colorFX

SUITE
English language manual
Copyright
This documentation is protected by copyright law.
All rights, especially the right of duplication, circulation, and translation are reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in form of copies, microfilms or other
processes, or transmitted into a language used for machines, especially data processing
machines, without the express written consent of the publisher.
All rights of reproduction are reserved. Errors in and changes to the contents as well as
program modifications reserved.
Copyright © MAGIX Software GmbH, 2009 - 2020. All rights reserved.
MAGIX is a registered trademark of MAGIX Software GmbH.
Other mentioned product names may be registered trademarks of the respective
manufacturer. MAGIX licensing conditions are made clear in the installation process and
can also be found at www.magix.com under EULA.
This product uses MAGIX patent pending technology.

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Table Of Contents
Introduction 4
Installation 5
Common Controls 6
Visualizations 7
Filter 8
Gain/Mix 8
Modulation 9
Presets and Settings 11
Tape Machine 12
Tube Distortion 14
Bitcrusher 15
Customer support 16

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 Introduction

Introduction
Digital recording and playback technology has been brought to perfection over the last
few decades, so it's no longer a big deal to record music that is free of noise or distortion
and faithfully reproduces every little detail of an instrument.
But in the course of developing towards this, we have learned to live with the
shortcomings of the old recording techniques. Their special timbre corresponds to our
listening habits and is indispensable for many types of music: the analog distortions of
tube amplifiers, the warmth and noise of tape recordings, or the dirty, punchy sound of
early 8- or 12-bit digital technology.
The effects of colorFX Suite give you back this very special sound coloration: TUBE
DISTORTION simulates the behavior of tube amps for authentic guitar sound and analog
warmth by adding harmonic overtones and distortion. TAPE MACHINE authentically
simulates the sound of the magnetic tape recording, with all the shortcomings such as
speed fluctuations, tape wear or noise that make up the nostalgic charm of old
recordings, and adds extra pressure through tape saturation. BITCRUSHER enables
authentic lo-fi sounds by reducing bitrate and sample rate. Brutal digital distortions for
the very hard industrial sound are just as possible as hardly audible digital noise.
An automatic level control for the input and output level ensures that the effects can
always be optimally used. An additional modulation unit, which can modulate levels,
filters and other parameters depending on the input level, the sidechain input or an LFO
synchronized to the project tempo, makes it possible to use it as a dynamic or creative
effect.
Each of the plug-ins contains many hands-on presets for daily use. Just try out the presets
to get an idea of how the plug-ins work!

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 Installation

Installation
If you have not yet used third-party VST/AU plug-ins, please consult your host software's
documentation about how to integrate plug-ins.
The plug-ins should be installed in a folder that is known to the sequencer/host
software. For Windows, please make sure that a folder for this purpose is defined in the
settings of your software. Mac OSX always saves VST plug-ins in the
"/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST" folder. AU plug-ins are in the "/Library/Audio/Plug-
Ins/Components“ folder.
To start the installation, please click the installation file.
During the installation process, you will be asked to enter a path for the installation of
VST plug-ins. A file path for the installation will be suggested, this should match the one
defined in your host software. (Not required for MAC OS X).
Most current VST hosts can manage sub-folders within the plug-in folder to improve
handling. You can therefore accept the folder recommended by the installer, create a
new folder or use an already existing one. AU plug-ins on a Mac may not be installed in
sub-folders.
After successful installation, you can start your host/sequencer software as usual and
the colorFX Suite can now be used.

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 Common Controls

Common Controls
The user interface of the three plug-ins of colorFX Suite has the same structure and
offers a number of identical functions. First, these common functions are discussed, the
specific settings of the plug-ins are discussed below.

VISUALIZATION: At the input and output of the effect there are Visualizations,
which can be used to display the level of the input and output signal with
different instruments.
FILTER: Before and after the actual effect, the signal passes through a combined
lowpass/highpass-Filter
GAIN/MIX: In the area Gain/Mix the input level (GAIN), the output level (MAKEUP)
and the mixing ratio between processed and unprocessed signal (MIX) can be
adjusted. An optional Limiter prevents digital overload (clipping).
MODULATION: In the area Modulation a modulation source can be created,
which can modulate certain parameters of the effect depending on the input
signal (INTERNAL), the signal at the sidechain (SIDECHAIN) or periodically (LFO).
PRESETS/SETTINGS: In the area Presets and Settings presets can be loaded, there
you can also reach further settings for the plug-ins and the bypass function.
In the middle area are the actual parameters for the effects Tube Distortion,
Tape Machine and Bitcrusher.

