Spectral Morphing Delay Audio Unit for Logic Pro X
Deneb is a spectral audio effect that breaks your sound apart into individual frequency bands, processes each one independently, and puts it all back together. Unlike a normal delay that repeats the full signal, Deneb lets you assign a different delay time to every frequency region using a visual curve.
The result is a wide range of effects, from shimmering washes where highs trail behind lows, to frozen spectral snapshots, to chaotic frequency-scrambled textures. Deneb works as an Audio Unit effect inside Logic Pro X.
The large central display is the spectral curve editor. The horizontal axis represents frequency (low on the left, high on the right). The vertical axis represents delay time (longer delay toward the top).
You can drag the control points to reshape the curve. The curve uses smooth interpolation between points, so the transitions between frequency regions are gradual and natural-sounding.
Deneb has three processing modes, each offering a fundamentally different spectral effect. You can switch modes using the selector at the top of the interface.
Each frequency bin is delayed by the amount set on the curve. Low frequencies can echo at different rates than highs, creating evolving, smeared textures. The LFO modulates the delay times over time, adding organic movement.
Best for: ambient trails, pitch-separated echoes, modulated spectral smearing.
Captures a snapshot of the incoming spectrum and sustains it indefinitely. The frozen frame is resynthesized with phase vocoder techniques to produce a smooth, sustained tone from any input.
Best for: sustained drones, capturing a moment in time, pad-like textures from any source material.
Shuffles frequency bins to nearby positions, creating a smeared, granular character. The amount of scattering is controlled by a blend between the original and shuffled spectrum.
Best for: glitchy textures, frequency-domain granular effects, detuned and inharmonic tones.
Deneb's controls are organized into four groups along the bottom of the interface.
Default: 0 dB
Controls the level of the signal entering the effect. Use this to boost quiet signals or tame hot ones before they reach the spectral processor.
Default: 0 dB
Controls the final output level after processing. Useful for matching the effected signal to the rest of your mix.
Default: 50%
Blends between the dry (unprocessed) and wet (processed) signal. At 0% you hear only the original. At 100% you hear only the spectral effect. For parallel processing on a send/return, set this to 100%.
Default: 30%
Feeds the output of the spectral delay back into the input, creating repeating echoes that accumulate and evolve. Higher values produce longer, more complex tails. In Spectral Delay mode, this directly affects how many times the delayed spectrum repeats.
Default: 0% (off)
Enables source-aware processing. When active, Deneb analyzes each frequency band in real time to determine whether it contains transient material (like a drum hit or pluck) or sustained harmonic content (like a held note or pad).
As you increase this knob, transient content is increasingly protected from the effect while harmonic content receives the full processing. This lets percussive elements cut through clearly while tonal parts are smeared, frozen, or scattered.
At 0% (the default), source-aware analysis is completely disabled and has no performance cost.
See Source-Aware Processing below for full details.
Default: 1.0 Hz
Sets the speed of the low-frequency oscillator that modulates the delay times. Slower rates create gentle sweeping movement; faster rates produce more vibrato-like effects.
Default: 20%
Controls how much the LFO affects the delay times. At 0%, delay times remain static. At higher values, the LFO sweeps the delay times further from their base values, creating more pronounced spectral animation.
Default: Off
When enabled, the LFO rate locks to Logic Pro's tempo, keeping the spectral modulation in time with your project. When disabled, the LFO runs at the rate set by the LFO Rate knob, independent of tempo.
Default: 50%
Controls how quickly frequency bins are reshuffled in Scatter mode. Lower values produce slow, evolving changes. Higher values cause rapid, chaotic frequency movement. This parameter only affects the Scatter mode.
Source-aware processing is controlled by the Source knob in the Mix group. It adds an intelligent layer of analysis that distinguishes between transient and harmonic content in real time.
Deneb examines each frequency band on every processing frame, measuring how much each band's energy has changed since the last frame. Bands with sudden energy increases (spectral flux) are classified as transient. Bands with stable or slowly changing energy are classified as harmonic. This classification is smoothed over time to avoid jittery behavior.
The Source knob scales how much the classification affects processing. At 0%, classification is off entirely. As you increase the value, the distinction between transient and harmonic content becomes stronger:
Transient frequency bands receive shorter delay times (down to roughly 10% of the curve value) and less feedback (roughly 20%). This keeps percussive attacks tight and present while harmonic content trails and smears according to the full curve.
Harmonic bands freeze and sustain as normal. Transient bands allow the live input to pass through, so rhythmic elements remain dynamic on top of frozen tonal content.
Transient bands stay anchored at their original frequency positions. Harmonic bands scatter freely. This preserves the attack and clarity of percussive sounds while the tonal parts get rearranged.
When the Source knob is active, the spectral curve display shows a subtle color overlay on the frequency bands:
This gives you real-time visual feedback about how the source classification is interpreting your audio.
Deneb includes factory presets to help you get started, and supports saving your own presets.
Click the preset name in the top bar to open the preset browser. From there you can load any factory or user preset. To save your current settings, use the save button next to the preset name. Your presets are stored locally and persist between sessions.
Set a curve that rises from left to right so high frequencies have longer delays. Set Mix to about 40%, Feedback to 50%, and add a slow LFO (0.2 Hz, 30% depth). Vocal consonants will stay forward while vowel harmonics trail off into a shimmering tail.
Try adding Source at 30-50% to let the vocal attacks stay crisp while the tonal body drifts.
Switch to Freeze mode with Mix at 100%. Play any sound (a chord, a noise burst, even speech) and Deneb will capture and sustain its spectral content as a smooth, evolving pad. Adjust the curve to emphasize which frequency regions are more prominent in the freeze.
On a drum bus, use Scatter mode with Mix at 20-30% for a subtle frequency-smeared layer underneath the clean drums. Set Source to 60-80% so the transients of each hit stay clean while the tonal resonances of the drums get scattered into an inharmonic wash.
Use the Rhythmic Scatter preset (or create a zigzag curve with alternating high and low delay values). Enable Tempo Sync and set the LFO to add movement. The alternating delays create a rhythmic pattern as different parts of the spectrum echo at different rates.
Start with the Shimmer Wash preset. Set Feedback to 40-60% and Mix to about 35%. The upper harmonics of the guitar will sustain and layer on top of each other, building into a lush, reverb-like shimmer. Add Source at around 40% to keep pick attacks defined.
Crank Scatter Speed to 100%, Mix to 80-100%, and send any source through. The rapid frequency bin shuffling produces chaotic, glitchy textures. Automate the Mix knob to bring the effect in and out for dramatic transitions.