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- 1 - April 5, 2009
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- and Hardware GmbH. This product 2006 Paul R. Harvey
I In ns st tr ru uc ct ti io on ns s f fo or r U Us se e. .
Introduction.
General.
Extra Boy Pro (name derived from 'Extract') is a tool that can be used to isolate, remove,
suppress or enhance ANY part of a stereo audio track! Extra Boy Pro operates in real-
time and is not restricted to vocal processing only. Extra Boy Pro incorporates a unique 2D
Spectral-Spatial editing mode by which individual instruments, having been visually identified
by their Spectral-Spatial graphical signature, can simply be deleted from the mix!
Alternatively, an instrument that needs a boost can be boosted by simply drawing a Region of
Interest (ROI) around its Spectral-Spatial signature and increasing the gain in that part of the
mix. Multiple ROIs can be drawn and deleted independently. This provides the capability to
delete, isolate or boost multiple instruments.
Features.
Unique '2D Mode' Spectral-Spatial freehand audio signature editing functionality providing
arbitrary manipulation of any part of a stereo mix. (Elevayta proprietary).
Up to twice the audio resolution compared to Extra Boy.
High quality isolation, removal, suppression or enhancement of ANY part of a stereo
audio track!
Vertical scrolling high resolution Spectral-Spatial display.
Up to 200 independent Regions-of-Interest (ROI) can be selected or deleted.
Provides incredible flexibility for fine tuning. Isolate or Remove ROIs at the touch of a
button.
Boost or suppress individual instruments using a single slider.
User configurable startup mode and latency (depending on maximum desired quality).
Five audio quality modes 'Lowest', 'Low', 'Medium', 'High', 'Highest'.
Selectable in real-time with full scaling of ROIs. Plan on low quality and fine tune at higher
quality!
Multi-resolution ROI planning with ROIs retained between sessions and presets.
Scrolling multi-resolution Spectrograph display with feature mapping tool for cross-
correlation of features within the Spectral-Spatial display.
Flexible control of Spectral-Spatial display modes.
Full PDC Compensation (in compatible hosts).
This brief guide is intended to provide some further insight into the usage and options
available in Extra Boy Pro.
Document Release Information.
Product: Extra Boy Pro
Product Versions: V5.01, VB6.01, V5.02, VB6.02
Doc. Version: 6.0
Doc. Release Date: April 5, 2009
Author: P.R.H.
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- 2 - April 5, 2009
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- and Hardware GmbH. This product 2006 Paul R. Harvey
The Extra Main Page.
Figure 1 The Extra Main Page.
The parameters.
Low Cut Determines the Lower cut-off frequency below which the Extra Boy
Pro processing is not applied.
High Cut Determines the Upper cut-off frequency above which the Extra Boy
Pro processing is not applied.
Note: Extra Boy Pro processing takes place on the frequencies
between the Low Cut and High Cut frequencies.
Spread This parameter is activated only when the Spreadilate feature is
used. It is used to control the width of the region in the sound field
on which the Extra Boy Pro processing takes place (spatially
dependent rather than frequency dependent).
Extra Mix This parameter allows to adjust the mix (gain) of the band of
frequencies over which the Extra Boy Pro processing is applied.
Humidity Adjusts the mix of dry to wet signal.
Stereolize Enables maximum preservation of the stereo field even after the
vocal/instrument is removed. This is a unique technology to Extra
Boy Pro and key to its superior performance.
Spreadilate Enables a processing step which limits the Extra Boy Pro processing
to stereo signal within a spatial range determined using the Spread
slider. Another unique technology to Extra Boy Pro and key to its
superior performance in vocal/instrument isolation.
Displays the stereo
frequency
spectrum of the
audio signal
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- 3 - April 5, 2009
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- and Hardware GmbH. This product 2006 Paul R. Harvey
Bypass Bypasses all Extra Boy Pro processing to leave the unprocessed
audio signal.
Pass Thru A selective feature than enables certain parts of the processing path
to be bypassed while retaining others. It disables the frequency based
filtering process. Required for some of the more sophisticated
presets.
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- 4 - April 5, 2009
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- and Hardware GmbH. This product 2006 Paul R. Harvey
The Extra 2D Page.
a) 2D Mode Off.
b) 2D Mode On.
Figure 2 The Extra 2D page.
The 2D display indicates the signal amplitude as a function of spatial (pan) position
(horizontal) and frequency (vertical). This is referred to as the Spectral-Spatial display. The full
frequency range from 0 to > 20 kHz can be examined by scrolling the vertical slider at the
right hand side of the display. When 2D Mode is activated it becomes possible to draw ROIs
on the 2D display using the mouse.
