Official Optimus User Manual

Introduction

Optimus was designed from the ground up with a singular vision in mind: giving you the most intuitive way to have total creative control over your mixbus.

This meant reimagining each and every component of a mixbus chain — from EQ to compression, stereo wideners to limiters, and more. All with the goal of making each tool more musical, more intuitive, and sonically pristine.

Our quest began with EQ — one of the most critical parts of any mixbus chain. There are two types of EQ required at the mastering stage — technical corrective EQ, and creative broad-strokes EQ.

Technical corrective EQ is where most mixes fall short. This is due to a number of reasons, including imperfect listening environments (after all, there’s a good reason mastering studios spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to get the acoustics perfect!)

So we set our sights on solving this problem once and for all.

Over many years of painstaking research & development, we built and trained a new type of AI model. One that puts you in complete control and is musical in form and function.

We then invented a new way to interact with this specialized EQ — we call it the Liquid Band EQ. Built with mastering-grade filters, it’s an entirely new way to control the global tone of your mixbus.

Each and every module of Optimus is the result of years of advanced DSP algorithms — like the Infinite-Knee Glue Compressor, the most powerful mono-compatible stereo enhancer Space module, the all-new Spectral Dynamics module, and of course, the Loudness module.

Each algorithm — every module — crafted to achieve pristine sonic results. We didn’t rest until it was absolutely perfect.

All of this and more is what makes Optimus the ultimate mixbus tool — we can’t wait to hear the amazing music you make with it!

System requirements

Visit the Optimus product page and see “DAWs, Formats & System Requirements” for the latest operating system and DAW requirements.

Overview

The Optimus interface: Liquid Band EQ, Glue Compressor, Spectral Dynamics, Space, and Loudness.

Optimus features 5 processing modules, which can be individually powered on or off with the Bypass button in the bottom right corner of each module.

• Liquid Band EQ & AI ASSIST

• Glue Compressor

• Spectral Dynamics

• Space

• Loudness

The Top Bar features Undo / Redo, the Preset Management system, Tooltips, and a Global Bypass button to bypass all processing.

The Input & Output sections feature Peak and RMS meters, along with Input and Output gain stages.

Spectral Analysis AI

AI ASSIST controls: analysis, AI amount, and Balanced, Modern, or Vintage models.

Optimus AI ASSIST works by first analyzing your entire song, creating a unique fingerprint of your track. Simply turn on AI ASSIST and play your song from the beginning. After you have successfully played your entire song (at least 90 seconds*), the AI ASSIST features will be active.

Choose how much of the AI you want to apply with the AI % Knob. Setting this to 0% will remove all AI processing. Fine-tune exactly how much you want to use, from 0–100%.

Select which human-trained model you’d like the AI to apply to your signal — Balanced, Modern, or Vintage. Each model has a unique character and applies the perfect processing required by your specific recording to create a master that translates well to any playback system.

Use the Reset Analysis Button if you make significant changes to your mix and want to re-analyze your track.

*If your song is less than 90 seconds long, play it multiple times through to successfully complete analysis.

Realtime Dynamic AI

Optimus Realtime Dynamic AI

Optimus Realtime Dynamic AI: over 20% higher dynamic range in the illustrated comparison.

Measuring −6.5 LUFS.

Optimus can achieve a significantly louder LUFS reading, while still maintaining even more detail surrounding the transients — resulting in a vastly cleaner & punchier master.

Leading Competitive Limiter

Leading competitive limiter: dynamic-range comparison.

Measuring −8.5 LUFS.

Even at a softer LUFS reading, this widely-used limiter is unable to maintain wide dynamic range, which means mushy transients & lifeless dynamics. Pushing it further only results in crunch & distortion.

Dynamic processing

The all-new Realtime Dynamic AI in Optimus provides the absolute cleanest & loudest masters possible by performing millions of calculations every second to dynamically adjust multiple parameters.

With the all-new ADC (Auto Dither Control) — Optimus applies smart dithering only when needed for perfect translations into streaming standard bit depths.

Plus, with built-in LUFS meters, you’ll know exactly how loud to push your master.

So even when pushed significantly louder — Optimus still retains more dynamics, resulting in a clearer, more musical master.

Liquid Band EQ

Drag the Liquid Band EQ controls to shape the global tone. The Highpass Filter is at the bottom left.

The Liquid Band EQ in Optimus is a new way to control the overall tone of your mixbus.

Each liquid band can be adjusted to produce a wide range of tones with just a click.

Hover over the Liquid Band EQ Display to access the controls. As you move each of the controls, you can sculpt tons of different tones and shapes, just by dragging it up and down, and left and right. The band automatically maintains perfect balance, keeping the spectral integrity of your mix intact.

