P

User Guide
Version 1.0
Marc Daniel Nelson: Biography

Marc Daniel Nelson is a Grammy and French Academy Award nominated mixing engineer,
music producer and creative director. He has been mixing, producing and managing creative
content for over 23 years.

His music credits include Fleetwood Mac, Jason Mraz, Joni Mitchell, Colbie Caillat, Eric
Burdon, Ben Harper, Need To Breathe, Robert Duvall, Ozomotli, John Fogerty, Reik and
more. As Protégé for both legendary producer / engineer Bill Schnee and Ken Caillat, Marc has
carried the torch for impeccable quality sound and production.

His film credits include Solo, Blade Runner, The Vietnam War, Mulan, The Expanse, Wild
Horses, Point Break, No Manches Frida, Fractured, Amanda, Father Figures, Ya, Ty, Vin,
Vona and more.

His creative management credits include executive producing the 13 episode PBS television
series, creating and executive producing the national video campaign for Guitar Center.
Creative directing for Alcon Sleeping Giant, ArtistMax, Produce Like A Pro, Inside Blackbird
and Warner Chappell.

https://www.marcdanielnelson.com/
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8392038/

1
Preface

There is an inherent magic in the analog realm, where manipulating dials always results in a musical interpretation of the
audio passing through it. This stands in stark contrast to the limitations faced by digital EQ plugins – from missed nuances to
glassy highs and boomy lows. The P450 MDN EQ challenges and ultimately solves fundamental issues with the digital auditory
experience and offers the essence of a high-end, punchy analog op-amp driven stereo equalizer.

Sharing common lineage with the P455 MDN Sidecar EQ module, the P450 MDN EQ offers a more comprehensive yet more
efficient, mixing-focused EQ with an industry-wide sought-after punchy low mid frequency sound quality.

The P450 LPF and HPF frequency points complement those found in P455. Each filter frequency point is individually tuned
with its resonance value, ensuring a musical touch that goes beyond simple frequency adjustments.

P450 MDN EQ goes full analog and features the natural low-frequency bump and saturation typical of transformer-coupled
circuitry. Adding to the analog realism, the multiplier affects not only the shape of the EQ curve and distortion at equivalent gain
but also influences the behavior of the intoxicating low bump.

This is not your typical digital EQ. Feel free to push the gain to 6, 9, or even 12 dB, and let the P450 MDN EQ reward you with
beautiful tones. Say goodbye to cute graphic dancing frequencies on your screen, overwhelming numbers of features and icons,
blinking lights and dreaded auto-gain – and dive into the joy of P450 MDN EQ.

Ziad Sidawi
Audio Equipment Designer & CEO
Pulsar Novation LTD

2
 Preset Browser Options Menu
RMS or PEAK IN / OUT About / License Status
Click the labels or numeric displays to switch / User Guide / Options
between RMS or peak in / out metering. and Preferences

OUTPUT
BIAS Clean output gain.
Calibrates the internal line
amp to run hot or run cool.

IN/OUT
Bypass control.
LPF / HPF Banks
Fixed low pass and high pass filter banks.

Polarity

HI
Selectable center point, stepped gain, proportional
Q EQ band, selectable as peak or shelf.
Peak / Shelf
Sets the HI band to either peak (up)
or shelf (down).
HI-MID
Selectable center point, stepped gain,
proportional Q peak filter EQ band. Gain Multiplier
Adjusts all stepped gain values based on
the selected multiplier (x1, x.5 or x.25).
LO-MID
Selectable center point, stepped gain,
proportional Q peak filter EQ band. Peak / Shelf
Sets the LO band to either peak (up)
or shelf (down).
LO
Selectable center point, stepped gain, proportional
Q EQ band, selectable as peak or shelf.
Save – Saves the size and
position of the current
instance.

A/B Compare
OS Bypass Theme Selection
Available at >= 88.2 kHz
sample rates.

3
 Browse, load and save Theme Settings – Switches the faceplate and controls to a
presets using the Preset Browser. Save over the current desired visual theme based on the following choices:
preset by clicking the left save icon or create a new preset • New: The New theme is always used.
with the right save icon. A red asterisk* will show up next • Old: The Old theme is always used.
to the left save icon to indicate the preset has been • Preset: The choice of New or Old will be stored and
changed from its original parameters. recalled with each preset. When this option is used,
a theme selection button is shown beside the
Note: Modified factory presets will be overwritten when Options Menu button.
updating the software unless the install presets option is
deselected. User created presets with different names than the A/B allows for temporary storage of different
provided preset names will not be replaced or deleted. settings for quick comparison. The arrow button allows for
copying the active side to the inactive side.
Options Menu