Note: Clicking the Left mouse button while dragging causes an ROI to be drawn. Clicking in
an ROI with the Right mouse button removes it and its associated processing. Clicking in the
overlap between ROIs, with the right mouse button, causes both ROIs to be deleted.
Clicking the ROI Count box causes all ROIs, and their combined effect, to be deleted.
Spatial
distribution of
audio signal
Left Right
Frequency
Signature of a
voice in center of
audio sound-stage
Signature of a bass
at left of audio
sound-stage
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- 5 - April 5, 2009
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- and Hardware GmbH. This product 2006 Paul R. Harvey
The parameters.
2D Mode When activated, enables the 2D display and 2D audio processing. The
2D display indicates the signal amplitude as a function of spatial
position (horizontal) and frequency (vertical). When 2D Mode is
activated it is possible to draw Regions-of-interest (ROIs) around the
signals of interest. In default mode, the signal within an ROI will be
suppressed. The cursor position is displayed (frequency and % pan
position) in the display at the top of the window.
ROI Off When activated, ROIs that have been drawn will be removed from the
2D display. Audio processing continues but the ROI display is
suppressed. This is useful when the display becomes cluttered with
too many ROIs.
Gain Slider In the default Off position, the Gain Slider has no effect on the 2D
processing and the signal within all ROIs is suppressed. Increasing
the Gain Slider allows for scaling of the signals contained within the
ROIs. Scaling goes from 90 dB to +20 dB. Thus, it is possible to
finely control (reduce or boost) the amplitude of individual regions of
audio signal (specified by the ROIs) that correspond to specific
instruments. Note: Click on the display box below the slider to reset.
Quality This parameter controls the resolution with which audio processing is
performed. Each press of the button increases the resolution. A total
of five resolutions are available. The current quality is displayed at
the top of the window. Under default configuration the quality levels
span from Lowest, Low, Medium to High. To be able to access the
fifth level, Highest, it is necessary set a parameter in the .ini file
(see below). From the .ini file it is possible to specify the maximum
quality level that will be available the trade off is that higher quality
levels result in higher CPU usage and longer latency. Extra Boy Pro
operates at the maximum latency as defined by the highest quality
level configured in the .ini file.
Extra-cate! This parameter performs an inverse operation such that audio
removal from with the ROIs can be converted to audio isolation.
Isolate Available only in 1D mode. When activated, only the audio in the
frequency spectrum contained between High Cut and Low Cut is
heard. Using Isolate on its own enables Extra Boy Pro to be used as
a band-pass filter.
Freeze Available only in 2D mode. When activated, freezes the 2D display.
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- 6 - April 5, 2009
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- and Hardware GmbH. This product 2006 Paul R. Harvey
The Extra Spectra Page.
Figure 3 The Extra Spectra page.
The Extra Spectra page is accessible only when 2D Mode has been activated. The 2D display
on this page is a scrolling Spectrograph (Temporal-Spectral display). The horizontal axis is
time and the vertical axis is frequency. The full frequency range from 0 to > 20 kHz can be
examined by scrolling the vertical slider at the right hand side of the display.
Note: Clicking the Left mouse button inside the Spectrograph display cause a marker to be
placed at the same frequency location in the Extra 2D Spectral-Spatial display. This
functionality enables features that are more easily identified in the scrolling Spectrograph
display to be located land-marked in the Spectral-Spatial display so than an ROI can then be
drawn at the appropriate area.
The parameters.
dB Intensity When activated, switches the intensity scale from a linear scale to a
logarithmic scale. Default is On which provides optimum display of
signals from most frequencies. Applies to both 2D displays.
3 dB Slope When activated, adds a 3 dB slope along the frequency axis. This
makes visualization of signal amplitude over the whole frequency
range more easy (in some applications).
Persist When activated causes both 2D displays to be persistent in their
display. In other words, the signal intensity accumulates over a
longer period of time which can make it easier to identify coherent
signals.
Offset Adjusts the Brightness of the 2D display. Note: Click on the display
box below the slider to reset.
Slope Adjusts the Contrast of the 2D display. Note: Click on the display
box below the slider to reset.
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- 7 - April 5, 2009
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- and Hardware GmbH. This product 2006 Paul R. Harvey
Freeze Available only in 2D mode. When activated, freezes the 2D display.
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- 8 - April 5, 2009
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- and Hardware GmbH. This product 2006 Paul R. Harvey
2D Mode and ROI Manipulation.
Selecting an ROI.
Figure 4 Selecting an ROI.
Figure 4 illustrates the process of selecting an ROI. First locate a region in the Spectral-Spatial
display that you wish to suppress. Place the mouse cursor, left click and draw the ROI. When
the mouse is released the ROI will remain and the effect on the audio will be apparent. In
standard 2D Mode an ROI suppresses audio within the region I covers. All ROIs scroll with the
display!
Selecting Multiple ROIs.
