OVERLOUD GEMS

USER MANUAL

Rev. 1.13.1

 OVERLOUD GEMS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................1

WHY GEMS? ........................................................................................................................................1

MENU BAR..........................................................................................................................................4

COMP76 .............................................................................................................................................5

EQ495 ................................................................................................................................................8

TAPEDESK ..........................................................................................................................................9

EQ84 ................................................................................................................................................14

DOPAMINE........................................................................................................................................16

SCULPTUBE ......................................................................................................................................18

EQ550 ..............................................................................................................................................20

COMP G ............................................................................................................................................21

ECHOSON..........................................................................................................................................23

COMP670 .........................................................................................................................................27

OTD-2 ..............................................................................................................................................29

COMP LA ..........................................................................................................................................32

VOICE ...............................................................................................................................................35

MODULA...........................................................................................................................................39

SOLO ................................................................................................................................................43

SCRIBBLES........................................................................................................................................44

PREFERENCES ...................................................................................................................................46

LEGAL NOTICE ...................................................................................................................................47

 OVERLOUD GEMS

INTRODUCTION
OVERLOUD GEMS is a collection of top quality plug-ins for both mixing and mastering. We put the
best DSP algorithms and hardware emulation techniques available into each GEM and enriched
these products with additional parameters and features, a consistent preset management, A/B
comparison and undo/redo support.
OVERLOUD GEMS come in the following plug-in formats: VST, AudioUnit, AAX plus a standalone ap-
plication. All in both 32 and 64 bit, and for Mac and Windows. You will be able to load and use
them in all common DAWs.
OVERLOUD GEMS licenses need to be authorized. To authorize a GEM please follow the instructions
on our website: www.overloud.com in the AUTHORIZE section.

WHY GEMS?
In a world overcrowded by competing products doing just “the same thing”, how is it a good idea to
develop another collection of audio plugins?
Well, because: First, they don’t actually do the same thing, and then, even in that case, they don’t do it
in the same way.
Here at OVERLOUD we have been developing high quality DSP e ects these last several years, and with
great passion and dedication. And as some of the best audio companies worldwide chose us for li-
censing our DSP e ects, we realized that we are doing our job the right way.
So we decided to take a selection of our e ects and let our vision of high quality plugins meet reality,
by wrapping these algorithms with gorgeous 3D graphical interfaces, and adding the wished-for fea-
tures that are missing from the modeled real equipments.
After the rst couple of plugins were delivered to beta testers, we discovered that what we were actu-
ally achieving was a collection of brilliant products with great sounding DSP plus a set of extra fea-
tures that made each of them even more desirable.
The plugins looked precious and demonstrated that it was worth having them all. Like gems in a
necklace.
There is a common denominator across all the Gems, which sits in the upper part of the user interface:
the Gems bar. This bar contains the controls that are present across all Gems. Like Preset manage-
ment, to mention one. This way, Gems users have a consistent interface to deal with for standard
tasks.

• COMP76, the modeling of a legendary FET compressor, a piece of hardware which immediately be-
came a reference among audio engineers right from its release at the end of ‘60s.

Notable features:
• Added Revision selector, which lets you choose among three di erent unit models;
• Added Mid-Side processing, with a duplication of the interface to separately compress
both the mono and stereo components of the signal using di erent settings;
• Added LF Sens control, which reduces the action of the compressor on the low end;
• Added Harmonics control to adjust the amount of generated harmonics;
• Added Parallel compression, which lets you sum the compressed signal along with the
original to improve the overall impact by still keeping the transients intact;
1



fi

ff

ff

ff
ff
ff

 OVERLOUD GEMS
• Ultra oversample mode for super accurate analog emulation.

• EQ495, a very popular equalizer found in one of the most acclaimed vinyl transfer consoles from the
‘70s through to ‘90s.

Notable features:
• Top quality and faithful modeling, to let you reproduce exactly the same tones as the real
gear with no compromises;
• Super musical EQ curves, providing a unique tone not available on any other channel EQ.

• TAPEDESK, another meticulous reproduction of the rst microprocessor-controlled tape machine

from the late ‘70s. And including models of three di erent history-making mixing consoles from
the annals of analog recording: the same ones behind an endless number of world-class rock and
pop hits from those years. Combinations still very appreciated today for the character of their mic-
pre transformers and warm tape saturation.

Notable features:
• Includes the models of three di erent mixing consoles in order to reproduce the whole sig-
nal path just as in the real world, where console channel strips de nitely play their role in
the nal sound along with interactions with the tape machine itself;
• CPU load so low that you can use many instances, just as you would do in the real world:
where individual console channels are recorded across multiple tracks on tape; and then,
during playback, each track is summed through distinct mix channels back on the con-
sole.

• EQ84, an iconic mic preamp and EQ module providing fat, smooth sounds.

Notable features:
• O ers an additional mid range EQ band to improve exibility;
• Original stepped knobs replaced by fully variable knobs to get smooth response and ac-
cess to intermediate values; but still with “snapping” to the original static values;
• Cue listen feature available for each EQ lter, to easily understand what frequencies a
band is processing.

• DOPAMINE, a model of another couple of ‘70s-‘90s ubiquitous equipments originally designed to en-
code and decode sound for noise reduction, but then was used to only encode signals for the sur-
prising e ect of “reviving” sounds with improved brilliance and clarity without overdoing it.

Notable features:
• Two di erent module cards available for both generic and vocal sound processing;
• Enhances the signal without adding arti cial harmonics as an exciter typically does.

• EQ550, modeled after a renowned American EQ created with custom op-amps, it has become fa-
mous thanks to its unique Proportional-Q design, meaning that the bandwidth of the lters be-
comes narrow when the gain of the lter increases.

2










ff
fi


ff
ff






ff
fi
fi
fi




fl
fi
ff

fi





fi


 OVERLOUD GEMS

Notable features:
• Unique Proportional-Q design, meaning that the bandwidth of the lters becomes narrow
when the gain of the lter increases.

• COMP G, reproduces faithfully the same dynamic response of one of the legendary compressors that
made the story of studio mixing: the G series.

Notable features:
• This is a slow rate VCA based compressor. All transients are preserved and the processed
sound keeps clarity and freshness.

• ECHOSON, accurate modeling of a very popular magnetic drum based echo machine.

Notable features:
• Not a straight echo machine. Thanks to its great exibility, it can also be used as a sort of
reverb or even for more creative sound design contexts.

• COMP670, models one of the most popular compressors widely used in music productions since
1950.

Notable features:
• Very harmonic kind of compressor, with marked e ect due to its 4 transformers.

• OTD-2, models one a very well known stereo tap delay unit, greatly improving the original feature
settings.

Notable features:
• Very exible kind of delay which can primarily be used as a sort of modulation to achieve
rich chorus / anger e ects, while preserving the sound body and thickness.

• COMP LA, reproduces two compressor units widely known for their particular sound character.

Notable features:
• This generation of compressor units, based on electro-luminescent light coupled with a
photoelectric cell, had big success in the past and their character is still appreciated even
nowadays.
• VOICE, is an original brand new Overloud Gem.

Notable features:
• This vocal processor brings together the essential modules for the complete management
of a vocal track.
•

3














fl





fl

fi
ff







ff
fl

fi







 OVERLOUD GEMS

MENU BAR
All OVERLOUD GEMS have a menu bar at the top. The menu bar identical across all Gems, and im-
plements the same set of functions. Here is the description of this global menu bar.

POWER - Turns the “power” on or o for the Gem. This control actually works as a bypass: when it is
set to o , the plugin transfers the input channel signal unaltered to the output.
PRESETS - The presets area includes four controls: left and right scroll buttons, the preset name
box, and the drop-down list button. Each Gem can store an in nite number of presets. You can
scroll through them sequentially with the left/right (previous/next) buttons, or by clicking the
drop down list button which will list the presets, allowing you to scroll the list interactively and
load a preset with a mouse click.
SAVE/SAVE AS - When you have edited the cur- When you load a preset, its name appears in the preset name
rent preset, you can store it in the preset box. As soon as you change a preset after loading, you will see a
database with the SAVE button. If, instead, you dot next to the preset name; this dot indicates that the preset has
want to duplicate it you can press SAVE AS changed. If you try to load a new preset after editing the current
and type a new name for the copy of the pre- one, you will be prompted for con rmation that your real inten-
set. tion is to load the new preset and lose your changes.
A/B COMPARISON - The A and B buttons allow you
to compare two sets of settings for the Gem. The version you are currently editing is the one
highlighted in red, and you can switch to the counterpart by clicking the other button. You can
copy the selected setting to the other one with the arrow button in between.
UNDO/REDO - Each user action done inside the Gem is stored into an internal list. You can reverse
these actions one step at a time to restore a previous setting. And even to redo the undone steps
if you feel you went too far backwards.

ff

fi

ff

fi

 OVERLOUD GEMS COMP76

COMP76
COMP76 is a top quality FET compressor modeled after one of the most popular hardware com-
pressor units. It ts well on a whole mix, but its best application is on a single instrument or voice
track.

