Exciter - Neutron 4 Help Documentation
Table of Contents
Overview
The Exciter can be used to add subtle or dramatic harmonic distortion to enhance and accentuate elements in your audio.
Module Interface
The Exciter module includes the following sections:
Tame
When Tame is enabled, the input signal’s original dynamics are restored and distortion is applied evenly to performances with varying dynamics. When Tame is disabled the Exciter acts as a typical stompbox effect, where distortion is applied based on the level of the original signal, amount of applied gain, and the distortion profile.
Tame Affects Volume
In instances where gain boosts occur due to liberal use of distortion the Tame button will drop the volume of the signal to restore the original dynamics of the input signal.
Use Tame With Dynamic Material
Tame is best used in situations where you want to maintain the original musical expression of an input signal. For example, applying the Exciter to a vocal part that has soft and loud dynamic material may result in reducing the dynamic range of the part entirely. Adding Tame will provide an evenly distributed distortion effect and maintain that vocal part’s dynamics.
Pre-Emphasis Modes
Used to apply subtle harmonic emphasis to saturation in different areas of the frequency spectrum. These differences allow mild changes to the low-mids (vocal thickness or body) or high-mids (vocal presence). The types of Pre-Emphasis Modes available to you are:
- FULL: low-mid frequency bump.
- DEFINED: high-mid frequency bump.
- CLEAR: gentle, low-mid frequency attenuation.
Learn
Enable Learn to allow the Exciter to quickly identify natural crossover cutoff points and provide cutoff placement suggestions based on intelligently identified minima in the spectrum.
Reset
Enable Reset to revert the entire Exciter module back to factory default. If you wish to return to settings you were using before clicking the Reset button, you can use the Undo History window to revert to the settings before the Reset event.
LFE
This option appears when Neutron is inserted on a 5.1 or 7.1 surround track. When enabled, the LFE channel will be processed along with all other channels. When disabled, the LFE channel will not be processed by the associated module. If necessary, latency compensation is applied to the LFE channel when it is disabled, to ensure timing is maintained between all channels.
Meters and Displays
Meters and displays illustrate how the Exciter is responding to and processing the input signal.
- Input signal spectrum: displayed as a dark gray spectrum, behind the output spectrum.
- Output signal spectrum: displayed as a light gray spectrum, in front of the input spectrum.
- Northern Lights: highlighted areas of the spectrum to indicate where saturation is applied.
Controls
Tone
Adjusts the balance of distortion applied to low or high frequency content. Settings between -100 and 0 emphasize low frequency content and settings between 0 and 100 emphasize high frequency content.
Tone Filter Applied To Wet Signal
The Tone slider affects the entire wet signal which allows for powerful control over the Exciter Module’s entire frequency response.
Post Filter
Applies gentle shelving for attenuation. Displayed as a high shelf icon as high shelf icon overlaid on the multiband spectrum view. Drag the Post Filter node to adjust the frequency and the gain of the filter.
| Post Filter Adjustments | Ranges |
|---|---|
| Maximum Attenuation | -12dB |
| Frequency Range | 1kHz to 20kHz |
NOTE: Post Filter Applied to Wet Signal
The Post Filter will affect the entire wet signal which can help adjust/attenuate/tame the Exciter module’s high end frequency response.
HUD Controls
The following controls are available in the Exciter module HUD:
Drive
Adjust to control the amount of excitation applied to the signal.
Processing Mode
The processing mode in the Exciter switches the style of distortion between subtle and dramatic harmonic profiles per band. Classic processing mode provides four modes for subtle excitation use cases. Trash processing mode provides four modes for dramatic distortion use cases. The Trash name refers to the Trash 2 distortion product made by iZotope. You can choose between Classic or Trash modes.
- Classic:
- Retro: Edgy, biting, transistor-based fuzz with a slow decay of odd harmonics.
- Tape: Bright, emphasis on odd harmonics without adding damaging artifacts.
- Tube: Clear tonal excitation with emphasis on dynamics and transient attacks with a less harsh result than Tape or Retro.
- Warm: Similar to Tube, but with quickly decaying even harmonics that add color and character.
- Trash:
- Overdrive
- Scream
- Clipper
- Scratch
X/Y Pad
Blends different harmonic profiles to achieve the sound you want to hear.
Mix
Adjusts how much of the wet (processed) signal is applied to the dry (unprocessed) signal. The processing on the signal is dictated by the X/Y pad settings. Using the mix slider for a different blend of signals can have varying results:
- For a more extreme effect: set the blend to the maximum amount.
- For a less distinct and more integrated effect: set the blend to the middle of the slider or lower.
Neutron 4.0.2
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