Arturia SQ80 V User Manual
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Arturia SQ80 V User Manual

Arturia SQ80 V User Manual

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USER MANUAL
_SQ80 V

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Summary of Contents for Arturia SQ80 V

  • Page 1 USER MANUAL _SQ80 V...
  • Page 2 Special Thanks DIRECTION Frédéric Brun Kevin Molcard Pierre-Lin Laneyrie DEVELOPMENT Yann Burrer Marie Pauli Alessandro De Cecco Stéphane Albanese Patrick Perea Alexandre Adam Loris De Marco Christophe Luong Raynald Dantigny Corentin Comte Samuel Limier Pierre Mazurier Jari Kleimola Kevin Arcas Cyril Lepinette Fanny Roche Baptiste Aubry...
  • Page 3 Information contained in this manual is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Arturia. The software described in this manual is provided under the terms of a license agreement or non-disclosure agreement. The software license agreement specifies the terms and conditions for its lawful use.
  • Page 4 Thank you for purchasing Arturia's SQ80 V! This manual covers the features and operation of Arturia’s SQ80 V, the latest in a long line of incredibly realistic software instruments. Be sure to register your software as soon as possible! When you purchased SQ80 V you were sent a serial number and an unlock code by e-mail.
  • Page 5 Introduction Congratulations on your purchase of Arturia's SQ80 V! We’d like to thank you for purchasing SQ80 V, a virtual instrument recreation of the groundbreaking Ensoniq Synthesiser. We've painstakingly studied and modelled every nuance of the original hardware to provide you with the classic sound and experience of this classic synthesizer.

  • Page 6: Table Of Contents

    SQ80 V as a plug-in ................................4 2.3. Initial setup for Standalone Use..........................5 2.3.1. Audio and MIDI settings......................................5 2.4. Taking SQ80 V for a test drive ............................ 7 The User Interface ..............................8 3.1. High-Level Overview ................................8 3.2. The Upper Toolbar ................................9 3.2.1.

  • Page 7: Welcome

    Arturia’s SQ80 V is a faithful recreation of the original hardware, capturing all of its nuances and sonic character with utmost detail. In addition to...

  • Page 8: Activation And First Start

    Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) software. 2.1. Activate the SQ80 V license Once SQ80 V has been installed, the next step is to activate your license for the instrument. This is a simple process that is done through a separate program called the Arturia Software Center.

  • Page 9: Sq80 V As A Plug-In

    2.2. SQ80 V as a plug-in SQ80 V comes in VST2, VST3, Audio Unit (AU) and AAX plug-in formats for use in all major DAW software such as Ableton, Cubase, Logic, Pro Tools and so on. When using SQ80 V as a plugin, all audio and MIDI device settings are handled by the host music software.

  • Page 10: Initial Setup For Standalone Use

     !: This section only applies to users who plan to use SQ80 V in standalone mode. If you are only going to use SQ80 V as a plugin inside a host music software, you can safely ignore this section (your host music software handles these things).
  • Page 11 ♪: Virtually all audio hardware can operate at 44.1 or 48 kHz which is perfectly fine in most applications, including SQ80 V. Higher sample rates place greater loads on the CPU so we recommend staying at 44.1 or 48 kHz unless you have a specific requirement to work at higher sample rates.

  • Page 12: Taking Sq80 V For A Test Drive

    If you haven't done so already, launch SQ80 V as a plugin or as a standalone instrument. If you have a MIDI controller set up, use it to play some notes on SQ80 V. If not, use your mouse to play the on-screen keyboard.

  • Page 13: The User Interface

    3. THE USER INTERFACE In this chapter we’ll start with an overview of the SQ80 V user interface. This will give you an idea of how the instrument is organized and where to find things. The point here is to establish how the interface is composed at a high level.

  • Page 14: The Upper Toolbar

    3.2.1. The SQ80 V menu Clicking the SQ80 V box at the top-left corner opens a pull-down menu and lets you access ten important features. New Preset: This option creates a new preset with default settings on all •...
  • Page 15  ♪: While working with SQ80 V, you can also use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl & +/- (or Cmd & +/-) to quickly adjust the window size. Audio Settings: (only available in Standalone mode) Here you manage the way •...
  • Page 16 !: The Audio Settings menu is only available in when using SQ80 V in Standalone mode. When using SQ80 V as a plugin, the host software handles all of the parameters in this menu including audio and MIDI routing, buffer size settings, and more.

