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User Manual
Revision 6 (v 1.5.0)
©2005-2008 Vember Audio
Table of Contents
Getting Started
Installing SURGE
64-bit version of SURGE (Windows x64)
Upgrading from versions earlier than v1.2.0 (Windows)
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5
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Introduction to the User Interface
Modulation routing
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User Interface Reference
Common UI elements
Patch/Global section
FX-Bypass, Character and Master Volume
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Scene section
Sound generation
Sound shaping
Modulation
Modulation source selection bar
FX section
Technical Reference
SURGE Hierarchy
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Oscillator algorithms
Filter algorithms
Subtypes for LP12/LP24/HP12/HP24/BP
Effect algorithms
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Questions?
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SURGE User Manual Getting Started
Getting Started
Thank you for choosing SURGE!
This chapter is intended to give you a brief overview to some concepts that are specific to SURGE and a general introduction of the synthesizer.
SURGE User Manual Getting Started - Installing SURGE
Installing SURGE
On Mac OS X
On Mac, SURGE is delivered as a Plug-in Instrument for both the Audio
Unit (AU) and VST Plug-in interfaces. To use it, a host application compatible with one of the plug-in interfaces is required.
System Requirements:
•
Mac OS X 10.3.9 or newer
•
An Intel CPU or PowerPC G4/G5 CPU (1 GHz or faster)
•
AU or VST-compatible host application
To install, drag the file “SURGE.component” to the “Components” link,
“SURGE.vst” to the “VST” link and the directory “Vember Audio” to the
“Application Support” link as instructed in the DMG file. This will install
SURGE for all users on your computer.
If you wish to install SURGE only for a single user, drag the contents to the following paths instead (~ is your home directory):
SURGE.component -> ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/
SURGE.vst -> ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/
Vember Audio -> ~/Library/Application Support/
Audio Units, AU is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH
On Windows
On the windows platform, SURGE is delivered as a VST plug-in instrument and need a compatible host application to work.
System Requirements:
•
Windows 2000/XP or newer
•
A reasonably fast (1 GHz or faster) CPU with SSE support (Pentium
3, Athlon XP or better)
•
VST-compatible host application
Make sure you install it in a directory in which your host application will search for VST plug-ins. There is usually a directory named vstplugins created by the host application for this purpose. (see your host application's documentation for more information)
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH
64-bit version of SURGE (Windows x64)
As of version v1.1.0, SURGE ships as both a 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) plug-in for the VST/windows platform.
To use the 64-bit version you need the following:
•
•
A CPU supporting the x64 (AMD64/EM64T) instruction set
A 64-bit OS (like Windows XP x64 edition, Windows 2003 x64 or
Vista x64)
•
An application capable of hosting 64-bit VST plug-ins
Applications known to support 64-bit VST plug-ins at this time include
Plogue Bidule and Cakewalk SONAR.
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SURGE User Manual
Upgrading from versions earlier than v1.2.0 (Windows)
Prior to v1.2.0 all patches were stored under a single directory tree named patches (located in vstplugins\surgedata). This directory is now split up into 3 depending on who created the patch.
patches_factory – Patches created in-house by Vember Audio patches_3rdparty – Patch packs created by users and 3 rd parties. patches_user – This is where patches you store in SURGE end up.
If you upgrade from an earlier version than v1.2.0, SURGE will no longer look in the old “patches” directory. You should move any patches you've created yourself from “patches” to “patches_user”. You should only make this with sounds you've created yourself as an updated version of the factory set and 3 rd party patches are installed properly by the installer.
Getting Started - Installing SURGE
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SURGE User Manual Getting Started - Introduction to the User Interface
Introduction to the User Interface
The user-interface of SURGE is divided into three main sections:
Patch/Global, Scene and FX to reflect what part of the synth they control. Keeping this structure in mind will make it easier to understand the layout.
scenes in each patch it's possible to have layered or split sounds stored within a single patch.
There are two setups of all controls within the Scene section of the user interface. The state of the Scene-select buttons determine which one of the two Scenes you are currently editing.
Browsing Patches
Browsing patches in SURGE is easy, just press the -/+ buttons until you find something you like. If you click the patch-name field (anywhere in the white area) a menu will list all available patches. A right-click will bring up a menu with just the patches of the current category.
Illustration 1: The three sections the user-interface of SURGE is divided into.
About Scenes
Every patch in SURGE contains two scenes (A & B) and an effectsection. A scene is similar to a traditional synthesizer patch as it stores all the information used to synthesize a voice. Since there's two
Patch
Scene A
Scene B
Effect
Section
Illustration 2: Both scenes and all effect settings are stored in every patch
Illustration 3: The patch browser
The patches are grouped into categories, which themselves are grouped into three sections depending on who created them.
•
Factory Patches - Patches created in-house by Vember Audio.
Categorized by sound type.
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SURGE User Manual
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3 rd party Patches - Patch packs created by users and 3 rd parties.
Categorized by creator.
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User Patches – Your own patches will be stored here. How you categorize them is entirely up to you.
In the drop-down menu there's a division line between the categories of the different sections to indicate the split.
Getting Started - Introduction to the User Interface
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SURGE User Manual Getting Started - Modulation routing
Modulation routing
Modulation routing in SURGE is a bit different than most synthesizers, but it's dead easy. Just select the modulation source you want to use, activate the modulation mode with a second click and drag the slider to the position you want the parameter to be at when fully modulated.
When the modulation mode is active the modulation source flashes
(green/blue) and all sliders that can be modulated by the modulation source turn blue. A transparent 'ghost slider' will show the non-modulated position while in modulation mode.
A third click on the modulation source button disengages the modulation mode.
