Acetate reference

Everything Acetate's in-app Help screen says, on one page. Bookmark this if you want to read before downloading.

00 · Installing on macOS

Drag Acetate.app into your Applications folder.
Double-click the app. You're in.

Acetate is signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so Gatekeeper lets it open on first launch - no Terminal commands needed.

00b · Installing on Windows

The Windows build is experimental: unsigned, and tested on fewer machines than the macOS build. Report anything odd to hello@acetate.lol.

Acetate isn't signed with a Windows code-signing certificate yet. SmartScreen will block the installer the first time you run it, with a blue "Windows protected your PC" dialog. To clear it:

Double-click Acetate_1.0.3_x64-setup.exe. SmartScreen pops up.
Click the small More info link inside the dialog (it sits below the bolded message - easy to miss).
Click the new Run anyway button that appears, then walk through the installer as normal.
Launch Acetate from the Start menu. You're in.

You only need to clear SmartScreen once per install. A code-signed installer is coming - this step goes away then.

01 · Quickstart

Drop a track. WAV, AIFF, FLAC, or MP3. Acetate reads the format and warns if anything looks off.
Let it analyze. About 5 seconds per minute of audio. You'll see LUFS, true peak, dynamic range, and a detected genre with a proposed chain.
Pick where it's going. Choose Club, Streaming, or Critical listening (or Gentle) and Acetate sets its loudness target and chain to match. You set this once at first run; change it anytime in Settings or per track.
Adjust if you want. Nudge the target LUFS, override the genre, or toggle the "air bell" for dark masters. Or just accept the defaults.
Preview a snippet. Open PREVIEW, drag a 10-30s window on the waveform, and hear that section mastered with the current chain - before committing the whole track. SOURCE/PREVIEW A/Bs the section.
Master. Acetate applies a tailored processing chain - cleanup, tonal correction, dynamics, and limiting - each step shown in the chain log when it applies.
A/B and export. Audition before vs. after sample-aligned. Export WAV, AIFF, FLAC, or MP3 when it sounds right - format, bit depth, dither, and normalize live in Settings.

Dashboard listing recent masters — Dashboard - recent masters

Analysis screen with stats, spectral balance, and proposed chain — Analysis - stats, spectral, proposed chain

Warning that the source mix is already clipped — Clipped-source warning, before you master

Preview snippet modal with a selected window on the waveform — Preview a snippet before mastering

A/B before and after with export — A/B, then export

02 · Genre presets

techno: Weighty low end, controlled highs, competitive loudness target.
deep_house / minimal: Warmer tonal balance, gentler dynamics, preserves groove and swing.
microhouse: Light touch on dynamics, focus on transient clarity, optional top-end lift.
idm: Wider dynamic range, more transient preservation, lighter limiting.
(unknown): Falls back to a safe transparent chain - good for material the classifier hasn't seen.

03 · Chain pills

Each pill in the chain log is one processing step Acetate applied. Steps that didn't fire don't show up. Ordered from cleanup to final loudness.

DC Fix: Removes a constant DC offset before processing - frees up dynamic range.
HP NHz: High-pass filter. Rolls off sub rumble and inaudible content.
Click Repair: Detects and smooths transient clicks - needle drops, glitchy edits, mouse clicks bleeding into a take.
Gate NdB: Noise gate. Silences low-level noise between passages - room tone, hiss, bleed.
EQ ±NdB @NHz: Targeted boost or cut at a specific frequency band.
Sub +NdB: Low shelf. Adds warmth and weight to the low end.
Mid Body +NdB: Lower-mid emphasis for body and thickness without muddying.
Air Shelf +NdB: Opens up the top end as a broad lift for dark masters.
Presence +NdB: Upper-mid lift for clarity and forward edge on vocals and leads.
Hat De-Esser: Dynamic reduction of sibilance and hi-hat harshness, only when they spike.
Hat Trim NdB: Static high-frequency cut. Used when de-essing alone isn't enough.
Punch +NdB: Transient shaper. Boosts attack edges - snap on drums and percussive elements.
Sat N%: Harmonic saturation for warmth, glue, and better translation on small speakers.
Mid Blend: Parallel compression. Gels the body without flattening transients.
Compression: Whole-mix glue compressor. Light ratio, slow attack - cohesion over crush.
Density Push: Pushes weight without crushing transients. Opt-in.
Limiter NdBTP: True-peak limiter. Prevents inter-sample clipping. Always on.
Gain → N LUFS: Final gain to the target loudness. Always on.

03b · Export formats and settings

Set once in Settings, applied to every export. WAV and AIFF are the masters; FLAC and MP3 are for sharing.

WAV / AIFF: 16, 24, or 32-bit float. TPDF dither applies automatically at 16-bit - leave it on unless you know why not.
FLAC: Lossless, smaller files. 16 or 24-bit.
MP3: High-quality VBR, not fixed CBR - bits go where the music needs them.
Normalize: On by default: the export is gained to your loudness target. Turn it off to leave the file exactly as the chain rendered it.

04 · Terms

LUFS: Perceived loudness. -14 is streaming-quiet; -8 is club-loud.
True peak: Inter-sample peak - what an over-sampled DAC actually sees.
DR: Dynamic range. Higher = more breathing room.
Air bell: A narrow high-frequency boost that opens up dark masters without harshness.

05 · Trouble?

Master sounds dim or muffled → try the default chain instead of an explicit genre, or enable the air bell.
Long track (DJ mix, extended set) → Acetate handles it automatically. Review level changes on the Review Draft screen, then render to disk.
Export button has a lock icon → you've used your free master. Activate a license key to unlock unlimited exports.
Check for updates → Settings, Help tab, Check for updates.

06 · Support

Email hello@acetate.lol - include the track filename, your build number, and what went wrong. Logs help.