This diagram describes the COMP76 internal sections and the way they are interconnected.

INPUT - Adjusts the level of the input signal When a short attack time is set, gain reduction happens immedi-
and the threshold. Higher levels correspond ately catching transient signals and reducing their level.
to increased amounts of limiting or compres- The audible result is to soften the sound. Longer attack times let
sion. short transients pass before the limiting begins.
ATTACK - Sets the time it takes the COMP76 to re-
act to a peak of the input signal with gain reduction. The attack time ranges from 20 microsec-

fi

 OVERLOUD GEMS COMP76

onds to 800 microseconds with the fastest attack time corresponding to the full counterclock-
wise position of the knob.
RELEASE - Sets the time it takes the COMP76 to return to its no gain reduction state. The release time
ranges from 50 milliseconds to 1100 milliseconds with the fastest release time corresponding to
the full counterclockwise position of the knob.
RATIO - Selects how hard the gain reduction is The original compressor has the Attack control reversed, with
applied. Each setting corresponds to how shorter attack times at the full clockwise position. But since it
many input decibels will correspond to 1 dB would be an exception respect to all other compressors, we decid-
increase in the output level. For example, a ed to preserve compliance.
ratio of 4:1 makes the output level increase by
1 dB when there is an increase of up to 4
decibels in the loudness of the input signal. Higher settings of the ratio control let the COMP76
work more as a limiter than as a compressor, which means that limiting the input level to the
bias amount is predominant respective to compressing the input signal dynamics.
OUTPUT - Adjusts the nal output level. Once
you nd the right amount of compression
When the ALL setting is selected, a super compression is applied.
with the Input control, you can use the Out-
The attack time gets delayed, so the perceived distortion on tran-
put control to compensate any possible gain
sients is signi cantly increased. Attack and release times, as well
reduction.
as bias levels, do change with this setting, depending on the in-
To set the output level press the OUT button
put signal’s shape and level.
and turn the OUTPUT knob as required.

REV. - Selects the revision of the original unit to be reproduced.

A is the original revision, whose production was limited to 25 units only, so it was very rare. Revi-
sion A of this compressor is the only one to use FETs rather than transistors in the preamp and
amp stages. It also didn’t have the low noise module as it has been introduced on later revisions,
which means that more harmonics are produced by this revision, with a higher level of noise.
D (LN) is the classic and most known revision. It includes the low noise unit which reduces noise
and distortion to have a more linear kind of processing.
F is one of the most recent revisions of this compressor, which additionally reduces noise and
coloration. This is the best setting to have the original unit compression character with lowest
coloration.
IN LEVEL - Adjusts the main Input Level.
STEREO - MID/SIDE - Switches between the two working modes of the COMP76. The normal mode is
STEREO, where the unit processes the two stereo channels. When in MID/SIDE mode, the stereo
signal is split into mid and side portions, where the mid portion is the center, mono part of the
stereo image, while the side portion is the outside: the left and right sides of the stereo image.
When COMP76 is in MID/SIDE mode, these two components of the input signal are processed sep-
arately. The upper interface, as you can see below the meter, works on MID, while the lower one
works on SIDE.
HARMONICS - Adjusts the amount of added harmonics. It ranges from LINEAR, which means al-
most no harmonics, to DIST, which is the maximum level allowable. In the middle position there
is the original unit level.
LF SENS - Adjusts the frequency of a High Pass Filter controlled by the audio program of the input
signal. The lter can reduce the pumping e ect when the audio program has a strong low fre-
quency beating component. When set all the way counterclockwise, the lter is turned o .
OUTPUT - Adjusts the Output level to compensate the possible level changes introduced by the
compression. It ranges from -15 dB to +15 dB.

6
fi
fi



fi

fi

ff



fi

ff

OVERLOUD GEMS COMP76

PARALLEL - Sets the balance between DRY and COMP (processed) sounds. This is commonly called
Parallel Compression.

 OVERLOUD GEMS EQ495

EQ495
EQ495 is a high delity equalizer modeled after one of the best German mixer’s channel strip EQ.
Its typical usage is as bus or mastering EQ, but it also works very well as an insert e ect.

INPUT - Adjusts the level of the input signal.

HIGH PASS - Optionally sets a limit to the lower spectrum of frequencies.
LOW PASS - Optionally sets a limit to the higher spectrum of frequencies.
OUTPUT - Adjusts the level of the output signal. When the EQ495 settings are cutting away much of
the original signal, you can use this to bring the level up again to a normal amount.
BASS Hz - Selects the frequency to attenuate or emphasize.
BASS dB - Adjusts the amount of boost or reduction to apply to the selected bass frequency.
MID Hz - Selects the frequency to attenuate or emphasize.
MID dB - Adjusts the amount of boost or reduction to apply to the selected mid frequency.
MID BANDWIDTH - Selects the mid lter bandwidth from three ranges: narrow, middle and broad.
HIGH Hz - Selects the frequency to attenuate or emphasize.
HIGH dB - Adjusts the amount of boost or reduction to apply to the selected high frequency.

fi
fi

ff

OVERLOUD GEMS TAPEDESK

TAPEDESK
TAPEDESK is the modeling of a full analog signal ow using simulations of both professional tape
recorder and a console bus.

The graphic interface has three areas: the console input channel on the left side, the tape simula-
tor in the middle, and the console mix bus on the right side. The signal path begins at the input
channel, travels through the tape machine,
and then ends up at the mix channel. The next You may notice that the console and the tape machine have in-
chapter includes a diagram and explains why dependent power switches. This means that you can use each
we joined the console channels with a tape component by itself, if you prefer.
machine. But, in a few words, this is the setup
necessary to have the most accurately modeled analog reproduction, with the same warm
sound you have with real instruments.

fl
 OVERLOUD GEMS TAPEDESK

TAPEDESK DESIGN
When recording and mixing in the analog domain, the input signal enters into the preamp stage
of the console channel, and then is sent to the tape recorder. When the tape is played back, the
signal reaches the console again and then is summed in the analog mix bus.

TAPEDESK simulates this complete signal ow in order to recreate the tonal characteristics of the
original analog mixing process.
Since in the analog world a tape machine is always physically connected to a console, if you want
to replicate the warm tones of an analog mixing work ow, you need to simulate the tape ma-
chine, the console, and the interactions between the two. This is what TAPEDESK is designed to do.
TAPEDESK uses the best of Overloud’s DSP technology to emulate the complete signal path of
three di erent legendary analog consoles: the ones used every day in the last 20 years of audio
production to create thousands of hits by the world’s nest studios.
The 2-inch 24 track tape machine emulation lets you control any working parameter, from tape
speed to biasing, in order to recreate any desired classic analog tone.
Of course in the virtual world of plugins, the sound path described above can be reproduced us-
ing many separate plugins strung together as a chain of e ects. TAPEDESK simpli es all these steps
by letting you insert the plugin on your track and enjoying the experience of analog mixing.

10
ff

fl
fi
fl
ff

fi

OVERLOUD GEMS TAPEDESK

TAPEDESK SOUND
The original purpose of the tape recorder was to provide a transparent solution to store and re-
produce audio.
But at the time these early tape machines were developed, the latest technology still had speci c
limitations which greatly in uenced the quality of the sound reproduced while playing it back
from tape. Tape noise and saturation, modulation noise, harmonic distortion, phase shift and
non-linear frequency response are just a few of the examples of how the recorded audio was
quite far from the unchanged playback they intended.
For these reasons analog recording was superseded by digital technology.
But, the over-all tape-based recording and reproduction process, with all its intrinsic limitations,
conferred a pleasing character to the resulting sound.
If we described the way the sound changed using a few simple words (even with some margin of
subjectivity kept in account), we would talk about an increase in the amount and clarity of the
harmonic content, as if those frequencies were brought into better focus.
From this perspective, what here in the digital age is generally taken as a quite limited sound
processing, has turned out to be quite desirable. Digital audio has been described by many as
being cold and wet, while analog processing is considered as sounding warm and musical.
So this is the kind of sound that you can expect from TAPEDESK processing. And its parameters do
allow ranging from slight sound corrections and trimmings, all the way to dramatic saturation
and tape noise. The initial default preset settings provide an accurate and detailed model of all
the components of the TAPE DESK signal chain.

TAPEDESK IN THE DAILY WORK

One of the most powerful features of TAPEDESK is that it is very light on the underlying computer
system, so you can feel free to assign it to a sub-mix bus as well as to individual tracks.
Use TAPEDESK whenever you need a clearer and warmer sound. Use it with single instruments, en-
sembles, drum sets and orchestras. And don’t forget the mastering stage, where TAPEDESK may
quickly become indispensable.