•
Clicking an already selected modulation source again
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Holding down the alt-key
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Pressing the TAB key
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Pressing the middle, 4 th or 5 th mouse button. (cursor can be anywhere in the window)
The last three of the alternatives depend on the host application to forward the correct mouse/keyboard-messages to the plug-in. They may not work in all hosts because of this. Whether the middle, 4 th and 5 th mouse buttons will work is also dependent on how the mouse driver of the operating system is configured.
Keep in mind that although it might seem like the modulations are set to an absolute position they are in fact relative. If you move the slider's non-modulated position the modulated position will move as well.
Illustration 4: modulation routing step-by-step.
1-2) Select modulation source by clicking it.
4) Activate modulation mode by clicking it a second time.
5) Modulate-able sliders now appear blue.
6) Drag the slider to the desired position when fully modulated . A “ghost slider” will display the original position.
Those screen-shots are from an older version of SURGE. The newer releases look slightly different.
As entering/leaving the modulation mode is something you will do often there's several ways to activate/deactivate the modulation mode:
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SURGE User Manual User Interface Reference
User Interface Reference
SURGE User Manual User Interface Reference - Common UI elements
Common UI elements
Sliders
The most common user-interface control in SURGE is the slider. They come in both horizontal and vertical orientations but their functionality is otherwise identical.
Sliders are always dragged, there is no jump if you click on the slider tray instead of the slider head, it enters dragging mode nonetheless.
The 'learn controller [midi]' command will engage the learning mode. The slider will be assigned to the next controller message received by SURGE.
The MIDI-messages recognized are ordinary Channel Controllers as well as
RPN/NRPN messages. (Registered Parameter Number/Non Registered
Parameter Number)
Some parameters can be have their range extended and/or be synchronized to the host tempo. The options 'extend range' or 'temposync' will show up on the context-menu if they do.
Slider interaction:
LMB
LMB+RMB
Shift+LMB
Shift+LMB+RMB
LMB double click
RMB
Drag slider
Drag slider (fine)
Drag slider (fine)
Drag slider (ultra-fine)
Reset parameter to default value
Context menu
The slider heads give a visual indication whether they can be modulated by the current modulation source when entering the modulation mode
Right-clicking sliders bring up a context-menu that allows you to clear modulation routings and assign a MIDI controller to the slider.
Illustration 6: Modulation mode left) Off, Slider is editing parameter directly. right) On, Slider is editing the modulation depth from the currently selected modulation source.
The slider tray will have a blue tint if it is modulated by the current modulation source. A half-tint indicates that it is modulated, but not by the currently selected source.
Illustration 5: Slider context menu
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SURGE User Manual User Interface Reference - Common UI elements
•
Toggle between bipolar/unipolar (CTRL 1-8 only)
•
Rename them (CTRL 1-8 only)
Illustration 7: The amount of blue-tine of slider tray indicates whether the parameter is modulated.
1) Parameter is not modulated
2) Parameter is modulated (half-tint)
3) Parameter by the currently selected modulation source (full tint)
Modulation source buttons
The modulation source buttons have a few additional feats not shown in
the introductory modulation chapter. ( Modulation routing )
They do change their appearance depending if they're used in the current patch (scene dependent) and will highlight when the mouse is hovering over a destination slider that is modulated by that particular source.
Illustration 8: Modulation sources look different when used
1) Unused modsource
2) Used modsource
3) Modsource that is used by the control the mouse is currently hovering over.
4) Selected modsource
Controller 1-8
What separates these controllers from the rest is that they are assignable by the user to either MIDI CC, RPN or NRPN controllers and their value can be edited on-screen. Choose 'Learn Controller [MIDI]' from the context-menu and it will be assigned to the next MIDI controller received by the synth.
Right-clicking a modulation source button brings up a context-menu that allows you to:
• copy/paste LFO settings (LFO only)
• clear routings to either all destinations or a single destination
•
Assign/clear a MIDI controller (CTRL 1-8 only)
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CC = Channel Controller (7-bit)
RPN = Registered Parameter Number (14-bit)
NRPN = Non Registered Parameter Number (14-bit)
These are different ways to send controller messages via MIDI. But as Surge will recognize them automatically you just have rotate the knob and Surge will learn it.
SURGE User Manual
These controllers are stored globally. You can also rename them and choose if their modulation is bipolar (both positive and negative with 0 in the middle) or unipolar (just positive).
User Interface Reference - Common UI elements
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SURGE User Manual User Interface Reference - Patch/Global section
Patch/Global section
Scene select/mode
Whether a scene will generate a voice when a key is pressed is determined by the scene mode setting:
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Single – Notes will be played only by the selected scene.
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Split – Notes below the split-key will be played by scene A, notes above and including the split-key will be played by scene B.
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Dual – Notes will be played by both scenes.
The voice-limiter will kill off excess voices gently to avoid audible artifacts, thus it's not uncommon for the voice count to exceed the limit.
The state of the polyphony limit setting is not stored in patches.
Patch browser
Finding sounds in SURGE is easy, just press the -/+ buttons until you find something you like. If you left-click the patch-name field (anywhere in the white area) a menu will list all available patches arranged into categories. The categories are further organized into three sections:
Factory patches, 3 rd party patches and User patches.
A right-click will bring up a menu with just the patches of the current category.
Illustration 9: The patch browser
Scene select determine which scene is selected for editing and playing
(when scene mode is set to Single).
Right-clicking the scene select buttons brings up a contextmenu that allows you to copy/paste scenes.
Poly shows the number of voices currently playing and allows you to set an upper limit to the number of voices allowed to play at the same time.
The store dialog
Clicking the store button of the patch browser opens the store dialog. It is where you give patches their name and choose which category they should belong in. You can type new category manually here as well. The
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SURGE User Manual User Interface Reference - Patch/Global section
patches you store here will end up in the user section on the bottom of the patch menu.
There's also text fields for the name of the patch creator and comments.
