User manual
Silk manual.
A practical guide to installing, unlocking, and using Silk with the current production interface.
One-minute setup
Start small, then decide what the track actually needs.
Silk is a finishing enhancer, not a repair chain. It works best when the source already feels close and the remaining job is height, width, and smoothness.
Load Silk on a vocal, instrument, drum bus, or mix bus that already feels close.
Choose a factory preset near the job, or start from Init.
Raise Air Lift until the source opens up, then stop before the lift calls attention to itself.
Use De-Harsh if the added air gets sharp, glassy, or fatiguing.
Add Warmth only when De-Harsh is actively restraining energy and the result needs body.
Use Width on stereo material when the sides need more height or space.
Turn on Auto Gain while judging changes, then set Output manually if the final level matters.
Leave Soft Guard on for normal use.
Install
Use the platform installer from your receipt.
The installers put Silk in the standard system plug-in locations. If your DAW was open during install, restart it before looking for Silk.
macOS
Run the macOS installer from your Lemon Squeezy receipt. It installs AU and VST3, then your DAW may need a restart or plug-in rescan.
- AU: /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/Silk.component
- VST3: /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/Silk.vst3
- Use AU in Logic Pro. Use VST3 in hosts that prefer VST3.
Windows
Run the Windows setup installer from your Lemon Squeezy receipt. Allow administrator permission if Windows asks, then restart or rescan your DAW.
- VST3: %CommonProgramFiles%\VST3\Spectraforge\Silk.vst3
- The normal customer download is the setup executable.
- Raw VST3 zips are backup/manual artifacts, not the recommended install path.
Licence
Lemon key proves purchase. Silk.silk-license unlocks the plugin.
The website validates your Lemon Squeezy key and returns a signed offline file. After import, Silk verifies the file locally.
Buy Silk
Lemon Squeezy emails your download link and Lemon Squeezy licence key after checkout.
Generate Silk.silk-license
Open the licence page, paste your Lemon key and purchase email, then download the signed offline file.
Generate licence fileImport inside Silk
Open Silk, choose Import License from the licence overlay or info panel, and select Silk.silk-license.
Work offline
Silk validates the signed file locally. The plugin does not phone home, use iLok, or require online activation inside your DAW.
Interface map
Four zones, one finishing job.
The interface is split into comparison, analysis, tone, and utility areas so you can work fast without hunting through nested pages.
Top bar
Preset, A/B, Bypass, Information, and Tooltip Help live along the top interaction rail.
Analyzer
The center display shows measured input/output activity, De-Harsh suppression, and Warmth return behavior.
Tone deck
Air Lift, Width, De-Harsh, and Warmth are the main sound-shaping controls.
Footer
Input, Quality, Auto Gain, Mix, Soft Guard, and Output handle gain staging, comparison, and processing safety.
Controls
Control defaults and what each section does.
These names match the current Silk interface and host automation labels. Use them when saving notes or contacting support.
Air Lift
Air Lift is the main air-band enhancement. It adds Silk's shaped high-frequency lift as an additive mid/side tone rather than behaving like a normal treble shelf.
Listen for
- More openness above the presence range.
- Forward detail without simply boosting all treble.
- Brightness that still feels attached to the source.
Use less when
- Cymbals become splashy.
- Vocal esses feel detached.
- The result is impressive for three seconds, then tiring.
Width
Width opens the side image. At 0%, the side image is neutral. As Width rises, stereo material can feel wider and more spacious.
Listen for
- More room around backing vocals, guitars, synths, cymbals, or mix bus air.
- A center image that stays focused while the sides open.
- A wider top end without forcing every track louder.
Use less when
- The vocal, kick, snare, or bass loses center focus.
- Low-level side details become distracting.
- Mono compatibility matters more than stereo size.
De-Harsh
De-Harsh controls sharpness in the added enhancement path. It listens around 3-9 kHz and ducks the harsh part of the lift before it becomes uncomfortable.
Listen for
- Air Lift staying smooth when pushed harder.
- Vocal presence sitting forward without stabbing.
- Cymbal lift becoming polished instead of glassy.
Use less when
- The source already feels smooth.
- You want the full lift character.
- The result feels too tucked or polite.
Warmth
Warmth returns controlled De-Harsh energy as smoother harmonic body. It is not a standalone warmth generator: it needs Air Lift and real De-Harsh activity to become obvious.
Listen for
- Air that does not thin out the vocal or bus.
- A softer landing after De-Harsh has restrained sharp energy.
- More body in bright acoustic instruments or parallel effects.
Use less when
- Upper mids feel cloudy.
- Low-level texture gets dense.
- You want clean, surgical brightness.
Utility controls
Gain, quality, comparison, and guardrails.
These controls decide how hard Silk is driven, how you compare the result, and how much CPU/latency you spend on the final polish.
