Transient Master

Separate the hit from the tail

TRANSIENT MASTER concentrates on the beginning and sustained portion of a sound. Attack changes how sharply a hit or pluck speaks, while Sustain changes the body and decay that follow it. The controls are centered around an unchanged setting, making small comparative adjustments straightforward.

Practical envelope shaping

Use additional attack to bring percussion forward, less attack to soften a hard edge, reduced sustain to tighten a room-heavy recording, or more sustain to emphasize body. Smooth changes the attack behavior for sources such as distorted guitar that can react poorly to very fast shaping. A hard output limiter and makeup gain complete the processing path. Set the envelope first, compensate level afterward, and judge the result against the surrounding mix rather than only in solo.

Source: Manual, “The Main Interface,” pp. 9–11.

Attack and sustain

ATTACK is neutral at center. Turn it right to sharpen the initial phase or left to soften it. Start with small changes: a more prominent transient can improve definition without needing a large overall gain increase.

SUSTAIN is also neutral at center. Right prolongs or emphasizes the sustained phase; left shortens it. Lower sustain can make a percussion part feel tighter, while higher sustain brings out body and ambient decay. Attack and Sustain are independent, so you can soften a hit while retaining its tail, or strengthen the attack while reducing the tail.

Smooth mode

Smooth uses gentler attack shaping designed particularly for guitar. It helps reduce added distortion on material that already contains substantial distortion. Turn it off when faster attack handling is desirable on drums or other appropriate sources, and compare rather than assuming the smoother mode is always more transparent.

Level and protection

GAIN compensates the level change created by envelope shaping. Match processed and bypassed loudness after adjusting Attack and Sustain so a louder result is not mistaken for better definition. Limit enables a hard output limiter to prevent clipping, especially when strong attack enhancement creates large peaks. It is protection, not a substitute for an appropriate gain setting.

Comparison workflow

Use the header's A/B switch to compare two envelope treatments. Copy the current state to the other slot before trying a different attack/sustain balance, and save the preferred state with the preset menu. Reassess the settings with the complete arrangement because a tail that sounds attractive in solo may occupy too much space in the mix.

Source: Manual, “A/B Comparisons,” pp. 8–9; “The Main Interface,” pp. 9–11.