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 Common Controls

With a single click on the value of a parameter below the control, the value can also be
entered numerically. The Tab key can also be used to switch between the values.

Visualizations

There is a visualization area at the input and output of the effect, where the input and
output signal can be visualized with different measuring instruments.

METER: The VU + True Peak display shows the VU level

(pointer) and the absolute peak level (small line). The
slightly larger line shows a peak hold value at intervals
of seconds. In the effect Tape Machine the VU meter
can be switched to RECORDING to display the tape
recording level.

SPECTRUM: Spectrum displays the frequency

distribution of the signal in real-time.

WAVEFORM: Waveform represents the envelope of the

signal's waveform.

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 Common Controls

LOUDNESS: Loudness represents the peak level, the

short-term loudness (LUFS s) and the integrated
loudness (LUFS i) of the signal. The short-term
loudness is averaged over the last 3 seconds. It is a
measure for the perceived volume of the signal and is
also used for the automatic adjustment of the make-up
gain and the input level.

Filter
Before and after the actual effect, the signal passes through a combined
lowpass/highpass filter.

If you move the knob to the The Output

left, the filter works as a low Filter also
pass, if you move it to the contains a filter
right, it works as a high pass. resonance
In the centre position the adjustment
signal remains unaffected. option. It is
possible to
modulate the
filter
frequency.

Gain/Mix
In the Gain/Mix section you can set the input level (GAIN), the output level (MAKEUP) and
the mixing ratio between processed and unprocessed signal (MIX). An optional Limiter
prevents digital overload (clipping).

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 Common Controls

INPUTGAIN: For the effects TUBE DISTORTION and TAPE MACHINE the sound of
the effect depends significantly on a proper input level. For optimum operation,
the controller should be set so it just stays gray. When the level is too high, click
on the icon to automatically reduce the input level to the optimal value.
MAKEUP: The Makeup control adjusts the level differences caused by the effect.
The make-up control also has an automatic function. By clicking on the
symbol, the short-term loudness is compared between input and output signal
and the makeup gain is adjusted so that these values are equal.
The makeup control can be modulated , allowing periodic volume changes to
simulate pump effects (modulation via LFO) or dynamic effects such as
compression (internal/sidechain modulation).

To prevent digital clipping, there is an optional LIMITER. When it is switched

on, the red LED shows when it had to become active.
If the LED lights up very often, you have to reduce the makeup gain, preferably
with the automatic control .

MIX: specifies the mix ratio of the original sound and the processed signal.
With the lock symbol , the slider can be fixed, so it won't change if you load
another preset. This makes it easier to compare different presets in the context
of a mix.

Modulation
To expand your creative possibilities, some parameters of the effects can be modulated,
i.e. their value is automatically changed starting from the set base value.

Above the parameters that can be modulated, there is a slider with

which you can set the strength and direction of the modulation (1).
If you drag the slider to the left, the modulation is subtracted from
the parameter value, if you drag to the right, it is added.
The LED ring on the parameter controller shows the course of the
modulation in real time (2)

The following parameters can be modulated:

l All effects: Makeup Gain, Output Filter Frequency

l Tube Distortion: Drive, Distortion

l Tape Machine: Drive

l Bitcrusher: Bit Crush, Rate Crush

MODE: The modulation can either be dependent on the input signal (internal/sidechain)
or periodically by an LFO (low frequency oscillator).

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 Common Controls

INTERNAL: The modulation is obtained from the envelope of the

input signal.
SIDECHAIN:The modulation is obtained from the sidechain input. A
side-chain is a secondary stereo input channel pair that can be used
to control the effect by a different signal as the one being
processed.
Your host software has to support side-chaining, i.e. it has to be
capable of routing audio from one track (or bus) into the additional
inputs (3/4) of the plug-in on another track. Consult the manual of
your host software if and how you can do this in your host
software!
LFO: Modulation is done periodically by a tempo synchronized
LFO.

Modulation controls in Internal/Sidechain mode

The modulation value is obtained via a envelope follower. This tries to extract a
volume envelope from the signal. SENSITIVITY is used to set the sensitivity. The
greater the sensitivity, the more the volume of the input signal influences the
modulation.
The modulation LED is used to visually check the modulation signal.

