Focusrite Forte Suite User manual

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Forté Suite
User Guide
FA0000-01

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Introduction .............................................................3
System Requirements .............................................3
Working with Forté Suite™ ......................................3
Accuracy ..................................................................3
Copyright .................................................................3
Installation ..............................................................4
iLok Activation .........................................................4
Removing Expired Plug-Ins .....................................6
Forté Suite™ Parameters ........................................6
Parameter adjustment ............................................6
Table of module variants and sections ....................6
Input/Output Section................................................7
EQ ............................................................................8
Parametric EQ .........................................................8
Shelving ...................................................................8
Low and high pass lters .........................................9
Compressor ...........................................................10
Dynamics ...............................................................12
De-esser ................................................................12
Filters ....................................................................13
Gate .......................................................................14
DSP Requirements .................................................15
Monitoring DSP Usage ...........................................15
Forté DSP Requirements .......................................16
DSP Delays Incurred by TDM Plug-Ins ...................16
Forté DSP Delay .....................................................16

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Introduction
Congratulations on your purchase of the Forté Suite™ plug-in for Pro Tools|HD, HD Accel or LE systems, brought to you by the
Focusrite team.
The Forté Suite™ is a high-quality EQ and dynamics plug-in that provides critical control over your audio signals. The Forté Suite™
is a real-time TDM and RTAS plug- in with the look and sound of Focusrite’s original ISA 110 and ISA 130 modules. The Forté Suite™
provides support for 192 kHz, 176.4 kHz, 96 kHz, 88.2 kHz, 48 kHz, and 44.1 kHz sessions.
The Forté Suite™ provides support for multi-mono and stereo formats. In addition, the ISA 130 compressor is available for all Pro
Tools-supported multichannel audio formats. Your Forté Suite™ plug-in package contains the following:
− Installation CD-ROM
− The Forté Suite™ Plug-In Guide (electronic PDF guide)
− Activation code (located on the sticker on the CD case)
System Requirements
To use the Forté Suite™, you need:
A Digidesign-qualied Pro Tools|HD, HD Accel or LE system
– or –
A Digidesign-qualied Pro Tools|HD, HD Accel or LE system and a third-party software application that supports the Digidesign
TDM, RTAS or Audiosuite plug-in standard
Pro Tools Software Version must be 7.0 or above
For the latest compatibility information, contact your local Digidesign dealer or visit our website (www.digidesign.com/compato).
Working with Forté Suite™
Refer to the Pro Tools Reference Guide, the DigiRack Plug-Ins Guide, or the electronic PDF copy of the Digidesign Plug-Ins Guide for
information on working with plug-ins, including:
− Plug-Ins as Inserts
− The Plug-In Window
− Editing Plug-In Parameters
− Automating Plug-Ins
− Using the Librarian
Copyright
© 2008 Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced, photocopied, or be
transmitted / passed to a third party by any means or in any form without the express prior consent of Focusrite Audio Engineering
Ltd. DIGIDESIGN, AVID and PRO TOOLS are trademarks or registered trademarks of Digidesign and/or Avid Technology, Inc. All
other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. All features and specications subject to change without notice.

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Installation
To install the Forté Suite™:
1. Insert the Forté Suite CD-ROM into your disk drive.
2. Double click on the Forté Suite installer icon to begin installation.
3. Follow on-screen instructions to complete installation.
The Plug-in  les will be installed in the following locations:
TDM Plug-in  les (The Forté Suite.dpm):
Mac: Macintosh HD – Library – Application Support – Digidesign – Plug-Ins
PC: C:\Program Files \Common Files\Digidesign\DAE\Plug-ins
iLok Activation
Forté Suite uses PACE iLok. Before you can use Forté Suite you must register and activate the plug-ins to your iLok.
1. Connect your iLok and run Pro Tools HD. You will be presented with a pop-up window asking you to register.
Make sure you have the activation code to hand. You will  nd it on a sticker on the back of the Forté Suite installer CD case.
It should be in the form 0000-0000-0000-0000

