THE BASICS
HOW DO I GET STARTED? Read through this FAQ, then purchase a license. Consider purchasing one of the specialized computer hardware options that come with the non-activated plugin pre-installed - because most other computers won't handle the extremely high CPU load. You can download the non-activated plugin and give it a try by clicking the "DOWNLOAD PLUGIN" button on this website. If you do buy our recommended hardware, at least read through "How do I activate..." and "When the hardware arrives..." in this FAQ. It is Windows VST3 (there is also a Mac AU/VST3 beta test download link under the FAQ on this website), and runs in trial mode with audio drop-outs unless activated. No plugin calibration or live operation required. Tips/tricks and troubleshooting are at the bottom of this page, and there are tutorial videos on the Alpha Sound YouTube and social media sites. License sales are final. Hardware sales adhere to the terms and conditions of each supplier. Cannot ship computers to Russia or Ukraine, and cannot ship the Option 1 computer to India.
WHAT IS THE LATEST VERSION OF THIS PLUGIN? Version 1.0.6 which you can find in the plugin UI window > Show Menu > About. Version history notes are at the bottom of this FAQ.
WHICH IS BETTER, WINDOWS OR MAC? Windows is way better. The main purpose for the Mac version is to prove to people that they should just use the Windows version instead.
WILL THE LICENSE WORK WITH BOTH MAC AND WINDOWS? Yes, the license is universal.
WHAT IS A PERPETUAL LICENSE? It lets you keep Verion 1.x.x forever without having to go back online, but you only get access to free patches and sub-versions, not primary version upgrades.
HOW DO I ACTIVATE, AND WHAT IS THE LICENSE TIED TO? The license ties itself to your machine, combining certain hardware identifiers that are most likely to remain permanent over time. Before opening your DAW to activate the plugin, first make sure that you don't have any extra or temporary harddrives or other network devices connected to the computer that are not a permanent part of the machine, then open the DAW and activate the plugin by clicking on Show Menu and then License Management. If any additional non-permanent hardware elements accidentally get included in the fingerprint for your machine license, this could cause problems for transfers/reactivations in the future if these hardware items come and go. We do not recommend running this plugin on virtual machines or copies of operating systems running on external portable drives because the identifiers of these things often shift over time. Before reinstalling the OS or sending the computer in for physical repairs, deactivate the current license on that machine so that it can be successfully reactivated again at a later point. The license exists on your machine separately from the plugin and any DAW that you run, but can only be managed through the plugin UI. A lost or damanged machine generally means a permanently lost license, so be careful!
HOW MANY TIMES CAN I TRANSFER THE LICENSE TO ANOTHER MACHINE? There are no limits on the number of times that you can transfer licenses from machine to machine.
IS THERE AN OFFLINE ACTIVATION/TRANSFER OPTION FOR MACHINES WITHOUT INTERNET? Yes, enter your license credentials, then click Activate three times and follow the prompts. For deactivations/transfers, click Deactivate twice within one second and follow the prompts. You'll need a USB key or other method of transfering text-based files between machines. Do not interrupt or cut short the activation or deactivation process or prematurely close the pop-up windows.
HOW DO I RUN PATCHES AND UPGRADES? When we release a patch or upgrade, simply download it from our site, make sure the DAW is not open, delete the current .vst3 file on your machine Desktop and replace it with the new file in the same location, then reopen the DAW or restart your machine. Make sure the file name remains the same as the old file. If you are upgrading your plugin version and you bought one of our recommended computers before Jan 1, 2025 then you will also want to download the latest VST Host folder associated with your hardware option by clicking the link below the FAQ on this website. Make sure VST Host is not open, delete the current VST Host folder from your Desktop and replace it with the new folder inside the downloaded .zip file. Then also for housekeeping purposes, go to the Documents folder on your machine and delete the "sum" file (because that file is now contained within the VST Host folder itself) and delete the .zip file you downloaded. Open VST Host, and if it prompts you with a security warning, make sure you un-check the option to "Always ask before opening this file" and then run the program. Then, restart your machine to confirm that VST Host opens automatically after booting.
