Dynamic Equalizer

Precise control of frequency, 
volume and dynamics

Dynamic Equalizer combines multi-band EQ with dynamics processing and volume control. Three parametric bands and two shelving bands each provide both volume control and a full-featured compressor, complete with lookahead that can be set to different values for each frequency band. Use the realtime FFT display and solo each band as you perfect the balance and dynamic response across the frequency spectrum. The result? Clarity, balance, and punch, especially for broad-band audio material, such as a drum set or full mix.

Spatial Maximizer

Mid-side processing for vinyl mastering and beyond

Spatial Maximizer takes a stereo signal and gives you independent control over center (mid) content versus the panned (side) content. Applications go way beyond prepping final mixes for vinyl mastering with side band high-pass filtering and mid band bass enhancement. Each band can be independently processed with a full-featured, five-band dynamic equalizer, allowing you to mould and shape any stereo track or mix. Enjoy dramatic levels of control over the stereo spectrum and spatial impression of a complete stereo mix, or individual tracks within a stereo mix.

De-Esser

Precise removal of unwanted frequencies

De-essing is the process of removing unwanted sibilance from a vocal track. Based on a dynamic peaking EQ for adaptive de-essing, Digital Performer's De-Esser lets you quickly zero in on the offending frequencies and surgically reduce them. Work graphically with adjustable sensitivity and look-ahead, which effectively anticipates fast sibilance. De-Esser can also be useful for selectively gating narrow-band noise and smoothing high-gain guitar tracks in the 2k to 4k band.

Subkick

Kick drum enhancer

Shake the walls, or simply add a little oomph to your kick drum track. Subkick produces synthesized sub-bass frequencies, triggered by a kick drum or similar transient-laden, rhythmic audio signal. How low can you go? That's up to you, but if there are plate glass windows around (or other breakables), use with caution! When you watch the Subkick movie, be sure to run the movie soundtrack through beefy speakers, preferably equipped with a decent sub-woofer.

ACE30

Legendary guitar amp

The Beatles. U2's The Edge. Ritchie Blackmore. Tom Petty. These are just some of the mega-artists who have made the Vox® AC30® an iconic guitar amplifier over the past half century. DP's ACE-30 faithfully models every nuance and quirk of both the vintage-style AC30/6 and the more modern AC30 CC2X, complete with three different preamps, two impedance levels, and a separate Tremolo circuit for independent control and versatility of tone. Vintage and Modern tone stacks faithfully model, down to the smallest details, the Gibson® and Fender® tone circuits employed by Vox. The result? Guitar tones that sound like the real thing.

Soloist

Epic Mesa Rectifier sound

The Soloist is a model of the epic two-channel Mesa™ Dual Rectifier Solo Head™ amplifier of the 1990’s, with the silicon diode rectifiers and bold power settings enabled. The result? A model that supplies full design voltage to all components for that classic Rectifier sound with tighter attacks, added brightness, and substantially more headroom. Choose between the Red or Orange channel, and use the distinctive Mesa channel cloning feature, just like the original. Get ready to spend hours basking in the glory of classic Mesa Rectifier guitar tones.

It's a real speaker cabinet — at your fingertips

Bass cabs are a special breed, so Live Room | B supplies classics from Ampeg and others. From the 8x10 fridge (modeled on the Ampeg SVT-810) to the 1x18 Big Bear (modeled on the rear-ported SWR Big Ben), your bass sound will boom with authentic pow.

Multiple simultaneous mics

Placing mics on a bass cabinet can be elevated to an art form. Live Room | B gives you a variety of mics and positions, which you can artfully combine and mix using four separate mic channels (two mono and one stereo), each with their own fader channel.

Live Stage

CPU efficient cabinets for live performance

Live Stage is a CPU-efficient, single-mic version of its bigger cousins, Live Room | G and B. Simply choose a cabinet and a mic, adjust damping and decay, set your levels, and rock out! Live Stage is ideal for live performance situations in which you are using your laptop and Digital Performer as a guitar effects processor.

Analog Delay

Modeled vintage "bucket-brigade" delay pedal

Inspired by classic 1980s delay pedals from DOD™ and Electro-Harmonix™, Analog Delay faithfully models their compander and bucket brigade circuits for a truly authentic sound. Crank the REPEAT knob to make it self-oscillate, just like the original, but use caution! A unique 4x switch quadruples the effect. Click the stomp switch to smoothly enable or disable the effect, while the plug-in continues to process audio.

