Quick start
- Put Quench on an audio track that has your guitar plugged straight in (a DI, no amp).
- Arm the track and turn on monitoring so you can hear yourself through it.
- Pick a preset from the box at the top, or click an amp on the left (CINDER, MAGMA, FLARE or ANVIL).
- Set Input in the MASTER panel so the input meter peaks around two-thirds of the way up when you dig in.
- Raise the gate's Threshold until the hiss between riffs disappears, then back it off a little.
The window
- Header: the preset box with < and > to step through presets, QUALITY (2x, 4x or 8x oversampling), TUNER, and the power button, which bypasses Quench.
- AMP: the amp list on the left and the amp's seven knobs over its animated waveform.
- Pedal row: GATE, BOOST, CABINET, DELAY and REVERB, each with its own ON switch.
- MASTER: Input, Output and the in/out meters.
The signal runs Gate → Boost → Amp → Cabinet → Delay → Reverb. You can't change the order.
Amps
| Amp | Character |
|---|---|
| CINDER | Tight, aggressive American high gain. The all-rounder for metal rhythm. |
| MAGMA | Loose, huge and scooped, modern rectified. Doom, sludge and nu metal. |
| FLARE | Hot-rodded British crunch up to lead. Classic rock, punk and solos. |
| ANVIL | Ultra-tight modern metal with clean lows, for 7- and 8-strings and drop tunings. |
| CAPTURE | Plays a Neural Amp Modeler capture instead of a modelled amp. See below. |
Every amp has the same seven knobs, each from 0 to 10:
| Knob | What it does |
|---|---|
| Gain | How hard the preamp is driven. |
| Bass, Mid, Treble | The tone stack. Like a real amp, they interact. |
| Presence | Upper-treble bite after the power amp. |
| Depth | Low-end resonance after the power amp. Turn it down if palm mutes get woolly. |
| Master | The amp's volume and power-amp drive. |
The amps are level-matched, so switching between them won't jump in volume.
Capture (NAM)
Pick CAPTURE to play any Neural Amp Modeler capture (a .nam file). Thousands are shared free online; tone3000.com is the biggest library.
- Load: click LOAD, or drag a
.namfile anywhere onto Quench. < and > step through the other captures in the same folder. - Gain becomes the drive into the capture (±24 dB). Bass, Mid, Treble, Presence and Depth become an EQ after the capture, flat at their default positions. Master sets the capture's level (±12 dB).
- Captures are measured when they load and brought to the same loudness as the built-in amps.
- A full-rig capture (one that already includes a speaker) switches Quench's CABINET off when it loads. An amp-only capture switches it back on.
- The capture is saved inside your project, so the set still opens if you move or delete the file.
Calibrate: many captures record the level the real amp was fed. Turn on CALIBRATE and set the box beside it to your audio interface's maximum instrument input level (it's in the interface's manual, in dBu; double-click for +12 dBu), and Quench feeds each capture at the level the real amp heard. This is a setting for the computer, shared by every Brightwork plugin with captures.
Pedals and cabinet
| Section | Control | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| GATE | Threshold | -90 to -20 dB | Signals below this are silenced. |
| Release | 5 to 500 ms | How quickly it closes. Short for staccato riffs, longer for chords that ring. | |
| BOOST | Drive | 0 to 10 | Extra drive before the amp. Keep it low and turn Level up for the classic tight boost. |
| Tone | 0 to 10 | Brightness of the boost. | |
| Level | -12 to +12 dB | How hard the boost hits the amp. | |
| CABINET | Cabinet | 4x12 Modern, 4x12 Vintage, 2x12 Open Back, 1x12 Combo, Custom IR | The speaker cabinet. |
| LOAD IR | Load your own impulse response (WAV). | ||
| Mic | 0 to 100% | Mic position: the centre of the cone is brighter, the edge darker and smoother. | |
| Low Cut, High Cut | 20 to 300 Hz, 2 to 20 kHz | Trim mud and fizz after the cabinet. | |
| DELAY | Time / Sync | 20 to 1500 ms, or 1/2 to 1/16 | Turn on SYNC to lock to your song's tempo. |
| Feedback, Tone, Mix | Repeats, their brightness, and how loud they are. | ||
| PING-PONG | Bounces the repeats left and right. | ||
| REVERB | Size, Tone, Mix | Room size, brightness and amount. |
Presets
- Click the preset box for the full list, grouped by amp. < and >, or the up and down arrow keys, step through them.
- Every preset plays at about the same loudness as Default, so you can compare them fairly.
- Amp Only (no cab) is for running Quench into a cabinet plugin or IR loader of your own.
- Your own settings are saved with your project automatically.
Tips
- For tight metal rhythm, use the boost with Drive near 0, Level up and Tone around 6, and keep the amp's Gain lower than you think.
- Double-track: record the part twice and pan the takes hard left and right rather than copying one take.
- QUALITY at 8x sounds best; drop to 2x if your computer struggles with lots of tracks, and switch back up before you bounce.
If something's wrong
- No sound: check the track's monitoring is on and the power button in Quench's header is lit.
- Too much hum or hiss: raise the gate's Threshold, or lower Input.
- Crackles: lower QUALITY, or raise your audio interface's buffer size.
- A capture sounds too loud or too quiet: use Master to trim it. With CALIBRATE on, check the interface level is right.