  • Page 17: Browsing Presets

    MIDI Controller to easily step through the available presets without having to use the mouse at all. 5. The Shuffle Preset button which simply shuffles the order of a preset list. 6. The Hardware button when pressed gives you the overview of the SQ80 V's virtual front panel allowing for very speedy editing of many parameters.

  • Page 18: Side Panel

    MIDI channel, set up MIDI controller mapping to virtually any parameter of the SQ80 V, select either a generic MIDI keyboard controller OR one of Arturia's own great MIDI controllers, set up the Macros and access the tutorials.

  • Page 19: The Lower Toolbar

    3.3. The Lower Toolbar The Lower Toolbar runs along the bottom of the SQ80 V user interface and provides quick access to several important parameters and useful bits of information. Parameter Name on the far left displays the name of the parameter as you •...

  • Page 20: Midi Controller Configuration

     ♪: By default, SQ80 V will receive MIDI data on all 16 MIDI channels (All setting). You can change this by selecting a specific channel here. You will need to do this if, for example, you want to use an external controller with multiple instances of SQ80 V.

  • Page 21: Assigning / Un-Assigning Controls

    30% or above 90%. This is very useful for making sure you cannot accidentally make the sound too quiet or too loud when performing. Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - The User Interface...

  • Page 22: Relative Control Option

    The advantage of this is that physical knobs always remain in sync with on-screen controls. However, not all hardware devices support this mode of operation which is why both options are available in SQ80 V. ...

  • Page 23: Unassigning Or "Un-Learning" A Midi Mapping

    You can also rename the Macro control with a more appropiate term if desired. To do this, just double click on the Macro name, change it accordingly and hit Enter. Very handy indeed! Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - The User Interface...

  • Page 24: The Preset Browser In Detail

    The Preset Browser (shown above) is where you can search through all of the presets for the SQ80 V. Open the Preset Browser by clicking the library symbol on the toolbar. To close the Preset Browser and return to the main screen, click the "X" that appears in the Toolbar.

  • Page 25: Playlists

    You will see a message which tells you that the new preset will be duplicated. SQ80 V will create a copy of the preset so that you can modify settings in the playlist presets without impacting the original preset it is based on, and vice versa.
  • Page 26 3.5.2.4. Remove a preset from the playlist To remove a preset from a playlist, right click on the preset name. 3.5.2.5. Delete a playlist To delete a playlist, right click on the playlist name. Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - The User Interface...

  • Page 27: Hardware Panel And Features

    4. HARDWARE PANEL AND FEATURES If you look at the SQ80 V front panel, you'll see that the synth has a deceptively simple layout however many parameters are available to view and edit here. We have expanded on the original design by offering many additional modulations which can be found in the Synthesis Panel (see Synthesis Panel And Features [p.26]...
  • Page 28 You can set the amount on unison voices on the bottom toolbar and when used in conjuction with the Detune control makes the sound very full, fat and rich. Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - Hardware Panel and Features...

  • Page 29: Oscillators 1, 2 And 3

    SQ-80. All oscillators can make use of the "Transwave" option by selecting the corresponding waveform folder. Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - Hardware Panel and Features...

  • Page 30: Filter Section

    This section contains the filter controls, which are responsible for sculpting the frequency spectrum and timbre of the sound. SQ80 V is equipped with a faithful recreation of the original CEM3379 based 24db resonant low-pass filter used in the original hardware.

  • Page 31: Synthesis Panel And Features

    We try to do this in a way that is tasteful and honors the sound and legacy of the original instrument and this is why we hide the advanced features of the SQ80 V away in a mode that you only see if you want to go further. This way, if you just want to get the classic SQ-80 experience —...

  • Page 32: Oscillator Section

    Transwaves. These are wavetables which can be modulated! Exciting stuff. Lets look in more detail at a DCO. Each oscillator features the waveform visualiser in the middle and has the following controls. Power: This toggles the oscillator on and off. • Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - Synthesis Panel and Features...
  • Page 33 12 semitones. This parameter has 2 modulation inputs. I'll explain a little more in depth about the modulation parameters at the end of the chapter. Fine: lets you shift the basic tuning of the Oscillator up or down 100 cents. • Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - Synthesis Panel and Features...

