# SpectralPhaser

SpectralPhaser is an effect that produces a phaser-like sound by applying a mask in the frequency domain. In addition to FFT, fast Walsh-Hadamard transform (FWHT) and Haar transform are available.

- Download SpectralPhaser 0.1.4 `full` - VST 3 (github.com)
- Download SpectralPhaser 0.1.4 `macOS` - VST 3 (github.com)

Note: Presets produce the expected sound only if the sampling rate is 48000 Hz.

`full` package contains following builds.

- Windows (x86_64)
- Linux (x86_64)
- macOS (Universal 2)

Linux build is built on Ubuntu 24.04. If you are using distribution other than Ubuntu 24.04, plugin will not likely to run. In this case, please take a look at build instruction.

`macOS` package is recommended for macOS user. I can’t purchase Apple Developer Program, therefore installation requires a workaround to bypass Gatekeeper. Details of workaround are written in Installation -> macOS Specific section.

## Contact

Feel free to contact me on GitHub repository or `ryukau@gmail.com.`

You can fund the development through paypal.me/ryukau.

## Installation

### Plugin

Move `*.vst3` directory to:

- `/Program Files/Common Files/VST3/` for Windows.
- `$HOME/.vst3/` for Linux.
- `/Users/$USERNAME/Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST3/` for macOS.

DAW may provides additional VST3 directory. For more information, please refer to the manual of the DAW.

### Presets

Notice: Some plugins don’t have presets provided by Uhhyou Plugins.

Presets are included in the plugin package linked at the top of this page. To install presets, follow the steps below.

1. Download plugin from a link at the top of this page.
2. Extract downloaded zip file.
3. Open `presets` directory placed in extracted package.
4. Move `Uhhyou` directory into an OS specific preset directory (see below).

Below is a list of preset directories for each OS.

- Windows : `/Users/$USERNAME/Documents/VST3 Presets`
- Linux : `$HOME/.vst3/presets`
- macOS : `/Users/$USERNAME/Library/Audio/Presets`

Preset directory name must be the same as the plugin. If preset directory does not exist, create it.

- Preset Locations - VST 3 Developer Portal

### Windows Specific

If DAW doesn’t recognize the plugin, try installing C++ redistributable (`vc_redist.x64.exe`). Installer can be found in the link below.

- Latest supported Visual C++ Redistributable downloads | Microsoft Learn

### Linux Specific

On Ubuntu 24.04, those packages are required.

    sudo apt install libxcb-cursor0  libxkbcommon-x11-0

If DAW doesn’t recognize the plugin, take a look at `Package Requirements` section of the link below and make sure all the VST3 related package is installed.

- VSTGUI: Setup

REAPER on Linux may not recognize the plugin. A workaround is to delete a file `~/.config/REAPER/reaper-vstplugins64.ini` and restart REAPER.

### macOS Specific

Important: `full` package is not confirmed working. When using `full`, try removing following files.

- `Contents/Resources/Documentation`
- `Contents/x86_64-linux`
- `Contents/x86_64-win`

`macOS` package doesn’t contain above files. Also, all packages are in “ad-hoc signing” state set by `codesign` command.

#### Remove Quarantine

When trying to run plugin first time, following message may appear on macOS.

    <PluginName>.vst3 is damaged and can't be opened. You should move it to the Trash.

In this case, open terminal and try running one or both of following command to unzipped `.vst3` directory. Replace `/path/to/PluginName.vst3` according to your install location.

    xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine /path/to/PluginName.vst3
    xattr -rc /path/to/PluginName.vst3

#### Bypass Gatekeeper

Plugin may be considered as unsigned/un-notarized application. In this case, open System Preferences, go to Security & Privacy → General, then click the Open Anyway button. The offcial Apple help page linked below has screenshots for the procedure. See “If you want to open an app that hasn’t been notarized or is from an unidentified developer” section.

- Safely open apps on your Mac - Apple Support

If the plugin is still not working, try changing install location to `/Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST3/` or `/Users/$USERNAME/Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST3/` whichever still haven’t tried.

If all the above methods do not work, try following the steps below.

1. Open terminal and run `sudo spctl --master-disable`.
2. Go to System Preferences → Security and Privacy → General → Allow apps downloaded from, then select “Anywhere”.

Beware that steps above degrades security of your system. To revert the settings, follow the steps below.

1. Go to System Preferences → Security and Privacy → General → Allow apps downloaded from, then select option to “App Store and identified developers”.
2. Open terminal and run `sudo spctl --master-enable`.

#### Applying `codesign`

Note This section may not relevant to `macOS` packages. However it’s not verified. (GitHub issue)

To use `full` package, following command might be used.

    sudo codesign --force --deep -s - /path/to/PluginName.vst3

`codesign` might not be available without installing Xcode.