Analog Flanger

An old-school flanger reborn

Analog Flanger models the late 1970's Electro-Harmonix™ Deluxe Electric Mistress™, an effect pedal heard on countless recordings in the decades since.

Hi-Top Booster

The lead switch of all time

Hi-Top Booster models the Dallas Rangemaster™ treble booster used by Eric Clapton, Brian May and many others. Hardware clones of this classic include the Strangemaster™, Java Boost™, Brian May Treble Boost™, and several others. Use Hi-Top Booster to drive DP's Custom ’59 and Live Room | G (with the Vintage 4 x 12 cabinet enabled) to achieve that 1970s “glam” guitar tone.

Clear Pebble

Authentic model of an Electro-Harmonix classic pedal

Clear Pebble models the Electro-Harmonix™ Small Stone™ phaser with the Color switch set to the Off position. The color-off timbre produces the Stone's classic jazzy phase sound. 

Dyna-Squash

The ultimate guitar sustain switch

Modeled after the MXR “script-logo” Dyna-Comp™ compressor, Dyna-Squash features an infinity-ratio limiter with 60dB maximum gain, a 0.7v absolute hard-knee limit, sub-millisecond attack dynamics, and painfully slow (>1s) release dynamics. The original Dyna-Comp “script logo” was a staple in many famous guitar rigs, including those for Pete Townshend, David Gilmour and Eddie Van Halen, among others.The Dyna-Comp was originally marketed and used as a guitar sustain pedal. You can use the DP's Dyna-Squash on guitars, too, of course, but also check it out on snare drum, vocals, or any signal that needs squashing!

Themes

Customizing your workspace never looked so good

Feeling fanciful? Release your mind with Zen. Need a boost? Energize your creativity with Plasma. Hosting a client? Impress them with Producer. Over a dozen presets are provided, and you can even customize your own look. Use the theme browser below to preview DP's preset themes.

Punch Guard™

Peace of mind when recording

When recording audio tracks, Digital Performer always captures several extra seconds of audio before and after record passes. This new feature is called Punch Guard™, and it applies to both manual and automatic punch-ins (on audio tracks). Clicked the record button a little late? No problem. You can edge-edit the recorded audio clip to expose several extra seconds of audio before the beginning. The default pre- and post-roll times are 4 and 1 seconds, respectively, but you can customize these times as desired.

Re-engineered video engine

Film scoring and audio for picture as it's meant to be

Digital Performer 8's video engine has been completely re-engineered to take full advantage of the latest enhancements in Mac OS X and Windows 7. Combined with a host of additional updates to the Movie window, Digital Performer's film scoring feature set once again sets it apart as the leading application for sound for picture applications.

Movie audio routing

Extract a movie's audio track into your project to view and edit it side by side with your sequence audio tracks. To save time, in DP8 you can instead route the movie's audio track, without extracting it, directly into Digital Performer's mixing environment. For example, if you get cues from the director with dialog and foley split into the left and right channels, simply bus them to aux faders, where you can easily mix and process them within DP's full mixing environment, plug-ins and all.

In-line Control Panel

Gain access to more tools and save screen space

In version 8, Digital Performer's main control panel can now be "popped into" the Consolidated Window. Not only does this save precious screen real estate, it also gives you access to tools, shortcuts, and performance info across the top of the window. You can fully customize what appears in the control panel, down to individual window shortcuts. To save even more screen space, you can go from standard double-button height to single-button height.

Plug-in management

Manage, organize, and quickly find plug-ins

Digital Performer's plug-in management features help you organize and manage large numbers of audio plug-ins — from the dozens of included plug-ins to hundreds of third-party plug-ins (sold separately). Organize them into folders, even folders within folders, by manufacturer, format (VST, AU or MAS), type, favorites, or any way you like. Search by name to quickly find the plug-in you want. Enable plug-ins you want, disable ones you don't, and create plug-in sets. Make plug-ins load even if they don't pass validation, or re-examine updated plug-ins for validation.

Consolidated Window

One window to rule them all...

Digital Performer's Consolidated Window streamlines your workspace. Quickly access major features such as the Sequence Editor, Mixing Board and Waveform Editor with tabs across the top of the window. Split the window vertically to view critical information side by side. Add side bars for commonly used lists and info panes. Create and save multiple custom layouts. Factory presets are provided for tracking, editing, mixing and other stages of your workflow.

