Smooth the analyzer display for easier reading with the Smoothing combo¶

The Smoothing combo applies fractional-octave power-averaging to the live FFT analyzer trace in the Aetherial Parametric EQ editor. Use it to reduce trace jitter and make broad response trends easier to read while tuning. The setting affects display only — EQ math is unchanged.

Before you start¶

The floating editor must be open. Double-click the EQ stage in the CHAIN widget (TX or RX side) to open it. The editor is titled "Aetherial Parametric EQ — TX" or "Aetherial Parametric EQ — RX".
The Smoothing combo is in the editor header strip. It is not available in the docked applet tile.

Steps¶

Open the floating editor for either the TX or RX EQ stage by double-clicking the matching EQ stage in the CHAIN widget.
Locate the "Smoothing:" label in the editor header strip.
Click the combo box to the right of the "Smoothing:" label.
Select a smoothing level from the list:
Off (1/96) — effectively no smoothing (default)
1/24 — light smoothing
1/12 — moderate smoothing
1/6 — heavier smoothing
1/3 — most smoothed
The analyzer trace updates immediately.

What each control does¶

Control	Default	Valid values
Smoothing	`Off (1/96)`	`Off (1/96)` / `1/24` / `1/12` / `1/6` / `1/3`
Filter family	Butterworth	Butterworth / Chebyshev / Bessel / Elliptic
Peak Hold	unchecked	N/A
Reference curve preset	Off	Off / AT&T 1959 / Heil DX / Astatic D-104 / Shure 444 / Heil HC-5
Reset	N/A	N/A
Filter-type icon row	A row of 8 custom-painted icons (one per band slot) at the top of the editor canvas area. Each icon draws the current filter shape (peak bell, shelf ramp, HP/LP slope) in its band's palette colour. Click an icon to cycle through the filter types for that band; clicking also selects the band, highlighting its handle on the canvas and its column in the parameter row.	Located in the floating editor only. Icons dim to 35 % opacity when the band is bypassed. Implemented by ClientEqIconRow.
Parameter text row	A row of 8 text columns (one per band slot) below the canvas showing each band's Freq, Gain, and Q values. Values update live during canvas drags. Clicking a column selects that band. Labels are bottom-aligned within each column and the row background is transparent so the band-plan strip above the row is not obscured.	Located in the floating editor only. Implemented by ClientEqParamRow.
Filter cutoff guide lines (TX / RX)	Dashed yellow vertical lines overlaid on the canvas at the radio's current TX low/high filter cutoff (TX tile) or RX passband edges (RX tile). Hovering near a line changes the cursor to a horizontal-resize arrow. Dragging a line in the editor moves the radio's corresponding filter cutoff in real time.	Dragging the TX cutoff guides emits cutoffsDragRequested(Tx, lo, hi), which MainWindow forwards to TransmitModel. Dragging the RX guides writes to the active SliceModel. Pass 0 for an edge to suppress that guide.
Output Fader	0 dB (linear 1.0)	-36.0 to +12.0 dB
Output Fader value entry	N/A — value is shown as a read-only label by default	N/A

Smoothing — Applies fractional-octave power-averaging to the analyzer trace. Lower fraction values produce a smoother trace: 1/3 is the most smoothed; Off (1/96) is effectively unsmoothed. The setting is shared between the TX and RX editors — changing it in one editor also affects the other. EQ math and the peak-hold trace are not affected.

Filter family — Selects the HP/LP cascade mathematics. Butterworth gives a maximally flat passband; Chebyshev provides a steeper rolloff with 1 dB passband ripple; Bessel offers linear phase with a gentler rolloff; Elliptic yields the steepest transition with ripple in both bands. Applies only to HP and LP filter types; peak and shelf bands use their own fixed 2^nd-order topology regardless. Persisted separately per path (ClientEqTxFilterFamily / ClientEqRxFilterFamily).

Peak Hold — When checked, the per-bin peak-hold trace in the analyzer stops decaying. Every frequency's highest observed level is held until the button is toggled off. Located in the editor header strip (floating editor only). Amber background when checked.