#### Reference

- Safely open apps on your Mac - Apple Support
- java - “libprism_sw.dylib” cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified. on mac JAVAFX - Stack Overflow
- How to Fix App “is damaged and can’t be opened. You should move it to the Trash” Error on Mac
- Allowing unsigned/un-notarized applications/plugins in Mac OS | Venn Audio

## GUI Style Configuration

At first time, create color config file to:

- `/Users/USERNAME/AppData/Roaming/UhhyouPlugins/style/style.json` on Windows.
- `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/UhhyouPlugins/style/style.json` on Linux.
  - If `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` is empty, make `$HOME/.config/UhhyouPlugins/style/style.json`.
- `/Users/$USERNAME/Library/Preferences/UhhyouPlugins/style/style.json` on macOS.

`style.json` will be loaded for each time a plugin window opens.

Several color themes are available on the link below. To use, copy the text to `style.json`.

- VSTPlugins/package/style/themes at master · ryukau/VSTPlugins

Below is an example of `style.json`.

    {
      "guiScale"          : 1          ,
      "fontFamily"        : "Tinos"    ,
      "fontBold"          : true       ,
      "fontItalic"        : true       ,
      "foreground"        : "#000000"  ,
      "foregroundButtonOn": "#000000"  ,
      "foregroundInactive": "#8a8a8a"  ,
      "background"        : "#ffffff"  ,
      "boxBackground"     : "#ffffff"  ,
      "border"            : "#000000"  ,
      "borderCheckbox"    : "#000000"  ,
      "borderLabel"       : "#000000"  ,
      "unfocused"         : "#dddddd"  ,
      "highlightMain"     : "#0ba4f1"  ,
      "highlightAccent"   : "#13c136"  ,
      "highlightButton"   : "#fcc04f"  ,
      "highlightWarning"  : "#fc8080"  ,
      "overlay"           : "#00000088",
      "overlayHighlight"  : "#00ff0033"
    }

### GUI Scale

- `guiScale`: GUI scaling. For example, `0.75` is 75%, and `2.0` is 200%.

The minimum of `guiScale` is `0.01`. The maximum is practically non-existent (the max value of 64-bit float).

Notice: If `guiScale` is too large, DAW may place the “close” button on the plugin window out of screen, making it unclickable.

### Font Options

Following is a list of font options.

- `fontFamily`: Font family name.
- `fontBold`: Enable bold style when `true`, disable when `false`.
- `fontItalic`: Enable italic style when `true`, disable when `false`.

System font can be used as `fontFamily`. To use different fonts for different plugins, place `*.ttf` file into custom font path: `*.vst3/Contents/Resources/Fonts`.

Notice: If the combination of `fontFamily`, `fontBold`, `fontItalic` does not exist in custom font path, default font of VSTGUI is used.

If `fontFamily` is set to empty string `""`, then `"Tinos"` is used as fallback. If the length is greater than 1 and the font family name doesn’t exist, default font of VSTGUI is used.

Styles other than bold, italic or bold-italic are not supported by VSTGUI. For example, “Thin”, “Light”, “Medium”, and “Black” weights cannot be used.

### Color Options

Hex color codes are used.

- 6 digit color is RGB.
- 8 digit color is RGBA.

First letter `#` is conventional. Plugins ignore the first letter of color code, thus `?102938`, `\n11335577` are valid.

Do not use characters outside of `0-9a-f` for color value.

Following is a list of color options. If an option is missing, default color will be used.

- `foreground`: Text color.
- `foregroundButtonOn`: Text color of active toggle button. Recommend to use the same value of `foreground` or `boxBackground`.
- `foregroundInactive`: Text color of inactive components. Currently, only used for TabView.
- `background`: Background color.
- `boxBackground`: Background color of inside of box shaped components (Barbox, Button, Checkbox, OptionMenu, TextKnob, VSlider).
- `border`: Border color of box shaped components.
- `borderCheckbox`: Border color of CheckBox.
- `borderLabel`: Line color of parameter section label.
- `unfocused`: Color to fill unfocused components. Currently, only used for knobs.
- `highlightMain`: Color to indicate focus is on a component. Highlight colors are also used for value of slider components (BarBox and VSlider).
- `highlightAccent`: Same as `highlightMain`. Used for cosmetics.
- `highlightButton`: Color to indicate focus is on a button.
- `highlightWarning`: Same as `highlightMain`, but only used for parameters which requires extra caution.
- `overlay`: Overlay color. Used to overlay texts and indicators.
- `overlayHighlight`: Overlay color to highlight current focus.

## Controls

`Right Click` on the controls pops up a context menu provided by DAW.