Tip: When comparing settings, clicking the A/B button will

About – Check the version perform the toggle. This is a single button, so it is not necessary to
number or demo expiration date. move the mouse to alternate back and forth. This makes it easy to
compare without knowing which one is selected. We recommend
License Status – Use this option to authorize or doing this with your eyes closed for maximum focus.
deauthorize your software. The internet is required for this
action. Note: When saving a preset, only the active parameters in the
selected A/B slot are saved – the opposite slot is not saved.
User Guide – Open the user guide in PDF format.
OS enables or disables EQ oversampling. This
Set Default Size – Saves the size of the current P450 GUI option is available at sample rates of 88.2 kHz or higher.
as the default size used when inserting new P450 EQ oversampling is always active at sample rates of 48
instances. kHz and lower.

4
 Choose the look of brand-new factory fresh piece Note: The selected RMS or PEAK option is saved when you
or a vintage barn find treasure. Either way, sound will not save a preset!
be altered.
The OUTPUT knob provides clean digital
BIAS sets the amplification operating point of boost or cut at the final output stage.
the internal line amp circuitry, allowing it to
‘run hot’ or ‘run cool’.

Pushing (clockwise) or pulling (counterclockwise) BIAS will The LPF (low pass filter) and HPF
drive or back off for a tighter, forward, more aggressive (high pass filter) banks are
tone (pushed) or a more relaxed, deeper tone with more positioned after the four frequency
clarity and space (pulled). bands.

RMS (Root Mean Square) metering and peak The low pass filters are exceptionally smooth and the high
metering are two different methods of pass filters are particularly punchy due to their very unique
measuring audio signal levels, providing designs. These are not typical off the shelf generic filters.
insights into different aspects of the signal.
Clicking on a frequency point button toggles it on or off.
Peak metering is more concerned with identifying the One frequency point per bank can be on.
highest instantaneous levels of a signal, while RMS
metering provides a more averaged and sustained Tip: Pushing a band or shelf EQ into these filters produces
measurement, giving a better representation of the signal's beautiful, playdough-like shapes. As a simple example, try
perceived loudness over time. enabling the 30 Hz HPF along with a 30 Hz low shelf bump of 2
dB on a kick drum for simultaneous tightening and embeefening;
or try a 3 kHz LPF with a 4 dB boost from the high shelf at 2.5
Switch between these options by clicking on the RMS OUT
kHz on a drum group. This will contain the drums, focus it and
/ RMS IN or PEAK OUT / PEAK IN labels or the numeric
make it super punchy with less high frequencies.
displays.

5
 IN/OUT is a bypass control, allowing the The topmost and bottommost bands can be set
unaffected audio signal to pass through without as either peaking or shelving filters by using the
being processed. corresponding peak/shelf switch. The up
position selects peak, while the down position selects
Polarity inverts the audio signal. shelf.

The Gain Multiplier switch changes the stepped

P450 offers four frequency gain dB amounts according to the selected
bands logically arranged position.
from top (high) to bottom
(low): HI, HI-MID, LO-MID, Calculations are made by multiplying the selected option
LO. (x1, x.5 or x.25) by the value corresponding to the tick on
the gain knob.
Each band features selectable frequency points and
stepped gain with proportional Q, whereby the Q factor is Tip: While you might get similar gain value if you used 2 dB
adjusted dynamically based on the amount of boost or cut. gain with an x1 multiplier verses a 4 dB with a x.5 multiplier,
As the boost or cut is increased, Q narrows proportionally. please note that the frequency point and the shape of the Q is a
bit different. As such, use your ears to audition which works best
on the audio you are working with.
Every frequency point underwent meticulous tuning by ear
at each gain step and multiplier setting, expressing
Note: When gain is adjusted or a gain knob is clicked, the
craftsmanship in every detail.
popup numeric display shows the calculated gain, which is the
selected gain value multiplied by the multiplier switch value.
To temporarily bypass EQ bands, press and hold
CTRL+ALT (Windows) or CMD+OPTION (macOS) while
the mouse is over a control. Additional bands can be
bypassed by continuing to hold the key combination and
hovering the mouse over them.

6
Managing Presets

Basics

If the option to install presets is not deselected during installation, the installer will overwrite the factory presets. User
created presets will remain unaltered. To safeguard any modifications made to factory presets and preserve them during an
update, make sure to deselect the install presets option when running the installer. Also, remember to save your own presets
with different names using the 'save as' option located to the right of the preset browser.

