Capturing your gear

Two kinds of capture

A whole chain, or one unit at one setting

Set everything the way you use it and capture it together. In the plugin it's one combined sound you shape with Drive, Tone, Mix and Output. Counts as 1 capture and takes about 5 minutes to record.

One unit with working controls

The unit's own knobs work in the plugin. You play the reference once, then a 64-second pass at each setting DigMusiK chooses: about 30 to 60 minutes. Studio and Pro. Needed for Print Recall.

Want every unit in a chain adjustable? Capture each unit on its own with working controls, then build a chain from them (see Chains).

Capturing on the website

1. Go to Capture new gear and choose what you're capturing.
2. Name it so people know what it is ("My 1972 1176 Rev D", "SSL bus into Studer tape"), choose a category, and credit every piece of gear and plugin in it, in order.
3. For a unit with working controls, list the knobs and switches that shape the sound (up to 8), using the numbers printed on the panel, and choose how many settings to record. More settings give more accurate knobs and take longer (about a minute each).
4. Confirm the statement (you own or may use the gear, and own a licence for any plugin in it) and press Next: get the reference.
5. Download the reference (and, for working controls, the knob pass). Import it on its own track at the very start of the session and leave its level alone.
6. Put your chain on that track: plugins as inserts, or send it out to your gear and record the return. Don't touch any controls while it plays. For working controls, set the unit exactly as shown for each pass.
7. Export the whole file, start to end, as WAV (24-bit or 32-bit float at the session's rate), with no normalising, dither or fades, and upload it.
8. Training starts automatically when the last pass arrives. You'll get an email when it's ready.

Capturing in the plugin

Press Capture gear in the plugin (or use standalone DigMusiK, no DAW needed). Choose the output wired to your gear's input and the input it comes back on, name the sound, credit the unit, and confirm. The plugin plays the reference and records the return for you, then uploads it. You can also continue a capture you started on the website.

Test signal safety

The reference is loud. Before anything plays, DigMusiK asks you to choose the output and confirm it goes to your gear, shows a reminder to turn your monitors down, makes you pause, gives a final warning and counts down for three seconds. Keep monitors and headphones down.

What you can share or sell

• Hardware you own can be shared and, on Pro, sold. You need to own the unit or be allowed to use it.
• Captures of software plugins are fine for your own use, but stay private to you: they can't be shared, published or sold, because many plugin licences don't allow it.
• Only rendered audio is ever uploaded, never plugin files.

NAM captures

You can add Neural Amp Modeler (NAM) files you're allowed to use under NAM captures and use them in chains. They're private to you unless you choose to share them.

Archiving a plugin chain

Plugins get discontinued, change version or stop with a subscription. In the plugin, press Archive to keep a plugin chain's sound as a private signature: DigMusiK captures it in one go, so the mix plays the same years from now. Archives are yours only; confirm that any plugins in the chain are yours to use.