WHAT EXACTLY AM I BUYING? The plugin itself is fungible, it will operate on any Windows machine in trial mode with periodic drops in audio without an active license. The paid license is tied to the specific machine you choose to run the plugin. The license is offered through Fastspring and run by Softwarekey.com. Our recommended computer hardware options are offered and fulfilled through Simply NUC, and we recommend that you purchase the Focusrite audio interface through Sweetwater via the link provided on our site in association with the specific computer hardware option (unless you already have an identical interface). You can also purchase a different Focusrite Scarlett Gen4 interface, but some custom setup and patching in VST Host may be required.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I ORDER ONE OF THE RECOMMENDED HARDWARE COMBO OPTIONS? After you correctly fill out the computer request form (including the billing address of your payment method if different than the shipping address), you will receive a confirmation email for a successful form submission, and Simply NUC will then contact you and also send a direct payment link with applicable tax and shipping costs included. After payment, you will receive a tiny computer in the mail. Then, you will also receive any associated analog USB interfaces in the mail that you ordered through Sweetwater.
WHEN THE HARDWARE ARRIVES, WHAT DO I DO? First, plug the interface into any of the computer USB ports. The 18i16 requires USB-C on both ends to run without a separate power cable, and this is recommended over using USB-A with a power cable. Also make sure that the USB cables are high quality data transfer cables and not merely charging style cables. Make sure the 18i16 is switched on. Then plug in the computer power cable. Things will boot automatically. You'll need an HDMI screen and USB keyboard/mouse and an internet connection to get started. If you ordered your computer before Jan 1, 2025, you will want to download and install the latest version of Microsoft C++ Distributable, read through "How do I run patches and upgrades" in this FAQ, and also uninstall (and if desired, reinstall) AnyDesk as outlined in the Troubleshooting section of this FAQ. Do not have any extra or temporary harddrives or other network devices connected to the computer when you go to activate the plugin (if you do, unplug them and restart VST Host) because these items may accidentally get included in the fingerprint for your machine license and this could cause problems in the future if they come and go. Inside VST Host, activate the plugin by clicking on the "plugin edit" button just to the right of the blue info button inside any plugin instance, and then choose Show Menu > License Management. The first time you run things, you need to open Focusrite Control 2 and apply any updates to the interface firmware that are available while connected to the internet, then also go to Settings > System > Sound > More Sound Settings and then go into the Properties of the Focusrite interface on both the Playback and Recording tabs and make sure the use of the device is "disabled" so that the computer itself doesn't send any alerts out that interface during use. Then you can disconnect and turn off your internet, restart the machine and run it offline after that. We recommend disabling the wifi/Bluetooth and disconnecting the Ethernet, screen and keyboard/mouse during normal usage not only to cut down on CPU load from graphics rendering, but because basically all antivirus protection has also been turned off in order to prioritize audio processing. Briefly press the power button to power off, but if the machine accidentally loses power, when it comes back on or when you plug it back in, it will auto boot and recall the last used plugin setup saved as a "performance" in the DAW. You can select a different performance from the list or create/save your own. Always make sure the interface is connected (and turned on, if applicable) before powering on the computer; if it gets unplugged or turned off during use, plug it back in and turn it back on, then restart VST Host or the machine itself. Sometimes if there is a very short power outage (less than two seconds), the unit will not boot properly and will need to be rebooted; best practice is to have a battery backup power supply.
THE DETAILS
WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT THE RECOMMENDED HARDWARE OPTIONS? There is a very long and complicated list of things we have done to the machine BIOS, operating system and the various apps and settings to maximize performance for our particular plugin using the Focusrite Scarlett Gen4 audio interfaces. Even if you have a popular or expensive audio interface that is different, there is no guarantee that it will work properly with these machines at extremely low latency. Also, do not run any additional programs or make any changes to the OS or app settings unless we approve it, as this will increase the chances of disruptions in audio.
CAN I USE MY OWN COMPUTER HARDWARE TO RUN THIS PLUGIN? Sure, have at it! It's just an audio plugin. But since most people don't have hardware capable of running super CPU intense plugins reliably for live sound applications at low latency, we spent about a year testing and verifying two options that are simple and cost-effective and we recommend trying them.
