— Field Notes
Blog
Notes on audio DSP, plugin development, and the craft of mixing.
EQ Before Distortion: How Pre-EQ Shapes What Gets Clipped
Psychoacoustic Bass Enhancement: Make Low End Translate
Parallel Saturation: How to Blend Grit Into a Mix
Chorus on Bass: How to Use It Without Losing Your Low End
Hard Knee vs Soft Knee: How to Choose on a Compressor
Delay vs Reverb Order: Which Goes First in a Mix
Types of Saturation: Tape, Tube, Transformer, Clipping and More
Parallel Mastering: How to Blend Compression Without Losing Punch
Multiband Sidechain Compression: Set It Up and Use It
EQ After Reverb: When It Helps and How to Set It Up
Multiband Reverb: How to Split Reverb by Frequency
De-Emphasis EQ: What It Is and How to Use It in a Mix
Multiband Distortion Plugins: How to Choose and Use One
WASAPI vs ASIO: Which Windows Audio Driver for Mixing?
Multiband Delay: How It Works and How to Use It in a Mix
Phase Correlation Meter: How to Read It and Fix the Mix
RMS vs. Peak Compression: What the Detector Actually Hears
LUFS vs dBFS: What Each Meter Tells You in a Mix
Odd vs Even Harmonics: What They Sound Like and How to Use Them
AU Sidechain Routing: How It Works and How to Set It Up
New York Compression: How to Set It Up and Blend It
Frequency Specific Delay: Keep Repeats Out of the Low End
How to confine delay to the frequency range you choose: filtered sends, filters in the feedback loop, and band splits, plus the phase traps to avoid.
Ducking Delay: What It Is and How to Set It Up in Any DAW
Reverb Ducking: Sidechain EQ Keeps Depth Without Pumping in Any DAW
Parallel EQ: Three DAW Routes, but Phase Comes First
Tilt EQ for Mix Engineers: Match Levels, Check the Bypass
Dual Mono vs. Stereo: Two Channels Don’t Guarantee Width in Your Mix
Pre-Fader vs Post-Fader Sends: What's the Difference and When to Use Each
A pre-fader send ignores the channel fader; a post-fader send follows it. When to use each for headphone mixes, reverb and parallel buses, plus a quick test that works in any DAW.
Ableton Effect Racks for Producers: 4 Types, Parallel Recipes
Frequency Dependent Gating: 5 Setup Steps for Mixes
Meter Parallel Chains: Match Within 0.5 LU, Then Run a Null Test
Avoid Mono Collapse: Sample Delay Parallel Processing for Producers
5 Step VST3 Install: Put .vst3 in C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3
Stop Phase Problems: DAW Agnostic Frequency Split for Producers
Stop DAWs Overwriting Plugin State: VST3 & JUCE Fixes for Developers
10 to 20 Minute Fix and DSP Verification for AAX Plugins in Pro Tools
6 Quick Checks to Fix Missing AU Plugins in Logic Pro
Keep Monitoring Responsive: 1–2 ms Lookahead for Tracking Engineers
Producers and Engineers: Frequency Selective Effects With Proportional Q
Parallel Effects Routing for Producers: 5 Step DAW Setup, Per Lane Tips
2–3 Band Multiband Parallel Compression for Engineers: Per Band Blends
Why Zero Latency Monitoring Effects Mislead Musicians
Saturation Before or After Compression? A 2–4 dB Test to Decide
Should saturation go before or after compression? Each order sounds different. Here's a quick 2–4 dB test that tells you which one your track needs.
80–120 Hz Vocal Start: Frequency Selective Reverb for Engineers
993 Hz Test: Stop Plugin Aliasing for Engineers With ADAA & DPW
Fix Plugin UI Scaling: Windows PMv2, macOS, JUCE for Developers
Linear Phase Crossovers for Engineers: Plan for 40 ms Latency
Stop Cubase Plugin Latency Fast With a 5 Step CDC Checklist
3 Engineer Tested Steps to Fix Apple Core Audio Dropouts for DAW Users
Engineers: 13 Step Fix for Plugin Delay Compensation With Dev Notes
128 Samples = 2.67 ms: Buffer Size and Plugin Latency for Engineers
Best Buffer Size for Recording and Mixing (Stop Clicks and Glitches)
For recording, start low (64–128 samples) to keep latency down; for mixing, go higher (512–1024). How to find the lowest glitch-free setting on your own system with a quick stress test.
