Brainworx Engl E646 VS User manual

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Engl E646 VS
Plug-in Manual
Developed by Brainworx in partnership with Engl Limited and
Distributed by Universal Audio.

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The new Engl E646 Victor Smolski Ltd.
Unique and remarkable design and awesome signature sounds
wrapped into snakeskin. 100 watts of 6L6 power tubes trapped
behind hand-soldered iron chains. Adjusted and dialed in for the
modern metal guitar player.
Four channels of pure tube attack power deliver the widest modern
range of tones you can expect from an amp.
The E646 plugin faithfully delivers all the fast attack, punchy rhythm,
furious lead tones and the modern, sparkling clean sounds of the
original amp. Through meticulous component modeling, that plugin
version also captures the smooth, sonic transition of well-selected
channel layouts including an adjustable Mid Boost switch in order to
create modern rock tones from sustained shining clean to a vintage
vibe crunch sound.
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Features
• Exacting emulation of the original Engl E646 VS Guitar Amp.
• Four channels: Clean, Crunch and 2 Lead Channels, each channel
with separate Gain and Volume knobs.
• Two voicing sections specially tuned for each channel: One
three-band EQ for Clean and Crunch modes and one three-band EQ
plus the „Middle-voiced“ control pot for Lead Ch 3 and Lead Ch 4.
• Two Treble controls for Clean and Crunch: a very special feature
that lets you tweak the high-end response in both Clean and Crunch
modes individually.
• EQ-system in the power amp circuit: Presence and Depth Punch.
• Newly developed Power Amp Simulation including on-board Power
Soak.
• Two power amp Master knobs: Use these knobs to adjust two
dierent power amp volume settings, and switch them on the y.
• 64 Brainworx´s advance Recording Chains recorded in Brainworx´s
studio using the NEVE VXS72 console, stellar outboard gear and
World Class microphones
• FX Rack include host-syncable lo- delay, noise gate, tight and
smooths lters, power soak, pre and power amp bypass.
• Unison™ Technology for Apollo Interfaces.
The main applications for this plug-in are
• Achieve exceptional-sounding electric guitar tracks at any volume
level, without the need for great-sounding rooms or expensive
guitar mics.
• Record electric guitars directly into the DAW, and then mix, edit and
process without ever leaving the DAW environment.
• Re-amp less-than-perfect DI guitar tracks previously recorded in
other guitar-amp situations.
• Faithfully emulate highly sought-after electric guitar tones made
famous by rock’s greatest guitar players.
• Get intense amounts of distortion without the need to maintain a
high output volume.
• Have a piece of rock and roll history right in your DAW that feels
and responds like a physical amp when played through Apollo’s
low–latency monitoring.
• Playing live via a real power amp and speaker setup.
• Playing LIVE, plugged straight into a live console and / or an in-ear
system.
Engl E646 VS
Plug-in Manual

