Pulsar Smasher User manual

Pulsar Smasher
User manual
www.pulsar.audio
Pulsar Smasher – User Manual v1.0 – page 1/16

Introduction
This manual describes the eatures and operation o the Pulsar Smasher e ect processor.
To be sure you understand how to use your plug-in and understand all the subtleties,
please read it in its entirety.
The in ormation contained in this manual is believed to be correct at the time o
publication. However, i an error has un ortunately crept into its contents, please let us
know.
IMPORTANT: The prolonged use o ampli ied instruments, speakers or headphones may
cause permanent hearing loss. Ensure you monitor your exposure level, and take regular
breaks. In case o tinnitus or suspected hearing loss, please consult an ENT specialist.
Pulsar Smasher – User Manual v1.0 – page 2/16

Index
Introduction..........................................................................................................................2
Welcome................................................................................................................................4
Our experience............................................................................................................................4
Sound and science......................................................................................................................4
Our user inter aces......................................................................................................................4
The search or the right equipment..............................................................................................4
The « British Mode »............................................................................................................5
Quick start.............................................................................................................................
Installation...................................................................................................................................6
Activation.....................................................................................................................................6
The user interface................................................................................................................8
Use o parameter controls............................................................................................................8
The Toolbar..................................................................................................................................8
Undo / Redo........................................................................................................................................... 9
Preset Selection.................................................................................................................................... 10
Save / Save As..................................................................................................................................... 10
A / B...................................................................................................................................................... 11
… Button............................................................................................................................................... 11
The control panel.......................................................................................................................12
Bypass.................................................................................................................................................. 12
Input...................................................................................................................................................... 12
Output................................................................................................................................................... 13
Mix........................................................................................................................................................ 13
Minimum Configuration.....................................................................................................14
Windows................................................................................................................................... 14
Mac OS X................................................................................................................................. 14
License agreement.............................................................................................................15
License...................................................................................................................................... 15
Updates..................................................................................................................................... 15
License trans er.........................................................................................................................15
Activation................................................................................................................................... 15
Evaluation.................................................................................................................................. 16
Third Party So tware..................................................................................................................16
Disclaimer.................................................................................................................................. 16
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Welcome
Our experience
Thank you or choosing Pulsar quality!
With more than 15 years’ experience in plug-in development or the biggest names in the
industry, we decided to create Pulsar to push the quality requirements o our products
even urther.
For each product, our quest or excellence requires us never to rest on our technical
achievements, and to expand our knowledge ever urther.
Sound and science
With solid expertise in audio signal processing, but also in electronics, sound techniques
and music practice, we take great care in modeling all the small details and imper ections
o analogue equipment that make the di erence between a « mathematical » sound result
and rich, living and musical processing, and we produce this amous « 3rd dimension »
sound that is in such demand.
In addition, our close collaboration with music production pro essionals requires us to be
rigorous in order to produce pro essional quality tools.
Our user interfaces
The user inter ace o a plug-in is the link between the creative drive and the technical
implementation; it must there ore be clear, intuitive, and as pleasant as possible to use.
We take great care to create the most beauti ul and luid inter aces possible, with an
emphasis on intuitiveness.
The search for the right equipment
We care ully modeled this processor on a real analog compressor unit in excellent
condition.
The Pulsar Team
Pulsar Smasher – User Manual v1.0 – page 4/16