EQ Before Compression: Four Question Flow, Mix Recipes for Engineers
Cut Studio One Plugin Latency: Use 32–64 Buffers, Bypass >3 ms
Sidechain EQ: Start With 3–6 dB, Ableton Fix, Vector-dsp Tips
Fix Phase Problems: 4 Linear Phase EQ Recipes for Mixing Engineers
Mid/Side Processing: 3 Engineer Tested Mix Recipes That Preserve Mono
Ship Lookahead Latency Plugins Under 2 ms
Vector DSP Engineer's LatencyMon Fixes for Windows ASIO Dropouts
Ship a Scalable Plugin GUI That Survives 4 Hosts and APIs
Developer Checks and 6 Fixes for VST3 Missing in Ableton
EQ Return Tracks in Ableton: Start With 100 to 200 Hz High Pass
Make Parallel Buses Sum Clean: Sample Accurate Alignment for Mixers
Fix AU Validation Failures in Logic Pro With 6 Engineer Tested Steps
Plugin Order Mixing: 9 Steps, a 4 Question Flow, and Engineering Tips
Plugin Routing Options: A Producer's Setup Guide
The Plugin Demo Workflow That Actually Converts Evaluators
Frequency Crossover Without Phase Shift: What's Actually Possible
Can You Share Presets Across DAWs? Here's What Works
How to Match Dry Wet Gain Without Losing Perceived Loudness
Parallel Distortion: How to Add Grit Without Losing Punch
Oversampling Plugins: When to Use 2x, 4x, or 8x
Parallel Reverb for Producers: Quick DAW Recipes
Sample Rate and Plugin Sound: What Actually Changes
Parallel Transient Shaping: A Practical Setup Guide
The Right Sample Rate for Mixing (44.1kHz vs 48kHz vs Higher)
Serial vs. Parallel Compression: When to Use Each
Per-Band Saturation: A Complete Mixing and Mastering Guide
Latency Compensation in DAWs: A Guide for Engineers
True Peak Limiting vs Clipping: What Engineers Need to Know
Audio Dithering in Audio: What Engineers Need to Know
Limiter Plugins Explained: Practical Setup & LUFS Tips
Sample-Accurate MIDI Processing: A Developer's Guide
Denormal Numbers in Audio DSP: A Developer's Guide
Multiband Processing Explained: A Practical Engineer's Guide
Multiband processing splits a signal into frequency bands and treats each one separately. How crossovers work, when to use multiband compression, saturation and effects, and the phase trade-offs.
CPU Load in Audio Processing: What Producers Must Know
Plugin CPU Optimization for Music Producers and Engineers
Why You Should Resample Audio Projects: A Producer's Guide
Parallel Processing in Music Production: Compression, Saturation, Reverb and EQ
How parallel processing works and how to set it up: parallel compression, saturation, reverb and EQ on a send or bus, with level matching and phase checks so the blend stays clean.
Audio Bit Depth Explained: What It Means for Your Sound
Audio Plugin UI Design Workflow: A 2026 Developer Guide
Audio Callback Function Explained for DSP Developers
SIMD Audio Optimization: A 2026 Guide for DSP Developers
Vectorized DSP Processing Explained for Audio Engineers
Digital Audio Workstation Comparison Guide for Producers
Audio Compressor Purpose Explained for Music Producers
Stereo Imaging Tools for Producers: 2026 Guide
Mixing with Audio Plugins Workflow: 2026 Producer Guide
Spatial Audio Technology Explained for Audio Pros
Why Use Metering Plugins: a Producer's 2026 Guide
Professional Audio Standards Overview List for Pros
Why Audio Processing Needs GPU: A 2026 Performance Guide
Audio Source Separation Explained for Music Producers
Bus Processing Music Production Workflow: A Mixing Guide
Why Use Plugin Presets: a Producer's 2026 Guide
Home Studio Audio Plugin Setup: a Producer's Guide
Why Use Double Precision DSP for Audio Processing
Audio Graph Architecture Explained for Audio Professionals
AAX vs VST3 vs AU (and CLAP): Which Plugin Format Do You Need?
Short answer: Pro Tools loads AAX, Logic loads AU, and almost every other DAW loads VST3. Which DAW uses which format, Mac vs Windows support, and where CLAP fits.