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Tips & Recipes

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Processing Recipes

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Subtle Stereo Movement

• Phaser: Low depth (0.1–0.2), moderate mix (30–40%)
• LFO: Sine waveform, slow rate (0.2–0.5 Hz)
• Spatial: Wide pan depth (0.5–0.8) across bands — pan low bands slightly left, high bands slightly right
• Compression: Off (comp mix 0%)
• Dry/Wet: 20–40%

Gentle per-band phase movement with opposing pan positions creates a wide, evolving stereo image. Not mono-safe — use on a send or committed print if mono compatibility matters.

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Aggressive Multiband Phasing

• Phaser: High depth (0.7–1.0), high feedback (0.7–0.9), full mix (100%)
• LFO: Different rates per band — try ascending rates from Band 1 (0.3 Hz) to Band 8 (8 Hz)
• Spatial: Narrow pan depth (0.0–0.1)
• Compression: Gentle threshold (−12 dB), low ratio (2:1) to tame resonant peaks

Each band phases at its own rate, creating a dense, evolving texture. The ascending rate pattern produces a barber-pole effect where higher frequencies shimmer faster than lower ones.

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8-Band Parallel Compressor

• Phaser: Off (depth 0, mix 0%)
• Spatial: Leave at center (pan 0.0, pan depth 0.0)
• Compression: Gentle thresholds (−18 to −12 dB), moderate ratios (3:1–4:1), 50% comp mix across all bands
• Utility: Fine-tune per-band gain to shape the tonal balance

Uses CHAKRABOOST purely as an 8-band parallel compressor — no phasing, no spatial movement. The 50% comp mix blends compressed and dry signals per band, adding density without destroying transients. This is actually mono-safe since nothing is moving in the spatial field.

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Surround Spatial Orbits

• Speaker Layout: 5.1 or 7.1
• Spatial: Set pan depth (0.5–1.0) and pan depth Y (0.5–1.0) for circular orbits
• Orbit Angle: Vary per band — try spacing evenly (0°, 45°, 90°, 135°, 180°, 225°, 270°, 315°)
• LFO: Moderate rates (0.5–2.0 Hz), different rates per band
• Phaser: Optional — low depth for subtle timbral movement, or off for pure spatial processing

Each band traces its own orbit through the surround field. Staggering orbit angles ensures bands arrive at different speaker positions at any given moment. Works exceptionally well on pads, drones, and atmospheric material in film/game audio.

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Neural Modulation Texture

• LFO Mode: Neural (on all bands or selected bands)
• Neural Rhythm: Start at 0.5, explore extremes
• Neural Articulation: Low values are smooth, high values are angular
• Neural Temperature: Low = predictable, high = organic unpredictability
• Phaser: Moderate depth (0.4–0.6), moderate feedback (0.3–0.5)

The proprietary modulation system produces evolving, non-repeating curves that escape the mechanical feel of standard LFO waveforms. Try setting different rhythm and articulation values per band for maximum textural complexity.

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Sound Design: Total Destruction

• Phaser: Full depth (1.0), high feedback (0.85–0.95), full mix (100%)
• LFO: Fast rates (5–10 Hz), different waveforms per band
• Spatial: Maximum pan depth, wide orbits, different orbit angles per band
• Compression: Aggressive threshold (−40 dB), high ratio (15:1–20:1), full comp mix
• Dry/Wet: 100%

Turn any source into something unrecognizable. Field recordings, vocals, drums — everything becomes swirling, pulsing, spatially disorienting texture. This is where all the per-band control earns its keep.

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Workflow Tips

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Start with Dry/Wet low

Begin at 15–30% wet to hear how the effect interacts with your source, then push higher once you like the character. At 100% wet, CHAKRABOOST produces a completely different sound from the input — which may be exactly what you want, but it helps to hear the transition.

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Use Solo to tune individual bands

Solo each band while adjusting its phaser, compression, and spatial settings. This lets you hear exactly what each frequency range is contributing before hearing the full mix.

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Automate Dry/Wet for effect sends

Instead of using CHAKRABOOST at 100% wet on an insert, try automating the Dry/Wet parameter. Sweep from 0% to 100% during a build-up for a gradual introduction of the effect.

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Match compression to band content

Lower bands (1–2) often benefit from slower attack and release to preserve bass punch. Higher bands (7–8) can use faster settings to control sibilance and transients without audible pumping.

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Bypass as A/B reference

Use the global Bypass to quickly compare processed and unprocessed signal. The linear-phase crossover ensures no coloration when bypassed — what you hear is purely the effect of the phasing, compression, and spatial processing.

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Gotchas

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Mono compatibility

This is a creative stereo/surround effect. Per-band spatial panning means phase cancellation in mono is inherent. If your output needs to translate to mono, use CHAKRABOOST on a send or commit the result and check in mono before printing. Or use it as a pure multiband compressor with all spatial controls at center — that’s mono-safe.

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Latency

The 255-tap FIR crossover introduces approximately 127 samples of latency (~2.9ms at 44.1kHz). This is reported to the host DAW for automatic delay compensation. If you experience timing issues, verify your DAW’s plugin delay compensation is enabled.

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Feedback limit

Phaser feedback is capped at 0.95 to prevent runaway self-oscillation. Even at 0.95, resonant peaks can be aggressive — use per-band compression (or reduce feedback) if you hear excessive ringing.

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Neural LFO parameters without Neural mode

The Neural Rhythm, Neural Articulation, Neural Depth, and Neural Temperature parameters only have effect when the LFO Mode is set to Neural. In all other LFO modes (Sine, Triangle, Saw, etc.), these parameters are ignored.