﻿================================================================
 SORYNO CLIP  v1.0.0
 Clipper (Windows / VST3)
================================================================

Thank you for choosing SORYNO CLIP.

This plug-in is free. It is not a demo. There is no time limit, no feature
timeout and no nag screen. There is no paid version of it either - this is
the whole product.

It shaves the tops off a waveform so you can push a track louder, and it
shows you what it is doing: where the peaks stop, how many samples are being
clipped right now, and how much louder the clipping made the track.


■ System requirements
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  OS             Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit)
  Format         VST3
  Sample rates   44.1 / 48 / 96 / 192 kHz
  Channels       Mono / Stereo
  Extra software None

  * The Visual C++ redistributable is NOT required.
  * There is no macOS version and no AAX (Pro Tools) version.


■ Installing
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  Double-click Install.bat. Administrator rights are not needed.

  It installs to:
    %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Common\VST3

  This is the location defined by the VST3 specification. The installer also
  looks for older copies in other folders and moves them aside.

  Rescan your plug-ins in your DAW afterwards.

  * About the Windows warning
    Windows may show "Windows protected your PC". This is because the
    installer is not signed with a (paid) developer certificate. Choose
    "More info" -> "Run anyway".

  To uninstall:
    powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File install.ps1 -Uninstall


■ Reading the display
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  Left - waveform (you can see exactly what was shaved off)
    The incoming waveform and the clipped waveform are drawn on top of each
    other. The colour that sticks out (REMOVED) is what was taken off above
    the ceiling. The green dashed line is the CEILING, where the output goes
    flat.
    * As you raise DRIVE the ceiling line comes down and you watch the
      removed part grow.
    DIFF, top right, is the difference between the input and output peaks.

  Right - transfer curve
    Input is horizontal, output is vertical. The thin diagonal is "no
    processing". The thick line is what the plug-in actually does, and it
    goes flat at the ceiling.
    * The curve is drawn with exactly the same calculation that processes the
      audio, so the picture can never disagree with the sound.

    The glowing dot is the level playing right now. When the dot sits on the
    flat part, that moment is being clipped.

  Three readouts, top right
    CLIPPED     percentage of samples being clipped right now
    AUTO GAIN   how much level is being taken back (a negative number)
    QUALITY     the oversampling factor in use (1x / 2x)

  * When you move a control, the graph that responds is framed for about two
    seconds with the control's name and value. This also happens for
    automation, presets and A/B, so you can follow what changed.


■ Controls
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  DRIVE (0 to +24 dB)
    How hard the signal is pushed into the ceiling. At 0 dB anything that
    does not reach the ceiling passes through untouched.

  CEILING (-24 to 0 dB)
    The ceiling for the clipped signal. * It is never exceeded. The overshoot
    that oversampling would otherwise leave behind is caught by a short
    look-ahead and taken down smoothly.

  SHAPE (Hard / Soft / Round)
    How round the corner is - that is, how far below the ceiling the curve
    starts to bend.

      Hard    straight to the ceiling, then flat (hardest, most harmonics)
      Soft    starts bending about 3 dB below the ceiling
      Round   starts bending about 7 dB below the ceiling (gentlest)

  MIX (0 to 100 %)
    Blends the clipped signal with the original. Useful on drums when you
    want to keep the transient but add the density of clipping.

  OUT (-24 to +24 dB)
    Output trim. Presets never change it.

  AUTO GAIN (on / off)
    Takes back the level that clipping added.
    * It only ever turns the level down, so the ceiling still holds.
    With it on you can compare clipped and unclipped at the same loudness.
    With it off, clipping makes the track louder.

    It is on by default, so that "louder" is not mistaken for "better".

  QUALITY (1x / 2x)
    How finely the clipping is calculated. Clipping creates aliasing, so the
    default is 2x. At 1x the latency is zero.

  BYPASS
    Switching it does not shift the timing against your other tracks.


