Voxengo TransGainer User Guide

Version 1.14
https://www.voxengo.com/product/transgainer/
Voxengo TransGainer User Guide

Contents

Introduction 3
Features 3
Compatibility 3
User Interface Elements 4
Envelope Control 4
“Legacy” Algorithm 4
“Precise” Algorithm 5
Out 5
Credits 6
Beta-Testers 6
Questions and Answers 7

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Voxengo TransGainer User Guide

Introduction

TransGainer, an audio plug-in suitable for a wide range of professional music

production uses, implements an audio signal envelope adjustment algorithm that
reacts on transients rather than on a signal’s loudness level. This algorithm allows
you to adjust volume of attack and sustain stages of any sounds you use it on.
TransGainer was designed in a way to be suitable for all possible sound sources – be
it individual tracks or full mixes.
In many cases TransGainer can be used in place of gate and expander plug-ins while
delivering a better sound and offering an easier control. Beside that, TransGainer can
be used for audio recording restoration/re-mastering purposes and reverb tail
modifications with excellent results.
TransGainer allows you to specify positive or negative gain adjustment for a sound’s
transient stage. You can also choose an expected average time between transients
and transient threshold level so that the algorithm delivers you the most precise
results possible. With the help of TransGainer you can pass the border from good to
excellent audio recordings!

Features

 Transient stage loudness adjustments

 Four processing algorithms
 5 processing modes in the “legacy” algorithm
 Transient-to-transient time control
 Stereo and multi-channel processing
 Internal channel routing
 Channel grouping
 Mid/side processing
 Up to 8x oversampling
 64-bit floating point processing
 Preset manager
 Undo/redo history
 A/B comparisons
 Contextual hint messages
 All sample rates support
 Zero processing latency

Compatibility
This audio plug-in can be loaded into any audio host application that conforms to the
AAX, AudioUnit, VST, or VST3 plug-in specification.
This plug-in is compatible with Windows (32- and 64-bit Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10
and later versions, if not announced otherwise) and macOS (10.11 and later versions,
if not announced otherwise, 64-bit Intel and Apple Silicon processor-based)
computers (2.5 GHz dual-core or faster processor with at least 4 GB of system RAM
required). A separate binary distribution file is available for each target computer
platform and audio plug-in specification.

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User Interface Elements

Note: All Voxengo plug-ins feature a highly consistent user interface. Most interface
elements (buttons, labels) located at the top of the user interface are the same in all
Voxengo plug-ins. For an in-depth description of these and other standard features,
and user interface elements, please refer to the “Voxengo Primary User Guide”.

Envelope Control
This panel allows you to control input signal’s detection and resulting dynamics
envelope. Here you can see the transient detection real-time graph which displays
“power” of detected transients. With sound material that has weak transients the
graph will mostly be empty, displaying values around the bottom while with a highly-
dynamical signal the graph will draw clear transients reaching the top of the graph.
The “Legacy” mode displays a meter instead of a graph in the range 0.0 (weak
transients) to 1.0 (strong transients).
TransGainer features two distinctive processing algorithms: the “Legacy”, which is an
algorithm introduced in the initial plug-in’s release; and “Precise”/“Precise U”, which
are the latest reworked algorithms.

“Legacy” Algorithm
The “Mode” selector chooses processing mode of the plug-in (note that the selected
mode also affects transient detection meter):

 Mellow: a “standard” mode offering a smooth overall sound.

 LF Focus: a mode with a focus on the lower frequencies.
 HF Focus: a mode with a focus on the higher frequencies.
 Round: mode with a “rounder” sound overall.
 Sharp: a generally “sharper” sounding mode – allows you to adjust transients
even if the input sound’s transients are weakly-defined. However, this mode
may sound less “controlled”.
The “Auto” switch enables automatic selection of the “Detect Delay” and “Contour”
parameters based on the values of the “Trans Gain” and “Sustain Gain” parameters.
Note that the “Auto” mode does not engage any audio signal-dependent parameter
adjustment.
The “Det Delay” parameter specifies transient detection guideline – an expected
average delay (in milliseconds) between two adjacent transients. Lower “Detect
Delay” values force plug-in to react to most transients. Note that overly low values
may produce a bit “unstable” or “dirty” sound. Best set to match song's tempo. This
parameter partially affects duration and envelope form of transient and sustain
stages. Any unwanted “unstable” fluctuations at lower “Detect Delay” settings can be
reduced by increasing the “Contour” parameter. However, when you are using high
“Detect Delay” values (thus reducing the number of detected intermediate transients
and producing an overall “stable” sound) the “Contour” parameter can be set lower.
The “Contour” parameter specifies duration (in milliseconds) of additional transient-
to-transient release stage (this parameter can be also called “Decay” or “Release”).