11

fl

fi
 OVERLOUD GEMS TAPEDESK

TAPEDESK CONTROLS AND PARAMETERS

VU METERS - TAPEDESK has three Meters: two from the mixer and one in the tape machine. All three
can be switched between VU or PPM modes.
PPM mode shows peaks because it works with instantaneous levels of the measured signal, so
you would expect to see the needle moving a lot while following the waveform of the processed
audio. PPM meters are used while adjusting
the recording level of an analog machine, so You can use the tape machine VU meter to control how much you
that the audio won’t saturate the input stage are saturating the tape. The mix VU meter lets you adjust the
and let it introduce undesired distortion. TAPEDESK output level to keep it close to the input level visible on
VU mode shows the perceived loudness of the the input VU meter.
signal, which is a complex but standard and
well de ned way to show signal levels, focusing more on a kind of “resulting average” level. This
setting for a meter re ects more the perceived loudness of measured audio material.
Since both modes are useful in evaluating the characteristics of the processed audio, we support
them both.
A last point is about how these digital meters are con gured, they are calibrated to show a level
of 0 VU when fed by a 1 KHz sine wave with a peak level of -14 dBFS. This is the factory setting for
meters. You can change this calibration from the Preferences (see chapter PREFERENCES).
INPUT & MIX - Input trims the signal level on the console bus input channel by also controlling how
much the console’s typical sound will take part in the audio processing. Mix adjusts the level of
the console bus output channel and it works as a level control.
MIC PRE - Enables the mic-pre transformer emulation.
TOLERANCES - Adds a certain amount of drift to the console modeling, to emulate the original’s dis-
crete component tolerances. It’s important to note that having TAPEDESK loaded in a project with
12
fi

fl

fi

OVERLOUD GEMS TAPEDESK

TOLERANCES enabled, that the internal amounts of drift will be preserved when saving and
restoring the project.
CONSOLE MODEL - You can switch the console emulation between three available models: S4000,
N80, and T88. The features are the same for all, but of course each console has its own character-
istic timbre.
S4000 is a very famous mixing console, with a clean, wide and somewhat aggressive kind of
character that made it the rst choice for high gain rock, metal and pop music.
N80 is another very popular console, with a rich, warm sound which can give your mix some
classic vibe.
T88 is a particularly sought-after console, with a thick, fat tone and a renowned personality due
to its midrange push.
TAPE SPEED - Three speeds are available: 30, 15 and 7.5 inches per second. Low speed provides bet-
ter low frequency response, but with some loss in the higher frequencies. Higher speeds re-
sponse is more full range but with slightly less low end.
REC & PLAYBACK LEVEL - REC LEVEL adjusts the sound level before the virtual recording head, and
includes tube circuitry, mic-pre transformer and saturation. PLAYBACK LEVEL adjusts the sound
level after the virtual playback head, and includes the e ects of tape speed, bias, wow & utter,
and noise (as well as, indirectly, mic-pre transformer modeling and saturation).
BIAS - In the original machine, the bias control was an adjustment which added an ultrasonic sig-
nal in order to reduce some limitations of the magnetic heads. This practice has been popular-
ized over the years because adding bias, even at higher ranges, allowed many engineers to get a
better sound. The tape machine modeling of TAPEDESK provides two settings for bias: NORM for
nominal bias and OVER for a +3 dB overbias.
WOW & FLUTTER - These two words describe uctuations and modulation in the playback speed
and frequency response, caused by the mechanical parts of the tape itself. Even if those ma-
chines were designed to minimize wow and utter, these e ects have become part of what we
refer to when we have to do with an analog tape. Adding more wow & utter makes the sound
rougher and worn.

13

fi

fl
fl

ff
ff
fl

fl
 OVERLOUD GEMS EQ84

EQ84
EQ84 is modeled after a masterpiece British EQ of the recent past. It has great character and per-
sonality with its biting and aggressive vibe, which gives the sound great clarity and presence.

The graphic interface includes the red input gain knob on the left, then four vertical pairs of
black knobs and buttons to control frequencies and bands, and then two blue knobs for high
and low pass lters. Finally two more buttons on the right side to switch the EQ section on/o
and invert the signal phase.
INPUT GAIN - The red knob controls the input gain using double range: MIC and LINE. Both ranges
go from –12 dB to +12 dB, but the mic range also adds the modeling of the mic-preamp trans-
former and saturation.
HIGH SHELF BAND - Adjusts the high frequency with a variable control ranging from 10  kHz to
16 kHz (lower knob), and the level with a variable control ranging from –16 dB to +16 dB (upper
knob).
The ON button enables/disables the high fre- The original hardware only allowed xed preset values for all
quency processing, while CUE does some- frequency controls. EQ84 has smooth variable controls instead,
thing almost the opposite, allowing you to to with “magnetic snaps” corresponding to the original switch steps.
sort of “solo”, the frequency setting, to hear When those “preset” frequencies are selected, the modeling is
which frequencies is controlling. faithful to the original. EQ84, however, lets you smoothly access
MID BAND 1 - Adjusts one of the two available all intermediate values as well, to accomodate a far wider range
mid band frequencies with a variable 0.35 kHz of settings.
to 7.2  kHz control and a variable -16  dB to
+16 dB control. Here too there are ON and CUE buttons to enable/disable the mid band and to
cue the mid band respectively. Hi Q switches the bandwidth of the mid frequency lter using a
narrower range when on.
MID BAND 2 - Another mid band, exactly the same as MID BAND 1.
LOW SHELF BAND - Adjusts the low frequency with a variable control ranging from 35 Hz to 220 Hz,
and the level with a variable control ranging from –16 dB to +16 dB. ON and CUE buttons are
present here, too.

14

fi

fi

fi

ff
OVERLOUD GEMS EQ84
HIGH PASS - Sets the high pass frequency from 45 Hz to 360 Hz, cutting o lower frequencies with
a 18 dB per octave slope lter. The BY button bypasses the lter.
LOW PASS - Sets the low pass frequency from 6 kHz to 18 kHz, cutting o higher frequencies with
an 18 dB per octave slope lter. The BY button bypasses the lter.
PHASE - Inverts the phase of the output by 180°.
EQL - Includes/excludes the EQ section from the audio processing. When excluded, all EQ lters
will be bypassed, but the mic-pre transformer and saturation will still be present (if the Mic range
is selected with the input gain control), or if it is set to Line range, it still gives slight color to the
processed sound. To completely bypass the plugin you can turn it o with the bypass control on
the left corner of the top bar.
OUTPUT - Adjusts the output level ranging from 16 dB to +16 dB with central zero.

15
fi
fi

fi
fi

ff
ff
ff

fi
 OVERLOUD GEMS DOPAMINE

DOPAMINE
DOPAMINE is a particular kind of enhancer. It works by taking advantage of a technique originally
used in early forms of on magnetic tapes noise reduction, where the tape was encoded by dy-
namically brightening the signal. Then, while playing back, the tape was decoded by taking o
the extra brightness and, consequently, reducing the the tape hiss.
After a while, audio engineers realized that the tape encoding process of these noise reduction
units was a desirable e ect on certain kind of audio content like vocals, drums and even com-
plete mixes. So they started to use this process in parallel with the original tracks to add liveli-
ness.
This process has been replicated into DOPAMINE. The name itself recalls the organic chemical that’s
used to revive your brain and body because this processor does the same thing to your audio
tracks.

MODEL - Two models are available: 361 and 180. Both of them correspond to very popular ma-
chines that were used in the “encode only” mode described above to achieve extra brightness.
DRY - Adjusts the amount of unprocessed sound which is transferred to the output.
WET - Adjusts the amount of processed sound which will be mixed with the DRY signal.
COMP - Controls the dynamics of DOPAMINE by adjusting the amount of variation, based on the in-
tensity of the input signal.
LEVEL - Adjusts the output level up to ±15 dB. It is especially useful in A/B comparisons to obtain
equal levels.
MODULE CARD (361 only) - The original equipment consisted of a main unit and several special-pur-
pose module cards. DOPAMINE modeling includes two of them: the A-TYPE and the NOISE STRES-
SOR.
A-TYPE is the generic one for standard noise reduction.
NOISE STRESSOR is specially tailored for vocals, as its action is more focused on the mid/low
range of frequencies.
EFFECT METER (180 only) - This meter shows in real time how much the processing is adding to the
audio, so you can have a visual indication of the amount of e ect you are applying to the signal.

16

ff

ff

ff

 OVERLOUD GEMS DOPAMINE

WHEN TO USE DOPAMINE

When tracks in your project seem to lack presence and aren’t cutting through the mix, or even if
they just sound weak, then it’s worth trying DOPAMINE. You will appreciate how vocals will get ex-
tra de nition and brilliance, without being overdone.
Basically, DOPAMINE is a dynamic equalizer, and the opposite to exciters, as there are no added
harmonics. That is the great advantage of this processor: it only uses harmonics that naturally
exist in the original tracks. In the opposite manner, exciters generate non-existent harmonics by
synthesizing them and often they end up adding unnatural and inharmonic frequencies due to
intermodulation.

