Big Man Labs – Bigulator v1.0.3 for WiN

BIGULATOR | Schematic model of a rare analog mastering clipper. Bigulator, a schematic model of an analog mastering clipper, with display of a gain reduction slider, transfer curve and control panel

A meticulously crafted model of a little-known analog mastering clipper that makes sound louder without giving the impression of actually working. The reason lies in its unusual design: a voltage-controlled amplifier connected in series with the audio signal, its control port controlled at the audio signal’s frequency using a peak-clamping rectifier. 

No envelope. No attack. No release. The Bigulator is a circuit based on a schematic, adjusted to the parameters of the real device, and then enhanced with features the device never had: multiband operation, oversampling, and a multi-voice digital output clipper.

Features of an analog mastering clipper

What does the Bigulator do when it is connected to the master bus?

Accurate Analog Emulation

Using a combination of circuit emulation and extensive measurements, the Bigulator reproduces the analog essence of this unique mastering clipper, making it virtually indistinguishable from the original except at the most extreme settings.

Zero attack, zero attenuation.

The rectifier controls the VCA control port at the audio signal’s sampling rate, with no intermediate values. Gain reduction at any given time depends on the signal shape at that moment. The Bigulator is a cross between a clipper, a limiter, and a saturator, a kind of analog level control.

From symmetrical to completely asymmetrical

ASYM is an imbalance on the regulator. The two halves of the peak skimmer have separate offset settings, so one side starts skimming slightly before the other. It’s modeled exactly as implemented in the hardware, then expanded to limits beyond what the hardware can handle. From perfect symmetry to complete imbalance.

Zero Attack, Zero Release

Threshold and ratio are separate controls, but they are not independent. The threshold position changes the shape of the transfer function itself, so even with the same ratio and two different thresholds, these will be different processors. A ratio of 100 at a threshold of 0 and a ratio of 100 at a threshold of -10 are two different curves, just like in an analog device.

One, two, or three bands

You can use the diagram for the entire mix or split it and use a separate instance for each band. Bands retain their identity when new ones are added, the two crossovers operate freely and can overlap, and the gain reduction for each band is displayed in a different color to clearly show which one is performing its function.

Minimal and Linear Phase Crossovers

Minimal Phase ensures low latency during multiband processing. Linear Phase and Deep Linear Phase separate the bands without phase shift, which is convenient for mixing and mastering, when phase artifacts associated with multiband processing are undesirable. Deep Linear Phase provides a sharper separation for increased latency, with each setting accurately representing latency.

Oversampling up to 16x

Analog clipping doesn’t cause aliasing. Digital clipping does, and no amount of modeling precision can eliminate it. Use 1x when latency is important, or increase the nonlinearity to 2x, 4x, 8x, or 16x to reduce aliasing where the hardware couldn’t handle it.

Parallel mixing with phase matching

(MIX) mixes the processed signal with the original signal connected before the input trimmer, so the original signal level remains unchanged as the load increases. In multiband processing, the original signal has the same phase rotation as the crossover tree, so mixing does not cause combing in the crossovers.

A four-voice sum clipper

A multi-voice digital clipper modeled after an analog clipper. Tight, Punch, Smooth, and Smoother each process the clip differently. Its ceiling is represented by a dotted line on the display, and the output cut occurs after it, so the clipping level and depth remain independent.

See it happen

Input, output, and gain reduction for each band are displayed in real-time, GPU-accelerated, ensuring a smooth experience on high-refresh-rate displays without straining the CPU.