The comment is not currently shown in the main GUI. (v1.2)
FX-Bypass, Character and Master Volume
FX Bypass lets you quickly hear what a patch sounds like without the effect-units.
•
Off – All effects are active.
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Send – The send effects are disabled.
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Send + Master - The send and master-effects are disabled.
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All – All effects are disabled.
Master volume controls the last gain stage before the output. The VUmeter above it shows the output-level and will become red if it goes above 0 dBFS.
The state of these two settings are not stored with patches. They are however stored by the host application in your project files.
Character controls the amount of high-frequency content present in any oscillators of the patch that are using the “classic” algorithm. The possible choices are Warm, Neutral and Bright.
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Scene section
The UI of the scene section is roughly divided into three parts:
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Sound generation
•
Sound shaping
•
Modulation
User Interface Reference - Scene section
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SURGE User Manual User Interface Reference - Sound generation
Sound generation
This is where a sound is born. The oscillators generate waveforms according to the notes played, are mixed in the oscillator mixer and the audio is then passed on to the sound-shaping section.
Oscillator editor
Oscillator type
Oscillator selector
Scene pitch
Oscillator mixer
Oscillators
1/2/3-buttons – Chooses the active oscillator for editing.
Display – Shows the active waveform. When the wavetable oscillator is used, it will also work as wavetable picker.
Type – Oscillator type. Chooses which algorithm is used for the oscillator.
Available options are classic, sin, wavetable, S&H noise and audio input.
Pitch & octave – Controls the pitch for this particular oscillator. The range of the slider can be extended from its context menu.
Keytrack – When disabled, the oscillator will play the same pitch regardless of the key pressed.
Retrigger – If active, the oscillator will always start immediately at zero phase. This is useful for snappy sounds where you want the attach to sound exactly the same each note.
The rest of the sliders controlling the oscillator is specific to each oscillator type.
Oscillator Mixer
The oscillator mixer has 6 inputs. Each channel has 4 controls.
M – Mute
S – Solo (only play oscillators that have solo active)
Routing (the green box) – Chooses which filter the oscillator is routed to.
The middle position (default) will route the output to filter 1 if a serial filterblock configuration is used or both filters for any other configuration.
Slider – Gain control
There is finally an output gain control which affect the level of all the mixer inputs.
Other
Pitch & octave – Controls the pitch for the entire scene. Affects the filter key-tracking and the keytrack modulation source as well. The range of the slider can be extended using the context menu.
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Portamento – Portamento is an effect where a new note will slide in pitch from the pitch of the last played note. This setting determine how long the slide will be. A setting of 0 disables Portamento. Can be temposynced.
Osc drift – Applies a small amount of instability to the pitch of all oscillators, making them subtly detuned. Although the parameter is shared, the randomness of the instability effect is independent for all oscillators (and eventual unison sub-oscillators).
Noise colour – Affects the frequency spectrum of the noise generator.
The middle position results in white noise. Moving the slider to the left emphasizes LF while moving it to the right emphasizes HF.
Pitch Bend Down/Up – Pitch Bend Depth. Controls how much the pitch is affected by the pitch bend wheel. (in semitones)
Playmode – Chooses how multiple notes are handled. Poly will allow multiple notes to be played, while Mono will only let the last note play.
Mono has two possible modifiers:
•
Single Trigger EG (ST) means that the two envelope generators are not restarted when sliding between two notes (two notes that overlap in time)
•
Fingered portamento (FP) means that portamento is only applied when sliding between notes and not when there is time between the played notes.
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User Interface Reference - Sound generation
SURGE User Manual
Sound shaping
Filterblock configuration
Filter balance
User Interface Reference - Sound shaping
Be careful with your monitoring volume when using feedback. It's easy to make really loud high-pitched noises by mistake if you're not familiar with how the synth reacts to feedback.
Oscillator
FM
Filter 1
Output
Filter 2
Don't let this scare you though. There's a lot to be gained from proper and creative use of feedback. Changing the character of filters, making filters interact together, making basic physical models, making sounds that are just about to break apart. It is one of those things that make
SURGE special.
Filter
Keytracking
Waveshaper
Filter EG
& Depth
Amplitude
EG
Filterblock configuration – Chooses how the filters, waveshaper and the gain stage are connected together.
Feedback – Controls the amount (and polarity) of output that's fed back into the input of the filterblock. It has no effect when using the Serial 1 filterblock configuration (which because of this has a lower CPU load).
Filter balance – Controls how the two filters are mixed. The behavior depend on the filterblock configuration.
Filter controls
Type – Selects the type of the filter. There are 10 choices. Off, 2-pole low-pass, 4-pole low-pass, 4-pole low-pass ladder filter, 2-pole high-pass,
4-pole high-pass, band-pass, notch, comb-filters with both positive and negative polarity and a sample&hold module.
Subtype – Selects variations of each filter type. The difference can vary
from subtle to radical depending on how the filter is used. See Filter algorithms
in the Technical Reference for information regarding subtypes
of each filter type. It is displayed as a number next to the filter type
(when available).
Cutoff – Controls the cutoff frequency of the filter.
Cutoff relative switch (small button, filter 2 only) – when active, the cutoff frequency of filter 2 will be set relative to filter 1. This includes any modulations (including the hardwired FEG depth & keytracking).
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SURGE User Manual User Interface Reference - Sound shaping
Resonance – Controls the amount of resonance of the filter.
Resonance link (small button, filter 2 only) – Makes the slider follow filter 1's resonance slider setting.
Keytrack > F1/F2 – Controls how much the pitch of a note affects the cutoff frequency of the filter. A setting of 100% means the filter frequency will follow the pitch harmonically.
