XT-EG Expander/Gate

The XT-EG Expander / Gate is Harrison’s versatile tool for gating noise or gently increasing the dynamic range of tracks.

*This plugin requires a license to enable the control panel. To purchase a license, visit Harrison’s XT Plugin Page

Controls

Input Threshold: This vertical slider affects the onset of the Expander/Gate effect. You should set the threshold to match the level of signal you want to hear. Signals quieter than this threshold will be affected.

Depth: this affects the maximum gain reduction that the effect will apply. For a full gate, you should set this value to maximum. For gentle expansion, you should use a lower value.

Hold(ms): when the gate is “opened” by a loud-enough signal, the hold time ensures that the gate stays open for at least this time. This knob is only operable when the “Expand” button is not engaged

Hysteresis: when the gate is “opened” by a loud-enough signal, this prevents the gate from closing until the signal reduces by this much below the threshold. This knob is only operable when the “Expand” button is not engaged

Expand: when this button is engaged, the Hold and Hysteresis knobs are disabled, and the Ratio and Knee controls become enabled.

Ratio: The ratio defines the aggressiveness of the expansion mode. A low ratio will require the signal to be significantly lower than the threshold, before much gain reduction is applied. This knob is only operable when the “Expand” button is engaged

Knee(dB): this knob affects the onset of the gate. A larger knee means that the effect’s onset will operate as if the threshold were lower, but the onset of the gain-reduction will be more gradual. This knob is only operable when the “Expand” button is engaged

Attack(ms): this adjusts how quickly the gate can “open” when a signal exceeds the threshold.

Release(ms): this adjusts how quickly the gate can close again, after the signal reduces below the threshold.

Lookahead: Using lookahead allows the gate to open “before” the onset of a signal above the threshold; this can prevent (for example) cutting-off the front of a drum hit. There are 2 levels of lookahead. When lookahead is engaged, the plugin will report some latency to the host, so the host can delay other tracks to match the drum sound back to its un-delayed timing.

Sidechain Controls

The “sidechain” is the signal-detector inside the expander/gate. Filtering the sidechain does not result in a change to the sound of the signal, but it does affect how the gate opens/closes. For example, if you want to gate a snare drum, it is often desirable to find and accentuate a strong frequency of the snare drum, so the gate is more sensitive to that sound.

*The XT-EG does not have an external input to feed a sidechain signal other than the main input. We might add this feature in the future.

Sidechain Filter: Click this button to enable the sidechain filter.

Listen: Click this button to listen to the sidechain signal, with the filter applied.

Q: This adjusts the sharpness of the filter band.

Frequency: This moves the frequency of the band to boost. Move the filter until the sound you want to expand/gate is accentuated, and other sounds are not.

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