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Voxengo TransGainer User Guide

Higher “Contour” values produce smoother sound, but at the expense of reduced
“punch” effect. Mellow instrumental and orchestral recordings may require higher
“Contour” values while contemporary club music will sound better with low
“Contour” values. Note that high “Contour” parameter may hinder the effect of the
“Detect Delay” parameter, so it is suggested to adjust the “Detect Delay” parameter
with “Contour” set to a lower value. When you are using extreme “Trans Gain” and
“Sustain Gain” settings you should probably use a higher “Contour” value if you want
to get a natural sound decay.
The “Trans Gain” parameter specifies maximal gain adjustment (in decibels) any
transient may cause. Real gain adjustment is usually lower than this value. Only the
fastest transients (that drive the detection meter to 1.0) may force algorithm to reach
the specified “Trans Gain” value.
The “Sustain Gain” parameter specifies maximal gain adjustment (in decibels) that
may happen during signal’s sustain stage.

“Precise” Algorithm
This algorithm is based on the same concepts as the “Legacy” algorithm, but further
refines the control over results you get. The “Precise” algorithm has no “Sustain
Gain” parameter, because the “Trans Gain” parameter coupled with the “Trans
Decay” (see below) parameter can be used in tandem thus effectively redefining the
sustain part of the sound.
The “Precise U” algorithm is one of the latest editions of the “Precise” algorithm
which offers an even greater precision of transient selectivity. The “Precise B”
algorithm is better suited for mix and bus (broadband) processing.
The “Det Thresh” parameter adjusts transient detector’s threshold level that is used
to skip weak transients which may produce “dirty” sound. You may use higher
threshold value if the sound becomes too “wobbly” or “dirty” meaning a lot of weak
(unpronounced) transients are being detected. When you are using low “Detect
Delay” values you usually need to use high “Detect Thresh” values; and vice versa.
The meaning of the “threshold” is quite straight-forward: it is the power level of
“wanted” transients; transients that are weaker will be removed.
The “X.Attack” parameter specifies transient attack or hold time in milliseconds.
This parameter controls the time a transient signal stays at the maximal level. Lower
values provide selectivity to pronounced transients. Higher values can be used to
increase selectivity of short, high-frequency, transients. If you need “snappy” fast
sound you have to use lower attack values, but if you need “big” sound you should use
higher attack values.
The “X.Decay” parameter specifies duration of detected transients/events. This
parameter is similar to the “Contour” parameter of the “Legacy” algorithm.

Out
The “Out Gain” parameter controls the overall output gain (in decibels) of the plug-
in.

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Voxengo TransGainer User Guide

Credits

DSP algorithms, internal signal routing code, user interface layout by Aleksey Vaneev.
Graphics user interface code by Vladimir Stolypko. Graphics elements by Vladimir
Stolypko and Scott Kane.
This plug-in is implemented in multi-platform C++ code form and uses “zlib”
compression library (written by Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler), “LZ4”
compression library by Yann Collet, “base64” code by Jouni Malinen, FFT algorithm
by Takuya Ooura, filter design equations by Robert Bristow-Johnson, VST plug-in
technology by Steinberg, AudioUnit plug-in SDK by Apple, Inc., AAX plug-in SDK by
Avid Technology, Inc., Intel IPP and run-time library by Intel Corporation (used
under the corresponding licenses granted by these parties).
Voxengo TransGainer Copyright © 2009-2023 Aleksey Vaneev.
VST is a trademark and software of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.

Beta-Testers
Alan Willey
gl.tter
Jay Key
Matthew Fagg
Murray McDowall
Niklas Silen
Steffen Bluemm

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Voxengo TransGainer User Guide

Questions and Answers

Q. I’m unable to obtain an even dynamical enhancement with this plug-

in, because “punchy” sounds in the original track become much louder
than less “punchy” sounds in the same track. How can this problem be
resolved?
A. Such situation can be handled pretty well by inserting a compressor (saturator)
before TransGainer. By means of compressor or saturator original track’s dynamics
can be equalized so that TransGainer’s algorithm produces an equal loudness
increase on every transient.

Happy Mixing and Mastering!