■ Presets
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  Twelve of them:

    Init            does nothing (DRIVE 0 dB)
    Gentle          takes the corners off
    Peak Shave      removes the peaks that stick out
    Ceiling Only    no clipping, just sets a ceiling (AUTO GAIN off)
    Drum Peaks      evens out drum hits
    Snare Tame      holds back a snare that jumps out
    Drum Parallel   blends 40 % of the clipped signal
    Bass Tight      tightens the low end
    Vocal Level     softly holds vocal peaks
    Mix Bus Glue    a light pass on the mix (60 % blend)
    Loud            pushes the level up
    Crush           heavy clipping, as an effect

  * Presets never change OUT, BYPASS or QUALITY - those are your settings,
    not the sound design.


■ A / B and "A>B"
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  Keep two settings side by side and switch between them.

    A / B       swaps the two settings (the audio keeps playing)
    A>B         * copies the current settings onto the other slot.
                On B the button reads "B>A" and copies the other way.
                ** Whatever was in the other slot is overwritten.
                  Pressed it by mistake? UNDO (the arrow at the top
                  left) puts it back.

  * A / B compares. A>B copies. They are not the same button.


■ About bypass
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  The latency stays in place while bypassed (at QUALITY 2x). That is
  deliberate: the reported latency does not change, so nothing moves against
  your other tracks when you switch. The sound itself is untouched.


■ The rest of SORYNO
----------------------------------------------------------------

  There are five other SORYNO plug-ins, all with a free version:

    SORYNO EQ       equaliser
    SORYNO COMP     compressor
    SORYNO LIMIT    limiter
    SORYNO DEESS    de-esser
    SORYNO TAPE     tape saturator

  * CLIP only clips. Holding a level down over time (release), watching
    inter-sample peaks and preparing a file for a given bit depth are a
    limiter's job - see SORYNO LIMIT.

    https://pinzu.tech/pinzuaudio/


■ Update notices
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  SORYNO CLIP is free. When a new version is released you can download it
  from the same BOOTH page.

  The plug-in checks for a newer version when its window opens. It shows a
  notice if there is one; it never installs anything by itself.

  * Turning the check off
    Right-click anywhere on the plug-in window and untick
    "Check for updates". It takes effect the next time the window opens, and
    the setting is stored with the song, not with your computer.

  * What is sent
    Nothing. The plug-in reads one small text file on GitHub. No information
    about you, your computer, your song or your usage is transmitted; the
    version comparison happens on your machine. If there is no connection it
    quietly does nothing.

  News: https://pinzu.tech/pinzuaudio/


■ Licence
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  - No limit on the number of machines. Commercial use is fine.
  - Please do not redistribute or resell. If you would like to recommend it,
    please link the BOOTH page rather than sharing the files.
  - Full terms: https://pinzu.tech/pinzuaudio/pinzuaudio/terms.html


■ Checking the version
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  The version is shown next to the product name, top left:

    V1.0.0

  To verify the file itself:

  SHA256 (VST3\SORYNO CLIP.vst3\Contents\x86_64-win\SORYNO CLIP.vst3)
    8C0CB1BC4F00050DBAA357D791956DB79E7C869D7095243447DC6470D4DA0F92

  In PowerShell:
    Get-FileHash "VST3\SORYNO CLIP.vst3\Contents\x86_64-win\SORYNO CLIP.vst3"


■ Troubleshooting
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  It does not appear in my DAW
    -> Rescan your plug-ins. If it still does not appear, check whether an
       older copy is left in another folder.

  The sound is late
    -> Check that delay compensation is enabled in your DAW. The plug-in
       reports its latency correctly: 19 samples (about 0.4 ms) at 48 kHz
       with QUALITY 2x, and zero at 1x.

  The sound changes when I bypass
    -> The latency stays in place while bypassed (by design). The sound
       itself does not change.

  Something is above the CEILING
    -> With MIX below 100 % the original signal is blended back in as it is.
       The clipped path always stops at the ceiling, but the blend can reach
       the level of the original. Set MIX to 100 % to check.

  It gets quieter
    -> AUTO GAIN only turns the level down. If you lowered CEILING, the
       output sits that much lower. Use OUT to bring it back up.


================================================================
 Pinzu
 https://pinzu.tech/pinzuaudio/
================================================================
