Redshift User Manual

Status: living manual. Update this document whenever Redshift's controls, factory sounds, modulation behavior, file support, or performance contract changes.

What Redshift Is

Redshift is SpaceAge's bread-and-butter subtractive synthesizer. It is intended for basses, leads, pads, plucks, chord sounds, sequenced movement, and familiar analog-style synthesis without giving up deeper digital sound design.

Each Redshift instance belongs to one Instrument lane. Its patch controls must not change another lane's instrument, preset, Mixer channel, or effects sends.

Page Map

Redshift is organized into four pages whose buttons remain at the top of the Engine editor:

Page	Main purpose
`VOICE`	Oscillator sources, tuning, phase, morphing, and pitch motion
`TONE`	Filtering, drive, digital reduction, and per-control Tone Motion
`ENVELOPE`	Loudness shape, trigger behavior, play mode, and glide
`MOTION`	Performance modulation, rhythmic movement, and synced controls

These pages edit one patch for the currently selected lane. Changing pages does not load a starting point or alter another instrument.

Quick Start

Add or select an Instrument lane and choose Redshift as its Engine.
Open the Engine editor and begin on the VOICE page.
Choose Oscillator 1's waveform and raise Oscillator 2 only when needed.
Open the Tone page, select a filter type, then shape Cutoff and Resonance.
Open the ENVELOPE page and set Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release.
Use an M button on the Tone page when a parameter should move over time.
Save the completed sound as a Redshift patch before changing starting points.

For a smoother note ending, lengthen Amp Release. If the release remains too bright or abrupt, also lengthen Filter Decay or reduce Filter Envelope amount.

Voice Page

Redshift has two pitched oscillators plus optional harmonic, noise, click, and metallic components.

OSC 1 WAVEFORM: chooses the primary tone source.
OSC 2 WAVEFORM: chooses the secondary source.
BASE FREQUENCY: the tuning anchor used by the synthesis path.
OSC 2 LEVEL: blends Oscillator 2 into the sound.
OSC 2 RATIO: sets Oscillator 2's frequency relationship to Oscillator 1.
OSC 2 DETUNE: applies fine detuning for beating and width.
HARMONIC: adds a harmonic component.
NOISE MIX: blends the selected noise color.
SPREAD: introduces controlled pitch width and animation.
WAVE FOLD, WIDTH, and CROSS MOD: reshape or cross-modulate the source.

For chord-safe sounds, begin with integer Oscillator 2 ratios and modest detune. Large ratios, cross-modulation, and metallic spread are useful but can make a patch intentionally inharmonic.

Built-In Single-Cycle Sources

Both oscillators include eight mipmapped cycle sources after the original procedural waveforms: Pure, Sweep, Hollow, Alloy, Glass, Formant, Metal, and Air. These are pitched oscillator sources, not sample layers. They therefore follow the same note tuning, Oscillator 2 ratio/detune, spread, envelope, filter, and patch behavior as Redshift's procedural waves.

With a cycle source selected, WIDTH moves through that cycle family's prepared frames. This can produce anything from subtle harmonic movement to a substantial change in character. Higher notes automatically use a more restricted harmonic table to reduce aliasing.

Use the < and > buttons beside either oscillator selector to browse without reopening the dropdown. Browsing wraps at both ends and changes only that oscillator. The dropdown remains available for direct selection.

Use LOAD beside an oscillator label to import a WAV, AIFF, or FLAC containing one cycle. A successful import prepares anti-aliased tables, selects User Cycle for that oscillator, and leaves the other oscillator unchanged. Projects and Redshift patch files remember the two source paths independently.

Use LIB to browse the embedded AKWF collection by category or the shared user waveform library by folder. Choosing a waveform loads it immediately into only that oscillator. OPEN WAVEFORM FOLDER opens the watched library location; place supported files in subfolders to create categories, then choose RESCAN USER LIBRARY. Embedded AKWF cycles travel inside the application. External user cycles remain linked files and participate in missing-file repair and portable project archives.

The top of LIB contains FAVORITES and the 24 most recently loaded cycles. Use FAVORITE CURRENT CYCLE for the oscillator being edited. Recent history can be cleared without affecting favorites, and PRUNE MISSING FILES removes broken external shortcuts while preserving every embedded AKWF favorite.

Choose SEARCH ALL CYCLES to filter the complete embedded and user catalog by waveform name or category. Results update while typing; double-click a result or select it and press LOAD SELECTED. The search remains tied to the oscillator whose LIB button opened it.

For the most predictable result, use a clean waveform containing exactly one complete period. The importer removes DC and normalizes the resulting table, but it does not guess an ideal cycle from a long musical recording. Failed or invalid files leave the current oscillator sound untouched.

Tone Page

The Tone page contains Redshift's main filter and degradation controls.