The « British Mode »
The 1176 is a vintage FET ( ield e ect transistor) compressor. Based on an internal
eedback con iguration, these designs are known to be ast and color ul, capable rom so t
limiting to heavily saturated tones.
The original 1176 compressor has 4 selectable ratios. But it just so happens that all 4
buttons can be pressed at the same time, this is called “all buttons mode” or “British
Mode”. Although probably an unanticipated eature, this mode has become very popular
because o its distorted, explosive and highly compressed sound.
While prototyping FET compressor algorithms, we ound a digital modi ication that could
be made to the algorithm that models the British Mode, that adds de inition to the low-
requency transients and makes the sound more aggressive.
Based on this idea, we developed the Pulsar Smasher, a very easy to use plug-in,
consisting o an extreme and aggressive compressor, ideal or raising the level o
ambiences in a drum bus, but also or adding presence to vocals, or warming up guitars or
basses.
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Quick start
Installation
The Pulsar Smasher is available as a plug-in in VST2, VST3, AU and AAX ormats or use
with all major DAW so tware such as Live, Cubase, Logic, Pro Tools, etc.
Installation rom the supplied installer is automatic. The installer takes care o copying the
di erent plug-ins as well as presets, manual, etc. into the appropriate locations.
Note: I you are using the VST2 ormat in Windows, you will be asked by the installer to
speci y the installation olders or the 32-bit and 64-bit VST2 plug-ins respectively. The
paths that seem most appropriate or your computer will be recommended by de ault, but
we advise you to check them be ore completing the installation. I the plug-in is not
installed in the same older as your other possible plug-ins, your DAW so tware may not
detect it.
Activation
All our plug-ins are protected by PACE's iLok system. For correct operation, we
recommend you ensure that you have the latest version o the « iLok License Manager »
so tware, available or ree download at www.ilok.com.
They require:
•either an iLok 2 / iLok 3 hardware USB Key (which you can order online or buy rom
your music dealer)
•or a permanent internet connection on your workstation (iLok Cloud system)
Important : I you choose the iLok Cloud system, it is necessary irst o all to open a Cloud
session on your computer by going to the « File > Open Cloud Session » menu o your
iLok License Manager. I you choose an iLok 2 or 3 key, it is necessary to connect it to
your computer be ore any operation.
When you purchase your so tware, you will receive:
•either a license deposited directly onto your iLok account. Just go to the
« Available » tab and drag it to the destination o your choice (here CLOUD or a
cloud license, or iLok_Pulsar or an iLok 2 or 3 key)
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•or an activation code. Simply paste it into the « Licenses > Redeem Activation
Code » menu to receive the license on your account, and drop it o at the
destination o your choice (CLOUD or iLok 2 or 3 key).
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The user interface
The user inter ace consists o 2 separate panels:
•The toolbar, common to all Pulsar plug-ins (top)
•The control panel, speci ic to the Pulsar Smasher plug-in.
Use of parameter controls
The parameter control knobs have several modes o use:
•The normal editing mode (use a classic mouse drag, or the mouse wheel)
•The ine editing mode (hold the Ctrl or Cmd key while dragging or while using the
mouse wheel, or drag with the right mouse button)
•The « return to de ault value » mode (double-click)
The Toolbar
Located at the top o the plug-in inter ace, it contains all the unctions relating to
parameters, presets, communication with Pulsar, etc.
Pulsar Smasher – User Manual v1.0 – page 8/16

Undo / Redo
The 2 arrow buttons on the le t o the toolbar have the unction Undo and Redo, i.e.
respectively the cancellation and restoration o the last action. All parameter changes and
more generally the state o the plug-in are stored in a history. You can click on « Undo » at
any time to return to the previous state (or to the nth previous state) and on « Redo » to
return to the current state.
Note: a right-click on one o these buttons gives access to the list o stored operations.
The undo / redo buttons
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Preset Selection
The preset selection area, located in the center o the bar, allows you to:
•Read the name o the current preset. I an asterisk appears a ter the preset name, it
means that the state o the plug-in no longer corresponds to the saved preset
•Select a preset rom the list o available presets, arranged in sub-banks
•Delete the current preset (« Delete Preset » option)
•Rename or move a preset to another sub-bank (« Move / Rename Preset » option)
•Set the current preset as the one that will be loaded by de ault when creating a new
instance o the plugin (« Set This Preset As De ault » option).
•Quickly navigate between the presets to ind inspiration, using the le t and right
arrows
The preset selection area
Save / Save As
The Save button saves the current preset.
The Save As button saves the current state o the plug-in under a new preset name.
The Save and Save As buttons
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A / B
This section allows you to compare 2 di erent states o the plug-in, or 2 di erent presets.
Slots A and B, accessible through these 2 buttons, represent 2 completely independent
states.
For example, when state A is active, you can load a preset and/or make settings rom the
inter ace, then click on button B; then load another preset and/or make other settings;
buttons A and B now allow you to quickly switch between the two states and easily
compare the 2 presets or sets o settings.
It is also possible to copy the state A to B or vice versa using the > or < buttons located
between A and B.
The A, B and Copy buttons
… Button
The button located on the ar right o the bar encompasses various options:
•Setting the oversampling. Oversampling allows sound to be processed at a higher
sampling rate within the plug-in, in return or higher latency and CPU consumption.
Oversampling is disabled by de ault, as all Pulsar products use advanced
technologies that allow in most cases to do without oversampling, with no
compromise on quality.
•Enabling / disabling the help balloons
•Access to the website
•Access to social media
•Access to communication with technical support
•Link to this user manual
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The ... button