Themes

Customizing your workspace never looked so good

Feeling fanciful? Release your mind with Zen. Need a boost? Energize your creativity with Plasma. Hosting a client? Impress them with Producer. Several dozen presets are provided, and you can even customize your own look. Use the theme browser below to preview DP's preset themes. 15 new DP8 themes include Hi-Fi, Arctic, and None More Black.

3rd-party themes

Get inspired by the creativity of others

Exploring Digital Performer's included themes is downright fun. For further inspiration, check out these additional themes offered by third-party developers and hobbyists. Lovingly crafted, these looks for Digital Performer are sure to stimulate your muse and perhaps even surprise you.

Custom level meters

What color are your level meters? This may sound like a personal question, but the truth is, level meter color can often be the subject of strong debate. In DP8, you can choose any color you want to perfectly match your favorite theme. You can even design a two- or three-color gradient.

Custom waveform colors

Audio waveforms are the most graphically significant element of your workspace, and Digital Performer lets you dial in the exact amount of color saturation and lightness you prefer, independently for both the waveform and its background. You can also choose to show or hide a solid color bar across the top of each waveform clip.

Control Panel

Customizable quick access to essential features

The Control Panel provides essential information in compact strip across the top of your computer screen. Float it indepedently, or pop it into the Consolidated Window. Configure it however you want with extensive preferences. Digital Performer gives you complete control over this critical component of your creative experience.

Extensive customization

Customize your workspace 
to your exact wishes

In addition to the highly configurable Consolidated Window, DP8's dozens of themes, and the other customization features already mentioned, Digital Performer provides extensive preferences for configuring your workspace and how it responds to you. After all, a creative workspace is a very personal thing. And the time we get to spend there is precious, so you deserve every opportunity to maximize your experience.

Multiple sequences

Work with multiple sequences in a single project

Digital Performer is still the only audio workstation application that allows you to create multiple sequences in a single project. Regardless of what you create with DP, you'll undoubtedly end up producing multiple versions of it. Why not have them all in the same project file, at your fingertips, using the same effects processing and virtual instrument resources? Need to use Digital Performer for live performance? Create a single file with all your songs in it, organized into 45-minute song sets or however you like. Digital Performer is the preferred workstation software for live touring, due in large part to this essential feature. Digital Performer's ability to assist you in creating and managing multiple sequences is unparalleled.

Unlimited tracks, unlimited everything

You'll never run out of resources — or ideas

When you work fast, it's nice to know that you'll never hit The Wall. In Digital Performer, create as many tracks as you like. Add as many sequences as you need. Recording multiple takes? Do as many passes as necessary. Digital Performer has been designed to accommodate an open-ended workflow, where ideas can run rampant and limitations, if you need them, are completely up to you.

Track groups: a way to link behaviors

Track groups work in concert with, or independently from, track folders and allow you to link tracks from a functional standpoint, for mixing, editing or both. For example, grab a fader in a mix group and all other faders move too, in a relative fashion. The same holds true for mute, solo, and a host of other mix parameters, and editing as well. Pick and choose what elements are affected by the group. Temporarily override with a modifier key for quick tweaks. Even create unlimited, nested groups.

2 trillion PPQ

For MIDI data, DP's factory default resolution is 480 parts per quarter note (PPQ), which is perfectly fine for most folks. If you’re a Logic or Cubase user who has switched to Digital Performer, you could choose 960 or 1920, respectively. For even better PPQ resolution, add extra decimal places (e.g. 960.000 or 1920.000). The maximum resolution offered? Just over 2 trillion PPQ. How is this incredible degree of precision possible? The number that Digital Performer uses to store the location of each MIDI event is a 64-bit number, which can express a range of numbers up to over 8,000,000,000,000,000,000.

Recording and playback

Advanced recording and playback features made easy

With transport controls modeled on a conventional tape deck, playback and recording can be as simple as pressing the play and record buttons. Many advanced features lie waiting, however, for even the most demanding studio situations: editing during playback, 'Partial-solo' mode, configurable event chasing, scrubbing, advanced click programming, input filtering and quantizing, multi-track recording of both MIDI and audio simultaneously, manual and auto punch-in, overdub recording, recording while slaved to external sync — these are just a few of the many features developed over years of time-tested performance in studios all over the world.

