TC Electronic Digital Vintage Reverb DVR2 User manual

MANUAL

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SPECIFICATIONS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
TC Electronic is a TC Group company.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contact & Support Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Table Of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
DVR2 Digital Vintage Reverb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Global Plug-In Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The Plug-In Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Preset Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Converting DVR2 Presets from System 6000 and Reverb 4000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Compare settings with A/B Mem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Locking Parameter values using the Parameter Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

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4/ DVR2
DVR2 DIGITAL VINTAGE REVERB
Congratulations with the purchase of your new Vintage Reverb plug-in for PowerCore.
DVR2 offers a pristine Generic Reverb with true vintage flavor. Generic Reverb is com-
plementary to Source Reverb, and both types are at disposal as optional plug-ins for
PowerCore.
The term “Generic Reverb” is used to describe a flattering sustain effect, which can
be added to many sources of a mix. It produces little character but also does no harm,
because the effect is blurred or washed out. Instead, it adds a good sense of spacious-
ness and more or less pronounced modulation.
Recreation of a Classic
The development of DVR2 has been a process extending several years, with the goal of
recreating the most shining Generic Reverb of all times, the EMT250. A particularly
well sounding machine was refurbished, and in the making of DVR2 many design dis-
ciplines were involved...
Hardware technical: What was the precision of converters and how where they imple-
mented in the eighties with emphasis, block scaling, linearity, filters etc? How much
processing and RAM was available, what was the sample rate etc?
Software technical: Which kind of processing was done in discrete circuitry, what type
of truncation and noise floor artifacts would result, how could the low sample rate be
mimicked precisely, and how could all of this be transferred to a modern DSP plat-
form.
Perceptual: Making sure the qualities of the original processor was preserved. Sweet
modulation, spectral characteristics, spaciousness, distortion, saturation etc.
Hundreds of hours spent listening and measuring.
User: The four basic parameters of the EMT250 were carefully laid out, offering a
remarkably simple user interface with complex, yet optimized interactions under the
hood. DVR2 is a resemblance of that including range and coarseness of parameters.
Better than the Classic?
While DVR2 in Normal mode is very close to the sound of a perfectly aligned 250,
having used much DSP power to mimic artifacts of old hardware, the algorithm can
also be put in a High Resolution mode. Using this function, the noise floor is much
lower – but use your own ears to determine if this is actually a plus for a specific situ-
ation.
Please note: Many of the constraints and criteria listed above produce non-linear
audio behavior, making it impossible to obtain more than a static and crude result if
trying to sample an original processor. A minute emulation does more justice to the
original from an audio point of view, and can also still be adjusted.

The DVR2 plug-in runs on all available PowerCore at the common sample rates from
32 kHz to 96 kHz.
The plug-in can be inserted in any VST, Audio Unit and even RTAS (via the optional
VST-to-RTAS wrapper from FXpansion) compatible host application as Stereo-to-Stereo
Effect or as Mono-To-Stereo Effect (depending on the host application and the individ-
ual track settings).
The DVR2 Digital Vintage Reverb algorithm occupies*:
Enjoy!
The TC Electronic Team
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Sample Rate PowerCore PCI / Element PowerCore Compact / FireWire / MKII
44.1 kHz 54% DSP Load and 43% DSP Load and
79% Memory (of 1 DSP) 19% Memory (of 1 DSP)
48.0 kHz 59% DSP Load and 46% DSP Load and
79% Memory (of 1 DSP) 19% Memory (of 1 DSP)
88.2 kHz 82% DSP Load and 67% DSP Load and
79% Memory (of 1 DSP) 19% Memory (of 1 DSP)
96.0 kHz 90% DSP Load and 73% DSP Load and
79% Memory (of 1 DSP) 19% Memory (of 1 DSP)
* All values subject to change

