The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of ACCUSONUS INC. The software described by this document is subject to a License Agreement and may not be copied to other media. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced, or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior written permission by ACCUSONUS INC, hereinafter referred to as Accusonus. All product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

ERA 5 Voice autoEQ is covered by at least the following patents:
https://accusonus.com/patents

Copyright  ACCUSONUS INC.
All rights reserved.

Accusonus Inc.
Lexington, Massachusetts
USA

 

Introduction

Welcome

Thank you for choosing accusonus ERA 5 Voice autoEQ. In order to better understand the main concepts and operation of Voice autoEQ, please take the time to read this user manual.

You can also check out our Accusonus Help Center or Blog for educational content. Also, follow us on Facebook and YouTube for useful tips & tutorials.

 

Overview

Voice autoEQ is an intuitive and powerful audio effect plug-in that turns the tedious and time consuming task of speech equalization into an effortless and creative process. Based on the multi-patented accusonus algorithms, Voice autoEQ simply works, allowing for automatic balancing and enhancing of the tonal characteristics of your speech recordings.

Features

• Simple & effective Tonal Blending Triangle

• Intelligent engine that learns the tonal characteristics of your voice

• Carefully tuned EQ Intensity slider

• Uncompromised sound quality

• Automatic tonal balancing

• EQ Processing Type switch

• Resizable UI

 

Installation & Activation

You can find the latest Voice autoEQ installer in the Downloads section. For more information about the installation and activation procedure, see the Activation Manual, which you can find along with the installer or in the Accusonus Help Center.

 

System requirements

Your computer must have:

• a modern architecture CPU

• a minimum of 2GB RAM memory

• at least 50MB free space on your hard disk

• a minimum screen resolution of 800x600 pixels

 

Supported operating systems

Voice autoEQ is available in the following operating systems:

• MacOS 10.12 or later

• Windows 10

 

Supported formats

Voice autoEQ is available as a mono or stereo audio effect plug-in in the following formats:

Mac

• AU (64-bit)

• VST (64-bit)

• VST3 (64-bit)

• AAX Native (64-bit)

Windows

• VST (32/64-bit)

• VST3 (64-bit)

• AAX Native (64-bit)

 

Supported sample rates

Voice autoEQ supports the following sample rates: 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz, 96 kHz.

 

Supported plug-in hosts

Voice autoEQ is fully tested in the following hosts:

NLEs (Non-Linear Editors)

• Adobe Premiere CC 2019 (or higher)

• Final Cut Pro 10.4.5 (or higher)

• DaVinci Resolve 15 (or higher)

DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations)

• Adobe Audition CC 2019 (or higher)

• Avid Pro Tools 12 (or higher) for Windows 10

• Avid Pro Tools 12 - Pro Tools 2020.4 for macOS 10.12 - 10.15.4

• Avid Pro Tools 2020.5 for macOS 10.15.5 (or higher)

• Apple Logic Pro 10.4.8

• Audacity 2.2.2 - Windows only

• Audacity 2.3.3 (or higher) - macOS only

• Apple GarageBand 10.3.2 (or higher)

• Reaper v5.9 (or higher)

• Presonus Studio One 4 Pro (or higher)

 

Warning: Voice autoEQ is designed to be used as an audio effect plug-in inside Digital Audio Workstations and Non-Linear Editing systems. Only the plug-in formats listed above are supported. Voice autoEQ does not operate as a stand-alone application.

Warning: There are just too many combinations of hosts and plug-in formats out there, so there’s always something we might have not tested. If you don’t see your host above, you can always download the free, fully-functional 14-day trial and see if ERA Voice autoEQ is supported for yourself. If you encounter any problem, contact us and we would be happy to help.

 

ERA 5 Voice autoEQ Operation

Learning your audio

The first time you open a new Voice autoEQ instance in your host, a screen overlay appears. This screen is prompting you to playback audio. Voice autoEQ needs to listen to a speech-only region to learn its vocal characteristics, before it can automatically balance any tonal inconsistencies out.

All you have to do is:

• Set the host playhead at the beginning of the speech-only region you want to process

• Press playback in your host

• Let Voice autoEQ listen to your audio for some seconds

Voice autoEQ will let you know that it’s analyzing your audio by displaying a dedicated screen overlay.

Voice autoEQ will automatically stop analyzing your audio, when the algorithm feels confident in the profile of the voice. This usually takes from 4 up to 8 seconds, depending on the voice of the speaker.

Tip: For optimal results, please select regions where only one voice is active. This way the algorithm is absolutely confident about what it learns.

Tip: Please avoid stopping the playback or moving the playhead to a different region while Voice autoEQ is learning your audio.

Warning: Please avoid selecting regions where music and speech co-exist, as this can significantly affect the results.

