VINAIanalog Manual

01Overview

VINAIanalog models the multi-stage character a vintage analog path imparts as audio passes through it: the subtle dimensionality that makes elements sit together instead of stacking on top of each other. Digital signals are flawless and flat, and that's exactly the problem: analog adds the cohesion, depth and three-dimensional space that flat lacks, while leaving the source completely intact. No EQ. No distortion. Pure analog color.

It's built on the Analog Cohesion Engine, which is unity-gain by design. Louder never gets mistaken for better, so what you hear is the color and nothing else. INTENSITY steps through five named tiers of analog density (LOW, MID, HIGH, EXTREME, UNREAL), RANGE LOW and RANGE HIGH place that color exactly where you want it, MODE picks between two voicings of the chain, and MIX trims the whole thing to taste.

02The interface

• The IN / OUT waveform display draws the incoming signal against the colored output on a phosphor trace with afterglow, over a fine graticule, so you can see the work the engine is doing.
• INTENSITY: the main dial; five tiers of analog density, LOW to UNREAL, from a faint warmth to a thick, present analog tone.
• RANGE LOW · RANGE HIGH are the two focus controls that pin the color to a band, from the low edge up to the top end.
• MODE: the small card left of BYPASS, switching between the two voicings of the engine. Its label turns lava while B is running, so the active voicing reads at a glance.
• MIX · BYPASS: a global 0–100% blend of the colored signal, plus a latency-compensated true bypass.

03Knobs & buttons

04The three voicings

Think of these as feelings, not modes: starting points that pair an Intensity tier with a Range focus. Dial in the vibe, then trim to taste with Mix.

05Under the hood

The Analog Cohesion Engine is a multi-stage analog-modelling chain that imparts the dimensional character of vintage signal paths. It is strictly unity-gain: no EQ, no distortion, no added harmonics, just the multi-stage character of the path itself, applied to the source and nothing more.

Signal flow

Audio enters the chain, passes through the successive analog-modelling stages that build the dimensional character, and is recombined with the dry source through the smoothed MIX blend before output. RANGE LOW and RANGE HIGH define the band the engine acts on; everything outside that focus passes through untouched. The IN / OUT waveform display taps the signal pre- and post-engine so the work the chain is doing is visible in real time.

• Multi-stage modelling chain: the dimensional character is built across multiple modelling stages, not a single filter; INTENSITY scales the depth of that chain across its five tiers.
• Strictly unity-gain means no EQ curve, no waveshaping, no harmonic generation; level in equals level out, so the only thing that changes is the color.
• Per-sample coefficient interpolation: all internal coefficients are interpolated per sample, so parameter moves are zipper-free under fast automation.
• Click-free Intensity: changes between Intensity tiers are handled by an internal crossfade, so the dial can be ridden live without discontinuities.
• Nyquist-clamped stability holds every internal coefficient below Nyquist at each sample rate, keeping the chain stable from 44.1 kHz up through high-rate sessions.
• Reported, PDC-compensated latency: the processing depth is reported to the host and fully delay-compensated, so wet and dry stay phase-aligned and bypass A/Bs are time-honest. Latency scales with Intensity and is always reported accurately.
• Two voicings: MODE changes how the chain spreads its character over the band. A covers the whole RANGE window, B concentrates it around RANGE LOW. Nothing else in the chain differs between the two, so the switch is a clean A/B on character alone. The per-sample interpolation above absorbs the change, so it lands without a click.
• Smoothed MIX keeps the dry/wet blend parameter-smoothed, so the 0–100% control moves without steps or clicks.

06Measured

Measured in-house (headless host + numpy/scipy), 48 kHz.

07Specifications