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6/ DVR2
GLOBAL PLUG-IN CONTROLS
KEYBOARD COMMANDS
In most host applications, the DVR2 Reverb supports keyboard commands for certain
functions. The following key commands are available for all plug-in parameters:
Key Commands in Mac OS X:
Fine Adjust = Apple key + mouse movement
Reset To Default = Alt key + mouse click
Key Commands in Windows:
Fine Adjust = Alt + mouse movement
Reset To Default = Shift + Control + mouse click
User Assignable Key Commands:
Depending on your host application, you have the ability to add your own keyboard
shortcuts to certain buttons. The supported buttons in DVR2 are: Mem., A/B, the pre-
vious/next preset buttons and the “Vintage Reset” button.
A right mouse click on the button will open a pop-up menu. Here you can select to
assign a new keyboard shortcut or to remove a previously assigned shortcut.
Note: The ability to use the assignable key commands highly depends on the host
application. Some applications do not pass key commands on to the plug-in.
SCROLL WHEEL SUPPORT
If you are using a host application that supports this feature, all of the DVR2 knobs
and faders support scrolling on both Windows XP and Mac OS X. Simply roll your
mouse over a knob or slider and use the Scroll Wheel to increment / decrement the
associated parameter.
USER INTERFACE DISABLED
Should your PowerCore be fully loaded and there is not enough free processing on
your DSPs, the plug-in will come up in a “disabled” state. Should this occur, it is
advised to remove the plug-in from the mix.
Note: In case any PowerCore plug-in gets disabled either while loading a session or
during your work (e.g. you forgot to switch on PowerCore prior to loading a session),

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you can always save your session without losing any of the plug-in settings. The last
setting of the plug-in will always be saved, even when it is in “disabled” state! This
also applies to saving presets.
FOCUS FIELDS
You can place your own set of parameters in the 6 focus fields at the bottom of the
plug-in. Making use of the focus fields can give you a better workflow, since you will
not have to switch pages all the time to find the parameters that you work with. You
can assign any parameter to the focus fields, and the focus fields are stored with the
session as well as when you save your presets.
To change the assignment:
• Press the Assign button. The Assign button as well as one of the Focus Fields
will be highlighted.
• Select the Focus Field you wish to link a parameter to, by clicking on that field.
• Click on the parameter you wish to link to the selected Focus Field.
• To get an unassigned (empty) Focus Field, click again on the selected parameter.
• Once you have finished the assignments, click again on the Assign button
to leave the assign mode.
OVERLOAD INDICATION (O/L)
The O/L-LED in the metering section, on the left side of the input meters, will light up
in case internal DSP overloads are detected. You should lower the input level to avoid
these overloads. To reset the indication, click on the O/L LED.

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8/ DVR2
THE PLUG-IN PARAMETERS
MAIN PAGE
On the DVR2 Main page, you can find all controls of DVR2 as well as the plug-in’s
preset handling. More about the preset handling can be found in the section “Preset
Handling” later in this manual.
REVERB
Decay
Range: 0.4 – 4.5s
Adjusts the Master Decay time.
xLo
Range: 0.5 to 2.0
Decay multiplier for low frequencies. For a x1.0 setting, low frequency decay will
equal the Decay setting.
xHi
Range: 0.25 to Max.
Decay multiplier for hi frequencies. For a x1.0 setting, high frequency decay will
equal the Decay setting.

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Pre Delay
Range: 0-500ms (Vintage values: 0, 20, 40 and 60ms)
Pre delay is the amount of time from an input is received until reverb starts building
up at the output.
VINTAGE
Modulation
Range: 0% – 200% (default: 100%)
Sets the Depth of the modulation. Normal set to 100%. Increase if you like a more
liquid, chorus like sound.
Hi Cut
Range: 8kHz – 13kHz (default: 11kHz)
This is DVR2´s HiCut and can be used to limit or extend the overall frequency spec-
trum.
Q Scale
Range: 0.3 – 1.4 (default: 1.2)
Corresponds the small potmeters inside older reverbs used to equalize sound differ-
ences caused by electric component-tolerances. Use the Q-scale in combination with
the HiCut Frequency to shape the treble to your personal flavor.
Input Trans
Range: on/off (default: off)
Emulates the sound of Input transformers typically used in vintage Reverbs. Use it to
create a warm vintage like sound. Especially good for short Decay times.
Trim Lo Freq
Range: on/off (default: on)
A subtle damping of selected frequencies in the lower end.
Lo Res
Range: on/off (default: on)
Switches the DVR2 to a lower bit-resolution. This adds an older and more grainy
sound and also noise giving a simulation of various vintage reverbs.
Vintage Reset
Clicking on this button will reset the controls in the “Vintage” section back to the val-
ues as they are found on the vintage original.

