Pulsar Pulsar Massive User manual


PulsarMassive
UserManual
www.pulsar.audio
Pulsar Massive - User Manual - page 1 / 35

Tableofcontents
Pulsar Massive - User Manual - page 2 / 35
Introduction......................................................................................................................................................4
Welcome..........................................................................................................................................................5
Our experience............................................................................................................................................5
Sound and science......................................................................................................................................5
Our user interfaces......................................................................................................................................5
The search for the right equipment..............................................................................................................5
A final word..................................................................................................................................................5
Passive equalizers...........................................................................................................................................6
History.........................................................................................................................................................6
Pulsar Massive’s filtering forms...................................................................................................................7
Bell filters.................................................................................................................................................7
Shelving filters.........................................................................................................................................9
Special modes.......................................................................................................................................10
Parallel equalization..................................................................................................................................13
Quick start.....................................................................................................................................................14
Installation.................................................................................................................................................14
Activation...................................................................................................................................................14
First steps..................................................................................................................................................16
The user interface..........................................................................................................................................17
Use of parameter controls.........................................................................................................................18
Parameter locking......................................................................................................................................18
Using the GUI resize control......................................................................................................................18
The Toolbar...............................................................................................................................................19
Undo / Redo..........................................................................................................................................19
Preset Selection....................................................................................................................................19
Save / Save As......................................................................................................................................20
A / B.......................................................................................................................................................20
Rack visibility button..............................................................................................................................20
Menu Button..........................................................................................................................................20
Oversampling settings.......................................................................................................................21
Stepped Gains/Freqs.........................................................................................................................21
Other options.....................................................................................................................................22
The control panel.......................................................................................................................................23
The control rack.....................................................................................................................................23
Power................................................................................................................................................24
Auto Gain...........................................................................................................................................24
Transformer.......................................................................................................................................25
L/R M/S..............................................................................................................................................25
Link....................................................................................................................................................26
Listen.................................................................................................................................................26
Channel bypass.................................................................................................................................26
Band name field.................................................................................................................................26
Band bypass......................................................................................................................................26
Band filter type...................................................................................................................................27
Gain knob..........................................................................................................................................27
Frequency..........................................................................................................................................27
Bandwidth..........................................................................................................................................28
HPF...................................................................................................................................................28
LPF....................................................................................................................................................28
Drive..................................................................................................................................................29
Output Gain.......................................................................................................................................29
The curve display rack...........................................................................................................................30
Equalization using the curve display.................................................................................................30
Spectrum visualization.......................................................................................................................31
Level visualization.............................................................................................................................31

Tableofcontents
Pulsar Massive - User Manual - page 3 / 35
Minimum Configuration..................................................................................................................................33
License agreement........................................................................................................................................34
License......................................................................................................................................................34
Updates.....................................................................................................................................................34
License transfer.........................................................................................................................................34
Activation...................................................................................................................................................34
Trial............................................................................................................................................................34
Third-Party Software..................................................................................................................................34
Disclaimer..................................................................................................................................................35

Introduction
ThismanualdescribesthefeaturesandoperationofthePulsarMassiveeffectprocessor.Tobe
sure you understand how to use your plugin and understand all its subtleties, please read it
completely.
The information contained in this manual is believed to be correct at the time of publication.
However,ifanerrorhasunfortunatelycreptintoitscontents,pleaseletusknow.
IMPORTANT:Theprolongeduseofamplifiedinstruments,speakersorheadphonesmaycause
permanent hearing loss. Ensure you monitor your exposure level, and take regular breaks. In
caseoftinnitusorsuspectedhearingloss,pleaseconsultanENTspecialist.
Pulsar Massive - User Manual - page 4 / 35

Welcome
Ourexperience
ThankyouforchoosingPulsarAudioquality!
With more than 15 years’ experience in plugin development for the biggest names in the
industry, we decided to create PulsarAudio to push the quality requirements of our products
evenfurther.
For each product, our quest for excellence requires us never to rest on our technical
achievements,andtoexpandourknowledgeeverfurther.
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imperfectionsofanalog
equipmentthatmakethedifferencebetweena«mathematical»exactsoundingalgorithmanda
rich, living and musical processing, and we produce this famous « 3rd dimension » sound so
muchsoughtafter.
Inaddition,ourclosecollaborationwithmusicproductionprofessionalsrequiresustoberigorous
inordertoproduceprofessionalqualitytools.
Ouruserinterfaces
The user interface of a plugin is the link between the creative drive and the technical
implementation;itmustthereforebeclear,intuitive,andaspleasantaspossibletouse.Wetake
great care to create the most beautiful and fluid interfaces possible, with an emphasis on
intuitiveness.
Thesearchfortherightequipment
Rarelydoyoufindtwoanalogmachinesthatsoundexactlythesame.Itisthereforeimportant,
when developing an emulation, to carefully choose the hardware units to be used as models.
Weonlyuseunitsinperfectconditionandmeasurethemwiththebestrecordingequipment.
Afinalword
Wehopeyouwillenjoythispluginasmuchasweenjoyedcreatingit.Besuretovisitourwebsite
www.pulsar.audioandfindoutaboutupdates,newproducts,tipsandotherresources.Thereyou
willalsobeabletocontactustoaskforhelporsimplytotellusaboutyourexperience!
ThePulsarTeam
Pulsar Massive - User Manual - page 5 / 35

