of the toolbar, you can see the current preset area (the "Default Settings" box). It displays the name of the current preset,
with a "*" at the end if it has been modified since loaded.
The arrows on the left and right let you navigate thru the (factory and user) presets available for the plug- in.
Clicking on the preset name opens the presets menu which lets you manage the presets of the plug- in.
Commands
The icons in the toolbar give you access the to the following commands that are detailed in the next paragraph:
Icon Name Function
Menu Open the main menu
Undo Undo
Redo Redo
Manual User Manual
About About
The Main Menu
The main menu is available from the main toolbar, or if you right click anywhere on the background of the plug- in:
Presets: opens the presets menu to manage presets.
Preset Skin: opens the skins menu to choose the skin for the current preset and manage alternative skins for the software.
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