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10 / DVR2
LEVELS
Input Level
Range: Off to 0dB
Sets the Input level for the plug-in. It may be necessary to lower the input level if sig-
nals close to full scale are fed to the plug-in. Reduce the input level in case you expe-
rience overloads (O/L).
Wet Level
Range: Off – 0dB
Adjusts the reverb (wet) level of the output channels.
Dry Level
Range: Off to 0dB
Adjusts the dry signal level of the output channels. For a typical send/return configu-
ration, leave dry level off.

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PRESET MANAGEMENT
TC’s comprehensive file based preset architecture makes archiving presets a simple
process. This allows you to organize your presets the way you find most comfortable
for your workflow, and to exchange presets with other users, no matter the platform or
application. Presets are saved as discrete files on your hard drive. Once a preset is
saved into the default location, it will automatically appear in the ‘File’ menu every
time you use the plug-in. The files can then be organized into subfolders, where you
can delete, rearrange or create your own sub-folders to accommodate your needs.
Note: A folder will appear in the Preset File Menu if it contains at least one preset.
NEXT/PREVIOUS PRESETS
From the plug-in’s Main page, you can directly jump from one preset to the next (or
previous) by clicking on the up/down arrows right from preset name.
All presets available at the default plug-in preset location will be considered, so you
could in theory reach every preset this way. Direct access to specific presets is done
via the “File” button:
PRESET FILE MENU
Pressing the ‘File’ button will open the plug-in’s file menu. The following options are
available from the file menu.
Loading a Preset
By selecting ‘Load’, you can navigate to any folder on the system that you have read
access to, including any shared folder. By default, these will be loaded from the
default location for DVR2 presets. Only presets located in the default file location will
appear in the DVR2 pop-up preset menu.
Naming a Preset
• Double click on the name field
• Type in the new name
• Press Enter

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12 / DVR2
Saving a Preset
By selecting ‘Save’, you can save your preset to any folder on the system that you
have write access to, including any shared folder. By default, presets are saved to the
default location for the DVR2 presets.
DEFAULT PRESET LOCATIONS
The following locations will describe where you can find the DVR2 presets. The pre-
sets are stored in a folder that is unique to each plug-in:
Mac OS X
Files are stored in your user folder:
~ \ Library \ Application Support \ POWERCORE \ TC Electronic \ Presets \ DVR2
(~ \ Refers to your user folder: Users \ Your Name)
Windows
Files are stored on the Windows OS hard drive.
~ \ TCWorks \ POWERCORE \ TC Electronic \ Presets \ DVR2
(~ \ Refers to the path for your System Hard Drive \ Program Files)
• To delete a file, simply move it to the ‘Trash’ or ‘Recycle bin’.
• To create a new subfolder that appears in the plug-in menu, simply create a new
folder in the plug-in folder that resides in the PRESETS folder of the DVR2 default
preset location.
Note: A folder will not appear in the Preset File Menu unless it has at least one preset
inside.