Envelope Generators
There are two envelope generators connected to the filterblock. One of them, the Amplitude Envelope Generator (AEG), is hardwired to the gain stage of the filterblock. The other one is hardwired to the two filters, whose depth is set by the >F1 and >F2 sliders.
Attack Decay Release
Illustration 10: ADSR envelope structure
The envelope generators are of the 4-stage ADSR type. This is the most common form of EG used in synthesizers and it is named after its four stages Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release. If you're new to synthesizer programming the illustration should give you a good idea how they work.
The thing you need to remember is that after going through the attack & decay stages the envelope will stick in the sustain stage until the key is released.
Above the envelope stage controls is a graphic representation of the ADSR structure. The orange fields allows you to choose the curvature of the different stages of the envelope.
Other
Keytrack root – Sets the root key of the filter keytracking and the keytrack modulation source. At the root key, the keytrack modulation source will have the value zero. Above/below it it will have positive/negative modulation depending on the distance to the root key in octaves. This parameter does not affect the oscillator pitch.
HP/low-cut – Controls the scene low cut filter. (scene parameter)
FM configuration – Chooses how oscillator FM (frequency modulation) is routed.
FM depth – Sets the depth of the oscillator FM.
Waveshaper type – Chooses type of the non-linear wave-shaping element.
Waveshaper drive – Set the drive amount of the waveshaper.
Amp Gain – Controls the gain element inside the filterblock.
Amp Vel. - Controls how the Amp Gain scales with velocity. This is neutral at the maximum position. Other settings provide attenuation at lower velocities, thus this setting will never increase the Amp Gain parameter by velocity.
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Output stage
The output stage is located after the filterblock in the audio-path. As it's outside the filterblock-structure changing the gain here doesn't have any affect on the timbre of the voice (unlike the previous gain-control which may affect how the feedback and wave-shaping acts). It can still change the timbre of the effect section if non-linear effects (like distortion) are used.
Volume – volume control
Pan – Pan/balance control
Width – the amount of stereo spread (only present for the wide & stereo filterblock configurations)
Send 1/2 – Send level to Send effect 1/2. (scene parameter)
User Interface Reference - Sound shaping
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SURGE User Manual User Interface Reference - Modulation
Modulation
The sub-chapter Modulation source buttons contain more information
about how the buttons work.
LFO Overview
The modulation section of the scene is different from the sound generation and shaping sections as no audio data is passed through it.
Instead it allows you to control the parameters in the other sections from
various sources. (see Modulation routing )
Modulation source selection bar
The modulation source selection bar lets you choose which modulation source is selected for modulation routing. It also lets you choose which
LFO that are active for editing by using the mini-buttons. When you click the main button of one of the LFOs both the modulation source state and the LFO editor state will be changed.
Selected modulation source
LFO active for editing
By using the mini-button next to the main one you can select a different LFO for editing than the modulation source. This lets you modulate the parameters of one LFO with another.
LFO unit
DAHDSRenvelope
Magnitude
LFO/Step
Illustration 11: LFO-unit structure
The LFOs (Low Frequency Oscillator) in surge are very flexible and come with a built in DAHDSR-envelope which lets the LFO work as a dedicated envelope generator or shape the magnitude of the LFO over time.
Parameters
Waveform – Selects the shape of the LFO.
Waveform
Sine
Triangle
Square
Ramp
Noise
S&H
Envelope
Stepseq
Sine wave
Triangle wave
Pulse wave
Ramp wave (sawtooth)
Smooth noise
Step noise
Description Deform action
Vertical bend
Vertical bend
Pulse width
Vertical bend
Correlation
Correlation
The LFO waveform output is one, making the LFO-unit as a Envelope shape whole work as an envelope generator.
The 'stepseq' waveform is a special case that has an additional Smooth/Spikyness editor. It can be used to draw waveforms or be used like a stepsequencer.
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SURGE User Manual User Interface Reference - Modulation
Phase/Shuffle - Controls the starting phase of the LFO waveform.
Magnitude – Controls the magnitude of the LFO. This is the parameter you should use if you want to control the depth of an LFO with a controller. (like controlling vibrato depth with the modulation wheel)
Deform – Deform the LFO shape in various ways. The effect varies with the LFO waveform.
Trigger mode (Freerun/Keytrigger/Random) – Chooses how the LFO is triggered when a new note is played.
Unipolar - If active, the LFO-output will be in the [0 .. 1] range. If not [-1
.. 1]
LFO EG
Delay Attack Hold Decay Release
Stepseq
The 'stepseq' waveform is a special case. Instead of the graphical preview there is an editor that allow you to draw the output waveform with up to
16-steps. The two green markers define loop-points that the LFO will repeat once it gets into the loop. The left mouse button is used for drawing while the right one can be used to clear the values to 0. Holding down shift while drawing will quantitize the values to 1/12 th steps, hence if the LFO is used to modulate pitch by an octave, each step will represent a semitone.
Illustration 13: Stepseq editor
The step-sequencer of Voice LFO 1 has an extra pane at the top of the step-editor that will retrigger the two regular envelopes of the voice
(AEG and FEG) at each step if it is checked (black) at that particular step.
Illustration 12: 6-stage DAHDSR envelope
The LFO Envelope Generators are of the 6-stage DAHDSR type that are multiplied with the waveform generator.
Illustration 14: Envelope retrigger pane of Voice LFO 1
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SURGE User Manual
The deform parameter give this waveform a lot of flexibility. A value of
0% will output the steps just as they look on the editor. Negative values will give an increasingly spiky waveform while positive values will make the output smoother.
-100% -50% 0% 50% 100%
Illustration 15: Effect of the deform parameter on the stepseq waveform
User Interface Reference - Modulation
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SURGE User Manual
FX section
The FX section lets you control the 8 effect units of the effect block stored in every patch.