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Unison Technology
The Engl E646 Victor Smolski plug-in was developed with
the Apollo series interfaces in mind and made compatible
with Unison preamp technology. Of course the Engl E646
Victor Smolski will work with any UAD-2 device, but to experience
ultralow latency along with important impedance, gain ‘sweet spots’,
and circuit behaviors of the real amp, you need an Apollo interface. In
order to do this, you should insert the Engl E646 Victor Smolski in the
preamp insert position of Apollo’s Console application. This will
greatly enhance your experience, making the tone and behavior of
your sound an exacting replication of the original hardware.
Amp
1Channel Select 1-4
(via up/down & left/right arrows or Channel Select switches)
The E646 VS amp has four channels. To switch between the upper row
of channels (1&2) and the lower row (3&4) you may use the arrows just
like with the hardware amp. Alternatively you can use the CHANNEL
SELECT LEDs and access each channel directly.
2Gains 1-4 (adjustable per channel)
Dial in as much crunch and distortion as you like with the gain knobs.
Each of the channels has its own dedicated Gain control. Channel 1 is
the ‘CLEAN’ channel, Channel 2 is the ‘CRUNCH’ channel. Channels 3
& 4 are both ‘LEAD’ channels.
3Tone Stack (Bass, Middle, Treble, adjustable per channel)
Just like any guitar amp the Engl amps have controls to make the guitar
tones sound more mellow or harsher, add or cut low end, and boost or
cut mids. There are denitely no rules when it comes to adjusting the
Tone Stack controls. If itsounds right it probably IS right... You may
browse through our presets and listen to a wide range of dierent
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Plug-in Manual
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settings, many of which are customized for commonly used guitars
like Teles, Strats or Paulas...
1Middle Voiced (channels 3 & 4 only)
The channels 3 & 4 oer two dierent mid controls. You may switch
between the two sound options and use them for ris or solo sounds
to your liking.
2Treble x2 (channels 1 & 2 only)
The channels 1 & 2 oer a dedicated TREBLE control for each channel.
This way you can easily adjust the sound according to the guitar and /
or pickup you use for clean or crunchy sounds.
3Master A & B
The original hardware E646 amp has two MASTER channels so you can
play with dierent overall volume. We have modeled both channels
so you can automate rhythm and lead volumes, for example. Switch
between both channels by clicking the little switch between the
MASTER A & B knobs alternating.
4Presence
With the PRESENCE control you add or cut ultra-high frequencies.
Make your sound harsher or duller to your liking. The PRESENCE
control aects all four channels of the amp. You may use the A/B/C/D
setting switches in the toolbar to recall dierent settings on the y.
5Depth Punch
Add some serious low-end to your sound. Some of the Recording
Chains contain less bass and may be enhanced in the low end by
cranking up the DEPTH PUNCH more than with other Recording
Chains. The DEPTH PUNCH control aects all four channels of the
E646 because it sits in the power amp. You may use the A/B/C/D
setting switches in the toolbar to recall dierent settings on the y.
6Standby and Power
You may bypass all processing of the plug-in with these two switches.
Contrary to the real amp in the plug-in these two switches are linked.
No need to warm up tubes in the plug-in or protect speaker cabinets.
If you only want to bypass the Amp section of the plug-in (to record
your own hardware tube preamp, for example) please use the FX Rack
/ Zoom view. You will nd the needed controls in the Power Soak
section. Details below.
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Plug-in Manual
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FX Rack
Noise Gate
1Closed
When lit this LED indicates that the Noise Gate is CLOSED. This means
the THRESHOLD setting is higher than the incoming signal and the
noise gate dims the output signal of the amplier by the amount
adjusted with the RANGE control (e.g. 15dB in the picture above).
2Noise Gate on/o
On/o switch. Enable or disable the Noise Gate completely. Switch up
(‘on’) means the Noise Gate is activated.
3Threshold
Continuous knob, -120db to 0db. The Noise Gate will dim the output
signal of the amplier as soon as the input signal (your guitar signal)
falls below a certain level. This level is called Threshold. Adjust the
Threshold so the noise of the overdriven amp will be reduced, but
make sure you don´t cut fading notes or chords.
4Range
Continuous knob, 0db to 100db. The output level of your amplier