  • Page 34: Voice Section

    "Glide" up or down from the first note to the 2nd note. The time taken is determined by the setting of this control. The higher the value the longer it takes. This parameter also has 2 modulation inputs. Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - Synthesis Panel and Features...

  • Page 35: Filter

    This deceptively simple section contains DCA 4 which also plays a fundamental part in the sonic character of the SQ80 V instrument. As you drive the input more, a very pleasing and harmonic distortion is introduced exactly like the original circuit. There is a clipping indicator that flashes red when you overdrive the DCA and you can also set the voices left or right position in the stereo field using the Pan control.

  • Page 36: Tune

    5.6. Tune This very simple section controls the overall tuning of the SQ80 V. Nominally you would leave it set to 440Hz but you can drop as low as 400Hz and as high as 480Hz. It has one main control which is Tune (mod param) This sets the initial pitch of the instrument.

  • Page 37: Envelope Section

    5.7. Envelope Section The SQ80 V has 4 envelopes to help you manipulate filter levels, DCO pitch etc and are a crucial part of the sound design process. The SQ-80 original envelopes are 4 stage envelopes with full bipolar control of level and time for each stage. The envelopes in the SQ80 V however can also be switched to MSEG (Multi Segment Envelope Generator) or DADSR (Delay, Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release) modes.
  • Page 38 Increasing the release (stage 4 time) make the first part of the "elbow" flatter and so the time longer. Stage 4 Time: this sets the length of time that it takes for the sustain level to reach • zero. Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - Synthesis Panel and Features...

  • Page 39: The Mseg Envelope Mode

    Clicking on a point lets you edit its parameters below the visualiser. Point: this shows the number of the selected point. • Level: this shows the level of the selected point. • Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - Synthesis Panel and Features...

  • Page 40: The Dadsr Envelope Mode

    Sustain: this sets the length of the Sustain section of the Envelope. • Release: this sets the length of the (you guessed it) Release section of the • Envelope. Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - Synthesis Panel and Features...

  • Page 41: Lfo Section

    5.8. LFO Section There are 3 fully featured LFO's in the SQ80 V with some very useful added functionality like MIDI sync. There is a handy visualiser to see what the LFO waveform is doing too. Lets take a look at the controls for LFO1.

  • Page 42: Mixer

    The grey bar in the Mod Wheel box shows the amount of modulation too. This functionality makes it very easy to trace modulation system flow in the SQ80 V. Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - Synthesis Panel and Features...

  • Page 43: Modulation Parameters (Mod Param)

    You can right click on the + symbol to bypass the control. When bypassed the modulation level control and the modulation amount ring or line are greyed out but the values will stay set as when last used. Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - Synthesis Panel and Features...

  • Page 44: Fx Panel And Features

    We expect that effects will continue to be a source of inspiration and innovation in music and this is why we revive classic effects and modernize them with 21st century touches. Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - FX Panel and Features...