Effect unit selector
Send effect return levels
Effect algorithm and preset picker
Effect editor
The effect unit selector chooses which effect unit is active in the effect editor. A right-click disables/enables that particular unit (this setting is stored within patches unlike the global FX bypass setting).
The effect algorithm/preset-picker lets you assign an effect to the unit selected in the effect unit selector. The effect is assigned by selecting one of the preset settings for that effect from the menu. You can also save your own effect presets which will be stored globally with the synth.
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User Interface Reference - FX section
SURGE User Manual Technical Reference
Technical Reference
SURGE User Manual Technical Reference - SURGE Hierarchy
SURGE Hierarchy
Overview
Control/
Midi In
MIDI/control data
Audio (per-voice)
Audio
LFOs
Each voice has 6 modulation source called LFOs (Low Frequency
Oscillator) that you can use for modulation purposes. Each scene has an additional 6 LFOs making each voice capable of receiving modulation from a total of 12 LFOs.
Calling them LFOs is a great understatement as they have an integrated envelope generator and can function as a 16-step waveform-generator as well.
Scene
A
Scene A
Voices
∑
Scenemode
&
Scene select
Scene
B
Scene B
Voices
∑
Illustration 16: Block diagram of the synthesizer engine.
Effect
Block
Audio
Out
LFO unit
DAHDSRenvelope
Magnitude
Illustration 16 shows an overview of the synthesizer engine of SURGE.
Voices
Illustration 17 shows most audio and control-paths of a single voice. Not
all processing elements of the voice are shown in the diagram.
LFO/Step
More information about the LFOs in the UI reference. ( LFO Overview )
The effect block
SURGE has 8 effect units, arranged into an 'effect block'.
Voice
Osc 1
Osc 2
Osc 3
Noise
Mix
FEG AEG
Filterblock
Gain
&
Pan/
Balance
Out
Scene A
Voices
HPF
Effect Block
Insert
1
Insert
2
Send 1
Send 2
Master
1
Master
2
Voice Modulation Routing
Illustration 17: Block diagram of a synthesizer voice
Scene B
Voices
HPF
Insert
1
Insert
2
Illustration 18: The effect block
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SURGE User Manual
See the chapter FX section for more information.
Modulation routing in-depth
How the modulation routing works internally isn't something you normally have to think about when using SURGE. Just activate the modulation mode with the desired source and see which of the sliders that become blue. Nonetheless, it is useful to know which limitations are present and why.
Voice
LFO 1-6
Voice modulation sources
Polyphonic
Aftertouch
Keytrack Velocity
Filter/Amp
EG
Voice Modulation Routing
Scene Modulation Routing
Scene
LFO 1-6
Modulation
Wheel
Pitch
Bend
Channel
Aftertouch
Scene modulation sources
Controllers
1-7
Illustration 19: Modulation routing behind the scenes
Voice parameters
Scene parameters
Global/Effect
Parameters
(Scene A only)
The thing to remember is that the voice modulation sources can't modulate the scene parameters, global/effect parameters or the scene
LFOs. Other that that it should be pretty straightforward.
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Technical Reference - SURGE Hierarchy
SURGE User Manual Technical Reference - Oscillator algorithms
Oscillator algorithms
SURGE provide 8 different oscillator algorithms. Each capable of generating sound in different ways with a different set of controls.
They're not just different waveforms.
Classic
The classic oscillator algorithm consists of a main oscillator that can generate a pulse wave, a sawtooth wave, a dual-saw wave or anything in between.
A sub-oscillator provide a pulse-wave one octave below the main oscillator. Changing the pulse-width of the sub-oscillator does affect the main oscillator as well, as they will both change levels at the same time except that the main oscillator does it twice as often.
The classic algorithm is also capable of oscillator self-sync. Note that the sub-oscillator will be used as the base-pitch for the sync.
The algorithm provides unison at the oscillator-level with up to 16 instances. Unlike the wavetable-oscillator the cost of unison in terms of
CPU usage for the classic oscillator is quite modest. The unison oscillatorinstances are affected by the scene-level Osc-Drift parameter independently.
Name
Shape
Description
Waveform shape -100% = pulse, 0% = saw, 100% = dual saw
Width Pulse-width (pulse) or relative phase (dual saw)
Sub-width Pulse-width of sub-oscillator.
Range
-100 .. 100 %
0 .. 100 %
0 .. 100 %
Sub-level Sub-oscillator mix. 0% = only main, 100% = only sub
Sync Oscillator self-sync
Osc-spread Detuning of unison oscillators. 100% = 1 semitone in both directions
Can be switched between relative (default) and absolute using the
0 .. 100 %
0..60 semitones
0 .. 100%
0..16Hz
Name Description
context-menu of the slider.
Osc-count Number of oscillators used for unison. 1 = disabled
Range
1 .. 16
Sinus
The sinus oscillator algorithm generates a simple sine-wave. It has no non-standard parameters.
Wavetable
A wavetable in SURGE consists of up to 1024 single-cycle waveforms.
Using the Shape parameter it is possible to sweep across the waveforms in the wavetable.
1
0%
2
. . . .
N
100% Shape
The individual waves are equidistant in the table. When the shape setting is between two individual waves they will be mixed to ensure smooth travel. You can't edit the wavetable contents directly within SURGE but it is possible to generate custom wavetables with external software.
By modulating the shape parameter it is possible to create motion, dynamic response to playing or just sonic variation. What real-life property, if any, the shape parameter is supposed to mirror depend on each wavetable. Common cases are:
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SURGE User Manual Technical Reference - Oscillator algorithms
•
Analyzed from sounds that evolve over time. The behavior can be recreated by letting shape increase over time by modulation. It's the most common among the analyzed wavetables.
•
Analyzed from static sounds over different pitches to capture the formant shift of a sound. The behavior can be recreated by modulating shape by the keytrack modsource.