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CONVERTING DVR2 PRESETS FROM SYSTEM 6000 AND
REVERB 4000
In case you are the happy owner of the DVR2 algorithm for System 6000 or the
Reverb 4000, here is something to get you in an even better mood: The DVR2 plug-in
is able to read your System 6000/Reverb 4000 presets.
In order to convert presets from System 6000/Reverb 4000 to DVR2, you need to
store the System 6000/Reverb 4000 presets in a preset file. The file extension has to
be either “.syx” (for example: MyPresets.syx) or .mid for a MIDI file.
The easiest way to export System 6000/Reverb 4000 presets is to use the “export to
file” function from the Icon Editor for Mac/Windows (requires version 3.5 or higher).
Alternatively, you can save a bank to a floppy disk (System 6000 only) or do a SysEx-
Dump to a MIDI file in your sequencer.
Note: For details regarding the export of presets from System 6000 or Reverb 4000,
please refer to your System 6000/Reverb 4000 and Icon Editor documentation.
The generated SysEx/MIDI preset file needs to be placed in the default DVR2 Preset
folder (at the root level; subfolders are not considered). The file needs to have either
the extension “.syx” (for example: MyPresets.syx) or .mid for a MIDI file.
Note: In case you are running the Icon Editor on the same computer as the DVR2
plug-in, the DVR2 will automatically search for preset files in the default locations for
Reverb 4000 and System 6000 files. You do not need to copy the files!
Once your preset file has been placed in the default DVR2 Preset folder, it will show
up the next time you click the "File" button. At the top of the pop-up list you'll find a
section called "Convert", and the name of your preset file will be listed here.
To convert your preset file to DVR2 presets, simply select the name of the preset file.
The conversion will only take a few seconds and only needs to be done once.
When the conversion is done, all presets from your preset file will be available in a
subfolder that has the same name as the preset file had. The presets will show up in
the same bank structure as on the System 6000, and presets that are not based on
the DVR2 algorithm will not be converted.
The preset file will disappear from the Convert section of the file menu.
Note: As the plug-in implementation of the DVR2 is stereo only, the surround settings
from the System 6000 version will be ignored during preset conversion!

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14 / DVR2
COMPARE SETTINGS WITH A/B MEM.
With the A/B compare function you can easily compare different parameter settings
when you work with your music. You have two buttons: the “Mem” and the “A/B” but-
ton.
When you start working with your preset, the A/B button is grayed out. This state indi-
cates that the settings in both memory locations A and B are identical – so there is
actually nothing to compare.
As soon as you touch one of the parameters, the memory location “A” will get active,
and the “A”-part of the A/B button will light up. All parameter changes will be applied
to memory location “A”. If you switch to memory location “B”, you get back to your
starting point, and all further changes will now be applied to memory location “B”.
Every time you press the A/B button, you will toggle between these two memory loca-
tions.
Note: The A/B memory locations are temporary settings only! Saving a preset (e.g. via
the File button or with your session) will only save the currently selected memory loca-
tion. The setting of the other (hidden) memory location will not be saved!
The “Mem” button will reset the A/B memory locations to the current setting.

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LOCKING PARAMETER VALUES – USING THE PARAMETER LOCK
The parameter lock function allows you to lock the parameters In Level, Out Level, Dry
Level, Wet Level and the assignment of the Focus fields from changing when you
change preset.
By using the parameter lock, you can easily browse through the extensive set of pre-
sets that comes with the DVR2, without having to change back the locked parameter
with each preset change.
To lock a parameter, simply click on the small lock in the parameter field. To unlock
it, click again.
The parameter lock only affects parameter changes made with the mouse. The param-
eter lock does not affect automation data or preset changes initialized from the host
application. These changes will always pass.
An example: You have inserted the DVR2 on a channel. When you use the DVR2 as an
insert effect, you would probably like the dry part of the signal to go trough the DVR2,
and therefore you’d probably turn up the “Dry Level”.
Now, if you browse through a couple of presets, using the up and down arrows on the
right side of the preset name, you will see that most of the presets have the Dry Level
set to “Off”. In other words, the Dry Level goes to “Off” all the time – which can
become quite annoying.
And here comes the Parameter Lock. Press the small lock in the Dry Level parameter
field, and the Dry Level will stay at the value that you’ve set it on – no matter what is
saved with the preset you choose.
Once you touch the parameter or send automation data, the lock will automatically
unlock.

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16 / DVR2