This isn’t a 3-band EQ. Optimus Liquid Band EQ bridges the gap between the intuitiveness of setting a simple EQ, and the accuracy of sculpting many fine-tuned bands to keep your mix balanced and to keep you focused on the global tone of your master.

You can also control the variable Highpass Filter in the bottom left corner of the display.

Infinite-Knee Glue Compressor

Infinite-Knee Glue Compressor: drag the central slider down to apply more compression.

Optimus features a revolutionary new compressor architecture — the Infinite-Knee Glue Comp. It makes it easier than ever to get natural, punchy mix bus compression that adds body, size, and fullness to your tracks.

It doesn’t go from uncompressed to completely smashed — which gives you much finer control with your compression, exactly what you want in a mix bus compressor.

Simply drag the slider down to apply more compression to your signal and dial it in to taste.

Spectral Dynamics

Spectral Dynamics controls: Low, De-Harsh, and High.

The Spectral Dynamics module in Optimus features an all-new way to dynamically control the lows and highs of your signal.

Cutting the Low knob allows you to tame unruly sub frequencies before it hits the limiter — making for cleaner masters.

Remove harshness with the De-Harsh fader. Optimus automatically detects the harsh frequencies and targets them, retaining punch and clarity.

Boosting the Low and High knobs acts as a multiband exciter. Unlike an EQ that can control the spectral content that is available in the mix, exciters are able to generate new harmonically relevant content that is missing from the source audio.

If a track was mixed without certain frequencies, these missing frequencies can be accurately recreated using the exciters by listening to the existing harmonic content and complementing it.

808 sample was overly compressed? Boosting LFC can bring it back to life.

Guitars were recorded a bit dull? Boosting HFC can make them sparkle again.

Space

Space controls: choose Wide or Open, then adjust the stereo width.

The Space module in Optimus makes it possible to get massive width while staying 100% mono compatible.

Using our advanced spatial algorithms, your mixes will sound larger than life. Simply choose the flavor of stereo width you’d like, and dial it up to taste.

Or, pull back the stereo width to intelligently collapse your mix towards mono — great for checking mono compatibility or tightening up a mix that’s already too wide.

Open mode expands the highs and mids to create a sparkly top end — perfect when you want to add some excitement and a sense of openness to the top end of your mix.

Wide mode naturally expands the mids while simultaneously tucking in the lows — this means you’ll get a wider, more full sounding mix while also getting tighter, more focused low end.

Loudness

Loudness control with built-in LUFS metering and Auto Dither Control.

The Loudness module in Optimus is designed from the ground up to make it easy to get loud, clear mixes that translate to any playback system or streaming service.

Plus, with the built-in LUFS meters — you’ll know exactly how far to push your master to get the perfect overall loudness you want.

Optimus features True Peak Limiting to ensure that no matter how loud you push the Loudness module — you won’t clip or have intersample peaks.

Plus, the loudness module features Auto Dither Control — the first automatic dithering algorithm that dynamically dithers only when it needs to, providing you with cleaner depth when exporting at standard 16-bit rates.

The Realtime Dynamic AI is always enabled in the background, allowing you to get maximum punch and clarity — even at extreme loudness.

Input / Output

Optimus features separate input and output sections, each with a dedicated level control, peak and RMS meters.

Input

Input meters and gain control, with the preferred peak range highlighted.

The input section also features a highlighted window that indicates a preferable range for the peaks.

By having your mix peaking between −9 and −3 (dBFS), you are able to fully utilize Optimus’ dynamic processors.

Output

Output meters and gain control.

The output section also features a gain reduction meter for the Loudness module.

This shows how much extra perceived loudness is being added above 0 dBFS — a boost of up to 6 dB can usually be safely dialed in before any unwanted artifacts become audible.

Output level of masters can be set according to suggested specifications of different streaming services.

Generally speaking, setting this to −0.3 dB is a safe bet.

Activation

A valid License Key is required to use Optimus. If Optimus is not activated, it will output 5 seconds of silence every 60 seconds. Entering a valid License Key will allow Optimus to function properly.

Enter your activation key to unlock Optimus, or use the offline activation link when needed.

The activation screen welcomes you to Optimus and shows when it is in trial mode. To unlock the full version, enter your activation key. The screen also offers “No internet connection?”, “Buy Now”, and “Continue with Trial Mode”.

How to Resize the GUI

All SSG Audio plugins support GUI resizing. Click the plugin logo or the SSG Audio logo in the top bar, then select your preferred GUI size: 50%, 75%, 100%, 125%, 150%, or 200%.

If a size would make the plugin too large to fit on your screen, it will be greyed out and cannot be selected.

Need help?

Contact support@ssg-audio.com for assistance.