HOW MANY INSTANCES OF THE PLUGIN CAN I RUN ON MY COMPUTER? As many as your machine CPU will handle, given a certain buffer size.
DOES IT HAVE LATENCY? No, the plugin runs at zero latency. The only latency you need to worry about is the latency introduced by your audio I/O method.
HOW MUCH LATENCY DOES THE AUDIO I/O INTRODUCE? It depends. If you buy the cheaper hardware combo we recommend, it can do one instance (mono or stereo) at around 5ms roundtrip. The more expensive combo can do up to four mono, or two mono and one stereo, or two stereo instances at about the same latency. Some third party options (especially those with native Dante) might have lower latencies, but we haven't fully tested everything out there. We're also working on a native Dante version but this will take time. Yamaha has a USB option for the DM3 and DM7 consoles that runs at just under 6ms latency but we haven't tested this option thoroughly. Be aware that using Dante Virtual Soundcard (DVS) will usually introduce higher latencies.
IS THERE A REASON TO BUY THE PRO HARDWARE OPTION IF I ONLY NEED TO USE ONE INSTANCE? Maybe. We notice that the act of connecting a screen/peripherals and opening/moving windows on the cheaper machine can cause temporary audio glitches, whereas this does not seem to happen with the more expensive machine. If for some reason you absolutely need to be accessing the desktop during live usage without audio disruptions, buy the more expensive machine. Also, we are told by the manufacturer that the more expensive machine is better about performing well under physical stresses like heat and humidity but we have not thoroughly tested this.
CAN I BUY THE CHEAPER INTERFACE TO GO WITH THE MORE EXPENSIVE COMPUTER FOR RUNNING JUST ONE INSTANCE? Sure, that's totally fine, but you will need to get into the routing section of VST Host to make it work right. What wouldn't make sense of course is to buy the more expensive interface for the cheaper computer because it can't handle more than one instance anyway.
CAN I USE A DIFFERENT FOCUSRITE INTERFACE SUCH AS 4i4 or 18i20? Yes, any of their Gen4 products will work fine, but you will need to configure the plugins and patching and then save as a performance.
CAN I RUN MORE THAN 4 INSTANCES IF I USE THE 18i20? Yes, but you will have to increase the latency. For example, we tested up to eight mono instances on the more expensive computer with just under 10ms total latency.
WHAT HAPPENS IF I LOSE OR MESS UP MY PLUGIN? Just redownload the latest version from our site and put it in the same place or folder it was before. If you have an active license, it’ll work fine again. Don’t change the file name of the plugin, and don’t move or delete any of the folders or files that the plugin creates on your computer. Also, don't rename the computer or the account.
WHAT HAPPENS IF I LOSE OR MESS UP VST HOST? Download the latest version under the FAQ section of this website in accordance with your hardware option.
WHAT HAPPENS IF I MESS UP MY WHOLE MACHINE? We'll start with a tech support session using AnyDesk if you have an internet connection. If the problem is bad enough, the machine will need to be sent back in for reimaging.
CAN I HAVE OR RUN MULTIPLE PLUGINS/VERSIONS? Don't try it, because having multiple of this plugin of either the same or different version or sub-version on your machine at the same time could crash the plugin. We recommend deleting the current version from your machine before downloading or placing a new version of any kind on that machine. We designed the licensing system to work with only one plugin on a machine at a time, and we don’t know what could happen when there are two or more. It might cause a black hole, don’t risk it.
WHAT DOES THIS PLUGIN DO? It helps get more gain before feedback from your live microphones, and largely removes room reverb, and reduces some background noise. It does this at zero added latency beyond your hardware I/O configuration.
DOES IT WORK FOR BIG AND SMALL SHOWS/VENUES? Yes, it works for all sizes and kinds of shows and venues, however we do notice that if the mic is too close to the speaker, as in less than 6ft, anti-feedback performance can begin to lessen.
DOES IT WORK BOTH INDOORS AND OUTDOORS? Yes, it works in either case.