•
A parameter of a mathematical equation.
In the end it's just a set of data and SURGE doesn't care how it was generated, all that matters is how it sounds.
The wave-table oscillator has some interesting sonic characteristics. It outputs the waveform in a stair-stepped fashion, making no attempts to
'smooth the steps' in the process, but does so in a manner that is completely band-limited. This makes it similar in sound to 1980s era wave-table synths and samplers which didn't use resampling but had dedicated D/A-converters for each voice instead and changed the pitch by varying the sample rate of the individual D/As.
The fact that the steps aren't smoothed causes an artifact known as harmonic aliasing. This is not to be confused with inharmonic aliasing which sounds somewhat similar to an AM-radio being tuned and is generally nasty. Instead, this artifact will cause the harmonics of the waveform to repeat themselves and fill up the entire audible spectra even at low pitches, just like a square-wave would, preventing the waveform from sounding dull. As this artifact is completely harmonic it is also musically pleasing. Nonetheless, it may sound a bit out of place on very smooth waveforms but the effect can be filtered out by a lowpassfilter in the filterblock if desired. Some of the wave-tables, such as the regular triangle wave, are large enough for this artifact to never appear in the normally used range for this specific reason.
The important thing is that just like most other oscillators in SURGE, it doesn't output any inharmonic aliasing whatsoever or any audible levels of interpolation-noise, two artifacts which has played a big part in giving digital synthesizers a bad name.
For developers & advanced users:
There is a reference for the .wt file-format used by the wavetables. It is located in: surgedata/wavetables/wt fileformat.txt
Name
Shape
Description
Waveform shape. 0% = first, 100% = last
Skew V Vertical skew of the waveform
Saturate Soft saturation of the waveform
Range
0 .. 100 %
-100 .. 100 %
0 .. 100 %
Formant Compresses the waveform in time but keeps the cycle-time intact 0..60 semitones
Skew H Horizontal skew of the waveform -100 .. 100 %
Osc-spread Detuning of unison oscillators. 100% = 1 semitone in both directions
Can be switched between relative (default) and absolute using the context-menu of the slider.
Osc-count Number of oscillators used for unison. 1 = disabled
0 .. 100%
0..16Hz
1 .. 7
Window
The window oscillator (added in v1.5) is another shot at wavetable synthesis that is quite different from the previous wavetable algorithm.
The wave, which can be any waveform included with Surge, is multiplied by a second waveform, the window, which can be one of 9 waveform types that are specifically made for the window oscillator. The formant
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SURGE User Manual Technical Reference - Oscillator algorithms
parameter controls the pitch of the wave independently of the window, but as the wave is always restarted with the window the pitch will remain the same. Instead, the timbre of the sound will change dramatically, much depending on which window is selected.
Unlike the wavetable algorithm, the window oscillator uses a more traditional resampling approach which doesn't result in harmonic aliasing.
Obviously, being part of a Vember Audio product, the sound quality is still top-notch.
Name
Shape
Description
Waveform shape. 0% = first, 100% = last (doesn't interpolate)
Formant Pitch of the wave independently of the window
Window Chooses the window waveform.
Osc-spread Detuning of unison oscillators. 100% = 1 semitone in both directions
Can be switched between relative (default) and absolute using the context-menu of the slider.
Osc-count Number of oscillators used for unison. 1 = disabled
Range
0 .. 100 %
-60 .. 60 semitones
-
0 .. 100%
0..16Hz
1 .. 7
FM2
FM2 provides a miniature FM-synthesizer voice in an oscillator that is specifically tailored towards making nice and musical FM sounds. A single sine carrier is modulated by two sine modulators, whose ratios to the carrier are
M1 M2
C always integer thus the resulting waveform is always cyclic. However, “Mx Shift” lets you offset the modulators slightly in an
Name Description
M1 Ratio Ratio of the first modulator to the carrier
M2 Amount Modulation amount of the second modulator
M2 Ratio Ratio of the second modulator to the carrier
Mx Shift Absolute detuning of the modulators
Mx Start
Phase
Changes the initial phase of the modulators to give you different variations of the waveform.
Feedback Modulation amount of the carrier to itself
Range
1 .. 32
0 .. 100 %
1 .. 32
-10 .. 10 Hz
0 .. 100 %
0 .. 100 %
FM3
As a contrast to FM2, FM3 is the algorithm of choice for scraping paint of walls. The modulators have a larger range, the ratios can be non-integer and there's a third modulator which has its rate set as an absolute frequency.
M1 M2 M3
C
Name Description
M1 Amount Modulation amount of the first modulator
M1 Ratio Ratio of the first modulator to the carrier
M2 Amount Modulation amount of the second modulator
M2 Ratio Ratio of the second modulator to the carrier
M3 Amount Modulation amount of the third modulator
M3 Ratio Frequency of the third modulator
Feedback Modulation amount of the carrier to itself
S&H-Noise
S&H is an abbreviation for 'Sample and Hold'.
Range
0 .. 100 %
0.0 .. 32.0
0 .. 100 %
0.0 .. 32.0
0 .. 100 %
14Hz .. 25kHz
0 .. 100 %
The S&H-Noise oscillator algorithm works like a pulse oscillator, but instead of always switching between +1 and -1 the levels used are determined stochastically.
Name Description
M1 Amount Modulation amount of the first modulator
Range
0 .. 100 %
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SURGE User Manual Technical Reference - Oscillator algorithms
The correlation parameter determine how new levels are calculated. A setting of 0% will have no memory and each new level will effectively be a random number (white noise). A lower setting will favor new values that is closer to the previous level and will provide a noise with a darker spectra. Higher values will favor values as far away from the previous one as possible, with 100% resulting in a harmonic pulse-wave.