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2. Click Register to continue.
4. Enter your details and your activation code.
5. Once you have entered all the relevant details, click ‘Activate Software’.
6. Now go to https://www.ilok.com and log into your iLok account. You will see Forté Suite as a new license that can be
downloaded to your iLok.
7. Once the license has been downloaded to your iLok, go back to the activation window in Pro Tools.
8. Press ‘Finish’ to complete activation.
3a. If your Pro Tools computer is connected to the Internet,
select internet activation and click next. You will be
directed to the activation page on the Focusrite website
where you will be presented with the following screen.
3b. If your Pro Tools computer is not connected to the
internet, then you will need to go to an internet connected
computer, and open your web browser of choice. Navigate
to http://www.focusrite-estore.com/activation and you
will be presented with the following screen.

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Forté Suite™ Parameters
The Forté Suite™ features the ISA 110 (EQ) and ISA 130 (dynamics) in various arrangements, and boasts an individual compressor
module capable of any surround conguration up to 7.1 surround, for quality analogue processing in the digital domain. An
extremely high level of design sensitivity means that all the dynamic and real time sonic characteristics of the original ISA
channel strips are accurately replicated in the Forté Suite™ plug-in.
Parameter adjustment
There are a variety of options available when modifying parameters within the Forté Suite™:
Dial Rotation
Clicking on the dial (and holding) will allow an adjustment to be made. Subsequent movement on the screen will modify the value;
upwards movement increases and downwards movement decreases the value. This value will be displayed in red at the base of
the dial as an adjustment is made. NOTE - Holding ‘Alt’ and clicking on a dial will set it to a 0 (default) value.
Numeric typing
As the mouse cursor moves over a dial, its value is displayed in a text box underneath. Clicking on this box will enable an exact value
to be entered using the keyboard.
Graphical control
The various graphical displays show the action of the EQ and dynamics, and also allow control of some of the parameters. Clicking
on the crosses (and holding) will enable a value to be modied. The corresponding value(s) will appear in red at the base of the
relevant dial(s) when an adjustment is made.
Table of module variants and sections
Module variants I/O EQ COMP DYN (De-esser/Gate)
ISA 110 • •
ISA 130 • • •
ISA 110:130 • • • •
ISA 130:110 • • • •
ISA 130c • •

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Input/Output Section
Every module variant in the Forté range features an input/output section, as shown above. All 130c multichannel variants contain
extra metering to account for the additional channels. The ISA 130c multichannel variants have bar graphs for all channels but only
one Input/Output level control, which adjusts all channels equally.
Input and Output dials
The two dials to the left of the bar graph meters allow the user to control the level of gain at the input and output of the module. The
accessible gain range is –18dB to +18dB for both dials, with 0dB selected when the dial points vertically upwards (in the centre).
Meters
The vertical bar graph meters indicate the level being fed to the input and output of the module, and the action of the compressor
and/or gate when present. They display a range from –40dBFS up to 0dBFS for I/O, and up to 20dB for comp/gate. For surround
variants with ve channels or more, a in/out switch alternates between showing input and output levels.

