Harmonically Enhanced Digital Audio (HEDA) is a class of

digital recording In digital recording, an audio or video signal is converted into a stream of discrete numbers representing the changes over time in air pressure for audio, or chroma and luminance values for video. This number stream is saved to a storage de ...

s created by using modern digital harmonic enhancement technology. With the proliferation of harmonic enhancement algorithms, pioneered by Crane Song's Dave Hill, a new class of harmonic enhancement algorithms have emerged. Examples of algorithms used to create HEDA include the HEAT feature (available on

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...

HD 8.1 and later) and the multi-platform plug-ins

Universal Audio United Recording Electronics Industries (UREI) was a manufacturer of recording, mixing and audio signal processing hardware for the professional recording studio, live sound and broadcasting fields. History Bill Putnam Sr. founded Universa ...

's Studer A800, Slate Digital's Virtual Console Collection, Waves Non-Linear Summer, and Crane Song HEDD-192.

History

Development of harmonic enhancement was in its first stages in 1999 when Antares, developer of

Autotune Auto-Tune (or autotune) is an audio processor introduced in 1996 by American company Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a proprietary device to measure and alter pitch in vocal and instrumental music recording and performances. Auto-Tu ...

, noticed that the tube emulation feature in its microphone simulator was used more than its other features. In response, Antares created a specific plug-in, called Antares Tube, which implemented tube emulation. The algorithms for harmonic enhancement were just beginning and market interest was shown to be present. During its development period, harmonic exciters and harmonic enhancement plug-ins were looked down upon by most of the pro-audio industry.

Modern Harmonic Enhancement

HEAT (Harmonic Enhancement Algorithm Technology), released in 2010, is a plug-in featured on each track of HD editions of

. Avid, developer of Pro Tools, enlisted the help of Dave Hill of Crane Song for its creation. Dave Hill's harmonic enhancement algorithms have been viewed as top-of-the-line by many professionals for years. Before Pro Tools 8.1, no Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) featured harmonic enhancement on each track. Alternatives available on other platforms are

's Studer A800 plug-in (released in late 2010), Slate Digital's Virtual Console Collection (VCC), Sonimus Satson, and Waves' Non-Linear Summer (NLS).

References

{{reflist, refs= {{Cite web , url=http://www.musiciansnews.com/plugins/75/antares_tube_multi_format_plug_in_classic_analog_tube_preamp.shtml , title=Antares Tube Multi-format Plug-in Classic Analog Tube Preamps Models , access-date=2011-01-15 , archive-url=https://archive.today/20130129071315/http://www.musiciansnews.com/plugins/75/antares_tube_multi_format_plug_in_classic_analog_tube_preamp.shtml , archive-date=2013-01-29 , url-status=dead EQ Magazine, Nov. 2010 {{cite web, url=http://www.keyboardmag.com/article/avid-introduces-new/August-2010/118703 , accessdate=January 15, 2011 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125011926/http://keyboardmag.com/article/avid-introduces-new/August-2010/118703 , archivedate=November 25, 2010 , title=Avid Introduces New Pro Tools HD Interfaces, HEAT Software {{Cite web , url=http://www.eqmag.com/article/ua-releases-studer/December-2010/125229 , title=UA Releases Studer A800 Plug-in for UAD-2 , access-date=2011-01-15 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929023138/http://www.eqmag.com/article/ua-releases-studer/December-2010/125229 , archive-date=2011-09-29 , url-status=dead

External links

HEDA
Audio electronics