Name
Oscillator self-sync
Description
Correlation Noise correlation. 0% = white noise, 100% = pulse
Width
Sync
Pulse-width (pulse)
Osc-spread Detuning of unison oscillators. 100% = 1 semitone in both directions
Can be switched between relative (default) and absolute using the context-menu of the slider.
Osc-count Number of oscillators used for unison. 1 = disabled
Range
-100 .. 100 %
0 .. 100 %
0..60 semitones
0 .. 100%
0..16Hz
1 .. 16 directory will cause that copy of SURGE to identify itself as an effect instead of an instrument which will make it work in such hosts.
Audio Input
Audio Input lets you route external audio into the voice-architecture of
SURGE.
Name
Input
Gain
Description
Chooses which input is used. -100% = left, 0% = both, 100% = right
Input gain in dB.
Range
-100 .. 100 %
-48 .. +48 dB
Windows only:
Some problematic VST host applications will refuse to feed instrument plug-ins with audio input unless they are configured as a regular effect.
Making a copy of the file “surge.dll” named “surge_fx.dll” in the same
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SURGE User Manual Technical Reference - Filter algorithms
Filter algorithms
There are 9 filter algorithms available (+ off) for each of the 2 filter units in the filterblock. Each of the algorithms have different subtypes, which alter their sound.
Most of the filter-(sub)types have some non-linear elements in them to allow them to self-oscillate in a stable and predictable manner. This means they will sound different depending on how hard they're driven, which can be conveniently controlled with the Pre-Filter Gain setting. For example, if the resonance peaks of a filter is too loud, increase the Pre-
Filter Gain to make the rest of the signal more dominant (and if needed decrease the gain at the output stage of the voice to compensate).
Subtypes for LP12/LP24/HP12/HP24/BP
Depending on the setting of the subtype switch, the characteristics and behavior of these filters will be altered, although their main purpose remains the same.
Subtype
1
2
3
Description
Clean with a strong resonance, capable of self-oscillation. Handles transient behavior extremely well. (default)
Chesty, somewhat distorted sound with a more held-back resonance. Capable of selfoscillation. (default in v1.2.2)
The smoothest subtype, capable of lower resonance than the others, which is suitable when you do not want the sound of the filter to be noticed but only to rolloff a part of the spectrum.
LP12
2-Pole Low-Pass filter.
LP24
4-Pole Low-Pass filter.
HP12
2-Pole High-Pass filter.
HP24
4-Pole High-Pass filter.
BP
2-Pole Band-Pass filter.
For this particular algorithm an extra subtype (#4) is provided which is a
4-pole equivalent of subtype 1.
LP24L
4-Pole Low-Pass ladder filter. You can select at which stage (1-4) the signal is output using the sub-type control. Has stable self-oscillation.
Notch
2-Pole Band-Reject filter.
Subtype
1
2
Description
Default subtype
Included for compatibility with v1.2.0 (smaller resonance range)
Comb
Delay-Based Comb filter.
Subtype
1
2
3
4
Positive feedback, 50% dry/wet mix
Positive feedback, 100% wet mix
Negative feedback, 50% dry/wet mix
Negative feedback, 100% wet mix
Description
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SURGE User Manual
When the sub-type is set to 2 (or 4) and resonance is 0% the comb-filter will work purely as a delay-unit (with sub-sample precision). This can be used together with the other filter-unit along with filterblock feedback to provide interesting options. The “wind/clarinet” and “pluck (fast)/simple waveguide” presets showcase how this ability can be used for simple physical modeling. They only use the oscillator section to ignite the sound, the rest is in the filterblock.
Sample & Hold
Sample & Hold module. Will sample the audio at the rate set by the cutoff-frequency. Resonance will emphasize oscillations around the cutoff frequency, not unlike the resonance peak of a lowpass-filter.
Technical Reference - Filter algorithms
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SURGE User Manual Technical Reference - Effect algorithms
Effect algorithms
SURGE has 8 effect units which each can run one of the 9 provided algorithms.
Delay
The delay algorithm in SURGE is very versatile and can work well both as an echo/delay- and chorus-effect.
Name Description
Crossfeed Amount fed from the channel to the input of the opposing channel
Low/High- cut
EQ controls of the delayed signal
Range
-inf .. 0 dB
14Hz .. 25kHz
Modulation rate
Rate of the modulation LFO (triangle). This parameter is inexact due to implementation.
0.008..1024 Hz
0 .. 200 cents Modulation depth
Mix
Indirect control of the modulation LFO depth. The effect adjust the depth to match the detuning in cents set here.
Blend control between the dry and the wet signal.
0% = 100% dry, 0% wet
100% = 0% dry, 100% wet
0 .. 100 %
Width Gain scaling of the Side-component of the wet signal -24 .. 24 dB
L
R
pan
+
+
D
D
EQ /
CLIP
feedback / crossfeed
EQ /
CLIP
Illustration 20: Delay algorithm block diagram
mix mix
L
R
There is an LFO connected to the delay-lines (not shown in diagram) which can provide stereo-widening/detuning of the delay-line.
Name
Pan
Description
Routes the two channels to the delay-units by panning. The gain of the input-channels remain unaffected, it's only their stereo location that changes. (a sound only heard in the left channel will still be heard when pan is set to 100% here, but only in the right channel.)
Delay time
L/R
Delay time for the two channels. Can be tempo-synced.
Feedback Amount fed from the channel to its own input
Range
-100 .. 100 %
0.004 .. 32 s
1/512 .. 16 bars
-inf .. 0 dB
Reverb
The reverberation algorithm simulates room acoustics and is suitable both at adding ambience to sounds and creating special effects.
Name Description
Room-shape Selects between 4 room shapes that has different sounds.
(changing this parameter will interrupt the signal)
Range
Pre-delay The amount of delay applied to the signal before it is fed to the reverberation unit. Can be tempo-synced.