Reference curve preset — Overlays an amber, semi-transparent target curve on the EQ canvas as a visual guide. Select from five classic microphone-derived response curves: - AT&T 1959 — The canonical Bell Labs presence-peak target for "optimum transmission frequency response for speech." Peak +5 dB at 2.5 kHz, rolls off below 300 Hz and above 3.4 kHz. - Heil DX — Bob Heil's published recommendation for maximum talk power in pile-ups. Sharper +6 dB peak at 2.7 kHz with aggressive low-cut. - Astatic D-104 — The classic "lollipop" crystal microphone response. Extremely peaky presence around 3 kHz with deep low-end rolloff. - Shure 444 — Classic broadcast-style desk mic response. Broader response with gentler presence boost — the smoothest of the legendary mics. - Heil HC-5 — Modern dynamic SSB mic element target shape. Mid-presence boost peaks around 3 kHz at +5 dB.

The reference curve is drawn after the analyzer but before the EQ band curves, so your adjustments sit on top of the target you are shaping toward. Select "Off" to hide the overlay. The preset is persisted per path (ClientEqTxReferenceCurve / ClientEqRxReferenceCurve). Located in the editor header strip.

Reset — Resets all bands to the default 10-band template, restores the default band count, and resets the filter family to Butterworth. Saves immediately. Located in the editor header strip (floating editor only).

Output Fader — Vertical combined fader + level meter on the right edge of the floating editor. Drag to set post-EQ master gain; scroll wheel adjusts in 0.5 dB steps; double-click resets to 0 dB. The level bar behind the handle shows the smoothed post-EQ peak in real time with the same green-amber-red gradient as the Tube level meter. Persisted separately per path (ClientEqTxMasterGain / ClientEqRxMasterGain). Gain range is linear 0.0 to ~4.0; the scale labels run from -40 to 0 dB. Located in the floating editor only.

Output Fader value entry — The dB readout at the bottom of the fader is now an inline-editable QLineEdit. Click the value to enter edit mode; type a dB value and press Enter or click away to commit (clamped to -36.0 to +12.0 dB). Press Escape to cancel editing and restore the original value. The value shows a bare number (e.g., "-3.5") while editing and returns to formatted text (e.g., "-3.5 dB") on commit. Numeric values entered via this field trigger the same persist and redraw logic as canvas drags, ensuring all UI elements stay synchronized. When the gain is at or below -36 dB, the field displays "-inf".

Tips¶

The peak-hold trace tracks raw bins regardless of the smoothing setting. If you want to see both the smoothed trend and the raw peaks simultaneously, enable Peak Hold while smoothing is active.
1/6 or 1/3 smoothing is useful for comparing your EQ curve against the broad shape of the analyzer fill without fine bin-level noise obscuring the comparison.
Use the Output Fader value entry to set a precise gain value by typing rather than dragging the fader handle. This is especially useful for matching levels between TX and RX paths.
Reference curve presets are a starting point — shape your parametric EQ bands to match or deviate from the target curve as needed for your voice and microphone combination.

Troubleshooting¶

Smoothing combo is not visible — The combo is only present in the floating editor, not in the docked "Aetherial TX EQ" or "Aetherial RX EQ" applet tile. Open the editor by double-clicking the EQ stage in the CHAIN widget.
Changing smoothing in the TX editor also changes the RX editor — This is expected. ClientEqSmoothingFraction is a single global preference shared between both editors.
Parameter text row overlaps the band-plan strip — This was a display defect in versions prior to v0.9.7 where the parameter row's dark background bled upward over the canvas's band-plan strip. If you see this, update to v0.9.7 or later.
Output Fader value entry does not accept typed input — Ensure you click the value text to focus the field. The field shows a cyan border when it is in edit mode. If the field does not respond, the fader may not have received focus; click the value again.
Numeric entry via right-click menu in parameter row is not saved — This issue (GitHub #2655) is fixed in v26.5.2.1. When you commit a value via the parameter row's right-click menu, the EQ settings are now saved and the canvas and icon row are redrawn immediately. If you still see a delay, verify you are running v26.5.2.1 or later.