Oxford Inflator (HD-HDX)

The Sonnox Inflator for Pro Tools|HD (TDM) is a unique process that can provide an increase in the apparent loudness of almost any programme, without obvious loss of quality or audible reduction of dynamic range, yet avoiding damaging increases in the peak level of the signal. The inflator process can also bring power, presence and warmth to programme material and even provide headroom overload margin above digital maximum with a subtlety and musical character reminiscent of tube systems.Use the Inflator to produce louder mixes than you thought possible without overloads or compression pumping, or use it to add natural warmth and character to acoustic or jazz mixes.


General
No matter how limited and crushed program material already is, the Inflator will provide even more loudness. It will even add apparent volume to a full-scale white noise signal, or add musicality to previously clipped signals.

The Inflator was developed in response to requests from mixing and mastering engineers who are required to compete on the basis of the overall apparent loudness of their final results. It' capable of producing much louder mixes without overloads or compression pumping. Since it is truly a real-time process, there are no time constants involved, as would be the case with limiters and compressors. For the same reason, there is absolutely no chance of losing presence or the flattening of percussive attack.

Used more subtly, it can add natural warmth and character to acoustic or jazz mixes. Use it on single instruments to add presence, softness and depth, or use it on percussion and drum tracks to produce amazing dynamic presence, tightness and volume. The full dynamics of the program is largely preserved but with an increase in the average modulation density.

A further aspect of enhancement provided by the Inflator involves the creation of warmth reminiscent of good 'tube' or 'electronic valve' systems. Significant 'musical overdrive' can be achieved working especially well on individual tracks.

Input Section
The input section can be used in two ways.

¢ If the CLIP 0dBr button is selected, then the input clips at 0dB, in the same manner as any normal input. As soon as the signal reaches levels of 0dB or greater, overloads will be indicated by the meters.

¢ If the CLIP 0dBr button is off, the Inflator is able to process signals beyond the equivalent of the normal digital maximum. The INPUT fader has up to 12dB of gain for additional input level in order to help the creation of saturation effects, where the Inflator can absorb levels up to 6dB greater than normal digital maximum, as indicated by the input meters.

Effect and Curve
The CURVE fader sets the characteristic of the Inflator effect. 0.0 is a good starting point, when the fader is set in the middle of its travel. Settings above 0.0 give more saturated sounds, whereas settings below 0.0 give cleaner, more subtle results.

The EFFECT fader sets the amount of Inflator effect applied, where 0.0% leaves the signal unaffected and 100% is maximum effect. The effect meter indicates the amount of effect in action.

Band Split
Selecting BAND SPLIT causes the signal to be split into three separate bands, which are processed individually. (Active on RTAS and Band Split TDM plug-ins only.)

Output Section
Meter indicates the OUTPUT level from the Inflator, which can be fine-tuned using the fader. The fader can be left at maximum in most cases using the non-band-split mode, as the Inflator does not increase the signal peak level.


Note: Sonnox plug-ins require iLok authorization - see (#H70847)
Sonnox plug-ins use the Pace iLok key method of authorization, so the plug-ins can be installed on as many systems as desired, but can only be used on a single system at any one time, by insertion of the authorized iLok device into a USB port on the computer system in use.If more than one copy of an Oxford plug-in is purchased, the authorizations should be transferred to different iLok devices, to enable use of the plug-in on more than one system at a time.

Mac OSX 10.7 Lion compatibility:
Sonnox has yet to complete compatibility testing of the Sonnox plug-ins range with Mac OSX 10.7 Lion. To ensure a trouble-free transition to Lion, we recommend that Sonnox users refrain from upgrading their Mac OS until we have completed our evaluations, and made update releases available as required. Check for a compatibility status change at Sonnox' website.