17
fi

 OVERLOUD GEMS SCULPTUBE

SCULPTUBE
The SCULPTUBE is a processor which adds valve-produced harmonics.
It creates an authentic tube coloration which ranges from slightly warmed-up tones to heavy
distortions thanks to its hyper-realistic tube warming and distortion simulation.
You can use the SCULPTUBE in many di erent ways. Three good examples are: Warm-Up, Distort
and Excite, which you can obtain as follows:
WARM-UP - With mild Drive settings you can recreate an authentic analog coloration on individual
tracks or mixes.
DISTORT - The SCULPTUBE can be used to overdrive the input and reproduce di erent kinds of tube
distortions, including Triode and Pentode responses.
EXCITE - Thanks to its built-in EQ and parallel processor you can revive the tracks by adding natural
harmonics to the high-end.

OVERDRIVE - Adds 20dB of extra gain to the distortion valve. When switched o the processor pro-
duces a gentle saturation: if switched on, highly distorted tones can be obtained.
DRIVE - Controls the amount of gain added to the input signal.
LINK - When LINK is switched on, the DRIVE and BIAS knobs are linked together. In fact, raising the
BIAS current the SCULPTUBE valve reduces its own gain, so it makes sense to compensate this lack
of gain by raising the DRIVE knob at the same time.
BIAS - Controls the amount of current through the tubes. At lower currents the tubes are under-
biased and the sound is inclined to be thinner and breaks up easily. At medium current settings
the SCULPTUBE distorts least, and this is the typical setting for just warming up a sound. At higher
currents the tubes are over-fed and the tone becomes quite fat and harmonically rich.
DISTORTION TYPE P0 (Triode) - Reproduces the typical musical e ect obtained with triode valves, with
very rich 2nd harmonic distortion. Good for warming up a sound.
DISTORTION TYPE P1 (Pentode) - Pentode type distortion, with prevailing odd harmonics, which make
the sound more aggressive while retaining the valve character.
DISTORTION TYPE P2 (Special) - Is obtained with a pretty unusual way of con guring pentode valve,
which gives an extra octave at higher bias kind of response.
HIGH PASS - Controls a high pass (low cut) lter after the distortion valve. If set to OFF, the high pass
lter is bypassed. If set to 1KHz or 4KHz, it cuts the frequencies under the speci ed frequency
with a 6dB/oct rollo . This lter can be used to keep just the harmonic content generated by the
valve and con gure the processor as an exciter by mixing these harmonics with the Direct tone.
LOW PASS - Controls a low pass (high cut) lter after the distortion valve. If set to OFF, the low pass
lter is bypassed. If set to 9KHz or 6KHz, it cuts the frequencies over the speci ed frequency with
18
fi
fi
fi

ff
fi

ff
fi
fi

ff

fi
ff
ff
fi

fi

OVERLOUD GEMS SCULPTUBE

a 12dB/oct rollo . It can be used to remove some of the extra harmonics of the distortion valve
and make the tone warmer.
PARALLEL - Sets the balance between DRY and WET (processed) sounds, and allows to make paral-
lel distortion.
VOLUME - Controls the volume of the output signal.

19

ff

 OVERLOUD GEMS EQ550

EQ550
EQ550 is modeled after a renowned American EQ created with custom op-amps. It has become
famous thanks to its unique Proportional-Q design, meaning that the bandwidth of the lters
becomes narrow when the gain of the lter increases. For low gain settings the EQ delivers a
smoother tone: its character becomes more and more aggressive when the bands gain band is
raised. This design makes the EQ550 unique.

INPUT GAIN - This knob controls the input gain. It ranges from –15 dB to +15 dB.
HARMONICS - Indicates the amount of harmonics introduced by non linear components of the
model like transformers and custom vintage op-amps.
L/F - Low frequency PEAK/SHELF switch. Shelf mode when the button is lit.
LOW BAND - Adjusts the low band frequency ranging from 50 Hz to 400  Hz, and its level with a
variable control ranging from –12 dB to +12 dB.
The ON button enables/disables the band processing, while CUE does something almost the
opposite, allowing you to sort of “solo” the frequency setting, and hear which frequencies the
band is controlling.
MID BAND 1 - Adjusts the rst mid band frequency ranging from 400 Hz to 5 kHz, and its level with
a variable control ranging from –12 dB to +12 dB.
The ON button enables/disables the band processing, while CUE does something almost the
opposite, allowing you to sort of “solo” the frequency setting, and hear which frequencies the
band is controlling.
MID BAND 2 - An additional mid band, exactly the same as MID BAND 1.
HIGH BAND - Adjusts the high band frequency ranging from 5 kHz to 15 kHz, and its level ranging
from –12 dB to +12 dB.
The ON button enables/disables the band processing, while CUE does something almost the
opposite, allowing you to sort of “solo” the frequency setting, and hear which frequencies the
band is controlling.
H/F - High frequency PEAK/SHELF switch. Shelf mode set when the button is lit.
OUTPUT - Adjusts the output level ranging from 15 dB to +15 dB with central zero.
FILTER -50 Hz to 15 kHz band-pass lter.

20

fi
fi


fi

fi
 OVERLOUD GEMS COMP G

COMP G
COMP G faithfully reproduces the same dynamic response of one of the legendary compressors
which made the story of studio mixing: the G series. This VCA based compressor is a slow rate
one, so all transients are preserved and the processed sound keeps its clarity and freshness.
Like the original equipment, this is a master bus compressor, designed to improve the overall
sonic quality of a mix, binding its individual components together into a cohesive, professional-
sounding whole.
COMP G, as all products of the Gem series, adds some features to the original set. In this case: the
MID/SIDE processing, the PARALLEL processing, the HPF lter on the SIDECHAIN and the contin-
uous selection of knobs that, in the original unit, have discrete positions.

This diagram describes the COMP G internal sections and the way they are interconnected.

21

fi

 OVERLOUD GEMS COMP G

THRESHOLD - Adjusts the threshold level of the compressor. You can set this value ranging from -15
dB to +15 dB.
ATTACK - Sets the time it takes the COMP G to react to a peak of the input signal. The attack time
ranges from 100 microseconds to 30 milliseconds with the shortest attack time corresponding to
the full counterclockwise position of the knob.
RATIO - Sets the ratio of the signal level to signal gain, also known as the compression rate. It can
be continuously adjusted from 2:1 to 10:1.
RELEASE - Sets the time it takes the COMP G to return to its no gain reduction state. The release time
ranges from 100 milliseconds to 1.2 seconds with the fastest release time corresponding to the
full counterclockwise position of the knob. When Auto is selected, the release time depends
upon the signal program. It’s useful to get rid of the pumping e ect, when the processed signal
has a beating shape.
MAKE-UP - Compensates the signal level changes caused by compression. This parameter can be
continuously adjusted from -15 dB to +15 dB.
METER - The meter can alternatively show the Gain Reduction amount, the Input or the Output
level.
GAIN - Adjusts the level of the Input signal ranging from -15 dB to +15 dB.
STEREO - MID/SIDE - Switches between the two working modes of the COMP G. The normal mode is
STEREO, where the unit processes the two, left and right, stereo channels. When in MID/SIDE
mode, the stereo signal is split into MID and SIDE portions, where the MID portion is the center,
mono part of the stereo image – while the SIDE portion is the outside: the left and right sides of
the stereo image. When COMP G is in MID/SIDE mode, these two components of the input signal
are processed separately. The upper interface works on MID, while the lower one works on SIDE.
SIDECHAIN/HPF - Adjusts the frequency of an High Pass Filter controlled by the audio program of
the input signal. The lter can reduce the pumping e ect when the audio program has a strong
low frequency beating component. When set all the way counterclockwise, the lter is turned
o .
PARALLEL - Balances between the DRY (unprocessed) and WET (processed) signals.
OUTPUT - Adjusts the Output level to compensate the possible level changes introduced by the
compression. It ranges from -15 dB to +15 dB.

22
ff

fi

ff
ff

fi

 OVERLOUD GEMS ECHOSON

ECHOSON
ECHOSON is the high delity reproduction of one of the most popular echo machines of the 1960s.
The original unit was manufactured by Binson, an Italian company based in Milan.
The unique signature sound of that echo machine was due to the usage of an analog magnetic
drum recorder instead of a tape loop, and to its particular electric circuitry.
The magnetic drum had four record/play heads mounted along an arc of its circumference, and
the echo machine allowed the user to select which ones of those heads were recording, and
which ones playing. At the output, the processed sound was a variable complex and dense tex-
ture of echo re ections with a characteristic timbre for the fading sound decay.
These drum based echo machines have been used with great e ect for example by Syd Barrett
and David Gilmour from Pink Floyd, on songs like Shine On You Crazy Diamond and Astronomy
Domine. But also by Led Zeppelin and Hawkwind, to mention a few.