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EQ
The 110 EQ module comprises of three sections: HMF and LMF parametric EQ (left), high and low shelving (right), plus low and high
pass lters (bottom).
Parametric EQ
The left section features two separate bands of parametric EQ; high-mid and low-
mid, both with a boost/cut dial from –16dB to +16dB, a frequency sweep control
covering two ranges and fully variable Q. The upper band covers the range 600Hz
to 6kHz
(1.8kHz to 18kHz when x3 is pressed) and the lower band ranges from 40Hz to
400Hz (120Hz to 1.2kHz when x3 is pressed).
Param Eq In
When the ‘Eq In’ switch is pressed and illuminated, the parametric EQ is inserted
into the signal path. NOTE - If the ‘All Eq’ switch below the shelving panel is not
illuminated, then only the Input/Output controls and the Phase switch will be
functional. (See ‘All Eq’ explanation below for further details.)
x3
The sweep controls have two ranges, the higher being selected when the x3 switch is pressed (x3 frequencies are shown in yellow
on the panel).
Shelving
High and low frequency-shelving sections are available in the right-hand side of the section, each with a boost/cut dial from –16dB to
+16dB, and a frequency select dial which rotates either in steps (default) or continuously (see ‘Switch’ explanation below). The high
frequency selection ranges from 3.3kHz to 15kHz and the low frequency selection ranges from 33Hz to 270Hz.
Shelving Eq In
When the ‘Eq In’ switch is pressed and illuminated, the shelving is inserted into the signal path. NOTE - If the ‘All Eq’ switch at the
bottom of the shelving panel is not illuminated, then only the Input/Output controls and the Phase switch will be functional. (See ‘All
Eq’ explanation below for further details.)
Switch
With ‘Switch’ illuminated (default), the frequency selection dials rotate in the steps indicated on the panel, as on the original ISA 110;
3.3kHz, 4.7kHz, 6.8kHz, 10kHz, 15kHz for the high shelving, and 33Hz, 56Hz, 95Hz, 160Hz, 270Hz for the low shelving. Deselecting
‘Switch’ will make the frequency vary continuously from the minimum to maximum values.
All Eq
The module’s default setting has the ‘All Eq’ selected and illuminated, this allows any EQ section to be activated on the front
panel controls. De-activating the ‘All Eq’ switch bypasses all EQ sections, leaving just the Input/Output level controls and Phase
switch active.

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Low and high pass lters
Two dials provide full control of either low pass (upper dial) and high pass (lower dial) lters. Rotating the dials past the ‘off’ position
will make the lter active, and allow a continuous or stepped sweep between the frequencies indicated. When ‘switch’ is illuminated,
the dial will rotate in steps between the marked frequencies.
Switch
With ‘Switch’ illuminated (default), the frequency selection dials rotate in the steps indicated on the panel, as on the original ISA
110; 16kHz, 12kHz, 8.2kHz, 5.6kHz, 3.9kHz for the low pass lter, and 36Hz, 60Hz, 105Hz, 185Hz, 330Hz for the high pass lter.
Deselecting ‘Switch’ will make the frequency vary continuously from the minimum to maximum values.
Phase
Pressing the ‘Phase’ switch inverts the phase of the signal. This function is still active when ‘All Eq’ is deselected.
Overload
The Overload LED indicates when the signal is reaching maximum level, 0dBFS.
Graphical display and control
A graph displays the EQ curve and allows operation of gain and frequency controls for the parametric bands, shelving and lters.
Clicking and dragging on one of the yellow crosses changes the parametric band values, whilst the green crosses modify shelving
parameters. When the lters are inserted, they appear in red and can be adjusted in the same way. Holding down the Apple key
when using a Mac (or the control key using a PC) and clicking on the parametric band will allow modications to be made to the Q
value; a left to right motion scrolling from wide to narrow band. Exact values are displayed in red at the base of the relevant
dial when the curve is adjusted.

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Compressor
The compressor section within the ISA 130 dynamics module.
The ISA 130c (available in mono or multichannel formats)
The compressor is available in separate ISA 130c format (in mono, stereo and all multi-channel surround con gurations) and
within the ISA 130 dynamics processor, as shown on the left. In ISA 130c arrangements with more than one channel, compression is
applied equally to all channels. NOTE - The LFE channel can be included in compression for 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1 formats by pressing
the LFE switch in the I/O section. (See ‘multichannel variants’ section for further details.)
Comp
Pressing the ‘Comp’ switch at the top right-hand corner of the section activates the compressor, the action of which is indicated by
the bar graph meter in the I/O section.
Thrsh
The ‘Thrsh’ (threshold) dial determines the level at which compression begins, with a range of –50dB to –10dB. The lower the
threshold, the more the signal is compressed. Setting a higher threshold will leave quieter passages unaffected, only passages that
exceed the threshold will be compressed. With ‘Switch’ activated as default, the dial rotates through the stepped values indicated
unless ‘Switch’ is deselected, when the dial will continuously rotate.