UNCHIRP

Codec Artifact Removal & Transient Retrieval

UNCHIRP is a plug-in for removing the most obnoxious artefacts associated with lossy audio encoding and other FFT-based processes, such as spectral de-noising. Reduce musical noise, suppress high-frequency chirping (also known as underwater sound, warbling or the tweeties), fix transient smearing, and restore lost high frequencies – UNCHIRP does it all in one go. If you need to salvage poorly encoded music, speech that has gone through a low bit rate uplink, material that has been de-noised too strongly, or footage recorded with consumer mobile devices – or if you simply want to add contour and vibrance to already great sounding recordings – UNCHIRP is your (only) friend.

Features

• Suppression of high frequency "chirping" artefacts.
• Reduction of "musical noise" artefacts.
• Transient Synthesis to augment or replace smeared, over-limited or otherwise compromised transients.
• Psycho-Acoustically optimized Treble Boost circuit with Enhance and Excite modes.
• Break-Point Curve Editor-based frequency-dependent processing.
• Side-only algorithm mode for working with joint-stereo encoded material.
• HD algorithm mode for increased quality processing with higher CPU load (off-line processing recommended).
• SYNC parameter allows processing to be synchronized to signal transients for increasing clarity.
• Output limiter for unsupervised use in batch processing applications.
• Highly time-efficient workflow and UI.

The Problem

Both lossy codecs as well as many of today's DSP processes (like de-noisers) make heavy use of a process called the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). This method has some major advantages. It also has some major drawbacks, which are the root cause of a variety of artefacts, such as Musical Noise, High-Frequency Modulation (a.k.a. Chirping), Transient Smearing, and overall "blurring" due to low localization in the time domain. Because of the way human hearing works, these artefacts are very obvious and sound distinctly unnatural. Additionally, lossy codecs and de-noisers often cause a loss of high frequencies, further degrading your audio. UNCHIRP is the medicine for all of these artifact types.

Two Is More Than One

UNCHIRP identifies the birdies and applies proprietary processing to make them disappear. It offers two different, simultaneously available algorithms to achieve this, Musical Noise Reduction and Dechirping, each featuring its own technological approach, unique sonic properties and its own breakpoint curve editor for frequency-dependent processing. At Zynaptiq, we like over-delivering.

Snap!

Like our award-winning de-reverberator UNVEIL, UNCHIRP allows bypassing transients for natural sounding results even with extreme settings. But we didn't stop there – we've added frequency dependency to the bypass threshold, and frequency-dependent transient attenuation/boost. The new Transient Synthesis can replace transients compromised by FFT processing such as lossy encoding, or by excessive dynamics processing. Finally, the Sync function synchronizes processing to the signal's transients, adding overall clarity and coherence. These algorithms work equally well for fixing problem material as well as for augmenting already great sounding recordings, adding impact, detail and contour. It's like pulling a curtain aside. Try it, you'll love it.

The Shining

And then, there's Treble Boost, which deals with the fact that low bit rate encoded audio may show a "dead band" in the treble range - there's simply a hard limit to what any given bit rate can capture in terms of frequency. Regular EQ won't help because there's nothing to boost. The Treble Boost circuit offers two ways to recover some of that treble: a psycho-acoustically optimized Enhancer – equalization that is tailored in such a way that it implies frequency content in the dead band to the listener – and an Exciter, which synthesizes new harmonics to "fill the gap". These sound so good that you may end up turning to these for your treble processing in general – even with already great sounding signals – to add shine and vibrance to your audio.

Supraluminal

As time is the most scarce of resources, at Zynaptiq we're obsessed with saving it for you. UNCHIRP sports a variety of workflow features to help you get results faster than light. There's an output limiter to allow for unsupervised batch-processing without overs, an I/O difference function to quickly hear what exactly you're removing, frequency-dependent processing for all key parameters using breakpoint curves with snap-to-zero and copy/paste functionality, and our preset manager that writes presets that you can then use across all platforms and formats. Start using UNCHIRP and go ahead and book another week of holidays.

Synergies Galore

UNCHIRP is available for purchase separately as well as bundled with our award-winning reverb removal, adaptive equalization and polyphonic pitch processing plug-ins UNVEIL, UNFILTER and PITCHMAP, as part of the ZAP Bundle. As a team, these tools give you unprecedented access to the heart of your audio and do so so efficiently that you'll wonder how you managed without them all these years.

System Requirements

Mac

• macOS 10.15.x or newer, 64 bit
• Apple Silicon CPU, or Intel CPU with at least 2 Cores (i7 or better recommended)
• Apple AU (AudioUnits), Steinberg VST 2.4, VST 3 or Avid AAX Native compatible host software, processing audio as 32 bit float

Windows

• Windows 10 or newer 
• Intel CPU with at least 2 Cores; i7 or better recommended
• Steinberg VST 2.4, VST 3 or Avid AAX compatible 64-bit host software, processing audio as 32 bit float

Important Notes:

• An iLok account or iLok 2/3-based activation is required in order to register this product
• An internet connection is required for software activation

Copy Protection

Zynaptiq products use the latest PACE copy protection, which allows you to place your activation on your machine or on an iLok 2* (not included). You will need a free iLok.com account to use our software, even for the demos - but you do not necessarily need the iLok 2 dongle if your machine has internet access (activation of a system without internet connectivity requires an iLok 2 device). All required software is installed along with our plugins, but we generally recommend downloading the latest versions directly from iLok.com.

Please Note: The older, first-generation iLok is not supported!

CPU Load

While they are highly optimized, Zynaptiq plugins use a LOT of CPU due to the complex nature of the magic they perform. Please use the free trial to evaluate whether your system has sufficient resources to utilize the software effectively!

Zynaptiq recommends setting your playback buffer size to at least 512 or ideally 1024 samples for optimum performance. 

As Zynaptiq plugins sport unique features not found in any other software, Zynaptiq highly recommends reading the User Manuals to ensure that you get the most out of them!