ATTACK/DECAY: The time constants define how the envelope follower reacts to
rising (ATTACK) and falling (DECAY) levels. The smaller the times, the faster and
more accurate the modulation follows the level of the input signal.

Modulation controls in LFO mode

FREQUENCY: The modulation frequency (speed) is synchronized to the tempo of

the host application and is therefore defined in musical time units (bars). The
tempo can be between 16/1d (16 bars, dotted = 24 bars) and 1/64t (64th
triplets).
The modulation LED is used to visually check the modulation signal.

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 Common Controls

WAVE: Waveform of the modulation. The controller continuously crossfades

between the waveforms Sine-Trick-sawtooth-Rectangular-Random (random
values).
PHASE: Controls the phase of the waveform. At 0° the shaft starts exactly at the
cycle limit, at higher values the zero crossing is delayed accordingly.

Presets and Settings

At the top of the plug-in window, you can select presets, adjust view settings and
temporarily disable the effect.

PREVIOUS/NEXT PRESET

PRESET MENU: In the menu you can select the presets from different categories.

SETTINGS: Here you can disable the tooltips. You can also switch the labels of
the controls: At VALUE the set value is always displayed, at DYNAMIC the value is
only displayed when you move the mouse over it and otherwise its function.
SHOW TUTORIAL opens the tutorial, which explains the function of the effects.
BYPASS: Use this button to temporarily disable the effect.

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 Tape Machine

Tape Machine
The effect TAPE MACHINE simulates the characteristic sound of a tape recording. The
most important factor here is the phenomenon of tape saturation: When digital
recording technology is used, if the recording is correctly leveled, there is no sound
change. But as soon as the input level is too high, the level peaks are cut off, this digital
clipping leads to very unpleasant distortions. With tape overdrive, on the other hand,
this transition is fluid: as the level increases, the tape becomes "saturated", resulting in a
smooth overdrive that is perceived as pleasant. Depending on other factors, such as tape
speed and condition, this produces characteristic overtones that give the recording
"warmth" and "pressure".
On the other hand, the technical inadequacies of a tape recorder, such as speed
fluctuations, tape wear and noise, can be added, either subtly for an authentic retro
feeling, or brute force as a creative effect.
Some parameters of the tape simulation (soften, grain, head bump) are difficult to explain
without delving deeply into the technical details of magnetic tape sound technology. The
best thing to do is to use the presets as a starting point and simply try out the influence of
the various controls on the sound!

DRIVE: Controls the signal level at which the signal is recorded on the magnetic
tape. The level can be controlled by switching the input visualization to
RECORDING . The visualization must be set to METER. Levels higher
than 0dB produce tape saturation.
LOW/HIGH: This control lets you increase or decrease the amount of tape
saturation for low and high frequencies separately.
TAPE SPEED: With this control you set the tape speed in inches per second (ips,
inch per second) There are no pitch effects, but the speed has a great influence
on the basic sound of the effect. Especially at very slow tape speeds, many high
frequencies are removed, while very high tape speeds remove the bass
frequencies.

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 Tape Machine

HEAD BUMP: Head Bumps are "humps" in the bass range of the frequency
response. They occur when the wavelength of the recorded signals on the tape
is equal to the width (or a multiple thereof) of the recording head. Use the slider
to control the strength of the head bump. The boosted frequency range
depends on the tape speed.
SOFTEN: Controls the time response of a slew limiter. This slows down the speed
at which the signal changes. Higher values therefore make the sound softer and
duller.
GRAIN: This control simulates wear and dirt on the tape and tape head, higher
values produce more "dirt" and background noise.

NOISE: Sets the amount of tape noise added. With the lock icon this value
can be locked so that it remains the same when another preset is loaded.
The noise recording was taken from a real tape machine.

FLUTTER: Sets the strength of the added flutter. You can completely deactivate
the Effect with the switch . When Flutter is active, the plug-in generates an
additional delay. Such delays are automatically compensated in the DAW, but
this could be important for live use (e.g. as Input FX).

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 Tube Distortion

Tube Distortion
The effect TUBE DISTORTION simulates the sound of a tube amp. Non-linear distortions
are added to the signal, which are caused by saturation of the tube preamplifier on the
one hand, and by construction-related distortions of the power amplifier on the other.