DOES IT PREVENT ALL FEEDBACK? No, this first version helps to mostly prevent feedback, but if you push the gain high enough, you can potentially defeat the algorithm and things will still go into feedback. Future versions will be more aggressive, but this is hard to do without changing the sound of the vocals. We're working on it!
DOES THIS CURRENT VERSION OF THE PLUGIN CHANGE THE SOUND OF THE VOCALS? No, the plugin should not change the sound of the vocals under normal conditions. We do notice that with really high gain settings, this version can have some short "ringy" sounding artifacts that future versions will aim to avoid.
DO I STILL NEED TO EQ THE VOCALS? Yes, you'll need to EQ the vocals to sound good, but this plugin will largely reduce the need to burn EQ bands to fight feedback. In extreme situations, you can still use some bit of EQ to "ring out" the first few frequencies that want to feed back without the plugin inserted just to maximize overall performance.
IS THE PLUGIN LINEAR PHASE? No, the plugin is not technically linear phase, although we tried our best to keep the phase shift to a minimum, and it shouldn't be noticeable under normal usage. Also, the small bit of phase shift is not always static, it randomly changes as the AI removes the feedback.
DOES IT CHANGE THE DYNAMICS? No, it should not change the dynamic range of the vocals. We do notice however that under some circumstances where there is considerable background noise in the signal, the vocal level could be slightly reduced mometarily as it becomes mistaken for noise to be eliminated. Future versions will aim to avoid this.
IS IT FULL QUALITY? Yes, it can operate at all the normal sample rates from 44.1k to 96k with any bit depth allowed by the DAW. The effective operational range is from 100-20,000Hz.
IS IT MONO OR STEREO? It will be mono or stereo depending on how your DAW audio channel is configured. If you intend to use it for a mono signal, it is best to make sure the channel is mono and that you do not accidentally use one side of a stereo plugin, but the stereo version is designed to function sonically like a mono version if it only receives audio on one side. In some programs like VST Host, the plugin is permanently stereo, so you can make it behave like a mono plugin by ensuring that only one side recieves audio. We do not recommend trying to use the stereo version as a "dual mono" plugin with each side receiving independent uncorralated audio inputs. The stereo functionality is designed to match the slight phase shifts which are inevitably added to the processed signals so that the stereo imaging between correlated inputs is maintained, and it also somewhat coordinates the relative amount of feedback and reverb/noise reduction between the two inputs. It is best to only use the plugin in stereo mode when you have a truly stereo input source such as two microphones placed within a few feet of each other and picking up the same content, or, if you have a mono-panned vocal with stereo reverb you'd like to remove, to name just two common examples. Also, the stereo version does not use significantly more CPU than the mono version, they are practically about the same overall.
WHAT CAN I USE IT ON? This version is calibrated best for singular human vocals, not for choirs or instruments. Those will come in later versions. Some people are already using it for choir with varying levels of reported success, but we can't officially recommend this until we have done more testing. The worst that we suspect can happen for use with choirs is that it may momentarily reduce the overall SPL level by a few decibels as it can partially mistake the sound of the choir for "noise" to be eliminated.
HOW CLOSE DOES A PERSON NEED TO BE TO THE MIC? The input content can't be too ambient, it needs to be more than 50% direct sound as opposed to ambient, "roomy" or background noise.
WHAT KIND OF VOCAL CONTENT DOES IT WORK WITH? Talking and singing are fine, but vocal sound FX may not always be handled perfectly. Future versions will aim to improve this.
DOES IT HAVE A THRESHOLD? No, anything from whispering to shouting will work fine.
DOES THE PLUGIN HAVE ANY USER DEFINED PARAMETERS? There is a strength level, where 0% is unprocessed and 100% is fully processed. We recommend leaving it at 100% for normal use. We also provided a selector for the mild noise neduction capability, as some users may not desire this functionality all the time.
ARE THERE OTHER PLUGINS LIKE THIS? Not that we know of, that's why we made this one. We got tired of waiting around for the "big" companies to solve the problem of feedback without destroying the sound through ridiculous EQ dips and annoying volume thresholds/gates and such. It was obvious that A.I. was the only answer, and this plugin is a good start.
HOW DOES IT WORK? Magic.