  • Page 45: Selecting An Effect

    In parallel mode, SQ80 V's output goes into Effect 1 and then into Effect 2 and the SQ80 V output also goes into Effect 3 and then into Effect 4. The output of Effects 2 and 4 are then mixed together.
  • Page 46 This filtering happens on the input signal before the reverberation takes place. Use this knob in conjunction with the Input LP Frequency to dial in clear reverberations. Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - FX Panel and Features...
  • Page 47 This filtering happens on the input signal before the reverberation takes place. Use this knob in conjunction with the Input HP Freq knob to dial in clear reverberations. Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - FX Panel and Features...
  • Page 48 ♪: Setting Feedback to its maximum amount will mean that a signal is looped infinitely and never fades out. This effectively turns the Delay into a looper! Be aware, that maximum feedback can overdrive and distort your audio output! Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - FX Panel and Features...
  • Page 49 This filtering happens on the input signal before the delay takes place. Use this knob in conjunction with the HP Freq knob to dial in clear delays. Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - FX Panel and Features...
  • Page 50 Intensity: Determines how much of the Tape Delay's output is fed back into its • own inputs. Higher settings mean that the delay will be heard for a longer period of time before fading out. Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - FX Panel and Features...
  • Page 51 Fine: This allows fine adjustment to the delay time up or down in thousandths of • a millisecond. Input Vol: This sets the level of the incoming signal and allows you to "overdrive" • the delay. Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - FX Panel and Features...
  • Page 52 ♪: Setting Feedback to its maximum amount will mean that a signal is looped infinitely and never fades out. This effectively turns the Delay into a looper! Be aware, that maximum feedback can overdrive and distort your audio output! Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - FX Panel and Features...
  • Page 53 This filtering happens on the input signal before the delay takes place. Use this knob in conjunction with the HP Freq knob to dial in clear delays. Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - FX Panel and Features...
  • Page 54 Freq: Adjust the speed of the chorus by setting the LFO rate. • Feedback (mod param): Determines how much of the Chorus output is fed back • into its own input. Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - FX Panel and Features...
  • Page 55 6.1.3.6. Juno Chorus The Juno Chorus is a faithful representation on the chorus effect from the Arturia Jun 6 V instrument. The controls are: Rate: Adjust the speed of the chorus by setting the LFO rate. • Tempo Sync: This is in the dropdown menu just above the rate parameter. There •...
  • Page 56 Depth: Sets the strength of the LFO's modulation. This is set to “max out” at less • than 100% to limit runaway feedback. Feedback: Determines how much of the flanger's output is fed back into its own • input. Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - FX Panel and Features...
  • Page 57 HP Freq: Sets the highpass cutoff frequency for the flanger effect. Frequencies • below this are not flanged. LP Freq: Sets the lowpass cutoff frequency for the flanger. Frequencies above • this are not flanged. Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - FX Panel and Features...
  • Page 58 Stereo: Sets the stereo width of the effect, from mono to maximum stereo (hard • left to hard right). Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - FX Panel and Features...
  • Page 59 Tone: Brightens the sound and adds a harsher edge through a high frequency • shelving filter. Level: Sets the output level of the overdrive. This allows you to compensate for • increased output caused by the drive. Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - FX Panel and Features...
  • Page 60 "pumping" and "breathing" artifacts. Go ahead and experiment—maybe you'll stumble upon a sound you love! Input Gain: Adds gain to the signal before the start of the compression process. • Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - FX Panel and Features...
  • Page 61 2 db will be allowed to increase by only 1 dB. An 8 dB increase will be reduced to a 4 dB increase, and so on. Output Gain: Controls the final output level of the compressor. • Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - FX Panel and Features...
  • Page 62 Output: This controls the final output level of the compressor. • Input Gain: Here you can set the initial gain of the signal at the input to the • compression bands. Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - FX Panel and Features...
  • Page 63 "pumping" and "breathing" artifacts. Go ahead and experiment—maybe you'll stumble upon a sound you love! Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - FX Panel and Features...
  • Page 64 6.1.3.12. BitCrusher Arturia instruments generate very high fidelity sounds, however, in some scenarios you may prefer a gritty lo-fi sound. The BitCrusher effect can really help make this happen! It adds nasty digital distortion by intentionally reducing the bit depth and sampling rate of incoming signals.
  • Page 65 Slope: This changes the slope of the filter: -12, -24, or -36db/octave. • Cutoff (mod param): controls the cut-off frequency of the filter. • Resonance: controls the resonance around the cut-off frequency. • Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - FX Panel and Features...
  • Page 66 Many parametric EQs take the easy way out and use shelving EQs for the lowest and highest frequency ranges, but SQ80 V allows you to adjust the Q for all 5 frequency bands. The circles in the picture correspond to the controls below the curve visualizer. The circles may be dragged around, which adjusts the frequency and the gain of the selected band at the same time.
  • Page 67 Rate (mod param): Sets the rate at which the stereo motion will occur, with • freerun and sync options. Sync (dropdown menu): Options are Hz, Sync Straight, Sync Triplets and Sync • Dotted (set by rate control) Arturia - User Manual SQ80 V - FX Panel and Features...

  • Page 68: Software License Agreement

    The License is not a sale of the original SOFTWARE. 2. Grant of License Arturia grants you a non-exclusive license for the use of the software according to the terms and conditions of this Agreement. You may not lease, loan or sub- license the software.
  • Page 69 (a) return of the purchase price or (b) replacement of the disk that does not meet the Limited Warranty and which is returned to Arturia with a copy of your receipt. This limited Warranty is void if failure of the software has resulted from accident, abuse, modification, or misapplication.

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