"DRIVE" This controls the strength of the tube saturation. On the one hand, a
gentle compression of the signal is created, on the other hand, harmonic
overtones are added. The saturation is responsible for the warm, analog sound.
BIAS: Shifts the bias point of tube saturation, changing the character of the
harmonics generated by the saturation.
DISTORTION: Controls the strength of the Crossover Distortion. These are non-
linear distortions caused by the circuitry of Class A and Class A/B amplifiers.
You can find more information about this topic in this Wikipedia article!

CLASS: Fades the character of the distortion between Class AB (softer) and
Class B (harder).
EMPHASIS: The Emphasis knob controls how low and high frequencies are
affected by the distortion This can change the sound quite dramatically. Turning
the knob to the left highlights the low frequencies and turning it to the right
highlights the high frequencies.

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 Bitcrusher

Bitcrusher
Naturally, digital processing of analog signals always uses only an approximate image of
the original signal. The signal is not processed continuously, but measured at regular
intervals (sample rate) and the measurement result is stored as a digital value with a
certain resolution (bit depth), which is the number of different values that can be used to
map from the quietest to the loudest level. The sample rate and bit depth are usually set
high enough to ensure that this mapping is accurate enough to avoid audible mapping
errors (artifacts).
With the Bitcrusher, these sampling parameters can be artificially reduced and thus
consciously create typical digital artifacts (artificial noise) to simulate the sound of early
digital technology when technical possibilities were not yet available.

RATE CRUSH: Reduces the sample rate. The fact that frequency components
above half the sample rate can no longer be reproduced results in the typical lo-
fi aliasing artifacts known from electronic toys, for example.
BIT CRUSH: Reduces the bit depth Since the digital image cannot follow the
original waveform, when the resolution is too low, nonlinear distortion occurs.
Since quiet signals below a certain level have to be rounded, quantization noise
also occurs, as the lowest bit of the sample is only set randomly.
JITTER: This control produces fluctuations in the sampling frequency that
change the sound of the generated aliasing. The greater the jitter, the less tonal
and noisy the aliasing artifacts become.
COLOR: The Color control adjusts the sound of the bit crush distortion.

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 Customer support

Customer support
Dear MAGIX customer,
Our aim is to provide convenient, fast and solution-focused support, which is why you
can get unlimited web support and help through our online community at
www.magix.info.
As a registered MAGIX customer, you have unlimited access to web support offered by
the MAGIX service portal in the Support area at www.magix.info. You have access to an
intelligent help wizard, high-quality FAQs, patches and user reports that are constantly
updated.
The Online Community is available for free to all registered MAGIX customers in the
Forum area. The community enables you to ask members questions concerning MAGIX
products as well as use the search function in order to search for specific topics or
answers. In addition to questions & answers, the knowledge pool includes a glossary,
video tutorials and a discussion forum. The multiple experts, who are on
www.magix.info everyday, guarantee quick answers, which sometimes come within
minutes of a question being posted.
Note: A free registration is required for a support request at www.magix.info.

MAGIX Sales Department

You can reach the MAGIX Sales Department workdays for help with the following
questions and problems:
l Orders

l Product consulting (pre-purchase)

l Upgrade requests

l Returns

Phone: +49 5741 3455-31, Monday to Friday 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Email: [email protected]
Address: MAGIX Software GmbH, Borsigstrasse 24, 32312 Lübbecke

Particularities for purchases made through Steam™

Different conditions apply if you have purchased the program through Steam™. You can
find more information at https://support.steampowered.com.

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 Customer support

Index
A
Attack 10
Autogain 9
B
Bit Crush 15
Bitcrusher 15
Bypass 11
C
Color 15
Crossover Distortion 14
D
Decay 10
Drive 12
Dynamic 11
E
envelope follower 10
F
Flutter 13
Frequency 10
G
Gain 9
Grain 13
H
Head Bump 13
I
inch per second 12
input level 9
Internal 10

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 Customer support

ips 12
J
Jitter 15
L
LFO 10
limiter 9
lock symbol 9
Loudness 8
Low/High 12
LUFS 8
M
Mix 9
Modulation 9
N
Noise 13
P
Phase 11
preset 11
presets 11
R
Rate Crush 15
Recording 12
S
saturation 14
Sensitivity 10
Settings 11
Sidechain 10
Soften 13
Spectrum 7
T
TAPE MACHINE 12

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 Customer support

Tape Speed 12
tooltips 11
Tube Distortion 14
tutorial 11
V
Value 11
Visualizations 7
VU + True Peak 7
W
Wave 11
Waveform 7, 11

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