As done for other Gems, this model goes beyond the original modeled unit features. Some of the
di erences can be found in the added parameters (see descriptions), but the main di erence is
the option to double the processor panel to have it working on a stereo pair of audio channels.

23
ff

fl
fi
ff

ff

 OVERLOUD GEMS ECHOSON

This diagram describes the ECHOSON internal sections and the way they are interconnected.

IN LEVEL - Controls the level of the input signal. By increasing this parameter it is possible to push
the magnetic disk band up to saturation.
SWELL - Selects the amount of tone fed back to When the ECHOSON is in STEREO mode, the doubled SWELL pa-
the magnetic disk. It can be used to control rameters can be linked together if the alt-cmd key combination
the decay of the repetitions. For higher value (ctrl-alt on Windows), is kept pressed while turning one of the
of this parameter the ECHOSON will go into two knobs.
auto-oscillation.
TIME - Selects the delay time of the 4th head (the head with the longest delay). The other 3 heads
will change the delay time proportionally. The 12 o’clock position corresponds to the xed delay
time of the original unit, which is approx 310 ms on the 4th head.
MIX - Controls how to blend the direct tone with the output of the delay unit. At 0, only the Dry
signal will be on the output. At 5, half of the Dry and half of the Wet will be on the output. At 10,
only the Wet will be on the output: this is useful when the delay needs to be added to an aux
channel.
TONE - This replicates the original TONE control. It allows to decrease and increase the amount of
high frequency content on the Wet signal while leaving the Dry sound unaltered.
SELECTOR - Selects the delay repetitions scheme as follows:
ECHO: there is a single repetition for each active PLAY head. No sound is fed back to the disk so
there is no swell/reverb e ect.
REP: the tone of each active REC head is fed back to the magnetic disk. The tone on each active
PLAY head is put on the output. This will generate a “pattern delay” tone with multiple repetition
decays over time (at a decay rate dependent on the SWELL parameter).
SWELL: the tone of each active REC head is fed back to the magnetic disk. The tone of all 4 PLAY
heads is put on the output regardless of the state of the PLAY buttons. This will generate a re-
verb-like tone whose decay depends on the SWELL parameter.
24

ff

fi
 OVERLOUD GEMS ECHOSON
REC - Allows to switch on/o each REC head individually. The REC heads are those which fed the
tone back to the magnetic disk, so if only one recording head is activated, the number of delays
won’t increase over time. If more than one REC
head are switched on, at each repetition the
number of delays (i.e. delay density), will in-
crease over time making the tone more and
more similar to a reverb.
The 1st head has a delay time equal to 1/4 of
the TIME parameter.
The 2nd head has a delay time equal to 1/2 of
the TIME parameter.
The 3rd head has a delay time equal to 3/4 of
the TIME parameter.
The 4th head delay time corresponds to the
TIME parameter.
PLAY - Allows to switch on/o each PLAY head
individually. The PLAY heads are the ones
which are sent to the output of the plugin, so This is how the 12 original selector positions cor-
this parameter can be used to create repetition respond to the 4 switch on/o combinations.
patterns.
LINK - If LINK is switched on, the REC and PLAY heads will be set to the same settings, as in the
original unit.
TIME OFFSET - Sets the delay time of the right channel proportionally with reference to the left
channel’s TIME.
STEREO MODE - Selects how the repetitions are fed back to the magnetic disks when the unit is in
stereo mode.
MONO: left repetitions are only fed back to the left disk and right repetitions are only fed back to
the right disk. This is kind of a dual-mono mode, which is like having two separate delay units
(one for each input channel) each one with its own settings.
CROSS: the left repetitions are fed back to the right disk and the right repetitions are fed back to
the left disk. This can be used to create a kind of ping-pong e ect.
VERB: the left and right channel repetitions are mixed together and fed back to both the disks.
This will progressively increase the delay density making it similar to a reverb. In order to get the
best results from this operating mode it is useful to have slightly di erent settings on the two
channels.
WOW - Controls the amount of wow/ utter e ect of the magnetic disk, which is a gentle modula-
tion due to the non-constant rotation speed of the disk. At 12 o’clock the original amount of
wow/ utter is replicated.
NOISE - Adjusts the level of electrical and mechanical noise. When set at min, the noise is totally
absent, while at max the noise level is a little over the original amount. It’s easy to nd a satisfy-
ing level across the whole parameter range.
EQ - The ECHOSON features a 2 band master equalizer which is applied to the Wet signal after the
magnetic disk. Each band has the following three controls:
MASTER EQ FREQ: selects the operating frequency of the lter.
MASTER EQ GAIN: selects the gain of the lter. In case of a LPF or HPF lter it controls the lter
resonance.

25
fl

ff
ff
ff
fl
fi

ff
fi

ff

ff
fi
fi
fi
 OVERLOUD GEMS ECHOSON
MASTER EQ Q: if set at min, the band works as a shelving lter. If set at max, the band works as a
LPF/HPF lter. For all the intermediate positions, the band works as a peaking lter.
STEREO - Switches on/o the ECHOSON stereo mode. In stereo mode it is possible to have di erent
settings for the left and right channels.
MASTER - Sets the output level of the plugin. It acts both on the Dry and the Wet signal, so it can
be used to balance the level of di erent presets.

26
fi
ff
ff

fi
fi

ff
 OVERLOUD GEMS COMP670

COMP670
COMP670 models one the most popular compressors used in a large number of music productions
since its release in 1950. Finding a hardware unit is very di cult nowadays, due to the lack of
availability and for the cost which is very high. So this accurate reproduction of the exactly same
response of such a compressor comes to a great importance.
Since real units can have slightly di erent harmonic and dynamic characters, three individual
models have been included into this GEM coming from units respectively located in: LONDON,
LOS ANGELES and MILAN.

STUDIO - Selects the model to use from the three allowable that have been sampled from studios
located in LONDON, LOS ANGELES and MILAN. LONDON studio unit has the most transparent
tone. LA one is a little smoother and has a bigger overall compression amount. MILAN unit has
larger harmonic generation due to some non original spare parts used to repair it.
INPUT GAIN - Controls the volume of the input signal. Level 14 corresponds to 0 dB. Turning the
knob clockwise the amount of compression will raise.
THRESHOLD - Adjusts the amount of compression.
TIME CONSTANT - Controls the Attack and Release time lengths.
AGC - Selects the Automatic Gain Control mode.
LEFT/RIGHT: The compressor works as two separate compressors with individual controls per
channel.
LAT/VERT: Stereo signal is split by a sum/di erence matrix into sum (upper/left channel) and dif-
ference (lower/right channel). The input signal level is controlled after the matrix, so the relation
between sum and di erence channels can be controlled. At the compressor output, there is a
second matrix which turns it back into a stereo signal.

27

ff

ff
ff

ffi

 OVERLOUD GEMS COMP670

METERING - Meters can be set to display Gain Reduction, Input, Output or Harmonic generation
levels.
LINK - All LINK switches optionally connect equiva- The chain button on the top bar can be used
lent controls present on LEFT/RIGHT or LAT/VERT to turn all links ON or OFF at once.
channels.
DC THRESHOLD - This control is a small trimmer inside the compressor unit, to be adjusted with a
screwdriver. It changes the compression curve, from soft-knee to hard-knee.
HARM - Adjusts the amount of non linear processing, which turns into adding harmonics to enrich
the processed signal.
OUTPUT - Controls the level of the two channels after the compression. Can be used as a make-up
gain. In LAT/VERT mode it can increase or reduce the stereo image in proportion to the mono
image.
SIDECHAIN FILTER - Additional high pass lter on the sidechain which makes the compression less
sensitive to bass frequencies. This is useful to reduce the pumping e ect if the processed signal
has much bass frequencies.
PARALLEL - Mixes DRY and WET signals creating a parallel compression e ect.
OUTPUT - Controls the overall output level.
STEREO LINK - When set in LEFT/RIGHT mode, the compressor works as two independent mono
compressor units. This PREFERENCE optionally links both compressors together.

This diagram describes the COMP670 internal sections and the way they are interconnected.

28

fi

ff
ff



 OVERLOUD GEMS OTD-2

OTD-2
OTD-2: can be seen at same time as a modulation e ect and as a traditional delay unit. By using
short delay times, you can achieve the e ect of widening the source sound by duplicating it with
some inharmonic delays. This technique also can be used to add weight and body to your
anged sound, as anger units usually tend to make the processed sound lighter.
When longer delay times are set, making a shrewd usage of programmable tap echoes, you can
improve the depth and width of the input signal, and thanks to the internal feedback path, the
resulting sound will be amazingly textured with musical harmonics. Additionally you can modu-
late the delay lines in order to achieve chorusing and sound widening e ects.

