> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nomn.jp/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Densification > The sparse-FIR cascade, its placement profiles, cascade depth, envelope, resonance smoother and bass split # Densification On the DENSIFICATION tab a cascade of sparse FIR filters produces 10,000 to 200,000 short, time-staggered copies of the input (set by **count**; fewer at **depth** max). A placement profile decides where those copies fall in time, and an envelope shapes their level over **length**. The stage returns the source at **direct** with the cascade at **sheen** beside it, and the header MIX crossfades between the incoming signal and that result. ## TEXTURE | Control | Range | Default | What it does | | - | - | - | - | | **sheen** | 0 to 50 % | 35 % | Level of the cascade returned beside the source. | | **direct** | 0 to 100 % | 100 % | Level of the source carried through the stage. At 100 % densification is additive; at 0 only the densified field remains. On a multichannel output the Density object places this source along with the cascade. *EXPERT view.* | | **count** | 10k to 200k | 200k | Effective total tap count across the cascade at **depth** med or deep. At max it has no effect (see [Cascade Depth](#cascade-depth)). Lower counts thin the field and lighten the CPU load. *EXPERT view.* | | **shape** | 8 profiles | Golden | The tap-placement profile. See below. | | **depth** | deep / med / max | med | How the cascade is split into stages. Drawn as three dots. *EXPERT view.* See [Cascade Depth](#cascade-depth). | | **length** | 0 to 8 s | 1.2 s | How long the densified field lasts. The SPACE tail has its own decay time, **size**. | **sheen** stops at 50 %. The cascade is a long, programmable comb, and past that point a cascade this dense dominates the spectrum and reads as comb filtering. ### Tap-Placement Profiles Each profile is a different law for placing taps in time. The tap count is the same across all eight, and only the placement changes. | shape | Placement | | - | - | | **Regular** | Dense at the start, thinning steadily toward the end | | **Golden** | Close to even spacing | | **Even** | The most uniform of the eight | | **Natural** | Even coverage with irregular gaps | | **Branching** | A self-similar pattern built from two gap sizes | | **Prime** | Slightly front-weighted, with gaps that widen irregularly | | **Chaos** | Clumped into irregular clusters | | **Voice** | Bursts that thin out over the length | The late tail on the SPACE tab follows the active profile too. Its delay lengths shift with the profile, so changing **shape** changes the tail as well as the densified field. ### Cascade Depth **depth** sets how many filters the cascade runs in series and divides **count** between them. | depth | Stages | Character | | - | - | - | | **deep** | 3 | Smoothest, lightest on CPU | | **med** (default) | 2 | Between the two | | **max** | 1 | Sharpest per-stage character, heaviest on CPU | At max the single stage runs 3,001 taps whatever **count** is set to, so **count** only changes the sound at med and deep. **depth** at max is the heaviest setting in ANTIVERB: at a count of 200k the densifier uses about three times the CPU it uses at med. On a single track it can use most of one CPU core even when the machine as a whole is lightly loaded. Use med or deep if the host reports overloads. ## ONSET & SHAPE In the host's automation list, **curve** is called Shape and the **shape** knob on TEXTURE is called Character. Open **\[+] ONSET & SHAPE** (EXPERT view) for the envelope and timing of the field. The envelope has three sections: a fall from 0 dB to **drop** over **drop time**, a flat plateau at **drop** for **hold**, then a **curve** down to -60 dB at **length**. Envelope times run from the input, and the taps fill the span from **start** to **length**. | Control | Range | Default | What it does | | - | - | - | - | | **start** | 10 µs to 30 ms | 40 µs | Delay before the first tap. Microseconds sound tight; tens of milliseconds give an audible gap. | | **lead** | 0.1 to 10 ms | 3 ms | Window over which **punch** settles back to 0 dB. No effect when punch is 0, except at **length** 0 (see below). | | **hold** | 0 to 500 ms | 100 ms | Length of the plateau. | | **jitter** | 0 to 10 % | 2 % | Random offset of each tap within its local spacing; breaks up audible periodicity. | | **spacing** | 0 to 30 % | 5 % | Difference between left and right tap positions. At 0 both channels carry the same field. | | **skew** | 0 to 100 % | 50 % | Warps tap positions: below 50 % pulls taps toward the start, above 50 % toward the end. 50 % leaves the profile as it is. | | **curve** | Linear / Soft / Sharp | Linear | Shape of the final decay. Soft holds up and drops late; Sharp drops early. | | **punch** | -6 to +6 dB | 0 dB | Lifts (positive) or softens (negative) the leading edge over **lead**. | | **drop time** | 5 to 100 ms | 20 ms | Length of the first section. | | **drop** | -24 to 0 dB | -6 dB | Level reached at the end of **drop time**, and the plateau level. | At **length** 0 the stage switches to a fixed 5 ms field. **lead** then sets how quickly that short field rises to its peak, and **drop**, **drop time**, **hold**, **curve**, **punch** and **spacing** have no effect. ## TAMER (Resonance Smoother) A dense comb leaves spectral peaks above the average, which ANTIVERB cuts in two stages (a fixed correction and the resonance smoother). Each time the cascade is rebuilt, ANTIVERB corrects its strongest peaks and notches. This correction is always on and has no controls. The resonance smoother under **\[+] TAMER** (EXPERT view) acts on the moving signal. It compares each part of the densified output's spectrum with the local average and cuts only where a peak rises more than **threshold** above it. | Control | Range | Default | What it does | | - | - | - | - | | **amount** | 0 to 100 % | 0 % (off) | How strongly peaks are cut. 0 passes the signal untouched; about 50 % is gentle. Above 0 the smoother adds 1,024 samples of latency, which ANTIVERB reports to the host. | | **mode** | Stereo / Center+Sides | Stereo | Stereo smooths each channel on its own. Center+Sides works on mid and side separately, so centre resonances can be cut without narrowing the image. On a multichannel output the smoother always works channel by channel, so Center+Sides behaves as Stereo there. | | **threshold** | 0 to 24 dB | 6 dB | How far above the trend a peak must rise before it is cut. Lower catches more peaks. | | **high** | 2 to 20 kHz | 20 kHz | Upper edge of the range the smoother works in. | | **low** | 20 Hz to 2 kHz | 100 Hz | Lower edge of the range the smoother works in. | | **tilt** | -12 to +12 dB/oct | 0 dB/oct | Tilts the reference trend around 1 kHz. Positive protects the highs; negative protects the lows. | ## MULTIBAND (Bass Split) The two-band mode under **\[+] MULTIBAND** (EXPERT view) splits the input at **crossover** with a 24 dB/octave crossover. The low band runs through a single sparse filter with its own tap count, set by **low density**, and the high band runs the full cascade, which keeps the bass articulate under a dense top. | Control | Range | Default | What it does | | - | - | - | - | | **engage** | off / on | off | Turns the bass split on. | | **low density** | 16 to 256 | 256 | Tap count for the low band. Small values keep the bass tight; larger values add low-frequency density. | | **crossover** | 60 Hz to 1 kHz | 300 Hz | Split frequency. | While the bass split is engaged, **low cut** (the densifier's high-pass on the TONE tab) has no effect, since the high band already starts at **crossover**. The bass split works on a stereo output only. On a multichannel output the densifier runs unsplit and the three MULTIBAND controls do nothing. ## Densifier EQ The densifier's EQ (**top boost**, **low cut**, **dry top**, **dry top Hz**) sits on the TONE tab. See [Tone](/antiverb/interface/tone#densifier-eq). ## Host Automation Names Some knobs carry a different name in the host's automation list. See [Parameter Reference](/antiverb/reference/parameters#automation-names). This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.