Multiple ROIs can be drawn as shown in Figure 5. The combined effect of all ROIs is used when
processing the audio signal. This enables to place multiple ROIs covering the whole frequency
spectrum associated with a single or multiple sound sources (vocal or instrumental).
Figure 5 Selecting Multiple ROIs.
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VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- and Hardware GmbH. This product 2006 Paul R. Harvey
Moving ROIs.
An ROI can be moved by (left) clicking on its edge with the cursor crosshair and dragging the
ROI to a new position while the mouse button is held down.
Figure 5a Moving an ROI. Select with mouse and drag to new position.
Deleting ROIs.
An ROI, or group of ROIs can be deleted by placing the mouse cursor inside them and clicking
the right mouse button. Alternatively, to delete al ROIs in one go, click on the ROI Count
display at the top of the window.
Using The Quality Function.
A good approach to suppressing a complete instrument is to start at the Lowest quality setting.
This provides the largest overview of all the frequencies and spatial characteristics involved in
the audio signal. The ROIs can be drawn to cover most desired regions.
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VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- and Hardware GmbH. This product 2006 Paul R. Harvey
Figure 6 Selecting different Quality settings with ROI scaling.
When the quality is increased the ROIs scale so that they cover the same Spectral-Spatial
region and the audio quality improves. By doing this it is possible to add additional ROIs at
different quality settings to achieve optimal results.
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VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- and Hardware GmbH. This product 2006 Paul R. Harvey
The Spectrograph Display and Land-marking.
The Spectrograph display can be used to identify instruments that are more easily seen by
their time/frequency domain (Temporal-Spectral) signature.
Figure 7 Spectrograph land-marking.
In the example in figure 7, the 2D display was frozen and the mouse cursor was left clicked at
5 locations on the Spectrograph display to mark the positions of the vocal signature. The
locations in frequency space have been automatically transferred and displayed on the
Spectral-Spatial display as represented by the green indicators in the right hand image. Having
located the vocal signature in the Spectral-Spatial display, it can be removed, or otherwise
manipulated, by drawing an ROI around the location (final image).
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- 12 - April 5, 2009
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- and Hardware GmbH. This product 2006 Paul R. Harvey
Boosting and Reducing Sound Sources.
ROI Gain Control.
Figure 8 Boosting or Reducing individual sound sources.
Figure 8 shows how to boost or reduce the contribution of an array of sound sources to an
overall mix. Simply choose the ROIs and adjust the Gain Slider to scale the audio signal inside
the ROIs.
This is excellent for boosting or reducing different instruments in a mix.
The Extra-cate! feature.
If, having selected a group of ROIs, you would now like to isolate the audio signal from only
those ROIs, this is simply achieved by activating the Extra-cate feature.
Figure 9 Extra-cate! to isolate only the audio inside the ROIs.
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VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- and Hardware GmbH. This product 2006 Paul R. Harvey
Changing the Color Look-up Table (LUT).
The color lookup table (LUT) determines the relationship between signal amplitude, in the 2D
display, and the color used to display it. The default LUT is called Fire. In some cases
changing the LUT makes signal characteristics easier to differentiate. Extra Boy Pro provides a
choice of 20 different LUTs to choose from. Also, when the LUT is changed, the configuration is
stored with the project and automatically used the next time the project is opened.
Figure 9a Changing the color LUT.
To change the color LUT, click on the Elevayta logo in either the Extra 2D view or the
Extra Spectra view. When clicked, a dropdown box appears (as shown in figure 9a). Clicking
on the dropdown box provides a list of color LUTs to choose from. Select the LUT that you
want and the 2D display will change immediately to using that LUT. The dropdown box can be
hidden again by changing the page to Extra Main or About or by simply clicking on the
Elevayta logo.
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VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- and Hardware GmbH. This product 2006 Paul R. Harvey
The About Page.
Figure 10 The About page.
Shows the latency in ms, credits, and the registration information.
Configuring Quality and The Extra_Boy_Pro.ini file.
When Extra Boy Pro is used for the first time, it will generate a .ini file in the same directory
as the plug-in is located. This .ini file contains the following information:
[StartUp]
Start_Preset=0
Start_Page=0
MaxQuality=3
ToolTips=1
This file can be edited with a text editor.
The Start_Preset parameter refers to the preset to use on plug-in load and can be set
between 0-19.
The Start_Page parameter refers to the page to show on plug-in load and can be set between
0-1. This will display either the standard Extra Main page or the Extra 2D page.
The MaxQuality parameter determines the maximum allowed quality setting for Extra Boy
Pro. It can be set between 0-4 (i.e. 0 or 1 or 2 or 3 or 4). The setting has an influence on the
maximum audio quality attainable which also influences the latency of the plug-in. The default
setting is 3 which enables quality setting up to the High setting. This should be suitable for
most purposes. To achieve Highest quality setting, the value of 4 needs to be set for
MaxQuality.