NO BUT REALLY? It works by training our boutique A.I. model with many terabytes of customized audio data, telling it to listen for feedback, room reverb and background noise, and then eliminate those from the vocal signal in real time. Easier said than done of course.
WILL THERE BE MORE VERSIONS? Yes, we're already working on them, but A.I. tech is hard and we're only comfortable releasing what has proven to be stable and reliable. We plan to come out with about one new version per year if we manage to raise the funds necessary to continue, with patches to existing versions along the way.
HOW MUCH BETTER WILL FUTURE VERSIONS BE? It depends. If tons of people buy this first version, we'll have the funds to reinvest into a better and faster A.I. training computer, and we'll be able to hire more staff and generate more training data, etc. The degree to which we can progress is highly proportional to the amount of new training data we can compile and the time it takes to create and train new models.
HOW CAN I HELP THIS PROJECT SUCCEED? Tell everyone you know about it! Post success stories on social media and tag Alpha Sound, our partner company. Also, let us know privately how we can improve the plugin, and be honest.
WHAT IS ALPHA LABS? Alpha Labs LLC is a software company partner to Alpha Sound. The plugins Alpha Labs develops were firstly intended for use by Alpha Sound, but are now available for sale to the public. Enjoy!
TIPS AND TRICKS
WHERE IN THE SIGNAL CHAIN SHOULD I INSERT IT? We recommend creating a subgroup on your mixer that has the plugin inserted, and then you can throw vocal channels into it. Be aware that too many vocals happening simultaneously can trick the plugin into thinking the input content is more like noise than vocals, so we recommend having minimal discrete vocal signals running through any individual instance at once, and this may require the use of individually inserted plugins per vocal channel. Technically the plugin works best with the raw uncompressed vocal signal, but for most situations it is fine to run a post-EQ/dynamics and/or post-fader signal into the plugin. In either case, just be careful not to clip the inputs of the interface.
USING YAMAHA USB: To connect the computer to a Yamaha console via USB, download the Yamaha Steinberg USB driver and select the Yamaha ASIO device in the DAW, then go to the ASIO control panel and set the latency to the lowest setting. On your Yamaha console, select the USB as the I/O. A good arrangement is to send channels to a mix instead of to the stereo bus, then send that mix to the stereo bus, but insert the mix through the USB going to the computer. This way, you can run multiple vocal channels through a single instance of the plugin, but be sure that no more than two or three vocalists are talking/singing at the same time.
CAN I USE MIC AND/OR LINE LEVEL INPUTS ON THE RECOMMENDED OPTIONS? Yes. On the Solo (using the default performance) you can plug into either the XLR or the 1/4" inputs and they will be summed together into the one plugin instance, and the plugin output is mirrored on both interface outputs. On the 18i16 (using the default performance) each of the channels 1-4 inputs are summed with the corresponding channels 5-8 inputs, and eached of the four summed pairs goes into its corresponding plugin instance and then out to the corresponding output. Be aware that the +48V Phantom Power on the 18i16 defaults to off when the unit is fully power cycled... we've asked Focusrite to fix this.
TROUBLESHOOTING
FOCUSRITE CONTROL 2 SOFTWARE WON'T OPEN AFTER UPDATING. Install the latest x64 version of Microsoft C++ Distributable.
AUDIO DISTORTIONS FROM FOCUSRITE OUTPUT AFTER UPDATING. Make sure your USB cable is a data transfer cable, not merely a charging cable.
ANYDESK HAS ADDRESS [1 811 905 542] OR [1 585 450 973], AND SOMETIMES DISCOVERS OTHER DEFEEDBACKS. Click on hidden icons in lower right corner of screen, right click and close AnyDesk. Search Settings for "Add or Remove Programs" and uninstall AnyDesk. If desired, redownload and install AnyDesk.
VERSION HISTORY
V1.0.6 released on December 28, 2024 added beta test for Mac and improved the offline deactivation sequence to avoid accidental deactivations.
V1.0.5 released on December 12, 2024 added stereo and allowed for offline activations/deactivations and fixed some minor bugs.
V1.0.0 released on November 11, 2024.