Backing Up Presets

Presets can be backed up and restored using your operating system file manager. Simply perform a copy/paste of either
individual preset files or the full presets folder to a backup location of your choosing. The presets folder can be found in the
following locations:

For Windows

‘C:\Users\Public\Documents\Pulsar Modular\P450 MDN EQ\Presets’

For macOS

‘/Users/Shared/Pulsar Modular/P450 MDN EQ/Presets’

7
General

Mouse and Key Modifiers

Fine adjustment of knobs, sliders and other controls

Press and hold control (⌃) on macOS or CTRL on Windows, then left click and drag. Alternatively right click and drag without
a key modifier.

Return controls to their default state

Press option (⌥) on macOS or ALT on Windows and left click. Alternatively, double-click without a key modifier.

Temporarily bypass one or more EQ bands

Press and hold command + option (⌘ + ⌥) on macOS or CTRL + ALT on Windows while moving the mouse cursor over the
chosen EQ bands to bypass them. Release the modifier keys to re-engage the bypassed bands.

Enable parameters for automation (Pro Tools only)

Press control + command + option (⌃ + ⌘ + ⌥) on macOS or CTRL + ALT + START () on Windows.

8
Uninstalling P450 MDN EQ

For Windows

● VST3: In ‘C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3’, locate the ‘P450 MDN EQ.vst3’ file and delete it.
● AAX: In ‘C:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins’, locate the ‘P450 MDN EQ.aaxplugin’ folder and delete
it.
● Shared: In ‘C:\Users\Public\Documents\Pulsar Modular’, locate the ‘P450 MDN EQ folder and delete it. This folder
contains the user guide and presets. If no other folders exist under ‘Pulsar Modular’, this can be deleted as well.

For macOS

● AU: In ‘/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components’, locate the ‘P450 MDN EQ.component’ file and delete it.
● VST3: In ‘/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3’, locate the ‘P450 MDN EQ.vst3’ file and delete it.
● AAX: In ‘/Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins’, locate the ‘P450 MDN EQ.aaxplugin’ folder and delete it.
● Shared: In ‘/Users/Shared/Pulsar Modular’, locate the ‘P450 MDN EQ folder and delete it. This folder contains the user
guide and presets. If no other folders exist under ‘Pulsar Modular’, this can be deleted as well.

Restrictions

The USER may not reverse engineer, disassemble, re-sample, create Impulse Response profiles or re-record, decompile,
modify, alter in whole or in part PULSAR NOVATION LTD audio plugins for the intent of renting, leasing, distributing,
repackaging (whether for profit or not).

9
 Plugin Concept / GUI Design: Marc Daniel Nelson
DSP Engine Design: Ziad Sidawi
Plugin Development: Pulsar Modular Team
GUI Development: Max Ponomaryov / azzimov GUI design – www.behance.net/azzimov
User Guide: Kevin Eagles

Preset Creators: Max Ponomaryov (AZ) Ziad Sidawi Brad Smith (BS)

Testers: Leo Alvarez Jason Fernandez Matthias Klein

Eric Bridenbaker Scott Fritz Mark Pixley
Brian Carr Ross Harvey Niklas Silen
Les Cooper Ry Herma Brad Smith
Kevin Eagles Thomas Juth Marc Smith
Thomas Etholm-Kjeldsen Ilpo Kärkkäinen Hilton Stroud
Gus Granite Naruki Konagaya Stephen Wright

Please kindly report any errors or omissions in this user guide to psupport@pulsarmodular.com.

To print this guide, we recommend using a free pdf color inversion service like https://invert-pdf.club.

10
Copyright 2024, Pulsar Novation Ltd.
P/N: 33923, Rev. 1.0
Pulsar Modular is a registered trademark of Pulsar Novation Ltd.
P455 MDN Sidecar is a plugin name owned by Pulsar Novation Ltd.

AAX and Pro Tools are trademarks of Avid Technology. Names and logos are used with permission.
Audio Units is a trademark of Apple, Inc.
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.

The intellectual property rights, including names, logos, and trademarks associated with studio equipment and accessory brands,
including API, belong to their respective owners and are not affiliated with Pulsar Modular or Marc Daniel Nelson. This plugin is designed
to replicate the unique audio equalization, compression, and summing envisioned by Pulsar Modular and Marc Daniel Nelson. Any use of
names, logos, or trademarks is solely for identification purposes to illustrate the hardware chain and audio workflow that inspired this
product.

Pulsar Novation Ltd.

Demircikara District, 1419 Street, Ocean City Block B, Floor 4
Muratpaşa, ANTALYA 07100 +90-530-111-4907

www.pulsarmodular.com

11