OVERSAMPLING on T-RackS modules - QUESTION

[benjaminarcand]

Maybe it's obvious, I searched around the net for answers, read the manual and couldn't find an answer. I even contacted IK customer service but they weren't helpful at all.

Anyway, I just bought T-RackS Max and the manual says: "High-fidelity oversampling for high-quality audio processing through the entire signal path".

How do I activate oversampling for individual plugin (when using the modules as single plug-ins inside my DAW)? or Is oversampling automatically applied/ON all the time (working in 48kHz here)? Is there a way to turn oversampling OFF (for better latency/CPU usage) and ON?

Thanks so much for your help,
Benjamin Arcand

[darkogav]

Some of the plugins have a oversampling button. But this to me sounds like its on all time.

1.6 - High transparency, extremely high quality audio processing
You may think digital processors are transparent in general and that all of them are high enough quality for
mixing and mastering professional audio. That’s not always true. Very simple processing like a filter or a
dynamics effect change can literally ruin your sound beyond rescue if it is not performed at the highest possible
quality by applying techniques that are not so commonly used.
T-RackS 5 products deliver incredible purity, transparency and fidelity far superior to the vast majority of plugins
you can compare it to. If you are familiar with the sound of top-quality analog and digital hardware limiters
that are used daily in top mastering houses, you’ll immediately recognize here with T-RackS 5 the quality and
purity typical of those units. If you’re not familiar with the hardware, you’ll experience what high-quality dynamics
processing means.
Many digital processors use oversampling to achieve better sound. Unfortunately, many of them – under critical
listening sessions – achieve no significantly better (or even slightly worse) results than the regular sampling rate
option.
This is because the upsampling and downsampling processes are not done at a sufficient level of quality.
In other words, typically what is improved by running a processor at double sampling frequency is partially
compromised by the loss of quality in the upsampling and downsampling process.
There are only a few pieces of gear, mainly hardware – and, until now, all of them very expensive – that have
really realized oversampling the way it should be done. T-RackS 5 is one of them. We wanted to offer the same
quality of the highest caliber mastering tools, and the result is a process that has no side effects at all on the
sound: total transparency.
So what you hear is exactly the same sound of the processor with NO side effects.

[benjaminarcand]

Thanks for your answer darkogav!

Yes I read that, I just wish that we could have a clearer answer from IK somewhere... Something like: "Oversampling is always activated/is on-going behind the scene on the T-RackS modules..."

But rereading it, you're right: I guess we can deduct it's always ON or something like that. I find it weird though, that some plugins (SATURATOR X for example) have OVERSAMPLING options on the plugin itself. This is what got me wondering: Does it means that other doesn't? or maybe Saturator X was release before they put OVERSAMPLING automatically in the other modules/plugin?

As I said, I just wish I knew a lil' bit more (so I know if I should oversample my chain, or I should trust IK to oversample the modules that might benefit from it)... That being said, ultimately I guess I could do some testing and/or use my ears.