The ToolTips parameter can be set to 0 or 1. When set to 0, tool tips are disabled in the user
interface.
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- 15 - April 5, 2009
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- and Hardware GmbH. This product 2006 Paul R. Harvey
If you run into problems, just delete the .ini file and all will be reset.
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- 16 - April 5, 2009
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- and Hardware GmbH. This product 2006 Paul R. Harvey
The Extra Boy Pro Presets.
Figure 11 The Presets.
Extra Boy Pro is supplied with 20 presets. The second group of 5 are the same as the first
group but utilizing the highest resolution processing available.
Vocal Out Mode 1.
Uses the Stereolize functionality to remove vocals from an audio signal. The Low Cut and
High Cut sliders are optimized to cover the typical vocal frequency range. Hint: Try lowering
the Low Cut slider to about 160 Hz 200 Hz for improved vocal removal in some cases.
Vocal Out Mode 2.
Uses the Spreadilate functionality to realize vocal removal. Frequency dependent processing
is disabled by application of the Pass Thru button.
Full Spectrum.
This is similar to Vocal Out Mode 1 except that the frequency filter is performed over the
whole audio spectrum rather than just the region occupied by vocals.
Vocal Band Only.
Allows only the region in the vocal frequency range to be heard (uses the Isolate feature).
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- 17 - April 5, 2009
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- and Hardware GmbH. This product 2006 Paul R. Harvey
Isolate Vocal.
One set of optimized settings for vocal isolation.
Notch Filter.
Use Extra Boy Pro in 1D mode as a notch filter.
2D Mode Normal Qual.
Default quality 2D mode.
2D Mode Lowest Qual.
Lowest quality 2D mode.
2D Mode Highest Qual.
Highest quality 2D mode.
2D Mode Flat ROI Gain.
2D mode in which the ROI gain setting is set to 1. Drawn ROIs have no effect on the audio
signal.
2D Mode +3 dB ROI Gain.
2D mode in which the ROI gain setting is set to +3 dB. Drawn ROIs will increase the volume of
the audio signal within the ROI.
2D Mode 6 dB ROI Gain.
2D mode in which the ROI gain setting is set to 6 dB. Drawn ROIs will decrease the volume of
the audio signal within the ROI.
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- 18 - April 5, 2009
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- and Hardware GmbH. This product 2006 Paul R. Harvey
FAQs.
1) Why is there such a long latency when using Extra Boy Pro in a host that doesnt support
PDC?
A: Extra Boy Pro uses sophisticated processing that cannot be performed without some
latency. In a PDC compliant host, this is not a problem.
2) Stereolize, Spreadilate whats that?
A: These are names for specific processing functions that are absolutely unique to
Extra Boy Pro. These processing steps are considered proprietary to Elevayta and will
not be disclosed.
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- 19 - April 5, 2009
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- and Hardware GmbH. This product 2006 Paul R. Harvey
Summary.
This guide was intended to provided a brief introduction to the features of Extra Boy Pro. As
you, the user, gain experience using this plug-in, many more possibilities will become
apparent. Your own imagination is the only restriction.
Constructive feedback is always appreciated. Please send comments and suggestions to:
info@elevayta.com
Enjoy this product and look out for more to come from Elevayta.
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- 20 - April 5, 2009
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- and Hardware GmbH. This product 2006 Paul R. Harvey
Disclaimer.
This software Extra Boy Pro is provided as is without warranty of any kind. The author
makes no guarantee of correctness, accuracy, reliability, safety or performance. You alone are
responsible for determining if this software is safe for use in your environment. Neither the
author, Elevayta, nor anyone else who has been involved in the creation or delivery of this
product shall be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental damages arising
from the use or inability to use such product even if the author has been advised of the
possibility of such damages.
Copyright Statement.
This product, publication and all aspects of design, are copyright 2006 Paul R. Harvey, with
all rights reserved world-wide.
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- and Hardware GmbH.
A Message for the Software Pirates.
Some elements of the code used in this software have been bought, by me, from small scale
developers in Russia, Chile and China. Some software is expensive, I agree but not this. Its
a challenge to crack the code and show off if thats what turns you on. But, come on now,
whats so impressive about cracking $20 worth of code? Why not spend that time being a bit
more creative and generate some useful software for somebody else. Who knows, if you go
about it in the right way, perhaps somebody will want to buy your software and you can earn
some money for yourself! That would be much more constructive than using your talents to
destroy the business of others. I put money back in to the world software development pool,
and that directly benefits the small scale developers in an environment dominated by large
corporations dont destroy my business use your imagination more constructively dont
take that opportunity away from yourself I might want to buy your software also one day!