Input
Input trims the signal before processing. With Auto Gain on, it behaves more like drive into Silk because the output is level-matched for comparison.
Mix
Mix blends dry and Silk inside the processed path. 0% is dry, 50% is a parallel blend, and 100% is full Silk.
Output
Output trims the processed path after Mix and Auto Gain. If full Bypass is engaged, the raw bypass path does not use this trim.
Auto Gain
Auto Gain uses perceptual K-weighted measurement to help level-match processed and unprocessed listening. It helps you avoid choosing the louder option by mistake.
Soft Guard
Soft Guard catches overs created by Air Lift or Width. It is not a brickwall limiter or mastering safety net, so final headroom still belongs to your mix chain.
Quality
Quality selects Off, 2x, or 4x processing. 2x is the normal balance; 4x is best for final bus decisions; Off is useful for tracking or dense sessions.
Signal flow
What happens inside Silk.
This is the practical order to understand when dialing settings. It is intentionally simpler than the engineering internals.
Presets
18 factory presets, designed as starting points.
Presets set Air Lift, Width, Warmth, Mix, and De-Harsh. They do not set Input, Output, Quality, Auto Gain, Soft Guard, or Bypass.
Clean starts
Use these when the source already works and you only need a controlled lift.
Init, Master Air, Mix Bus Lift, Center Shine
Vocals
Start here for lead vocals, bright vocals, or layered background vocals.
Vocal Air, Vocal Guard, Vocal Stack
Instruments and drums
Use these for source-specific sheen and controlled edge.
Drum Bus Polish, Cymbal Guard, Acoustic Sheen, Piano Air, Guitar Chime
Stereo and character
Use these when you want a more obvious starting point, then pull Mix back if needed.
Open Sides, Warm Return, Dark Mix Lift, Bright Guard, Parallel Gloss, Soft Air Wash
Loading a preset resets A/B to slot A and seeds both slots from the preset, so you can immediately fork an alternate version.
Workflows
Useful starting recipes.
Treat these as starting points, not rules. The best setting is the quiet one that survives a bypass check after your ears reset.
Vocal polish
Start with Vocal Air or Vocal Guard. Raise Air Lift until the vocal opens, then raise De-Harsh if esses or presence become sharp. Add a little Warmth if the vocal thins out.
Mix bus air
Start with Master Air or Mix Bus Lift. Keep Air Lift modest, use Width sparingly, leave Soft Guard on, and use 2x or 4x Quality for final decisions.
Bright source control
Start with Cymbal Guard or Bright Guard. Use De-Harsh first, then set Air Lift lower than you think. Warmth can help if the source gets too stripped back.
Stereo opening
Start with Open Sides. Adjust Width first, then add Air Lift if the sides need extra light. Check mono compatibility when the part matters in the center of the mix.
Troubleshooting
Common fixes before emailing support.
Most Silk issues are licence state, DAW scanning, gain staging, or pushing a control further than the source wants.
I hear no audio.
Check licence state first. Without a valid Silk.silk-license file, Silk locks audio and shows the licence overlay. Also check host routing and Bypass.
Warmth needs Air Lift and De-Harsh activity.
Warmth will not create much on its own. Raise Air Lift, keep De-Harsh active, and use material with enough 3-9 kHz energy.
The source gets too sharp.
Reduce Air Lift, raise De-Harsh, lower Mix, or try a Guard preset as the starting point.
The stereo image feels too wide or unfocused.
Lower Width. If the center still feels light, reduce Mix or use a preset with less side emphasis.
Peaks are getting hot.
Leave Soft Guard on, lower Input or Output, reduce Width, or lower Mix. Soft Guard helps, but it is not a final limiter.
Quality changes feel delayed.
Quality changes can require latency and filter-state updates. Silk fades through the transition to avoid clicks.
Support
Send a tight report and we can move faster.
Email info@spectraforgeaudio.com with the details below. For audio-quality issues, a short 10-30 second rendered example is often more useful than a long description.
Glossary
Plain-English terms.
A few terms you may see in Silk, support replies, or host automation lists.
Air-band
The upper high-frequency region where brightness, openness, and sheen are perceived.
De-Harsh
Silk's adaptive control over sharp 3-9 kHz energy created by the enhancement path.
K-weighted
A loudness measurement shape that better reflects perceived loudness than flat RMS for bright material.
Mid/side
A stereo representation where mid is center information and side is the difference between left and right.
Oversampling
Running internal processing at a higher sample rate to reduce unwanted artifacts from nonlinear processing.
Soft ceiling
A gentle saturation-style level catch, not a hard limiter.
Warmth return
Suppressed De-Harsh energy that has been reshaped and returned to the wet signal.
Next step
Need the licence file?
Generate the offline file from your Lemon Squeezy key, then import it inside Silk.