FILTER TYPE: Off, Low-pass, High-pass, or Band-pass.
FILTER MODEL: Clean preserves Redshift's precise, neutral TPT character. Silk gently rounds the signal entering the filter and softens resonance for a smoother, slightly fuller sweep. Bite adds assertive pre-drive, stronger resonance emphasis, and restrained output clipping for basses, leads, and animated sequences. It is an original Redshift character, not a vintage-ladder emulation. Model changes are smoothed during held notes.
FILTER SLOPE: 6, 12, 18, or 24 dB per octave for Low-pass and High-pass. Band-pass retains its designed 12 dB response, so Slope is ghosted in that mode. Model and Slope are both ghosted when Filter Type is Off because neither can affect the sound; their stored values return when a compatible mode is selected. Changing Slope during a held note glides between adjacent pole responses instead of snapping abruptly to another output.
CUTOFF: chooses the filter boundary.
RESONANCE: emphasizes frequencies near the cutoff.
DRIVE: adds level and saturation before final output shaping.
VELOCITY FILTER: makes playing velocity open, close, or center the filter.
FILTER ENV: sets the positive or negative envelope sweep amount.
FILTER DECAY: sets how quickly that sweep develops or recedes.
BIT DEPTH and RATE REDUCTION: introduce digital reduction effects.

Slope character in practical terms:

6 dB/oct: gentle, broad, and useful for subtle color.
12 dB/oct: balanced and familiar; this is the compatibility default.
18 dB/oct: firmer separation while retaining some openness.
24 dB/oct: strongest removal beyond the cutoff; useful for focused basses, resonant sweeps, and dramatic motion.

Tone Motion

Every major Tone control has an M button. The popup gives that destination an independent movement route.

An inactive button reads M. An active route also shows its Cycle Length in a compact badge, such as M 1/4, M 8B, M 1BT, or M 1BD. B means bar, T means triplet, and D means dotted. These badges are read-only summaries; click one to open the full route editor.

A and B: the two endpoint values in the destination's real units.
Depth: blends between the knob's anchor value and the A-to-B journey.
Cycle Length: sets the complete tempo-synchronized journey. The list covers straight, dotted, triplet, 3/16, 5/16, and multi-bar movement through 16 bars.
Shape: selects the travel curve, including ramps, square, exponential, logarithmic, and deterministic random forms.
Cycle: selects Loop, Ping-Pong, One Shot, One Shot Return, or Hold End.
Trigger: chooses the route's timing source.
Phase: moves the starting position within the cycle.
Skew: changes where the turning point occurs.
Fade In: gradually introduces the selected Depth.
Offset: waits for a musical duration before movement begins.
Note Launch: starts Note and Legato motion immediately, on the next beat, or on the next bar. Free and Transport routes continue to follow their own clocks.

Trigger timing is intentionally distinct:

Free follows Redshift's continuous instrument clock.
Note restarts the route from its selected Phase for every note-on, including an overlapping note in Legato play mode.
Legato starts at the beginning of a new phrase and continues across overlapping note changes. Release every held note before playing again to begin a new phrase.
Transport follows the active musical timeline. In standalone use it advances with SpaceAge's internal sequencer and freezes while stopped. When host-follow is enabled in a plug-in, it follows the host play state and absolute sample position, so seeks and loop returns reposition the route deterministically. Hosts that omit sample position fall back to PPQ and BPM. If no usable host position is available, SpaceAge retains the internal transport clock.

At zero Depth the ordinary knob has complete authority. At intermediate Depth the knob remains an editable anchor and is visually dimmed. At full Depth the motion route has complete authority, so the knob is ghosted and cannot be dragged.

While a Redshift voice is sounding, an orange marker outside each active Tone knob shows that route's currently rendered value. The ordinary thumb remains the base-value anchor and does not move, write automation, or create Undo history. Polyphonic patches display the newest active voice so fresh notes give immediate feedback. The marker disappears when no current Redshift voice supplies a value.

Tone Motion Blocks

Open any Tone control's M popup and use SAVE ALL to store the complete eight-destination Tone Motion setup. LOAD ALL applies a .sstmotion file to the Redshift instrument currently being edited. Files are suggested under Sample Squad/Presets/Motion Blocks/Redshift/Tone.

A Tone Motion Block contains A, B, Depth, Cycle Length, route Shape, Cycle, Trigger, Phase, Skew, Hold A, Hold B, Fade In, and Offset for all eight Tone destinations, plus the legacy shared-motion controls and shared Note Launch setting. It does not contain the base Tone knob values, oscillators, envelopes, play mode, portamento, Mixer state, automation, patch identity, or lane ownership. Loading a block therefore adds a reusable movement design without replacing the underlying sound.

Loading is transactional. An incomplete, unsupported, or out-of-range file is rejected before any route changes.

