What is the Wave Hammer plug-in?

The Wave Hammer DirectX plug-in is an audio mastering tool consisting of a classic compressor and a volume maximizer.

The Wave Hammer tool can be used in any Microsoft DirectX-compatible host application (for example, Sound Forge and ACID® Pro software), and the quality and functionality of the Wave Hammer plug-in is the same in each host application; however, the method of previewing effects is different. Consult your host application’s documentation to determine the available previewing methods.

Displaying the Wave Hammer plug-in

To display the Wave Hammer tool, choose Wave Hammer from the Effects menu.

The Wave Hammer dialog

The Wave Hammer controls are divided into two tabs: Compressor and Volume Maximizer.

Compressor tab

The controls on the Compressor tab are used to compress the audio signal. When applied properly, compression reduces the dynamic range of audio and allows you increase overall loudness. Compression has various uses. For example, applying heavy compression at a low threshold to electric guitar produces distortion. The controls are explained below.

Control

Description

Threshold

The Threshold fader is used to adjust the audio level at which compression is applied. Audio

 

with levels higher than the Threshold value are compressed, while audio at levels lower than

 

this value pass through the compressor uninterrupted.

 

 

Ratio

The Ratio slider determines the amount of compression applied to audio signals surpassing the

 

threshold. A ratio of 1:1 applies no compression to audio surpassing the threshold, while a ratio

 

of 2:1 requires a 2 dB increase in actual volume to raise the processed volume 1 dB. A ratio of

 

Inf:1 is considered a limiter.

 

 

Output gain

The Output gain fader allows you to determine how much the audio signal is boosted

 

following its compression.

 

 

Attack time

The Attack time slider allows you to determine how soon after rising above the threshold the

 

audio signal is attenuated.

 

 

Release time

The Release time slider allows you to determine how soon after falling below the threshold the

 

audio signal attenuation is interrupted.

 

 

USING ACOUSTIC MIRROR AND WAVE HAMMER 227