-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 0
Meridian
5-band parametric EQ + soft-knee compressor + tube saturation + inflator. For tracks and group buses.
Meridian is a channel shaper for tracks and group buses. It combines:
- 5-band parametric EQ — precise frequency sculpting
- Soft-knee compressor — dynamics control, reacts to exciter harmonics
- Tube saturation (Warmth) — analog character
- Exciter — HF harmonic sparkle
- Inflator — waveshaper density without harshness
All modules work in series. The compressor hears exciter harmonics, saturation colors the result — everything blends organically.
Designed for electronic music: sculpt kick & rumble, shape synth groups, glue percussion, fatten atmos.
🟢 Tracks and group buses: Kick & Rumble, Low Synths, Percussion, Atmos/FX, Bass groups.
🔴 NOT on the Master — use Equilibrium instead.
HPF/LPF → 5-band EQ → Tilt → Exciter → Compressor → Warmth → Inflate → Pan → Width → Out
| Control | Range | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| HPF | 2–2000 Hz | 2 Hz (off) | 50 Hz = natural; 100 Hz = airy |
| LPF | 200–35000 Hz | 35k (off) | 10k = less brilliant; 5k = dark |
| Slope | A/B | A (12 dB/oct) | B = 24 dB/oct, steeper |
| Band | Type | Freq Range | Default | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LO SHELF | Shelf | 40–200 Hz | 80 Hz | A/B/C |
| LO-MID | Peak | 150–800 Hz | 300 Hz | A/B/C |
| MID | Peak | 500–3000 Hz | 1000 Hz | A/B/C |
| HI-MID | Peak | 2k–10k Hz | 4000 Hz | A/B/C |
| HI SHELF | Shelf | 6k–20k Hz | 12k Hz | A/B/C |
Gain: −12 to +12 dB per band. Slope A=wide, B=medium, C=narrow.
Single knob tilts the spectrum warmer (right = +bass, −treble) or brighter. Range: −1.5 to +1.5 dB.
Adds harmonic high-frequency sparkle. Compressor hears these harmonics — sounds organic.
| Control | Range | Default |
|---|---|---|
| FREQ | 6–12 kHz | 8k |
| AMOUNT | 0–30% | 0% |
| BLEND | 0–100% | 0% |
Soft-knee compression after EQ.
| Control | Range | Default | Quick tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| THRESH | 0 to −30 dB | 0 (off) | Lower = more compression |
| RATIO | 1.5–4.0:1 | 2.0:1 | |
| ATTACK | 5–50 ms | 15 ms | |
| RELEASE | 50–300 ms | 120 ms | |
| MIX | 0–100% | 0% | 40% = natural parallel |
| MAKEUP | 0–12 dB | 0 dB |
Quick presets:
- Percussion glue: THRESH −12, RATIO 1.5, 15/100ms, MIX 40%
- Kick & Rumble (heavy): THRESH −18, RATIO 3.0, 10/80ms, MIX 60%
DC-biased tanh tube saturation.
| Control | Range | Default |
|---|---|---|
| DRIVE | 0–12 dB | 0 |
| W/MIX | 0–100% | 0% |
Oxford-Inflator-style waveshaper — density and loudness without harshness.
| Control | Range | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| EFFECT | 0–100% | 0% | Waveshaper intensity |
| CURVE | −50 to +50 | 0 | Negative = softer, Positive = harder drive |
| SPLIT | on/off | off | 3-band crossover (300 Hz / 3 kHz) |
| CLIP | on/off | off | Hard-clamp before shaping (= aggressive) |
Start: EFFECT 30–50%, CURVE 0, SPLIT off. Enable SPLIT for transparency, CLIP for aggressive drums.
| Control | Range | Default |
|---|---|---|
| PAN | L to R | Center |
| WIDTH | 0–200% | 100% |
| Button | Function |
|---|---|
| MONO | Sum to mono — check phase |
| DELTA | Hear only the difference — what you're changing |
| BYPASS | Bypass all processing |
| Goal | Bus | Settings |
|---|---|---|
| Punchy kick & rumble | Kick/Rumble | HPF 30 Hz; COMP THRESH −18, RATIO 3.0, 10/80ms, MIX 50%; INFLATE EFFECT 35%, CLIP on |
| Glued percussion | Percussion | EXCITER AMT 10%, BLEND 20%; COMP THRESH −12, RATIO 1.5, 15/100ms, MIX 40% |
| Warm low synths | Bass/Synth | TILT +0.5; WARMTH DRIVE 4, MIX 30%; LO SHELF +2 dB at 80 Hz |
| Wide atmos/FX | Atmos | HI SHELF +2 dB at 12k; EXCITER AMT 5%, BLEND 10%; STEREO WIDTH 120% |
| Louder without clipping | Any group | INFLATE EFFECT 40%, SPLIT on |
| Clean sub isolation | Sub send | LPF 120 Hz (steep); no exciter/comp/warmth |
- Right-click any knob = reset to default.
- Start with B slope, only change to A (wider) or C (narrower) when needed.
- DELTA mode shows what you're adding — should be subtle, not loud.
- Width >150% can cause phase issues. Stay 100–130%.
- Warmth alone ≠ professional. Combine with compression for polished sound.
- SNAP every good sound — build your own preset reference library.
- Stereo only (L/R). No surround support.
- Compressor is linked stereo — L and R processed together. Intentional for natural sound.
- AUTO LOUD measures 5 seconds — may be imprecise with highly dynamic material.
- Exciter works best on drums/synths/atmos — can sound unnatural on pure sub-bass.
⚠ Modern GPU required. LX plugins use GPU-accelerated rendering (Iced + wgpu) for real-time displays.
| Component | Minimum |
|---|---|
| Windows | Windows 11 64-bit |
| macOS | Apple Silicon (M1–M4) |
| Linux | Modern distro, Vulkan-capable GPU + up-to-date Mesa drivers |
| GPU | DirectX 12 / Vulkan / Metal — GPU from ~2015+ |
| DAW | CLAP-compatible (Reaper, Bitwig, Studio One, FL Studio) |
Not supported: Windows 10 (blank displays), old Intel Macs, Linux on pre-2015 GPUs (crashes). There is no software fallback — the GPU pipeline is mandatory.
Why is my output quieter than input? Normal. EQ/comp/saturation change loudness. Use AUTO LOUD or adjust Output Gain manually.
Can I use Meridian on the Master? No. Use Equilibrium for master bus. Meridian is for tracks and group buses.
Can I save presets? Your DAW saves settings with the project. Use SNAP for documentation. Vault setup lets you save SNAP files to a folder.
Compressor sounds too aggressive? Lower THRESH (more negative, e.g. −15 dB) and check ATTACK isn't too fast (min. 10 ms for natural sound).
Difference between Slope and Q? Slope = shelf width (Bass/Excite bands). Q = peak width (Lo-Mid/Mid/Hi-Mid). Start with B, adjust if needed.
What does INFLATE do and when should I use it? Inflate is a waveshaper that adds density and perceived loudness without harshness. Use it to make tracks sound fuller without pushing the compressor harder. Start with EFFECT 30–50%, CURVE 0. Enable SPLIT for more transparency (keeps low end cleaner). Enable CLIP for aggressive drums and heavier genres.