Tone Scenes

Use SAVE SCENE and LOAD SCENE in a Tone Motion popup when the reusable idea includes both the underlying Tone settings and their movement. A .ssscene stores Filter Type, Model, Slope, Velocity Filter Mode, Cutoff, Resonance, Drive, Velocity Filter, Filter Envelope, Filter Decay, Bit Depth, Rate Reduction, and the complete eight-route Tone Motion Block including Step Motion and MSEG state.

A Tone Scene does not contain oscillators, envelopes, play mode, portamento, Mixer state, automation, patch identity, or lane ownership. Loading is validated as one transaction; malformed values cannot partially replace the current scene.

Tone Motion Blocks and Redshift patches also carry any enabled Step Motion route. Older files load with Step Motion disabled, preventing an unrelated pattern from the previously edited sound from leaking into the recalled patch.

COPY ROUTE and PASTE ROUTE provide faster reuse of one destination. The copied route includes its A/B journey, timing, shape, Step Motion, and MSEG data. Pasting does not replace the destination's base Tone knob, other destinations, or shared legacy Motion settings. This makes it practical to copy a detailed Cutoff motion onto Drive or another Redshift instance and then adjust its destination range.

Use SAVE ROUTE to preserve the current destination as a reusable .sstroute file and LOAD ROUTE to apply one later. Route files are suggested under Sample Squad/Presets/Motion Blocks/Redshift/Tone/Routes. They carry the same narrow data as Copy/Paste and are portable between Redshift destinations and projects. Loading is transactional: an unsupported, incomplete, ambiguous, or out-of-range route is rejected without changing the current sound.

The SAVED ROUTES selector lists .sstroute files already stored in the Routes folder. Choose a name and press APPLY SAVED; selection alone never changes the patch. The list uses natural alphabetical sorting and refreshes immediately after a successful SAVE ROUTE. Use LOAD ROUTE when the file lives elsewhere.

DELETE removes the selected saved route only after confirmation. Deleting a library file does not clear, disable, or otherwise alter the route currently loaded in the patch. A failed deletion leaves the library entry and reports the problem in the popup.

You may also drag one .sstroute file directly onto an open Tone M popup. The popup border highlights when the file type is accepted. A valid route is applied to that popup's destination through the same transactional loader; malformed or unsupported files are rejected and reported in the popup without changing sound.

When Step Motion is enabled for a destination, its values replace the continuous Shape only. A/B, Depth, Cycle Length, Trigger, Offset, Fade In, Note Launch, and one-shot behavior continue to work normally. Step values are normalized positions between A and B, not separate raw destination units.

To program a route, open that Tone control's M popup and use the STEP MOTION section:

Choose a starting pattern from Custom, Ramp Up, Ramp Down, Alternating, Four on the Floor, Offbeats, Euclidean 5/8, or Rise and Fall. Applying a factory pattern enables Step Motion and resets its modifiers to neutral.
Turn on ENABLE, then choose between 2 and 16 active steps.
Drag each numbered vertical bar to place that step between A and B.
Use DIRECTION for Forward, Reverse, or Ping-Pong traversal.
Use ROTATE to shift the pattern without redrawing it.
Use SMOOTH to glide between steps instead of jumping directly.
Lower PROBABILITY for deterministic omissions that repeat consistently.

Editing any generated bar or modifier changes the menu back to Custom; it does not discard the sound. Factory names are starting shapes rather than a second preset layer, so the resulting values continue to save inside the patch or block.

Reducing the step count dims unused bars without erasing them. Disabling Step Motion returns the route to its selected continuous Shape while retaining the edited pattern. Projects, Redshift patches, lane copy/undo, and version-4 Tone Motion Blocks retain that complete pattern.

Endpoint Holds

HOLD A and HOLD B reserve up to 45 percent of a route cycle for dwelling at the corresponding endpoint. The remaining time is used for travel, so increasing a hold makes movement between A and B faster without changing Cycle Length.

Loop travels A to B and jumps back after the B hold. Ping-Pong and One Shot Return honor both endpoint holds while preserving Skew as the balance between outward and return travel. One Shot returns to the base value after its completed cycle; Hold End remains at B. Select an explicit Cycle mode to use endpoint holds; Legacy Shape deliberately retains its established behavior.

The JOURNEY line at the bottom of the popup summarizes Hold A, travel, Hold B, Cycle mode, Trigger, Cycle Length, and Note Launch. It updates while editing and is only a readout; it does not create automation or change the motion route.

Next Beat re-quantizes every Note-triggered route on each new note. A Legato-triggered route quantizes only when a new phrase begins, so overlapping notes remain one continuous motion phrase. Notes already arriving exactly on the selected grid begin immediately. Existing patches and older Motion Blocks use Immediate.

