XY Transient manual
Installing XY Transient, what size and impact move, the five-band split, the presets, and what the plug-in reports to your host.
Installing
Windows. Copy XY Transient.vst3 into C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3,
and XY Transient.lv2 into your LV2 folder if your host uses LV2.
macOS. Run the installer, which places the VST3 in
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3 and the Audio Unit in
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components.
Linux. Copy XY Transient.vst3 into ~/.vst3 or /usr/lib/vst3, and
XY Transient.lv2 into ~/.lv2 or /usr/lib/lv2.
The plug-in reports 599 samples of latency at 48 kHz (12.5 ms), which your host compensates for. That is the price of a band split that sums back to the input; it means Mix and bypass are honest comparisons, but it also means this is not a plug-in to monitor through while playing.
The pad
X — Size, TIGHT to BIG. How long the hit is allowed to occupy. To the left the body and tail are pulled in, which is what dries out a room or shortens a kick. To the right they are let out.
Y — Impact, SOFT to PUNCHY. How hard the front edge lands. Downwards rounds the attack; upwards sharpens it, and at the top adds a little saturation to the mid bands.
Drag the pad, or double-click to return to the centre. Hold Shift while dragging for a quarter of the travel.
The controls
| Control | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Mix | 0–100 % | Blends against the dry signal. At 0 % the output is bit-identical to bypass. |
| Input | ±24 dB | Level into the engine. |
| Output | ±24 dB | Level out. |
| Delta | on/off | Plays only what the plug-in adds or removes. |
| Bypass | on/off | Crossfaded and latency-aligned. |
Presets
| Preset | For |
|---|---|
| Gentle Shape | A light starting point. |
| Tight Kick | Shorter kick, same weight. |
| Bigger Kick | Kick with more room in time. |
| Soft Kick | Rounded attack. |
| Techno Punch | Hard front edge, short body. |
| Snare Snap | Attack-forward snare. |
| Big Snare | Snare with the room left in. |
| Controlled Hats | Hats that stop ringing. |
| Big Toms | Toms allowed to bloom. |
| Dry Percussion | Percussion with the room pulled out. |
| Room Killer | The driest setting in the set. |
| Drum Bus Punch | Whole-kit punch. |
| Drum Bus Tight | Whole-kit tightening. |
| Bass Pluck | Attack on a bass part. |
| Bass Bigger | More sustain on a bass part. |
| Soft Guitar | Rounded attack on a plucked instrument. |
| Custom | Whatever you last set by hand. |
Notes
- The display holds the last hit rather than scrolling, so you can see the shape the plug-in applied to it.
- Delta includes the loudness compensation, which is why it is not silent at neutral settings.
- Mix at 0 % is the input, sample for sample, which makes it a safe A/B — and because the bands sum back to the input, intermediate Mix settings do not comb.
- Transport stop or locate clears the engine, so a bounce does not start from the state of whatever played before it.
Specifications
- Latency: 599 samples at 48 kHz (12.5 ms); 552 at 44.1 kHz; 1175 at 96 kHz.
- Reported tail: 362 ms.
- Sample rates: 22.05 kHz to 384 kHz.
- Channels: mono and stereo.
- CPU: about 4.5 % of one core at 48 kHz in stereo.
- Formats: VST3 (Windows, macOS, Linux), Audio Unit (macOS), LV2 (Windows, Linux).