will be reduced or muted when the input signal is lower than the
Threshold setting. You may dim the output level only by a few
decibels (dB), or completely mute the output in pauses by setting the
RANGE to its maximum.
Amp Filters
5Tight Filter
Discrete 3 steps: “PRE”, “POST”, and “OFF”. With the TIGHT lter you
can cut LOW frequencies of either the DI guitar signal (PRE) or the
processed amp output (POST).
• PRE: If your pickups produce an unintentional rumbling bass
sound you can lter the low end before the DI sound even hits the
amplier.
• POST: If you want to cut some of the low end of your amplier
setting (maybe even only temporary) you can use this studio quality
high pass lter to reduce the bass.
• OFF: When set to OFF the TIGHT lter is in bypass mode.
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Plug-in Manual
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1Tight Frequency
With the TIGHT lter you can cut LOW frequencies of either the DI
guitar signal (PRE) or the processed amp output (POST).
2Smooth Filter
Discrete 3 steps: “PRE”, “POST”, and “OFF”. With the SMOOTH lter
you can cut HIGH frequencies of either the DI guitar signal (PRE) or
the processed amp output (POST).
• PRE: If your pickups catch a lot of hiss or noise you can lter the
high end before the DI sound even hits the amplier.
• POST: If you want to cut some of the high end of your amplier
setting (maybe even only temporary) you can use this studio quality
low pass lter.
• OFF: When set to OFF the SMOOTH lter is in bypass mode.
3Smooth Frequency
With the SMOOTH lter you can cut high frequencies of either the DI
guitar signal (PRE) or the processed amp output (POST).
Delay
We closely modelled a vintage delay stomp box to capture the
true essence of retro delay eects. Limited frequency bandwidth
and ever decreasing high frequencies on repeats add authenticity
to the sound. We also included more contemporary features like a
mix parameter & DAW controlled bpm / tempo sync. We realise you
will use your favourite selection of external eects, such as Chorus,
Flangers, Reverbs and even other Delays to achieve your signature
guitar tone but an instantly accessible delay is extremely useful when
surng and creating patches. For example, testing a new lead patch
without hearing at least a touch of delay wouldn’t sound realistic for
many players, so we added this eect for your convenience; plus we
love vintage style echo!
4Delay On/O
Use this parameter to activate or deactivate the delay and all of its
parameters with this switch.
• Switch up: Delay is activated.
• Switch down: Delay is bypassed / o.
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Plug-in Manual
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1Tap*
Use this parameter with your mouse to click with the groove of the
song and the delay will adjust to your tapping automatically. This is a
nice and easy way to set delays to musically pleasing times, especially
if there is no xed tempo in the song.
2Time
Alternatively you may just dial in a delay time based on milliseconds
using the TIME knob. Use this parameter to adjust the delay time
between 15ms and 1000ms.
3x2*
Use this button to redouble the current Delay time.
4/2*
Use this button to half the current Delay time.
x2 & /2 Buttons
Both buttons can be pressed repeatedly as long as the maximum
delay time of 1000 ms is not exceeded.
5Host BPM
Click on the BPM number in the GUI and a pull-down menu opens up.
Now you can select musical values like half notes, quarters, triplets,
etc. All values will be based upon the tempo that is being displayed
in the BPM window. The tempo will be synced with the tempo of your
audio session automatically.
6Mix
Use this parameter to control the amount of dry (unprocessed) vs.
wet (processed) signal. The MIX parameter blend in as much delay
signal with the dry amplier sound as desired. For unobtrusive delays
we recommend settings around 10%, heavier eect sounds may
require settings of 50% or more.
7Feedback
This controls the number of repeats. While a setting of 99% will result
in an almost innite delay loop, a typical setting for a rock lead sound
may be around 25%.
Engl E646 VS
Plug-in Manual
* Note: Custom control, not automatable
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1Lo-Fi
Use this parameter to add creative destruction to your delay signal.
With the LO-FI knob you control the amount of internal distortion,
the resampling quality, etc. The higher you go the worse the quality
gets from a pure technical stand point... but the more interesting it
may sound for many guitar sounds and styles.
Recording Chain
Brainworx Advanced IR Technology
Simply select a speaker and a complete studio setup by browsing
through the REC CHAINS pull-down menu.

