Zynaptiq UNFILTER - Adaptive Tonal Contour Linearization Plug-In (Download)

Zynaptiq UNFILTER - Adaptive Tonal Contour Linearization Plug-In (Download)

UNFILTER from Zynaptiq is a versatile frequency response tool with a broad range of applications. The real-time plug-in is able to automatically remove filtering effects, such as comb filtering, resonance, or excessive equalization. Applications include audio post for film sound, music production and mastering, broadcast and ENG, sound design, and forensics. The plug-in can also apply a detected filter response to another signal, or export it to disk as an impulse response.

When doing post-production for film sound, the automatic recognition of frequency response anomalies is extremely useful for cleaning up production sound, and especially for enhancing the intelligibility of dialog. In music production and mastering, fine-tuning the frequency response of a signal is one of the most commonly encountered tasks. While recordings of acoustic instruments and live performances can often exhibit unwanted peaks and notches. Here the high-precision filtering engine makes it a very flexible solution for these issues.

For broadcasting audio, it is important to maintain a consistent and balanced audio spectrum, to ensure optimal performance of all down-stream systems, and to provide a high-quality, consistent and non-fatiguing listening experience to the audience. As the acoustic properties of the footage used can vary strongly to say the least, this is no trivial task. Electronic News Gathering (ENG) often requires using small, portable and inconspicuous devices, and/or low bandwidth transmission systems. The software`s adaptive processing aids in making even the most difficult footage usable.

The ability to completely reshape the spectral contour of a signal, extract the filter response from a sound and apply it to a different file, and to solo the noisy components contained in a sound makes it an excellent tool for designing new sounds. When applied to the field of forensics, the plug-in can assist in extracting information from recordings in multiple ways. Intelligibility of speech recordings can be greatly enhanced, the filtering effects of microphone occlusion can be removed, and sounds buried beneath others can be made more audible.

General

• Automatically detect and remove resonances, equalization, roll-offs and the effects of comb filtering from musical, location, dialog and surveillance recordings
• Apply the measured filter response to other signals to place them in the same `acoustic world`
• Export the measured filter response to or import it from a linear- or minimum-phase impulse response file (WAV)
• Mastering grade adaptive, free-form and graphic equalization
• Extremely steep 96dB/octave shelving high-pass filter
• Output limiter for unsupervised use in batch processing applications
• Time-efficient workflow and UI

Sound for Picture

• Remove comb-filtering caused by multiple `open` microphones being mixed to one iso track, or by proximity to reflective surfaces
• Remove resonances caused by room geometry or using shotgun microphones near off-axis reflective surfaces
• Remove recording path roll-offs and lavalier microphone chest resonance
• Increase level separation between dialog and background sounds
• Make ADR blend better with production dialog
• Synthesize room tone to fill editing gaps or to layer with ADR by applying a measured filter response to noise
• Make crowd atmos, walla or dense ambience collide less with dialog
• Manipulate apparent distance of background sounds by emphasizing room filtering effects
• Enhance SFX and foley recordings
• Speed up any equalization and low-cut filtering task
• Improve mix translation to non-standardized playback environments, like TVs or PCs, by removing resonances that would add up with the frequency response of the playback system
• Save hours of expensive mixing stage time

Music Production and Mastering

• Remove resonances and other frequency response issues from recordings of acoustic instruments or live performances
• Remove EQ or filtering `printed` to tracks delivered for mix-down or mastering
• Remove guitar cabinet coloration, or apply it to a DI guitar
• Apply corrective EQ to any source within seconds
• Exaggerate a sound`s coloration to more firmly place it in its own frequency `window`
• Remove low-mid buildup from sub-mixes and mixes without losing the `body` of the sound
• Balance the spectrum of one or multiple songs
• Capture the frequency response of outboard EQ or other signal paths and apply it or store it as impulse response (WAV)
• Accentuate the natural low end on acoustic bass drums
• Remove spectral peaks caused by corpus resonance, for example on bass or acoustic guitars
• Apply a track`s measured filter response to overdubs made with a different recording setup to make them blend better

Sound Design

• Extract a filter response curve from a sound and apply it to another
• Remove the natural corpus resonance from a sound and apply a different one
• Open or close synthesizer low-pass filters after the fact
• Bring out aspects of a sound normally hidden behind other features
• Synthesize drones, hiss or rumble by extracting a filter response from an example sound and applying it to noise or other broad-band quasi-/cyclo-stationary sounds
• Use NOISE MONITOR to isolate the noisy components of a sound
• Generate multiple object state sounds from one file for game-audio
• Animate the frequency response of static sounds to make them more `alive`
• Improve translation to consumer playback systems like gamer PCs
• Generally fine-tune the frequency response of a sound with unprecedented precision

Broadcast and ENG

• Apply adaptive equalization to time-varying audio content, such as mixed music audio streams
• Enhance intelligibility of speech recordings by removing resonances and signal path related roll-offs
• Improve translation to consumer playback devices by removing non-linearity that would add up with those of the playback system
• Reduce the coloration imparted by transmission through telephones, megaphones, intercoms, P.A. systems etc.
• Increase intelligibility of speech recorded using low-fidelity or covertly worn recording devices
• Increase the separation of speech from background sounds

Forensics

• Increase intelligibility of speech recorded using low-quality, occluded or damaged audio equipment
• Make sounds buried beneath other sounds more audible
• Increase separation between speech and background sounds
• Reduce the filtering effects caused by telephone transmissions
• Remove resonances and filtering effects caused by an intermediate medium, such as walls or windows