The control panel
The Smasher's control panel is inspired by the « blue stripe » version o a amous
hardware machine, but with a reduced number o controls.
Bypass
The Bypass switch toggles between the sound processed by the plug-in (Active mode) and
the unprocessed input sound (Bypass mode).
The Bypass switch
Input
The Input knob adjusts the gain that is applied to the input signal rom -24 dB to +24 dB.
This parameter must be chosen according to the sound level o the track you are
processing, and according to the desired e ect. The higher this gain, the greater the
e ects o compression and saturation (or even distortion) will be.
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The Input knob
Output
The Output knob adjusts the gain applied a ter the compression stage. This is not a digital
gain applied at the output o the plug-in, but a model o the compressor output stage:
above a certain level, increasing this potentiometer will induce saturation.
The utput knob
Mix
The Mix knob is used to dose the amount o compressed signal (100%) and unprocessed
original signal (0%). It will be very use ul given the aggressive nature o the Smasher:
indeed on many sources where using 100% would be too extreme, it is still possible to use
the Smasher using a small percentage o Mix.
The Mix knob
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Minimum Configuration
This plug-in is compatible with all major sequencers on the market (Cubase, Nuendo, Pro
Tools, Logic Pro, FL Studio, Ableton Live, Bitwig, Digital Per ormer, Studio One, Reaper,
Adobe Audition...)
Available ormats:
•VST 2.4 (Windows: 32/64-bit, Mac: 64-bit only)
•VST 3 (Windows: 32/64-bit, Mac: 64-bit only)
•AAX (Windows: 32/64-bit, Mac: 64-bit only)
•Audio Unit (64-bit).
Windows
CPU: Intel Core i3 / i5 / i7 / Xeon / AMD Quad-Core
Memory: 4 GB RAM / 1 GB ree disk space
Operating system: Windows 7 and higher
GPU: OpenGL 2.0 compatible GPU
Screen resolution: minimum 1024×768 / recommended 1280×1024 or 1600×1024
Mac OS X
CPU: Intel Core i3 / i5 / i7 / Xeon
Memory: 4 GB RAM / 1 GB ree disk space
Operating system: 10.10 – 10.15
GPU: OpenGL 2.0 compatible GPU
Screen resolution: Minimum: 1024×768 / recommended: 1280×1024 / 1600×1024
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License agreement
This license agreement concerns and describes your rights and the conditions under
which you may use your Pulsar so tware. We recommend that you read the entire
agreement. By accepting the present agreement or by using Pulsar so tware, you accept
all these conditions.
This license agreement applies to all Pulsar so tware, plug-ins and programs that you may
use during the evaluation period and/or therea ter subject to the acquisition o a license,
or any version, update, or supplement.
License
The so tware is not sold to you: you are granted a license to use it. You are allowed to
install and use the so tware on as many machines as you wish. You may not rent, lend, or
license this so tware. You may not alter, decompile, disassemble, or reverse engineer this
so tware.
Updates
This license gives you the right to all minor updates (e. g. 1.1 to 1.2), but excludes major
versions (e. g. 1.x to 2.x).
License transfer
You may trans er all your rights to use the So tware to another person provided that you
trans er this Agreement and the So tware to that other person; and that the recipient
accepts the terms and conditions o this Agreement and any other provisions pursuant to
which you have acquired a valid license to use this So tware.
Activation
Pulsar will not be held responsible or any ailure to activate PACE's iLok protection system
/ license.
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Evaluation
Pulsar o ers a 30-day trial license, starting at the time o trans er o the license to an iLok
key. A ter expiration, the plug-in can no longer be used, and in the event that no
permanent license is acquired, it must be deleted.
Third Party Software
VST is a registered trademark o Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. AAX is a
registered trademark o Avid Technology, Inc. Audio Units is a registered trademark o
Apple Computer, Inc.
Disclaimer
Neither Pulsar nor anyone else who has been involved in the creation, production, or
delivery o this product shall be liable or any direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental
damages arising out o the use or inability to use this product (including, without limitation,
damages or loss o business pro its, business interruption, loss o business in ormation
and the like) even i Pulsar has previously been advised o the possibility o such
damages. Some jurisdictions do not allow limitations on the duration o an implied warranty
or limitation o incidental or consequential damages, in which case the above limitations or
exclusions may not apply to you. This warranty gives you speci ic legal rights, and you
may also have other rights that vary rom jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
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