In the past two decades Brainworx owner Dirk Ulrich has produced
and recorded with members of DREAM THEATER, TOTO, MICHAEL
JACKSON, and with many more famous and infamous acts. The
Brainworx Studio in Germany (www.brainworx- studio.de) is equipped
with one of only nine NEVE VXS 72 consoles ever made, and it also
hosts some of the best outboard EQs and mic pre-amps available.
Using this impressive setup Dirk has produced a huge variety of custo-
mized ‘Recording Chains’ for the Engl E646 Victor Smolski amplier,
which you can apply to your Plugin amp settings. Imagine a selection
of 64 perfectly mic’d and EQ-ed cabinets that you can select and use
instantly with a single mouse click!

We carefully placed up to 12 microphones on each cabinet used.
These mics were then fed to individual channels on the vintage Neve
VXS console. This conguration gave us ne control over the mix of
the various microphones used and the ability to apply Neve lters
and EQs. The nal mix was routed to Pro Tools for recording.

An innovative new approach was also used to capture various
pre-amps and EQ chains. A parallel chain was created that was split
to three dierent hardware preamps and EQs. These parallel chains
were also routed to their own discrete channels on the Neve VXS
console and then sent to Pro Tools for capture. This routing allowed
us to record each chain individually or blend them for interesting
combinations.

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Plug-in Manual
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The external gear we used:
1. Chain: The legendary German Telefunken V76Preampconnected to
the Massenburg GML8200EQ
2.Chain: AMEK 9098 channel strip
3.Chain: SSL 4000 E Series with Black EQ

Many amp simulations give you some captured impulses of a selection
of cabinets and microphones, then they leave it up to you to EQ and
further process these incomplete setups by mixing dierent micro-
phone setups, adjusting phase and EQ, and so on. But this really is not
an easy job; it takes years of experience to get it right.

Now all you have to do is select the Recording Chain that sounds best
for your amp channel and setting, adjust the Tone Stack and Gain and
you’re good to go.Recallable, reliable, exible and fast.

And if for any reason you should not like any of the Recording Chains
the Plugin oers, you may use the very last setting (labeled CABINET
BYPASS) and use your own mic’d cabinet or external IR software. This
setting willalsogive you the sound of a tube amp wired straight into
a console, which also may be a nice eects sound.
1+ / - Switches (Plus / Minus)
Browse through the REC CHAINS by either using the pull-down menu
of the REC CHAIN text box (see above) or just click through the
settings using the ‘+’ and ’-‘ symbols.
2Auto & Bar selection
If you are trying to nd the best sounding REC CHAIN for your song it
can be a hassle to have to play a few chords, grab the mouse to select
the next REC CHAIN, play a few notes again, grabbing the mouse
again, etc.
For this reason the E646 Victor Smolski oers you AUTO mode: Just
select a pattern (1 Bar, 2 Bars or 4 Bars) and the plug-in will activate
the available REC CHAINS automation, following the actual tempo
setting of your DAW. You can now play uninterrupted and simply
listen to the sound of the various REC CHAINS as the plug-in switches
through all of them every single bar, every two bars or every four
bars, depending on your setting.
As soon as you hear the speaker setup you like best just stop AUTO
mode by clicking the AUTO button again and manually select the
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desired REC CHAIN. Afterwards just ne-tweak the TONE Section
and GAIN and there you are.
1Input Gain
If you want to drive the input of the Engl preamp harder or softer
you may adjust the input gain to your liking. Some single coil pickups
from older or vintage guitars may deliver low level output that can be
compensated with the INPUT GAIN.
The opposite goes for a lot of heavy metal style humbuckers. If you
have recorded the DI signal too hot or if you are using other plug-ins
before entering the Engl amp plug-in you may want to dim the input
signal.
With most standard guitars you can and should leave the INPUT GAIN
at 0 (zero) though.
2Power Soak
Controls the output volume.
In the real world power soaks are being used to reduce the volume of
a guitar power amp. This way you can crank up a (tube) guitar power
amp to drive it until it starts clipping, and still record at a volume
which will protect your hearing and keep the neighbors friendly. A
clipping tube power amp adds distortion and harmonics to the guitar
amp signal and is something most guitar players love. A fully cranked
up tube guitar amp tamed in volume with a power soak will sound
dierent than the same amp with the master volume turned down.
We have modeled the behavior of the Engl tube power amp, so you
may experiment with dierent settings of the Master of the amp and
the internal POWER SOAK. We recommend a setting of roughly -10dB
for most scenarios.
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Plug-in Manual
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Engl E646 VS
Plug-in Manual
1Bypass Pre Amp
BYPASS the pre amp section.
With the Bypass Pre switch you can switch o the Engl preamp
completely, which may be wanted if you record your own hardware
(tube or solid state) guitar pre- amp with the E646 Victor Smolski.
In this case you may still use the internal Power Amp and speaker /
REC CHAINS simulation and will be able to achieve amazing results
recording your guitar sounds without using an external Power Amp
and speaker.
Switch up: Preamp is bypassed (o), Switch down: Preamp is active (on).
2Bypass Power Amp
If you want to use only the distortion of the Engl preamp you may
switch the power amp simulation o. This may sound cool if you use
the E646 Victor Smolski plugin to distort other signals than a guitar.
For a realistic guitar recording we recommend leaving the power amp
on, as it is an integral part of the overall sound of the amp.
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Top Toolbar
1Undo / Redo
You can undo and redo changes you made to the controls of the E646
Victor Smolski plugin at any time. The undo / redo will work for as
many as 32 steps. This makes experimenting and tweaking knobs
easy. If you don´t like what you did... just undo it.
2Settings (A/B/C/D)
The E646 Victor Smolski amp plugin oers four internal settings
(A/B/C/D) which will be stored with every preset. So, one preset can
contain up to four amp and eects settings.
You may use similar amp settings with more or less delay, dierent
delay times, etc., to quickly switch between dierent sounds, or you
can switch from clean to crunch to lead within one setup / preset.
The SETTINGS can be automated in your DAW. This way it´s possible
to switch from a dry rhythm sound to a lead sound with tons of delay,
for example.
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Engl E646 VS
Plug-in Manual
3Copy / Paste
To set up variations of similar sounds you don´t have to dial in all the
parameters several times. Let´s say you like your setting A and want
to use the same sound, just without delay, as setting B.
• Simply press COPY while you are in setting A.
• Switch to setting B by pressing ‘B’ in the setting section.
• Press PASTE, now setting B is identical to setting A.
• Bypass the DELAY.
Now you can switch between A & B and play the same sound with or
without delay.
4FX Rack
Toggle between FX Rack and Standard view.
5About
Information about the development of the plugin.