 

Processing your audio

Once the learning phase is over, the screen overlay automatically disappears and you are ready to use Voice autoEQ to process your audio. At the upper section of the plug-in, you will find the main Tonal Blending Triangle. Most of the times, you won’t have to do anything else other than slightly adjusting the round cursor inside the triangle to achieve great results!

 

Tonal Blending Triangle

Each corner of the triangle represents a tonal preset, fine tuned to enhance various aspects of a voice. All tonal presets are intelligently blending together, based on the position of the round cursor. When the cursor is at the center of the triangle, the three presets are equally contributing to the final result. You can blend them any way you like by moving the cursor towards any corner or anywhere in between.

• Air: Move towards this corner to add more presence to your voice, making it cut through your mix. Voice autoEQ will favor the higher frequencies of your voice, without making it sound harsh.

• Body: Move towards this corner to add warmth to your voice, making it sound fuller. Voice autoEQ will favor the lower frequencies without making things sound muddy.

• Clarity: Move towards this corner to improve the intelligibility of your voice. Voice autoEQ will tame any harsh nasal attributes, without making the voice sound thin.

Info: When you move the round cursor inside the triangle you’ll see the Tonal Blending Indicator arcs change. These arcs are a visual indication on how all presets are blend to contribute to the final result. A preset with a longer arc is contributing more to the final result than a preset with a shorter arc.

Tip: You can double-click on the round cursor to reset it to its default position.

 

Intensity control

At the bottom of the plug-in, you can find the Intensity slider. This slider lets you adjust the overall EQ amount applied to your audio. Move towards the "-" side for subtle EQ processing, or towards the "+" side for a more drastic EQ processing.

Info: The Intensity slider will modify the effect of all tonal presets simultaneously while maintaining their blending behavior.

As you tweak the Intensity slider, you will see the thickness of the arcs on the triangle change accordingly. This is a visual indication to help you see the overall EQ processing that is applied. Higher Intensity values lead to thicker arcs while lower Intensity values lead to thinner ones.

Warning: Turning the Intensity slider all the way down, will not bypass the overall processing! Voice autoEQ will continue processing your audio in a gentle way.

 

Learn button

On the left side of the plug-in window, you will find the Learn button. Press this button when you want to let Voice autoEQ learn the profile of a different voice, than the one it already knows. Hitting the button will spawn a screen overlay, prompting you to playback audio.

All you have to do is:

• Set the playhead to the new speech-only region

• Press playback in your host

• Let Voice autoEQ listen to your audio

Tip: If you press the Learn button unintentionally and you don’t want to let Voice autoEQ learn something new, you can click the X button at the top right corner of the screen overlay. This will not affect what Voice autoEQ has already learned.

Warning: Once you let Voice autoEQ listen to a new audio region by playing back audio, any previously learned voice profile gets discarded.

  

Info: While Voice autoEQ is listening to your audio, stopping the playback or moving the playhead to another region will stop the learning procedure. At this stage, Voice autoEQ has already learned various vocal attributes of your audio. However, a longer analysis duration will provide a more confident result about your optimal voice profile. In such cases, you will be notified with a respective icon on the Learn button. If the sound result is not meeting your expectations, you can press Learn again, letting Voice autoEQ listen to a longer region.

 

Output gain

Due to the nature of equalization, the level of the output signal can be higher than the level of the original signal. The output gain works as a fine-tune gain and allows you to adjust the level of the output signal. Note that this gain is also bypassed when the ON/OFF switch is set at OFF. This is very helpful when comparing the original and the processed signals.

Tip: You can double-click on a control to reset it to its default value.

 

A/B switch

There might come a time where you’re not sure which setting is better. Note, that you can adjust the plug-in controls (Tonal Blend, Output Gain, Processing Type and Intensity) independently for the A and the B settings. You can use the A/B switch to quickly compare the two settings and decide which one is better.

Info: Note that the voice profile learned by the plug-in is common between the A and the B settings.

 

ON/OFF switch

The ON/OFF switch allows you to turn on or off the plug-in processing. When the switch is on OFF position, all processing is bypassed and the original signal comes through Voice autoEQ unprocessed.

Tip: We suggest to use the ON/OFF switch (instead of the DAW’s bypass control for the plug-in). This will keep your audio in sync with the rest of your tracks in your DAW session.

 

Resizing the plug-in window

Voice autoEQ offers the option to resize the plug-in window. This can be especially helpful if you have large or high-resolution screens or you just want to focus on a specific task. Click the zoom icon at the top right corner and choose between three settings.

Warning: Low resolution screens such as 800x600 cannot correctly display the plug-in for zoom options above 100%. Additionally, some hosts may clip the plug-in window in such low resolutions.

 

Quick Info Button

Right above the tonal blending triangle, you will find the Quick Info button. Enable it and hover the mouse over any control of Voice autoEQ. A pop-up window will appear in the middle of the plug-in, containing helpful information and tips for each control.

Info: To hide the pop-up window, just click on the Quick Info button once again.