INPUT LEVEL - Controls the level of the INPUT signal. The input meter is calibrated such that the 0dB
indicates that the bucket-brigade circuit is
INPUT MONO/STEREO - Selects how the OTD-2 works when it
starting to saturate.
gets inserted on a STEREO track. When set to STEREO, the
input pair of signals is kept and processed as is, while when
set to MONO, the input channels are merged together (as it happens on the real hardware) be-
fore being processed. When the OTD-2 is instantiated on a MONO track, this selector has no alter-
natives to select.
OUTPUT DRY L/R - Controls the separate (left / right) levels of the DRY (unprocessed) signal.
OUTPUT WET L/R - Controls the separate (left / right) levels of
the WET (processed) signal.
If you press alt-cmd (alt-ctrl on Windows)
OUTPUT LEVEL - the level of the OUTPUT signal. while you move the INPUT LEVEL or OUTPUT
OUTPUT AGE - The original circuit was based on a so called LEVEL controls, these two knobs will move
“bucket-brigade” device, an electrical component which coupled so that the resulting signal will stay at
created delay in the analog domain. Bucket-brigades add a the same level.
lot of color to the sound and are responsible for the distinct
tone of this processor. With the AGE knob you can control the amount of coloration: the middle
position corresponds to the original device amount. You can even increase more, or just de-
crease it and let the e ect sound closer to a modern digital delay processor, while still keeping
the creative delay tapping and modulation features.
TAP ASSIGN - The TAP ASSIGN section has been greatly improved from the original one. There are
6 taps for each channel of the stereo pair. Every tap switch can be used to route the correspond-
ing tap on the left or right side of the resulting stereo image. And the squared lit buttons close to
them, turn the taps on or o . The original device only works with mono input signals while OTD-2
is able to even process stereo ones. So the stereo version of the TAP ASSIGN section has twice the
original controls.
Tap delay times, in milliseconds, are as follows (ranges depend on the FIXED knob value):
29
fl

fl
ff

ff
ff

ff

ff

 OVERLOUD GEMS OTD-2

TAP STANDARD RANGE (ms) WIDE RANGE (ms)

1 2-8 46 - 226

2 3 - 14 82 - 408

3 5 - 23 136 - 678

4 6 - 32 190 - 948

5 9 - 46 279 - 1393

6 11 - 55 333 - 1665

As in the original unit, tap delay times have inharmonic intervals between each other. This is use-
ful when you are searching for a reverb like
kind of delay e ect. The OTD-2 processor al- As for other Gems, the LINK option allows to keep two controls con-
lows to control the amount of inharmonicity nected together, and to move one to set them both. In the TAP as-
with the QUANTIZE knob. The ORIGINAL sign section, controls are grouped in rows, and activating the LINK
position corresponds to the original device option, when you move a switch on one column, the corresponding
settings, while the EVEN position is where switch on the other column will follow the same move accordingly.
the taps are equidistant one from each other And the same happens with the lit tap power buttons.
with the result of having a more digital kind
of delay e ect. You can continuously range between these two settings to nd the sound that
ts your need.
REGENERATION IN/OUT - When ON, the signal of one or more taps, depending on the status of
STEREO MODE, is fed back to the input stage.
REGENERATION LEVEL - Controls the amount of signal fed back to the input.
REGENERATION HI CUT - Filters away some high frequency content from the signal fed back to the
input.
REGENERATION TAP - Selects the tap as source for the regeneration signal. This is meaningful when
the STEREO MODE is set to MONO which is how the original unit works.
REGENERATION STEREO MODE - Selects how the regeneration works.
MONO is the way the original unit works, letting a single tap signal to be fed back to the input.
The tap to feed is selected by the REGENERATION TAP control.
CROSS is a new mode, and works almost the same. In addition it swaps the stereo channels
while feeding them back to the input. This will make the processed sound more mixed by also
balancing the stereo image.
VERB is a special new mode, where all active taps are fed back to the input ad same time. The
point of this mode is to overlap the taps to obtain a very dense reverb like delay e ect (QUAN-
TIZE set to ORIGINAL), or even to emphasize the distinct tap individual echoes to have rhythmic
patterns (QUANTIZE set to EVEN).
DELAY MODE - Selects the way the delay manages time.
STANDARD is the original setting, with standard 1x to 5x range for tap delays.
WIDE makes the whole time base wider by multiplying the times by a 30x factor. This lets you
completely reinterpret the usage of the OTD-2 bringing it closer to a traditional delay unit, by still
keeping other cool features available.
SYNC allows you to synchronize the delay time with the host tempo. Very useful when you want
the tap regenerated beats to play in time with the song you are processing. Or even if you basi-
cally just need to let the e ect follow song’s tempo changes. Once you selected SYNC, you can
choose the tempo division clicking the current notation.
30
fi

ff

ff
ff








fi


ff
OVERLOUD GEMS OTD-2
DELAY FIXED - Adjusts the xed portion (excluding modulations) of the delay time for the taps.
When the knob is fully CCW, time is the longest possible. When the knob is fully CW, time is
shortest. The time set by this parameter is also in uenced by the state of DELAY MODE.
DELAY MIX - Adjusts the amount of LFO modulation (called SWEEP) to the delay times.
DELAY SWEEP - Sets the speed of the oscillating SWEEP signal which modulates the FIXED delay
time. You can range from slower speeds to have chorus like e ects, to faster speeds to have
Leslie or vibrato e ects.
DELAY SWEEP MOD - When turned on, the SWEEP MOD modulates the SWEEP signal with an oscilla-
tor running at a slightly higher frequency, to obtain kind of random sweeps which turn into very
rich and fat chorus e ect. When the knob is all the way left, this modulation is disabled.

31
ff
ff

fi
fl
ff

 OVERLOUD GEMS COMP LA

COMP LA
COMP LA: reproduces the response of two popular compressor units produced in the early 1960.
Both units were based on the characteristic curve of a light source coupled with a photoelectric
cell. The luminescent optical gain reduction was quite revolutionary for that times: applying the
audio signal to an electro-luminescent light shining on a photoelectric cell which in turn con-
trolled the gain. The photo-cells provided a very natural “two-stage” release which resulted in a
compression characteristic more transparent than the that of other compressors.

First model (2A) had the electro-luminescent Two-stage release:

light powered by a tube, while the next one
• 70 ms for rst half of the release
(3A) used a transistor. Tubes can provide less
current than transistors, so their response to • 500 ms to 5000 ms for second half of the release
attack transients was softer and had more (depends on rst stage reduction)
harmonics due to the slight distortion intro-
duced.

32

fi
fi

OVERLOUD GEMS COMP LA

Transistors, on the other hand, can switch to high powers faster, so the 3A units had shorter at-
tack times and sounded more neutral and modern, by adding less harmonic distortion.
COMP LA faithfully reproduces both models and additionally allows to control the amount of
added harmonics.
LIMIT / COMPRESS - Changes the character of the compressor unit switching between a soften ac-
tion with lower compression ratio, for the COMPRESS position, and a higher compression ratio
with damped attack transients when set to the LIMIT position.

This diagram describes the COMP LA internal sections and the way they are interconnected.

GAIN - The GAIN control does not a ect the amount and quality of the compression. Its action ap-
plies at the nal stage of the compressor unit, more like a level control. By the way, when the
COMP LA is set to MID-SIDE mode, and two di erent compression rates are applied to two parts of
the input signal, both levels can be adjusted independently with the relatives GAIN controls.
VU-METER - The VU-Meter can be used to see 4 di erent measures: Input Level, Gain-Reduction,
Output Level and the amount of Harmonics added by the processor.
PEAK REDUCTION - Adjusts the amount of compression to apply to the input signal by specifying
how much the peaks need to be reduced. A good way to operate is to rst nd a good setting
for this control and next to adjust the GAIN level.
TUBE (2A) / SOLID STATE (3A) - Selects the original compressor model. 2A is a tube based compressor
while 3A is conceptually the same unit but working with transistors. TUBE provides slower com-
pression attack, mid range prominent frequencies and more harmonics, while SOLID STATE
gives faster compression attack, a sort of “U” shaped frequency response and less harmonics.
IN LEVEL - Controls the input level. It ranges from –15 dB to +15 dB.
STEREO / MID-SIDE - Switches between the two working modes of the COMP LA. The normal mode is
STEREO, where the unit processes the two, left and right, stereo channels. When in MID/SIDE
mode, the stereo signal is split into MID and SIDE portions. MID portion is the center, mono part
of the stereo image – while the SIDE portion is the outside: the left and right sides of the stereo
image. When COMP LA is in MID/SIDE mode, these two components of the input signal are pro-
cessed separately. The upper interface works on MID, while the lower one works on SIDE.

33
fi

ff
ff

ff

fi
fi

OVERLOUD GEMS COMP LA

Here is how both units look when they are set to MID-SIDE mode.

HARMONICS - Adjusts the amount of added harmonics. It ranges from LINEAR, which means no
harmonics at all, to DIST, which is the maximum level allowable. In the middle position there is
the ORIGINAL gear level.
LF SENS - Adjusts the frequency of a High Pass Filter controlled by the audio program of the input
signal. The lter can reduce the pumping e ect when the audio program has a strong low fre-
quency beating component. When set all the way counterclockwise, the lter is turned o .
PARALLEL - Balances between the DRY (unprocessed) and WET (processed) signals.
OUTPUT - Adjusts the Output level to compensate the possible level changes introduced by the
compression. It ranges from -15 dB to +15 dB.