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Factory Presets
We have made a lot of presets for the E646 Victor Smolski amp
plugin, many of them have been made to work perfectly with classic
guitars like Strats, Teles or Paulas. All of the factory presets oer
A/B/C/D variations, do try them out!
This eectively quadruples the factory sounds you can browse
through, and many similar amp settings sound quite dierent with
dierent FILTER or DELAY settings.
These presets are only intended to give you an easy start and to demo
some of the tones you can get out of the E646 Victor Smolski amp
plugin.
Creating your own Sounds & Presets
When you start to create your own sounds the most important
elements to adjust are the DRIVE, REC CHAINS and the TONE STACK.
(Bass, Middle, Treble, Presence, etc.)
• Set the controls of the TONE STACK to the center position (’12-o-
clock’).
Engl E646 VS
Plug-in Manual
• Play through as many REC CHAINS as you like and pick the one
that sounds closest to what you are looking for before altering the
knobs.
• Once you found the Recording Chain you like best for your sound,
start tweaking the TONE STACK and DRIVE to ne tune your amp
settings.
• Add Delay or activate the Filters, the Noise Gate, etc. for variations
of your sounds.
• Have fun!
Experiment, be creative. We are condent that the dierent tone
selections of the amp and the huge selection of REC CHAINS will
oer you many possible combinations that will sound great on a big
variety of musical styles and genres.
Combine the E646 Victor Smolski amps with other plugins (dynamics,
eects, room simulation), and you will be able to create countless
world-class production-ready guitar sounds in the box. Enjoy.

Plug in, Rock out! - www.brainworx-music.de