摘要 |
A user interface control apparatus is disclosed for the control of electronic filter parameters of audio spectrum equalizers, crossovers, and other filter processors. The user interface apparatus comprises five pushbutton keys arranged in a specific cross-shaped pattern. This single arrangement of control keys provides a common user interface control apparatus which can be used to control one or more filter types. Depression of particular keys, or particular combinations of keys can be made to electronically control multiple filter parameters, some simultaneously, and for different filter types depending on the filter type for which the invention is applied. The unique arrangement of the invention's pushbutton keys facilitates an intuitive operation of the various parameters for bell, notch, shelf, and pass-band audio filter types with a minimal number of control elements and minimal control area. The filter parameters of a bell filter that can be controlled include center frequency, amplitude, and bandwidth. The filter parameters of a notch filter that can be controlled include center frequency and bandwidth. The filter parameters of a shelf filter that can be controlled include transition frequency, shelf amplitude, and transition slope. The filter parameters of a pass-band filter that can be controlled include corner frequency, pass-band amplitude, and filter slope. Additionally, the unique arrangement of keys facilitates intuitive control of some filter parameters at two rates of continuous change. Also, the user interface allows control of a graphic equalizer, where the selection of a particular bell filter, or "band", can be scanned at two different rates. Finally, the user interface allows the control of the corner frequencies of two adjacent pass-band filters simultaneously, such as in a crossover processor, so as to preserve the combined response of the two filters over the overlapping region.
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