POLAR

A one-of-a-kind loop recorder

Inspired by the classic Echoplex tape delay effect, POLAR™ stands for "Performance Oriented Loop Audio Recording". POLAR allows you to continuously loop-record vocal comps, beat-boxing, guitar, or pretty much anything, overdubbing each pass to build up vocal stacks or layered audio loops of any length with any number of layers. Many options are provided to facilitate real-time interaction with the computer, allowing you to record ideas quickly and spontaneously. POLAR provides a seductive form of interactive loop-recording that produces results you might never have imagined. Be prepared to lose track of hours as you explore interactive layers upon layers. For truly amazing looped effects, try changing the length of the record loop between passes. Now try loops of odd lengths repeating against each other. (3 bars against 7, anyone?) The results can be mind-blowing. When you're done, hit Export to blow the entire POLAR session into your Digital Performer project for further editing, processing and mixing.

Takes and comping

Multiple takes and track comping the way it's supposed to be

When you're tracking, recording multiple takes is essential: it frees you up and allows you, or the artist, to get in the moment, be oneself, and perform the ultimate lick or phrase. Digital Performer lets you record into an unlimited number of takes and then quickly combine them into the perfect composite or "comp" take. Quickly expand the track list to display all takes, just like separate tracks, but specially linked for quick one-click comping. Then collapse them when you're done to conserve screen space. You can always go back to tweak them again later. DP's takes and comping features let you do in minutes what used to take hours.

Comprehensive MIDI and audio editors

Powerful tools for editing and honing your sound

Digital Performer's edit windows are so well-equipped with features, they could stand as separate applications on their own. Each window is loaded with features dedicated to each form of data, with the Sequence Editor serving as the grand master that displays all tracks and data together, side by side.

Sequence Editor

Detailed Multitrack overview of all MIDI, audio and instrument tracks

Track List

Birds-eye overview of all MIDI, audio and instrument tracks

MIDI Editor

Piano-roll style editing for MIDI and instrument tracks

Drum Editor

Grid editor for drums and percussive material

Notation Editor

Single-track, endlessly-scrolling music notation editor

QuickScribe Editor

Multitrack notation editor for lead sheets, scores and parts with page layout

Waveform Editor

Comprehensive audio file editor

Event List

Alpha-numeric data editor with pin-point accuracy

State-of-the-art mixing

Artfully craft your mix with a world-class mixing console — on your computer desktop

Digital Performer’s Mixing Board window provides a powerful integrated mixing environment for MIDI, audio, and instrument tracks in channel configurations from stereo up to 10.2 surround, along with real-time effects processing and virtual instrument plug-ins. The Mixing Board will seem familiar to beginners and experts alike because it is modeled after standard hardware mixing consoles. Lurking under the hood, however, are many powerful features and many time-saving shortcuts. With internal 32-bit floating point precision throughout the mixing path, combined with 64-bit precision during the mastering stages, audio quality is unparalleled.

Inline multi-band EQ and dynamics processing

Control EQ and dynamics processing directly in each Mixing Board channel with multi-band graphic EQ display and vintage-style compression meter, using any included EQ or dynamics processor, such as Digital Performer's award-winning MasterWorks Series modeled British console EQ and leveling amplifier faithfully modeled after the legendary LA-2A.

Complete mix automation

Work with audio, instrument, and MIDI automation side by side, seamlessly. Draw automation by hand using a variety of tools with various shapes. Record in real-time with mouse gestures or a hardware control surface. Overwrite new automation or trim existing curves, in real time. Take automation snapshots across any or all tracks. Create beat-based, tempo-locked automation effects. Work with broad gestures or pin-point precision. Digital Performer’s mix automation features are deep, yet easy to use.

Plug-in automation

Plug-ins can be fully automated with ramps, stair steps or other behaviors appropriate for each parameter. The management of automation parameters is optimized throughout the program for efficient and intuitive operation. For example, only parameters that are actually being automated are displayed in lists and menus. Automation snapshots provide many options: they can include all parameters or only those currently being automated.

Channel strips

The Channel Strip sidebar cell in Digital Performer’s main window displays all the mixer channel settings for the track you are working on, for immediate access. Plus, every edit window in Digital Performer can display a "miniature" mixer channel for quick access to mix settings for the track being edited. Crucial miix settings are always at your fingertips.