KOLOR MANUAL
MAIN INTERFACE
The Top, Mid and Bottom knobs allow you to shape the tone of your tracks.
Working like this is the exact opposite of your typical digital EQ workflow. As with vintage equalizers that inspired the plugin, it’s best to use your ears, rather than numbers - move the knobs, and if you feel a particular band sounds great, move on!
Clicking on labels underneath the big knobs brings you to module selection.
Kolor is a modular equalizer plugin. This means you can combine characters and curves that made the original devices awesome, and create your custom vintage equalizer. To do this, simply click on the label underneath any of the big knobs, and choose a different module from the list.
This feature is not included in Kolor Micro.
In and Out knobs allow you to gain stage the plugin, and compensate for the level change introduced by the EQ.
The In knob pushes the signal harder into the preamp section. Out is a clean output gain. You can toggle between which knob is visible by clicking on the little dots underneath the knob, or by holding SHIFT to temporarily show the other control.
NOT IN
MICRO!
Preamp slider allows you to pick one of the preamp models.
This control gives you a lot of tones and saturation characteristics - explore it along with the In knob! If you want to save some CPU for other tasks, or are after cleaner results, you can drag the slider all the way right to disable the preamp circuit altogether. And yes, Kolor sounds great clean, too!
In Kolor Micro, you can only toggle the preamp on / off. There’s only one preamp model included in Micro.
Filters allow you to carve space for other tracks, and inject extra character.
The filters in Kolor are not your clean, digital filters. They have a distinct character, which works wonders on many tracks. Combining low cut with a boost on the Bottom band will give you some stunning bass. That being said, if you want things clean, I suggest leaving the filters untouched and using a different EQ for technical cleaning jobs.
Click on the + button at the top right to access extra parameters.
Kolor allows you to fine-tune the response of the plugin by tweaking some extra parameters. These are the equivalent of the ‘screwdriver’ or ‘advanced’ settings some plugins offer. Follow the guide below to learn what these controls do.
NOT IN
MICRO!
THE + PAGE
Mix slider allows you to adjust the dry / wet balance between the processed and raw signal.
Use this where you need more subtelty, or just leave it wet - it sounds best this way. If you’re using Kolor as a saturator, adjusting this slider is a great way to keep the dirt under control.
Pre → EQ switch changes the routing between the equalizer section and the preamp.
By default, the EQ is inserted after the preamp. The reason behind that is that it’s more predictable this way - for example, boosting the lows with the Bottom band won’t also saturate the preamp. You can change this arrangement for a more authentic (and slightly wilder) response.
Ext bass switch extends the low end response of the preamps.
Vintage devies often don’t reach the lowest frequencies present in modern music. This switch (on by default) extends the response of the preamps so that they can reach lower. If you have disabled the preamp on the front panel, this switch will have no effect.
Ext filters switch makes the filters behave in a more consistent way.
In real world, passive filters - such as the ones sampled for Kolor - will give you a different response depending on the impedance loading of the input source, and the device they’re plugged into. Kolor captures that behaviour (switch off), but if you’re after consistently resonant results, I recommend keeping this switch on.
Flip phase switch allows you to do what it says.
Some things just sound better with the polarity inverted. Don’t ask me why!
Hiss, hum and gate hiss allow you to fine-tune the noise response of the plugin.
Adjust the overall hiss level with the hiss slider. The hum switch adds what you’d expect it to add. If you’ll enable the gate, the noise will be muted when no signal is present.
SOME OTHER THINGS
Click on the KOLOR text at the top left to save and load custom presets.
Kolor comes with some starting points to get you - well - started. You can also save your favourite module combinations, and settings you frequently use for easy recall.
Drag the bottom right corner of the interface to resize the plugin window.
The settings will be saved, and all new instances of Kolor will load with the size you’ve set.