Kolor manual

The Top, Mid and Bottom knobs shape the tone of your tracks.

This is the opposite of a typical digital EQ workflow. The vintage equalizers behind the plugin were built for ears, not numbers. Move the knobs, and when a band sounds right, move on.

Hold Alt / Option while you drag a knob to move it in finer steps. The mouse wheel or a two-finger scroll does the same.

Double-click a knob to reset it to its default value.

Click a label underneath a big knob to open module selection.

Kolor is a modular equalizer. You can combine the characters and curves of the original devices, and build your own vintage equalizer. Click the label underneath any big knob, then choose a module from the list.

You can also drag the label up or down to change the model without the menu, or use the scroll wheel.

Kolor Mikro does not have this feature.

The Drive and Out knobs set the gain staging, and compensate for the level change from the EQ.

Drive pushes the signal harder into the preamp section. Test recordings set the level compensation. An algorithmic auto-gain would kill the natural dynamics of the preamps, tubes and transformers, so this is a fair compromise.

Out is a clean output gain.

TIP: Click the small dots underneath the knob to change which knob is visible. Hold SHIFT to show the other control while you hold the key.

The Preamp buttons pick one of the preamp models.

Each model has its own tone and its own way to break up, so explore it together with the Drive knob. The last button switches the preamp circuit off. This saves CPU and gives a cleaner result. Kolor sounds good clean, too.

Kolor Mikro has one preamp, the same Belin model that is in Kolor, and a switch to turn it on and off.

The filters carve space for other tracks, and add character.

These are not clean digital filters. They have a distinct character that works well on many tracks. A low cut with a boost on the Bottom band gives you strong bass.

You can also change their resonance character. Click the dots underneath the knobs to show the resonance controls.

TIP: Click the small dots underneath the knob to change which knob is visible. Hold SHIFT to show the other control while you hold the key.

The + button in the top right opens the extra parameters.

These are the screwdriver settings you also find on other plugins. Nothing here is essential for day-to-day use, but it is there when you need it.

The Mix slider balances the processed signal against the raw one.

Use it where you need more subtlety, or leave it wet. Wet sounds best. When you use Kolor as a saturator, this slider keeps the dirt under control.

This switch changes the routing between the equalizer section and the preamp.

By default it is off, so the EQ comes before the preamp. This gives a true-to-life interaction between the stages, and your EQ changes control how hard the preamp is driven. Turn the switch on for a more predictable, less authentic response.

Flip phase does exactly what it says.

Some things sound better with the polarity inverted. Do not ask me why. I believe the most vocal engineer on the subject is Tchad Blake, so the switch is there if he ever wants it. Play with it yourself, too.

Noise, hum and gate noise tune the noise response of the plugin.

Noise sets the overall level. Hum adds mains hum on top of it. Gate noise mutes the noise when no signal comes through.

Noise before the pre routes the noise before or after the preamp.

Show values sets whether the knobs display their value while you move them.

The setting applies to every instance of the plugin the next time you open a session.

Show decimals sets whether the knob values show fine increments.

This does not change how the plugin behaves. Kolor always works on fine values. It only changes what the interface shows.

Click the Kolor text to open the preset selection window.

Drag the bottom right corner of the interface to resize it.

When you switch the preamp off, Kolor uses much less CPU.

You still get the smooth EQ underneath, with very little load.