Apple Studio Devil Computer Accessories User Manual


 
Studio Devil Virtual Bass Amp – User’s Guide, Page 7 of 9
©2008 Gallo Engineering & Design, PLLC. All rights reserved. “Virtual Bass Amp”, “Studio Devil VBA”, Studio Devil and the Studio Devil logo are trademarks of Gallo Engineering &
Design, PLLC. VST and the VST logo are trademarks of Steinberg Media Technologies, GmbH. Audio Units is a trademark of Apple, Inc.
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POWER AMP / LIMITER CONTROLS
POWER AMP / LIMITER CONTROLSPOWER AMP / LIMITER CONTROLS
POWER AMP / LIMITER CONTROLS
The POWER AMP / LIMITER controls allow you to add compression and loudness to your sound while minimizing
the amount of harsh distortion and audible clipping, just like when you turn up the volume on a real amp. Here’s
how the controls work:
DRIVE
DRIVEDRIVE
DRIVE CONTROL
CONTROL CONTROL
CONTROL:
::
: You can look at this control as the “Master Volume” of the amp. It sets the amount of power
amp soft clipping that occurs after your preamp in the signal processing chain. This has the effect of compressing
the sound and increasing its apparent loudness. Turn this knob to the left for a sound more like a preamp
recorded direct, or turn it to the right for more of that “miked up” power amp sound. When you turn the DRIVE
knob more to the left for clean sounds, you can compensate for the lower volume by boosting the GRAPHIC EQ
LEVEL SLIDER (see below). Or, if you turn the DRIVE up, you can compensate for the louder volume by lowering
the GRAPHIC EQ LEVEL SLIDER. This technique is the best way to keep a good level while changing the amount of
power amp drive and clipping. Experimentation is the key to finding what works best for you!
LIMITER CONTROL
LIMITER CONTROLLIMITER CONTROL
LIMITER CONTROL:
::
: This knob controls the type of power amp limiter by letting you choose from soft clipping to
hard clipping or anywhere in between! With hard clipping, any part of your signal that goes above the maximum
limit just gets clipped right off. This results in a buzzing or crunching that some bassists love. If you want a softer,
more pillow-like kind of feel, then soft-clipping is more for you. With soft clipping, the limiter pushes back against
your bass signal more and more as the level gets louder and louder. This results in a clipping that gradually
rounds off your peaks and sounds softer, mellower, and more muffled. Both the hard and soft clipping extremes
sound great, but with the LIMITER knob, you can select a setting anywhere in between! A good starting point is
somewhere between the middle and hard clipping…this is most like a real amp.
LIMITER LED INDICATOR
LIMITER LED INDICATORLIMITER LED INDICATOR
LIMITER LED INDICATOR: Between the DRIVE and LIMITER control knobs is a small red indicator light. This light
comes on when the limiter is really starting to clip. This is by no means a warning light! If you see this light come
on, it does NOT mean that you are overloading something, or doing something wrong. It just indicates that the
limiter is really starting to do some work, and it gives you an idea of how hard you’re driving it. In fact, many great
tones often drive this light on all the time. This light is meant to be a guide when it’s hard to hear what the limiter
is doing and when it’s hard to know if distortion is coming from the gain stage or the power limiter. But no matter
what, use your ears…they’ll tell you when it sounds right!
GRAPHIC EQUALIZER
GRAPHIC EQUALIZERGRAPHIC EQUALIZER
GRAPHIC EQUALIZER