Passiveequalizers
History
Filters are among the oldest electronic audio effects, dating back to the beginnings of
phonographicrecordingandreproduction.Theywerefirstusedtocorrectspectraldistortionsin
soundreproductionsystems,andlaterforaestheticpurposes.Thefirstfilterswerefixed,buta
variableequalizerarrivedinthe1920s(createdbyJohnVolkmanfortheRCAcompany),kicking
offaspectacularevolutionofthesetoolsthroughoutthe20thcentury.
Beforethedemocratizationofthetransistor,thefirstequalizersweremadeofpassivenetworks
followed by tube amplification cells.For cost reasons, several filters were implementedonthe
same passive components network, often in parallel. The Pultec EQP-1 equalizer, still widely
used today in studios around the world, is probably the best representative of this technology
andhasachievedmythicstatusamongaudioengineers.
PulsarMassiveisanemulationofafamouspassiveequalizerreleasedatthedawnofthe21st
century,itself largely inspiredbythePultec EQP-1. Passiveequalizersare characterized by a
rich and smooth sound. The use of inductances in the passive circuit causes characteristic
behaviors,particularlyinthelowendofthespectrum:thehighertheinputlevel,thegreaterthe
likelihoodthatharmonicsand‘dynamic’behaviorwillappear.Thisbehaviorallows,forexample,
toworkonthe low mids (100-500Hz) withoutthe soundbecoming muddyasis often the case
whenusingotherEQsinthisfrequencyzone.
WithPulsarMassive,youget:
ThesoundofalegendaryEQunitthat’susedinstudiosallovertheworld
Musicalequalization,eitherasaninserteffectoronabus
Unique warmth and dynamic behavior (due to our emulation of the original circuit's
inductorsandtubeamplifierstages)
Verysmoothandmusicalequalizationcurves
Aninnovativeworkflowthatallowsyoutotweakequalizationdirectlyonagraphicalcurve
An organic analog sound paired with the advantages of digital (presets, automation of
parameters,etc.)
Pulsar Massive - User Manual - page 6 / 35

PulsarMassive’sfilteringforms
Bellfilters
PulsarMassive'sbellfiltersdifferfromtheclassicconstant-Qbellfiltersfoundinmostoftoday's
equalizers,inthattheBandwidth(ie,Q)alsohasaneffectovergain:
WithafixedGainamount,adjustingthebandwidthsettingwillvarytheeffectivegainofthe
filter.Inotherwords,theactualgainamountofthebellfiltercanendupbeingdifferentto
thevalueshownontheGainknob.
Whenabandismodifiedfromthecurve,theverticalmovementsofthemouseareusedto
definethegainoftheband.However,whentheGainparameterthusmodifiedreachesits
maximum (or minimum), and you continue to move the mouse vertically, it is the
Bandwidthofthefilterthatismodifiedinordertoachievehighereffectivegainvalues.
WithafixedBandwidthamount,theGainknobwillnotaffectthewidthofafilter.
BellfilterwithfixedGain(20dB)anddifferentBandwidthvalues(from0to10)
Pulsar Massive - User Manual - page 7 / 35

FixedBandwidthbellfilter(Setatthemaximumvalueof10)withdifferentGainvalues(from0to
20dB)
Note:Ourmodeling,accuratedowntotheleveloftheindividualelectroniccomponent,faithfully
reproduces all aspects of the original machine, including the differences between the
frequenciesdisplayedontheknobs(andwhichintheplug-inarealsodisplayedinvariousother
places), and the actual frequencies of the filters, which can sometimes be significant. For
example,atthe82Hzposition,band2actuallyproducesaresonantfiltercloseto100Hz.We
have chosen to keep these differences, which thanks to the curve display can be surprising,
becausetheyarepartoftheuniqueworkflowoftheoriginaldevicethatwewanttoreproducein
itsdigitalemulation.
Pulsar Massive - User Manual - page 8 / 35

Shelvingfilters
PulsarMassive’shighandlow-shelffiltersarealsounusualwhencomparedtothosepresentin
modernequalizers.Withincreasingbandwidth,ashelfwillintroduceacomplementarybellfilter,
attheothersideofthecornerfrequency–ascoopbeforeaboostedshelf,orabumpbeforean
attenuatedshelf.
Thistypeoffilterallows,forexample,inthecaseofahigh-shelf,toaddpowerintheveryhigh
endofthespectrum(frequenciesabove8-10kHz),whilekeepingharshfrequencies(between2
kHzand4kHz)unchanged.
High-Shelffilterwithfixedgain(20dB)anddifferentbandwidthvalues(from0to10)
Note: This setting can be misleading. For example, when the Bandwidth parameter is set to
maximum and you try to boost the high frequencies above 8.2 kHz, the shelf filter will also
attenuatethefrequencyareaaround8kHzduetotheaddedbellfilterintheoppositedirection.
For this reason, you will often be surprised at your own frequency choices when using the
Massive'sshelffilters!Thebestfrequencychoiceswilloftenbehigherthanyouwouldexpectfor
low-shelves,andlowerforhigh-shelves.ThePulsardisplayrackprovidesgraphicalfeedbackon
theproposedEQ,andallowstheusertobetterunderstandthefilteringdonebytheplugin.
Pulsar Massive - User Manual - page 9 / 35

Low-Shelffilterwithfixedgain(20dB)anddifferentbandwidthvalues(from0to10).
Specialmodes
Whenusingbands1and4ofeachchannelinPulsarMassive’sShelfmode,you’llnoticethatthe
frequencies22Hzand33Hzonthefirstbandaswellas16kHzand27kHzonband4change
color and become orange. This illustrates that the behavior of the filters in Shelf mode is
particulartothesefrequencies.
Indeed, as the frequencies approach the limits of human perception, the shape of the filter is
reworkedsothatwedon’tamplifyfrequenciestoofarfromtheusual20Hz-20kHzrange.These
new shapes (described in the screenshots below) no longer have the classic shape of Pultec
filters, instead providingyouwithauniquewayofworkingwiththe extremefrequenciesofthe
audiospectrum:
Pulsar Massive - User Manual - page 10 / 35