0.004 .. 32 s
1/512 .. 16 bars
0 .. 3
Size Changes the apparent size of the simulated room.
(changing this parameter will interrupt the signal)
0 .. 100 %
0.063 .. 64 s
0 .. 100 %
Decay time The time it takes for the reverberation to ring-out. (-60 dB)
HF-damp Amount of HF damping applied to the signal inside the reverberator.
Post-reverb equalizer controls. Low cut,
Band1 freq/gain,
High cut
Mix
Width
Blend control between the dry and the wet signal.
Gain scaling of the Side-component of the wet signal
0 .. 100 %
-24 .. 24 dB
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SURGE User Manual
Chorus
4-stage chorus algorithm.
Name
Time
Description
Delay time used as chorus mid-point.
Mod rate Rate of modulation LFO. Can be tempo-synced.
Mod depth Depth of modulation LFO
Feedback Amount fed from the output back into the input
Low/Highcut
EQ controls of the chorused signal
Mix
Width
Blend control between the dry and the wet signal.
Gain scaling of the Side-component of the wet signal
Phaser
4-stage phaser.
Name Description
Base freq Base frequency for all the stages
Feedback Feedback of the phaser
Q
Rate
Q setting for the stages
Rate of modulation LFO. Can be tempo-synced.
Depth
Stereo
Mix
Depth of modulation LFO
LFO Phase relation between stereo channels
0% = 0 degrees, 100% = 180 degrees
Blend control between the dry and the wet signal.
Rotary Speaker
Rotary speaker simulator algorithm.
Range
0 .. 1/8 s
0.008..1024 Hz
64..1/2048 bar
0 .. 100 %
-inf .. 0 dB
14Hz .. 25kHz
0 .. 100 %
-24 .. 24 dB
Technical Reference - Effect algorithms
Name Description Range
Horn rate Rate of HF horn rotation. The LF horn is a lower multiple of this rate. Can be tempo-synced.
0.008..1024 Hz
64..1/2048 bar
The amount of Doppler shift used in the simulation. (vibrato) 0 .. 100 % Doppler depth
Ampmod depth
The amount of amplitude modulation used in the simulation.
(tremolo)
0 .. 100 %
Distortion
Distortion algorithm. Provides plenty of EQ options as well as a feedback loop to alter the tonality of the clipping stage.
post-
EQ pre-
EQ softclip
FB
Illustration 21: Distortion algorithm block diagram
Range
-100 .. 100 %
-100 .. 100 %
-100 .. 100 %
0.008..1024 Hz
64..1/2048 bar
0 .. 100 %
0 .. 100 %
0 .. 100 %
Name
Pre-EQ gain/freq/BW
Description
Parametric EQ band prior to the clipping stage
Pre-EQ
High cut
High cut element prior to the clipping stage
Drive Drive of the clipping stage
Feedback Feedback loop around the clipping stage
Post-EQ gain/freq/BW
Parametric EQ band after the clipping stage
Post-EQ
High cut
High cut element prior to the clipping stage
Output gain Output gain
Range
14Hz .. 25kHz
-24 .. +24 dB
-100 .. 100 %
14Hz .. 25kHz
-24 .. +24 dB
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SURGE User Manual Technical Reference - Effect algorithms
EQ
The EQ unit provide 3-bands of fully parametric equalizing. This highquality algorithm has a much better response at high frequencies than digital equalizers usually have.
Name
Band 1/2/3
Gain
Band 1/2/3
Freq
Band gain
Band frequency
Band 1/2/3
Bandwidth
Band bandwidth
Output gain Gain control
Description Range
-48 .. +48 dB
14Hz .. 25kHz
0 .. 5 octaves
-48 .. +48 dB
Conditioner
The conditioner is a simple EQ, stereo image control and a limiter built into one unit. The limiter applies make-up gain automatically.
Name
Output Limiter output attenuation
Description Range
-48 .. 0 dB
Frequency Shifter
Frequency shifter effect. Provides a delay unit and a feedback loop to give consecutively shifted repeating delays.
Name Description
Shift Left Amount of frequency shift (in hertz) for the left channel.
The range can be extended from the sliders context menu.
Range
-10 .. 10 Hz /
-1 .. 1 kHz
-100 .. 100 % Shift Right Amount of frequency shift (relative to the left channel) for the right channel.
Delay Delay time for the frequency-shifted signal. Can be tempo-synced.
0.004 .. 32 s
1/512 .. 16 bars
Feedback Feedback around the frequency shifter and delay-unit.
Mix Blend control between the dry and the wet signal. 0 .. 100 %
EQ stereowitdh limiter
Name
Bass
Treble
LF boost/cut
HF boost/cut
Description
Width Stereo width. 0% = mono, 100% = stereo, -100% = reverse stereo
Balance Stereo balance
Threshold Limiter threshold level.
Attack Limiter attack rate
Release Limiter release rate
Range
-12 .. +12 dB
-12 .. +12 dB
-100 .. 100 %
-100 .. 100 %
-48 .. 0 dB
-100 .. 100 %
-100 .. 100 %
Vocoder
The audio-input of Surge is used to modulate the carrier signal at the input stage of this 20-band vocoder algorithm. The carrier channels are in stereo while the modulator use the mono sum of the input channels.
Name
Gain
Description
Gain control of the modulator
Range
-48 .. +48 dB
Gate
Rate
Q
Bands below this level will be silenced.
Rate of the envelope followers.
Controls the steepness of the filters.
-96 .. 0 dB
0 .. +100 %
-100 .. +100 %
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SURGE User Manual
Questions?
Feel free to visit the on-line forum at the Vember Audio website if there is anything you want to ask about.
http://www.vemberaudio.se
Technical Reference - Questions?
38
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