34
fi

ff

fi

ff

 OVERLOUD GEMS VOICE

VOICE
VOICE: includes the modules for the complete processing of a vocal track.
The Gem VOICE includes 8 modules: Mic Preamp, Tape Sim, Enhancer, Multiband containing a De-
Boxer and a De-Esser, Compressor, Equalizer, Space and Delay, plus the Master section with a
Limiter.
Each module has a list of models from which you can select its character. Most of the listed mod-
els are references to real hardwares. Others are typical responses to speci c kinds of analog pro-
cessing. This high degree of exibility lets the VOICE t in every mixing context easily and make
voice processing very e ective.

MIC PREAMP
This module models a real mic preampli er enriching the input sound with the renowned har-
monics of the selected model.
MODEL - Selects the model emulated by the Mic Preamp module.
GAIN - Adjusts the gain of the module by also impressing the character of the selected model in
terms of harmonics added by the mic preamp transformer and saturation.

35

ff
fl

fi
fi

fi

 OVERLOUD GEMS VOICE

CUT - Cuts lower frequencies. Useful when the harmonic content is unbalanced towards the low
frequencies.

PHASE - Inverts the input signal.

LEVEL - Each module of the VOICE includes a -15 / -15 dB level control, which allows gain staging of
all the modules in the sound chain.
LEVEL METER - Close to the LEVEL controls, you can nd the corresponding LEVEL METER which
shows the current level of the signal emitted by the module. Act on the LEVEL control to keep
the level the higher possible below the red peak levels.
ON (POWER) / S (SOLO) - Each module of the VOICE also includes POWER and SOLO controls to tem-
porarily esclude (bypass) a module from the processing and to temporarily exclude all powered
modules (SOLO). It’s a fast way to evaluate how each module participates to the whole sound.

TAPE SIM
This module reproduces the typical tape recording harmonic distortion. The processed sound
gets some color from this module, which generally corresponds to an analog kind of timbre.
DRIVE - Adjust the gain of the signal recorded on the tape: it allows to control the amount of satu-
ration. The same control compensate the increased recording level by lowering the playback
level.
BLEND - Adjusts the mix between the input and the processed signal.

ENHANCER
When the voice recording seems to lack presence and isn’t cutting through the mix, or even if it
just sounds weak, then it’s worth adding some amount to the ENHANCER. You will appreciate
how vocals will get extra de nition and brilliance, without being overdone. The ENHANCER only
uses harmonics that naturally exist in the original tracks. In the opposite manner, exciters gener-
ate non-existent harmonics by synthesizing them, and often they end up adding unnatural and
inharmonic frequencies due to intermodulation.
AMOUNT - Adjusts the amount of e ect added to the processed signal.

MULTIBAND
This module is a speci c double lter to attenuate voice artefacts from mic recordings. Both l-
ters work as compressors.
The DE-BOX is a dynamic control of the lower-mid part of the frequency spectrum. Boxy vocals
contain too much low frequency energy and lack the proper excitement needed to cut through
the mix. The DE-BOX processor dynamically removes this low-mid excess.
The DE-ESSER focuses on sibilant sounds letting you to control their prominency.
You can control both lter amounts while looking at the gain reduction meter just close to the
knobs.
DE-BOX AMOUNT - Adjusts the amount of DE-BOX lter applied.
DE-BOX FREQ - Adjusts the frequency around which the DE-BOXing works.
DE-ESSER AMOUNT - Adjusts the amount of DE-ESSER lter applied.
DE-ESSER FREQ - Adjusts the frequency around which the DE-BOXing works.
AUTO CUE - Automatically puts the DE-BOX or the DE-ESSER lter in solo while you drag one of its
knobs. This allows you to listen the frequencies that the lters are processing.
36

fi
fi

fi

ff
fi

fi

fi
fi

fi
fi

fi
 OVERLOUD GEMS VOICE
SWAP POSITION - On the top of the module, there is a white triangular button which can be found
on the EQUALIZER module too. You can click this button to move the EQUALIZER before the
MULTIBAND and have their contribution intervening in the wanted point of the processing.

COMPRESSOR
This module can be used when you need to control the voice dynamic variations.
COMP - Adjusts the amount of dynamic compression. This is internally done by lowering the
threshold or raising the input gain, depending on the selected Model
TIME - Adjusts the time constants of the compressor. When you increase time, the Release time is
increased and the Attack time is decreased, an viceversa.
EXP GATE - Adjusts the threshold of an expander gate, under which the input signal is reduced to
clean it from unwanted noise.
LF SENS - Adjusts the frequency of a High Pass Filter controlled by the audio program of the input
signal. The lter can reduce the compressor sensitivity to the lower vocal frequencies. When set
all the way counterclockwise, the lter is turned o .

EQUALIZER
Using the EQUALIZER you can adjust the harmonic content of the input signal. Useful when the
starting material has prominency or leakage of a range of frequencies. Or either when other
modules processing change the harmonic content by emphasising or ltering out a frequency
range. Three bands are available, plus an optional SUB CUT control.
LOW GAIN - Adjusts the gain of the LOW frequencies.
LOW FREQ - Selects the LOW band frequency.
MID GAIN - Adjusts the gain of the MID frequencies.
MID FREQ - Selects the MID band frequency.
The EQUALIZER can work from two di erent positions in the mod-
HIGH GAIN - Adjusts the gain of the HIGH fre- ules sequence. This feature allows to have the harmonic content
quencies. adjusted before or after the MULTIBAND / COMPRESSOR modules,
HIGH FREQ - Selects the HIGH band frequency. which are those that mainly shape the signal dynamics.
SUB FREQ - Selects the SUB CUT frequency. To move the EQUALIZER module to its alternative position, just click
CUT - Switches ON/OFF the SUB CUT lter. the small white triangular button on its caption.

SPACE
SPACE is a multidimensional processor allowing to create or enhance the dimension and place-
ment of a voice in the mix.
AMOUNT - Adjusts the amount of reverb to add.
REV TIME - Adjusts the reverb time. Enabled when the SPACE model is a long tail reverb.
TONE - Adjusts the harmonic balance (color) of the reverb.
WIDE - Adjusts the wideness (stereo aperture) of the reverb.
DEPTH - Adjusts the predelay time which, on very short impulses, changes the perceived depth of
the recreated ambience.

37

fi

ff

fi
fi

ff

fi

 OVERLOUD GEMS VOICE

DELAY
This module creates a warm stereo delay, designed as a replacement of long reverbs according
to the most recent mixing trends. You can use this e ect with short times to add room early re-
ections, or with mid times to improve the SPACE environment e ect. Using uncorrelated delay
times allows to add an extra depth to the recreated space.
MIX - Adjusts the balance between dry (direct) and wet (processed) signal.
TIME - Adjusts the delay time. You optionally can turn the BPM sync on clicking the note button
close to the TIME control, and use the knob to select the wanted BPM synced division.

DISPLAY
This graphic display shows has two views: EQ and COMP, showing EQUALIZER and COMPRESSOR
curves respectively.
You can switch the view with the EQ and COMP buttons, or select AUTO to have the views
switched automatically when you move the mouse cursor over one of the involved modules.
This is particularly useful when you are searching for a balance between both modules action,
‘cause you don’t have to continuously switch view manually.
EQ - When the EQ view is selected, two curves
are drawn. The spectral content, which is the When the EQ view is selected, the lter curve is shown with 4 col-
real time moving lled area showing the ored interactive circles. The circle colors correspond to the EQ band
amounts of all frequencies, and the lter knob colors. You can drag the circles to adjust the equalization (the
curve which describes how the EQUALIZER EQ knobs will move accordingly) and evaluate the processing in real
module is intervening on the harmonic con- time. This feature lets you edit the EQ curve right where it needs to.
tent to adjust it.
COMP - When the COMP view is selected, you can see the level curve on the lower side, and the
COMPRESSOR gain reduction level on the top side. This way you can easily correlate how the
compression is responding to the level peaks. The more compression you ask for, the more the
gain reduction “inverse” peak will counterbalance the level peaks.

MASTER
The last module of the GEM VOICE is the MASTER which includes two sections: LIMITER and OUT-
PUT.
LIMITER - Adjusts the amount of output limiter, which allows to control peaks without clipping
them. The limiter threshold is always 0dBFS and no samples will go over the 0dBFS if the limiter
is switched on.
MONO / STEREO - Selects the kind of output: stereo or mono.
OUTPUT LEVEL - The two master faders adjust the nal output level, after the limiter action.
LINK - Optionally links the output faders together.

