DUY EVERPACK (MAC)

Apr 1, 2001 12:00 PM, By Rob Shrock

The new EverPack bundle from DUY Research contains five high-quality processor plug-ins: Max DUY, DUY Shape, DaD Valve, DUY Wide, and Z-Room. All five plug-ins are installed from the same CD-ROM, which provides both VST and MAS versions. EverPack uses the ubiquitous challenge-and-response code of the PACE copy-protection scheme, and because the manufacturer is located in Spain, the company issues responses only by e-mail.

Shape and Valve have been previously reviewed (see the March 1998 issue of EM), so this article will focus on the bundle's three remaining applications. Max is a limiting application for premastering that raises the overall average program level while preventing digital clipping; Wide enhances the stereo audio's spatial imaging and boosts certain frequencies to compensate for loss in the imaging process; and Z-Room is a reverb and ambience plug-in that provides detailed control of parameters.

TO THE MAX

Thanks to hardware boxes such as TC Electronic's Finalizer and software applications such as Waves' L1, premastering tools are commonplace in the project studio. Max joins the fray as a no-nonsense plug-in that combines level and bit-rate maximization with brick-wall limiting.

Max is a single-band processor with 48-bit internal resolution. It employs the proprietary Intelligent Level Optimization (ILO) algorithm, which features control parameters that are updated every sample. According to the manufacturer, ILO uses a psychoacoustic model that creates an output signal based on complex calculations.

Combined with excellent I/O metering, three controls are provided: Input, Max dB (threshold), and Output (see Fig. 1). The Input level allows you to trim the incoming signal to prevent clipping. The Output control lets you attenuate the output signal to avoid clipping indicators in any of the connected devices; it's also useful if you want to prevent the signal from reaching full-bit resolution.

Max's threshold slider controls most of the action. As you move it to the left, the overall level is raised. Although a numerical reading shows the highest level reached at the input and output, there's no indication of how much attenuation is introduced by the brick-wall limiting. I would prefer real-time displays showing the amount of gain reduction being introduced and the maximum peak that's been squashed. Although you have to make optimal settings by ear, such a critical process requires as much information as possible, and the lack of visual feedback is a significant oversight. (DUY promises to include improved metering in the next update.)

As for sound quality, Max is adequate; limiting is applied to the entire frequency range of the program material. (Shape offers multiband compression.) As with most maximizing processes, a little goes a long way; it's easy to apply too much limiting and cause audible distortion. Without visual information about how much compression is being applied, you have to be content using the plug-in's two meters (as well as your ears) to find the appropriate threshold setting. On program material that originally peaks at several decibels below 0 dB, Max is able to raise the overall level without audible negative side effects. If your intent is to raise the level of your final mixes and add a touch of brick-wall limiting, Max will serve you well.

WIDE, OPEN SPACES

Wide is a spatial enhancer designed primarily to widen the imaging of stereo material. (It doesn't work on monophonic audio files.) Unlike image enhancers that provide only a single control for the amount of processing, Wide lets you boost user-selected frequencies to accommodate low-end loss. The plug-in can also flip the phase (polarity) of either or both audio channels. Its internal processing resolution is 48 bits.

Wide is intended for enhancing stereo mixes and individual tracks. The metering is excellent; a graph shows the phase correlation in degrees between the left and right signals. This display is particularly handy because higher processing percentages result in less monophonic compatibility between the left and right channels. Values higher than about 40 percent become audibly phase shifted and unnatural sounding, but you might like that effect for some material. In smaller doses, Wide does a nice job of spreading out stereo material, especially padlike instruments such as strings and organs. The input control can only be trimmed back from a maximum of 0 dB and can't be boosted if the incoming signal is particularly low. Around -3 to -4 dB seems to be the most common setting for passing a signal through unaffected.

The Boost function lets you add back some of the low frequencies that are lost during the widening process. The definable frequency range is roughly 100 Hz to 1 kHz, but the boost amount is expressed as a percentage between 0 and 100 percent rather than in decibels. Wide has no control for the shape of the boost, which sounds like a simple shelving EQ. The Boost function is not stellar in most cases. For situations in which I added so much widening effect to a sound that it affected the perceived frequency content, I preferred to follow Wide's image processing with a more controllable EQ plug-in.

Overall, Wide is useful when it's applied in moderation. Although the Boost frequencies section can be troublesome if misused, the graphic display of the phase relationship between the left and right channels is nice. By leaving the Amount set to 0 percent, the display doubles as a way to check the mono compatibility of a stereo source. Used with taste, Wide really spreads out stereo sound in an appealing manner.

Z-ROOM IS NOW OPEN

Like most good reverb plug-ins, Z-Room voraciously eats up computer resources. However, the exchange of computer power for the excellence of Z-Room's ambience presets is a fair trade-off. Furthermore, the diverse presets collection can be extensively edited and saved for later recall. Unlike EverPack's other plug-ins, Z-Room offers 64-bit processing.

Z-Room provides great metering. Its interface is divided into six sections: Input, Early Reflections, Diffusion, Mass, Color, and Mixer (see Fig. 2). Each section includes three or four editable parameters. A Rehearsal button emits a short impulse tone that lets the user test the current setting's response. Early Reflections and reverb responses scroll along the bottom of the display to provide visual data. To buy back a little CPU power, I'd like the option of disabling that feature.

Z-Room runs in Deluxe, Economy, or Earlies mode. Economy mode reduces the draw on computer resources at the expense of sound quality, though the gain in CPU power isn't equal to the loss of fidelity. When I tested Z-Room on a Mac G3/400 MHz, Deluxe mode used about 20 percent of the overall CPU power, and Economy mode used 15 percent. If you can run only one or two instances of Z-Room as your main reverb, use Deluxe mode. However, on a multiprocessor G4 machine Economy mode may become more useful, because you should have the power to run several instances of Z-Room in both Deluxe and Economy mode and apply them according to the importance of the signal.

In addition to Deluxe and Economy, an Earlies mode consists mostly of discrete echoes to simulate early reflections. The sound of Z-Room's early reflections is excellent. Earlies mode uses even less processing power than Economy mode.

Over time, I've grown less fond of reverb plug-ins; to my ears, they usually don't have the front-to-back depth of a great hardware unit or, better yet, a pair of mics recording a real room. However, Z-Room in Deluxe mode sounds great on most instruments, especially drums and guitars. It can sound either neutral or colored, imparting its own character to the sound.

If you're looking for a thick, Lexicon-like pop vocal sound, you may be disappointed. If that's what you want, a Lexicon reverb unit is the place to get it. For everything else, Z-Room works well if you can afford the CPU resources.

ALL BUNDLED UP

The EverPack plug-ins' graphic interfaces are visually stimulating, but some of the parameters are hard to read because of dark backgrounds or the treatment of the text fonts.

Each EverPack plug-in is high quality, and I applaud DUY for designing and including both MAS and VST versions in the same bundle. I especially like the Valve and Z-Room plug-ins, and Shape is a powerful multiband compressor. Max and Wide are useful tools, but similar products perform the same functions better. As a bundle, however, EverPack is a powerful and affordable collection.

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Rob Shrock was recently a music director for the 72nd Academy Awards. He has recorded or performed with Burt Bacharach, Sheryl Crow, Garth Brooks, Faith Hill, Mikaila, ’N Sync, and many others.

Minimum System Requirements

EverPack
Power Macintosh; 800 KB RAM for first instance and 200 KB for each additional instance; Mac OS 8.1 or higher (host program may require a higher OS version)

PRODUCT SUMMARY

DUY

EverPack (Mac)
audio plug-in bundle
$499