User Manual
Tube-Tech Blue Tone
Intro
User Interface
In use
Modes description
Use parallel processing
Blue Tone for Amp Room
Blue Tone for Modular
Extended Features
Credits
Tube-Tech Blue Tone is extreme sound quality with an ultra fast workflow. It features multiband compression and classic equalization with simple macro controls. It has eight different modes with typical settings for the most common use cases. Blue Tone is designed for getting amazing results easy and fast without having to start from zero and dial in multiple parameters in multiple plug-ins on each bus or channel.
This is extreme sound quality with an ultra fast workflow!
Blue Tone is based on the Tube-Tech SMC 2B multiband compressor and the Tube-Tech Equalizers Mk II which means that the sound quality of the processing is pristine. The Tube-Tech SMC 2B is a tube based multiband optical compressor with two crossover filters offering three bands of individual compression and tone control. The Tube-Tech Equalizers Mk II is two independent all tube designed Tube-Tech versions of the legendary Pultec style equalizers Pultec EQP-1A and MEQ-5 - Tube-Tech PE 1C and ME 1B, also found in the Softube Tube-Tech Equalizers II plugin. The combination of these high-fidelity machines makes Blue Tone a powerful tool for multiple purposes like vocals, mix bus, drums, and other instruments. Despite having few controls, Blue Tone is extremely versatile, and you will discover that it can do more than a whole chain of plug-ins and make things shine in a mix.
The Blue Tone panel description:
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Amount: This is the main tweak-able parameter in Blue Tone. The amount knob is a macro that changes several parameters at once "under the hood" such as compression amount on each band with different ratios, attack and release times. Each mode has been tweaked into a sweet-spot at 50%. But of course you can push the amount more or dial back to taste.
Mode: The eight different modes has been designed to give great results fast with typical settings for different sound sources:
Vocal Clarify: Low-end control, enhanced articulation, some de-essing, and equalization to enhance clarity and reduce masking in a mix.
Vocal Focus: Hard compression with high ratios, de-essing and mid presence equalization.
Mix Bus: Enhances mid-range punch in any mix, smoothens the lows and highs.
Vocal Focus: Hard compression with high ratios, de-essing and mid presence equalization.
Mix Bus Wide: Makes the mix sound wider and more cleaned up in the middle.
Drum Bus: Adds glue to any drum bus, reduces boxiness and adds a bit of mid-range punch.
Bass Instruments: Evens out the low-end and makes it sound rich and luxurious, adds a bit of mid-range clarity.
Keys/Guitar: Adds glue and presence to synths, pianos or Rhodes, but also on single guitar tracks, acoustic or electric.
Stereo Guitars Wide: Designed for a guitar bus with hard panned left and right guitars, makes them sound wider and adds presence and high-end clarity. Also works on keyboard sounds.
Low Band: This knob cuts or boosts up to 6dB in the low-end after compression. The cutoff point of the Low Band is determined by the mode currently selected.
High Band: This knob cuts or boosts up to 6dB in the high-end after compression. The cutoff point of the High Band is determined by the mode currently selected.
Dry/wet: This knob controls the DRY and WET mix balance of Blue Tone, to be used for parallel processing.
Gain: This knob controls the final output gain.
Using Blue Tone is easy and fast, you really cannot go wrong. Start with modes that seems to fit your sound source and tweak from there. The vocal modes are specifically designed for vocals, but the Mix Bus modes can fit on a drum bus or some other instrument buses. There’s no right or wrong.
Blue Tone is best experienced by auditioning the different modes and choose the one that suits your track or bus the best. Start with dialing in amount until it shows a few dB of gain reduction to fully hear the character of the chosen mode and then dial in to taste. In some cases, like with vocals, it could be preferable to use the high pass filter in the Extended Features if there’s low-end rumble, to reduce an unwanted behavior in the gain reduction when adding compression.
The Blue Tone Dry/Wet Knob can be used for parallel processing which is a very useful feature where you blend the processed and unprocessed sound specifically to retain the unprocessed transients from the Dry while mixing in the fuller sound from the compression and equalization in the Wet. Blend to taste with the mix knob.
Tube-Tech Blue Tone is also available in our Softube Amp Room environment.
Tube-Tech Blue Tone is also available as modular module in our Softube Modular environment. Additional CV control over all tweak-able parameters are available through external jacks.
Extended Features can be useful to use with Blue Tone especially if the input level is low or if there’s unwanted low-end rumble. Please see the separate "Extended Features" manual for more information.
Kristofer Ulfves – Project lead, user manual
Andreas Mood – Sound design
Thomas Andersson – Tech lead, DSP models
Patrik Holmström – UI programming
Niklas Odelholm – GUI design
Ulf Ekelöf – 3D rendering
Markus Krona – Qualification
Emanuel Enbäre – Testing
Todd Urban – Testing