38
fl

fi
fi
fi
fi

ff

ff

 OVERLOUD GEMS

MODULA
The Overloud GEM MODULA includes a set of three models of iconic vintage modulation e ect
units.

On the bottom side of the window is the master panel with three buttons to select the modula-
tion unit, and a set of controls to adjust the processed sound.
With the DUAL button, only active when the If you alt-click DUAL, the parameter settings of the active panel get
plugin is working on a stereo signal, the mas- copied to the second panel. This is useful when you want to process
ter panel also allows to double the modula- a stereo signal starting from a perfect duplication of the same pro-
tion unit letting both instances to process the cessing for both channels.
left and right channels individually.

DIMENSION
MODE - The DIMENSION unit replicates a very If you alt-click the MODE buttons, you can activate more than one
popular modulation unit which originally mode and experiment new modes for the modulation.
only worked by selecting the unit mode,
from 1 to 4. Modes were implemented as presets for the whole unit. The idea behind the GEMS

39

ff
 OVERLOUD GEMS
product line is to go beyond the modeled units providing more parameters and improving pa-
rameter ranges.
Therefore, the DIMENSION modulation can be nely controlled by the four parameters: SPEED, DEPTH,
SHAPE and AMOUNT. And furthermore, for three of those parameters, SPEED, DEPTH and AMOUNT, the
ENV control is available to modify the parameter value according to the envelope of the input
signal.
SPEED - Adjusts speed of the modulation. The range of this parameter is from 2.00 Hz to 10.0 Hz.
The speed can be set manually (keep SHIFT pressed for ne tuning), or either be synced with the
DAW tempo.
SYNC - Enables or disables the DAW tempo synchronization. When the SYNC is on, the speed is se-
lected from a set of time divisions. In this case, the speed will follow any song bpm change.
SYNC ENV - Adjusts the amount of positive or negative change to the sync value according to the
input signal envelope. Useful when you want
to add some randomness to the modulation ENV faders include meters that show how much they are a ecting
speed. the parameters they relate to. When you move the cursor over an
ENV fader, all faders become transparent (you can use this feature
DEPTH - Adjusts depth (amount) of modula-
to see meters with no obstacles).
tion. The range of this parameter is from 0%
to 100%.
DEPTH ENV - Adjusts the amount of positive or negative change to the depth value according to
the input signal envelope. Can be used to control the amount of modulation corresponding to
louder or weaker input signals.
SHAPE - Changes the shape of the LFO respect to the original shape. Can be used to vary the tim-
bre of the modulation.
AMOUNT - Adjusts the amount of Wet (processed) signal to be transferred to the output sound. The
range of this parameter is from 0% to 100%.
AMOUNT ENV - Adjusts the amount of positive or negative change to the amount value according
to the input signal envelope.
VU METER - Displays the real time value of the output signal level.

The following diagram shows the internal processing scheme of the Modula.

40

ff

fi
fi

 OVERLOUD GEMS
ENSEMBLE
The ENSEMBLE unit replicates the modulation stage of a vintage instrument which originally only
could be turned on or o with a switch button. Following the GEMS philosophy, the original mod-
ulation processing can be customized by adjusting Modula parameters.
For a description of all ENSEMBLE parameters you can refer to the DIMENSION ones described
above.

SYMPHONIC
The SYMPHONIC unit replicates the processing of a modulation preset inside a popular and very
appreciated Japanese vintage analog-digital multi e ect unit. The Symphonic preset of the orig-
inal unit sounded like a anger by modulating the input signal with its LFO. This kind of modula-
tion is particularly suitable for keyboard instruments whose sound gets thicken and waving with
the added pitch and stereo imaging variations.

MASTER
The MASTER section includes controls to select the model of the modulation: DIMENSION, ENSEMBLE,
SYMPHONIC. And other controls to nalize the processed sound.

IN LEVEL - Adjusts the level of the input signal.

EQ GAIN 1 - Adjusts the gain of the EQ band 1 frequency.
EQ FREQ 1 - Selects the frequency of the EQ band 1.
EQ Q 1 - Adjusts the Q of the EQ band 1.
EQ GAIN 2 - Adjusts the gain of the EQ band 2 frequency.
EQ FREQ 2 - Selects the frequency of the EQ band 2.
EQ Q 2 - Adjusts the Q of the EQ band 2.
EQ - Turns the EQ on / o (bypass).
LFO - Adjusts the randomness of the LFO. Can be used to reduce the typical e ect of cyclicality
perceived when LFOs are used.
DUAL - Doubles the modulation panel to have both processing the stereo channels individually.
STEREO WIDTH - Controls the stereo image aperture by narrowing (turn left) or widening (turn
right) the stereo channels separation.
MIX -Adjusts the mix between DRY (input) and WET (processed) signals.
OUT LEVEL - Adjusts the level of the output signal.

41

ff
ff
fl

fi

ff

ff

 OVERLOUD GEMS
LINKS
The MODULA toolbar includes the LINK button.
Clicking the LINK button, a popup panel will ap-
pear, showing the parameters that can be linked
together when the MODULA is in DUAL mode.
Parameters which are linked are set to the same
value at rst change after linking. Next, they will
move coupled.
The LINK button on the toolbar turns red when
there are active links.

42

fi

 OVERLOUD GEMS

SOLO
When you are in MID-SIDE mode, you can listen to one of the two components with the solo
function. To put MID or SIDE part in solo, move the mouse cursor over the MAKE-UP control you
want to solo and locate the popup “S” button after it pops up and click it. The SOLO button will
turn to yellow and the selected component will play in solo. You can do the same with the other
MID-SIDE component as well.

Comp G interface showing the SOLO buttons with the MID portion playing in solo.

Gems supporting the solo function are:

• Comp76
• Comp G
• Comp670
• Comp LA

43

OVERLOUD GEMS

SCRIBBLES
In the real world, when you operate on multiple machines with several channel strips, panels and
control surfaces, you can have the need to note things around, adding labels, tape bends, de-
scribing what is where, so that you can easily recognise them while doing your work.
In a computer’s display something similar can easily happen when your project turns into some-
thing bigger than as usual, with more and more windows of instances of plugins overlapped all
around the screen.
Since the Gems are reproductions of real gears, we decided to add them the support for labels,
that we have called Scribbles.
Scribbles can be sticked to Gem interfaces very easily. Just select Add Scribble from the popup
menu that you’ll see by clicking the button on the right side of the menu bar. A new Scribble will
appear. Type in a text for it and con rm.

Scribbles can be customised to t your needs. You can edit the scribble text and change its size
by right clicking it and selecting the appropriate commands from the popup menu.

The same menu can be used to duplicate the scribble in case you need more copies on your in-
terface. And of course you can delete the scribble if you don’t need it anymore.

44

fi
fi

OVERLOUD GEMS
Here following is how a Gem interface with scribbles could look.

45

 OVERLOUD GEMS

PREFERENCES
Each Gem has its own set of preferences to be set to customise its speci c behaviour.
The following three settings are allowable in all Gems:
Ask con rmation when losing unsaved changes
Ask con rmation when overwriting another preset
Show scribbles
These are related respectively to: asking for a con rmation when you are about to lose changes
that you haven’t saved yet (i.e. if you load a preset after you changed the current one), asking a
con rmation when you are about to replace a preset by saving another one over it. And to show/
hide the scribbles.
Oversampling mode
Oversampling is a technique used to reduce aliasing and to increase processing accuracy. Every
time a digital sound processor introduces an harmonic distortion, a certain amount of aliasing is
generated as a side e ect. In common working situations, where the level of generated harmon-
ics is generally low, there is no need for countermeasures. Hence, the default option, O , is al-
most always good, because aliasing audio artefacts are inaudible.
When, on the other hand, high values of gain are used, the aliasing e ect level could raise. For
these cases, selecting Standard the processor performs an oversampling which e ectively re-
duces aliasing.
Last setting, Ultra, is for extreme situations, where multiple high gain settings do overlap driving
to a much distorted output. It’s very likely that this situation never occurs in real cases.
The trade-o for oversampling are: CPU load and possible phase rotation on high frequencies.
The higher the oversampling the greater the load on the CPU. And for plugins like the Gems,
planned to be instantiated on a number of audio tracks, this really is something to take care of.
VU-Meter calibration
Gems meters are calibrated to show a level of 0 VU when fed by a 1 KHz sine wave with a peak
level of -14 dBFS, which is the factory calibration.
You can select one from a list of four: -8, -14, -18 and -21 dBFS.

46
fi
fi
fi
ff

ff

fi

ff
fi
ff

OVERLOUD GEMS

LEGAL NOTICE
All product names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners, and are in no way
associated or a liated with Overloud.
Product names and visuals are used solely for the purpose of identifying the speci c source
products that have been used as the basis for custom Overloud digital audio processing devel-
opment, and to describe the types of tones produced by the Overloud products.
Any reference to these names or visuals does not imply any collaboration, cooperation a liation,
or endorsement. All rights reserved.

47
ffi

fi
ffi