Bypass the tube from either chain¶
Use this procedure to enable or disable the tube saturator on the TX chain, the RX chain, or both, without changing any of the tuning knobs. Bypassing lets you compare the processed and unprocessed signal instantly and leaves all settings intact.
Before you start¶
- The Aetherial Audio (TXDSP) parent container must be visible in the applet panel. The "Aetherial Mic-PreAmp" (TX) and "Aetherial Dynamic Tube" (RX) sub-containers appear inside it.
- The TUBE stage must be present in the relevant CHAIN widget. Bypass is controlled by a single click on the TUBE stage in the CHAIN widget for the matching side.
Steps¶
- Locate the CHAIN widget for the side you want to change — TX or RX.
- Single-click the TUBE stage in that CHAIN widget to toggle bypass on or off.
- When the tube is active, the stage appears lit.
- When bypassed, the stage appears unlit and the signal passes through unprocessed.
- Repeat on the other side's CHAIN widget if you also want to bypass that chain.
The bypass state is persisted immediately. TX state is saved to ClientTubeTxEnabled; RX state is saved to ClientTubeRxEnabled.
What each control does¶
| Control | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer curve (indicator) | Compact-mode ClientTubeCurveWidget. Draws the currently-configured tube transfer curve with a live ball at the input. | — |
| Drive | Linear mapping. Pushes more signal into the tube stage. Valid range 0.0 to 24.0 dB. Label 'X.XX dB'. Left column of the editor. | 0.00 dB |
| Tone | Linear mapping. Negative values darken, positive brighten the saturated signal. Valid range -1.0 to 1.0. Label 'X.XX'. Centre row of the editor, left of the Model selector. | 0.00 |
| A | Selects tube character Model A. Exclusive with B and C. Amber when checked. Backing value stored as integer 0/½ in ClientTubeTxModel / ClientTubeRxModel. |
checked |
| B | Selects tube character Model B. Exclusive with A and C. Amber when checked. | unchecked |
| C | Selects tube character Model C. Exclusive with A and B. Amber when checked. | unchecked |
| Bias | Linear mapping. Shifts the operating point on the transfer curve, changing the harmonic mix. Valid range 0.0 to 1.0. Label displayed as percentage. Centre row of the editor, right of the Model selector. Setting key is ClientTubeTxBias (not ClientTubeTxBiasAmount). |
0 % |
| Output | Linear mapping. Post-tube make-up / trim gain. Valid range -24.0 to 12.0 dB. Label 'X.XX dB'. Left column of the editor. Setting key is ClientTubeOutputDb (not ClientTubeOutputGainDb). |
0.00 dB |
| Dry/Wet | Linear mapping. Dry / wet blend (100 % = fully saturated signal). Valid range 0.0 to 1.0. Label displayed as percentage. Left column of the editor (top knob). | 100 % |
| Envelope | Linear mapping (-1.0 to +1.0). Positive values increase drive on transients (the tube gets hotter on loud peaks); negative values reduce it, compressing harmonics dynamically. Label displayed as percentage (signed). Right column of the editor. Setting key ClientTubeTxEnvelope / ClientTubeRxEnvelope. |
0 % |
| Attack | Exponential mapping (0.1 * 300^n). Sets how quickly the envelope follower responds to rising levels when Envelope ≠ 0. Valid range 0.1 to 30.0 ms. Label 'X.XX ms' below 10 ms, 'X.X ms' above. Right column of the editor. | 5.00 ms |
| Release | Exponential mapping (10 * 50^n). Sets how quickly the envelope follower recovers after levels drop when Envelope ≠ 0. Valid range 10.0 to 500.0 ms. Label 'X.XX ms' below 100 ms, 'X.X ms' above. Right column of the editor. | 35.00 ms |
| RN2 | TX-only toggle (hidden in RX mode). Enables RNNoise neural denoiser on the mic input before the DSP chain. Suppresses background noise before it reaches gate/compressor/saturator. | Located in the floating StripTubePanel below the output level meter, TX side only. Voice modes only — digital modes (RADE, DAX, RTTY, FT8, FDV, CW) bypass this stage. Setting persisted via AudioEngine. |
| TUBE stage (TX) — single click | Toggles the TX tube saturator in or out of the signal chain | — |
| TUBE stage (RX) — single click | Toggles the RX tube saturator in or out of the signal chain | — |
| ## Tips |
- Double-clicking the TUBE stage in the CHAIN widget opens the floating editor ("Aetherial Tube — TX" or "Aetherial Tube — RX") instead of toggling bypass. Use a single click for bypass only.
- All knob values (Drive, Tone, Bias, Output, Dry/Wet, Envelope, Attack, Release) are unaffected by bypass. You can re-enable the tube at any time and the previous settings are restored.
- When the tube stage is bypassed, the entire docked applet tile dims to approximately 55 % opacity. This matches the dim effect used by the EQ curve tile and gives a clear at-a-glance indication that processing is inactive. The tile returns to full opacity as soon as bypass is turned off.
- The transfer curve and live input ball in the applet tile continue to reflect the current knob positions even while bypassed.
- The floating editor includes an Output level meter (labelled OUT) on the far right. It shows post-saturation peak level with fast-attack/slow-release ballistics and is colour-coded: green (−60 to −12 dB), lime (−12 to −6 dB), amber (−6 to −3 dB), and red (above −3 dB). The meter is not visible in the docked applet tile.
- Each knob supports inline value editing. Click a knob's value label in the floating editor to open a QLineEdit overlay. Type a value and press Enter or click elsewhere to commit. The value is clamped to the knob's valid range. Press Escape to cancel without changing the value.