How to Use RØDE Audio Processing Controls

Basic Audio Processing allows you to add a variety of audio processing tools to give your audio a professional edge. These controls are preset to provide great results in a range of situations and can easily be turned on or off to suit your needs.

Pad (if present)

This control reduces the sensitivity of the microphone, making it quieter. It is useful when using a microphone designed to be further away from the sound, such as a VideoMic, as a vocal mic, as it reduces the risk of your audio distorting.

High Pass Filter

This control reduces the lowest frequencies from your audio, helping to cut down on unwanted rumble from traffic, air conditioning and other low frequency noise.

• 75Hz: Removes the very lowest frequencies and works well in most settings.
• 150Hz: Removes more background noise, but you may notice it affecting the lower tones of your voice depending on your voice type.

Noise Gate

This control turns down the level of your mic when you are not speaking, helping to reduce background noise when you are not talking.

Compressor

This control evens out the loud and soft parts of your voice, making it sound more even and professional.

Aural Exciter

This is the famous studio grade processing that adds additional high harmonics to your voice to give it presence and sparkle.

Big Bottom

Another famous APHEX studio processor that adds depth and body to your voice.

The VOXLAB™ controls provide precise control over your sound without requiring expert audio knowledge. Each control adjusts multiple parameters to help keep your sound balanced and professional as you dial in the sound you prefer.

Depth

This control adds additional body and mid range presence to your voice as it is boosted.

Sparkle

This control adds clarity and boosts the intelligibility of your voice. As you turn it up further, it gives an exciting edge to your voice similar to a ‘radio station’ sound.

Punch

This control evens out your voice tones. As you turn it up, it creates a dynamic, punchy sound that cuts through the mix of your other sounds, ensuring you can be clearly heard.

Activating Advanced Processing gives you fine control over each parameter of the audio processing and is useful for precisely tweaking your sound.

If you need to reset your settings, exit Advanced Processing to return to the standard defaults, then enter Advanced Processing again to start over.

This control reduces the lowest frequencies from your audio, helping to cut down on unwanted rumble from traffic, air conditioning and other low frequency noise.

Depending on the microphone being used, there may be a single on or off control, controls for either 75Hz or 150Hz filters, or more detailed controls as described below.

Frequency

This control sets the frequency of sounds that will be cut. Any sound below the set frequency will be reduced. Setting a higher frequency will reduce more background noise, but may also start to affect the sound of your voice.

Slope

This sets how harshly the filter cuts off low frequency sounds. A gentle slope will gradually reduce lower frequency sounds, whereas a steep slope will cut them off more abruptly.

This control turns down the level of your mic when you are not speaking, helping to reduce background noise when you are not talking.

Threshold

Perhaps the most important control, this sets where the noise gate will operate. It sets the point at which the noise gate detects when you are speaking.

If it is set too high, the noise gate will not open when you speak and some of your words may be cut off. If you set it too low, it may open when unwanted background sounds are present.

It should be set so the gate opens easily when you speak, but stays closed when you are silent.

Hold

This is how long the gate stays open once you stop speaking. This helps ensure that the gate does not cut off your last syllable by closing too early. A longer hold will reduce that risk, but can make background noise more audible when you stop speaking.

Range

This sets how much the volume of your microphone is turned down when you stop speaking.

If the range is set to a small value, the noise gate will not have much effect on the background noise. A large range will turn down the microphone more when you are not speaking, reducing background noise further, but at the risk of hearing the background noise ‘pump’ up and down as you speak.

Attack

This sets how fast the gate opens. A faster speed will reduce the risk of the start of your words being cut off, but can also introduce a ‘click’ when you begin to speak.

Release

This is how quickly the gate closes. A slower speed will reduce the risk that your words are cut off, but can also mean background noise is more audible when you stop speaking.

Hysteresis

It is common when talking to finish a sentence quieter than you start. Hysteresis puts an offset between the point at which the gate opens, set by the Threshold, and when it closes.

This makes it less likely that quiet words at the end of sentences will be cut off, but may mean more background noise is heard when you finish speaking.

This processor evens out the loud and soft parts of your voice, making it sound more even and professional. It does this by reducing the volume of the louder parts of your speech.

Threshold

This sets the point at which the compressor starts to reduce the volume of your voice. A low threshold means the compressor will be working to reduce your volume most of the time. A high threshold means the compressor will only operate on the loudest peaks of your voice.

Attack

This is how fast the compressor works. A fast attack means every individual syllable or sound is individually processed, giving a lot of control over the volume but at the risk of the sound being a little unnatural.

A slower attack makes the compressor work more gently, only reducing the level if you remain loud for a longer period of time, such as a whole word.

Gain

Because the compressor reduces the volume of the loudest sounds, it has the effect of reducing the overall level. The Gain control allows you to normalise the level.

It is especially useful if you use very extreme settings, such as a high compression ratio and a low threshold.

Ratio

Possibly the most important control, this sets the amount by which the volume will be reduced.

A high ratio means the difference between the loudest and quietest parts of your speech is reduced significantly, making the sound more even but also more artificial. A lower ratio evens out the peaks more gently with less noticeable effect on the overall sound.

Release

This is how quickly the volume returns to normal when the peak of the sound has passed. A fast release gives more control over the volume, but may sound more unnatural or processed. A slower attack will sound more natural, but may mean some syllables after a peak remain quiet.

This processor is a faithful recreation of the famous APHEX studio processor found in the world’s top studios. It allows you to add additional harmonics to your voice to give it more depth and presence without making your voice muddy or sibilant.

The Aural Exciter adds additional high harmonics to your voice to give it presence and sparkle, while the Big Bottom adds depth and body to your voice.

Big Bottom: Tune

This sets the frequency around which the processor operates to add harmonics. It works best when this control is set to match the lower frequencies in your voice.

Drive

This sets the depth of the Big Bottom effect. Turning it up will add more harmonics and create a larger, richer bass to your voice.

Aural Exciter Tune

This sets the frequency around which the processor operates to add harmonics. It works best when this control is set to match the higher mid range frequencies in your voice.

If you set it too high, you will add unpleasant sibilance, while setting it too low will make your voice sound harsh and nasal.

Harmonics

This sets the depth of the Aural Exciter effect. Turning it up will add more harmonics and more presence to your voice.

The Equaliser is a three band fully parametric equaliser that allows you to boost and cut specific frequencies to shape your sound.

L, M and H Buttons

These allow you to disable individual bands of the EQ, allowing for quick comparisons when setting up your EQ.

High, Mid and Low Bell

This sets the frequency for each of the three bands of the EQ, which can then be boosted or cut as needed.

High, Mid and Low Gain

This sets the amount of boost or cut that is added for each frequency.

High, Mid and Low ‘Q’

This control is accessed via a long click on the Gain control and sets the steepness of the curve.

A high ‘Q’ means the boost or cut is tightly centred on a single frequency, whereas a low ‘Q’ makes the frequency boost or cut operate over a range of frequencies centred on the selected frequency.