Knob and slider provides following controls:

- `Ctrl` + `Left Click`: Reset value.
- `Shift` + `Left Drag`: Fine adjustment.
- `Middle Click` : Rotate through minimum, default and maximum value.
- `Shift` + `Middle Click` : Take floor of current value.
  - Note: For decibel (`dB`) parameters, floor is applied after the value is converted to amplitude.

## Block Diagram

If the image is small, use `Ctrl` + `Mouse Wheel` or “View Image” on right click menu to scale.

Diagram only shows overview. It’s not exact implementation.

## Parameters

Characters inside of square brackets [] represents unit. Following is a list of units used in SpectralPhaser.

- [dB] : Decibel.

### Mix

Output [dB]

  Output gain.

Dry/Wet

  Mixing ratio of input and effect output.

  0 is input only, 1 is effect output only.

Side Chain

  When enabled, the sidechain input is used for frequency masking.

  SpectralPhaser could be used as a vocoder when both `Side Chain` and `Latency` are enabled. In this case, set `Frame Size` to around 2048. If `Frame Size` is small, the effect will be weaker.

  The vocoder mode is not suitable for real-time use because latency is high.

Latency

  When enabled, `Frame Size` will be used as latency in samples.

### LFO

Waveform

  LFO waveform.

Wave Mod.

  LFO waveform modifier.

Phase

  Initial phase of LFO.

Stereo

  Phase offset of LFOs between left and right channels.

Rate

  LFO frequency multiplier.

  This can be useful to slightly shift the tempo sync timing.

Sync.

  Interval of LFO tempo synchronization.

  2 numbers corresponds to the numerals in time signatur. (`left/right` = `upper/lower`).

  - Left number correspond to upper numeral of time signature.
  - Right number correspond to lower numeral of time signature

  The plugin receives musical time as beats, where a beat has a relative length depending on the time signature. Here are some examples:

  - 1 / 1 synchronizes to 1 bar.
  - 1 / 4 synchronizes to 1 beat (a quarter note), when time signature is N / 4.
  - 1 / 6 synchronizes to 1 beat, when time signature is N / 6.
  - 3 / 16 synchronizes to 3 / 4 beat (a dotted 8th note), when time signature is N / 4.

  When time signature is changed, there may be a momentary loss of sync immediately after the change.

### Delay

Transform

  Type of time to frequency transformation.

  FFT is the normal choice, FWHT and Haar will sound rough.

  Attention: Changing `Transform` stops the sound for duration of `Frame Size`. This is because the buffer is reset to avoid loud bursts.

Frame Size

  Length of a frame over which a transform is performed.

  `Frame Size` also represents delay time in samples.

  When `Latency` is enabled, `Frame Size` will be used as latency in samples.

  When `Frame Size` is large and DAW buffer size is small, the sound may stutter. In this case, reduce `Frame Size` to reduce CPU load.

Feedback

  Feedback gain of delay.

### Mask

LFO modulation can be changed by the small knobs on right side of parameter value.

Waveform

  Waveform of frequency mask.

Mix

  Mixing ratio of frequency mask.

  0 means no masking, 1 means full masking.

Phase

  Phase of the frequency mask waveform.

  Modulating `Phase` with an LFO produces a sound similar to a phaser.

Freq.

  Frequency of frequency mask waveform.

  Higher the `Freq.`, more notches.

  Setting `Freq.` to 0 disables frequency masking.

  When `Waveform` is Noise, there is no waveform frequency, so instead the random seed value is changed.

Threshold

  When a value in a frequency mask is less than `Threshold`, the corresponding frequency is set to zero.

Rotation

  Amount of phase rotation in the frequency domain.

  This only applies when `Transform` is FFT; when other transforms are selected, `Rotation` is used as an amount to swap frequency components.

Spectral Shift

  Frequency shift amount for each feedback.

Texture

  Scaling that changes the location of the notches in the frequency mask.

  When `Waveform` is Noise, the frequency mask is smoothed by applying a low-pass filter.

## Change Log

- 0.1.4
  - Fixed a bug that plugin to show up with incorrect window size (likely 512x512 pixels) at initialization.
- 0.1.2
  - Fixed latency reporting. This fix provides proper latency reporting at initialization and at changing relevant parameters, without closing and opening the GUI again.
- 0.1.1
  - Added GUI scaling.
  - Updated the Linux patch for VSTGUI4.
- 0.1.0
  - Initial release.

## Old Versions

- SpectralPhaser 0.1.2 - VST 3 (github.com)
- SpectralPhaser 0.1.1 - VST 3 (github.com)
- SpectralPhaser 0.1.0 - VST 3 (github.com)

## License

SpectralPhaser is licensed under GPLv3. Complete licenses are linked below.

- https://github.com/ryukau/VSTPlugins/tree/master/License

If the link above doesn’t work, please send email to `ryukau@gmail.com`.

### About VST

VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, registered in Europe and other countries.