Useful starting recipes:

Berlin-school filter: Cutoff A low, B high, Ping-Pong, 8 or 16 bars, modest Depth, then offset a second Resonance route by one bar.
Rhythmic degradation: Bit Depth or Rate Reduction, Square or Sample & Hold, 1/8 or 1/16 duration, restrained Depth.
Evolving pad: Cutoff, Drive, and Filter Envelope on different odd and even multi-bar cycles so the combined motion takes longer to repeat.

Envelope Page

Use Amp Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release to define the note's loudness shape. The Trigger and Play Mode controls choose one-shot/gated and polyphonic, monophonic, or legato behavior. Glide smooths pitch travel; Legato Only avoids gliding detached notes.

Press the P button beside Glide to open the complete Portamento panel:

MODE: Always glides every transition, Legato Only glides into overlapping notes but returns immediately when the top note is released, and Off makes pitch changes immediate. Fingered also glides back to the previously held note, making held-note trills and lead lines behave like classic fingered portamento.
TIMING: Time gives every glide the same duration. Rate treats the Glide value as seconds per octave, so small intervals arrive sooner than large intervals.
SYNC: Off uses the Glide value; a musical division overrides it and derives the journey duration from SpaceAge tempo.
CURVE: Linear travels evenly. Exponential lingers near the starting note, Logarithmic moves quickly then eases into the destination, and S-Curve eases at both ends. Legacy retains the earlier asymptotic Redshift response for existing patches.
DIRECTION: Both permits every journey; Up Only or Down Only leaves the opposite direction immediate.
ENVELOPE: Retrigger restarts the amp envelope for each overlapping note; Continue preserves its current position for a connected phrase. Legacy keeps the earlier behavior, where Mono retriggers and Legato continues.

New finite curves arrive exactly at the destination pitch. The default Legacy, Time, and unsynced settings preserve the sound of patches created before the expanded panel. All Portamento settings are stored in projects and Redshift patch files.

Oscillator Phase

The Voice page gives each oscillator an independent PHASE knob and KEY RESET switch. With Key Reset on, every new note begins at the selected phase. This is useful for consistent bass attacks, aligned layered waves, and repeatable transients. With Key Reset off, the oscillator follows Redshift's continuous instrument clock; repeated notes therefore enter the waveform at their natural current position and sound less mechanically identical.

Phase is expressed in degrees from 0 to 360. Start at 0 degrees for legacy Redshift behavior. Try 90 or 180 degrees when two similar oscillators cancel or produce an overly sharp combined attack. OSC 1 and OSC 2 settings are independent and are saved in projects and Redshift patch files.

Each oscillator also has a MORPH control. OSC 1 Morph moves OSC 1's waveform toward the waveform selected for OSC 2 while retaining OSC 1's own pitch, phase, and level. OSC 2 Morph performs the reverse. This works between procedural waves, built-in cycle families, imported single cycles, or any combination of those sources. At zero, the oscillator uses only its own selected waveform; at one, it uses the other oscillator's waveform as its source shape.

Morph is different from OSC 2 Level: Level adds another independently pitched oscillator, while Morph changes the harmonic shape of the oscillator already playing. Try a modest 0.15-0.35 setting before full morphs, especially when the two sources have very different brightness.

Each oscillator has independent OCTAVE, SEMI, and FINE tuning. Octave covers -4 to +4 octaves, Semitone covers -12 to +12 steps, and Fine covers -100 to +100 cents. These controls are useful for correcting imported cycles, building fifths and octaves, or creating controlled chorusing. OSC 1 tuning does not transpose OSC 2, and OSC 2 tuning does not transpose OSC 1.

OSC 2 Ratio and the older Detune control remain available as sound-design tools. Use the new Octave/Semitone/Fine controls for ordinary musical tuning; use Ratio for harmonic or inharmonic relationships and the older Detune for the existing OSC 2 patch character.

Oscillator Pitch Motion

Press PITCH M beside either oscillator's Key Reset control to open its independent pitch-motion panel.

A and B define the movement endpoints in cents.
Depth scales the complete A-to-B movement. At zero, the route is neutral.
Duration selects a tempo-synchronized cycle from 1/32 through 16 bars.
Shape selects Sine, Triangle, Ramp Up, Ramp Down, Square, Smooth Random, or Sample & Hold.
Phase chooses the position within that cycle where movement begins.
Key Reset restarts the cycle for each note. Turn it off for a continuous instrument-wide cycle that notes enter at the current position.

Choose Off for Duration or set Depth to zero to bypass the route. For gentle analog movement, try A -7 ct, B +7 ct, Depth around 50%, and a duration of two to four bars. For stepped harmonic travel, use larger musical intervals such as 0 to 700 ct, but keep sustained chords in mind.

Smooth Random glides deterministically between a new value each cycle. Sample & Hold jumps to a deterministic value and holds it for the complete cycle. Both produce the same result after project reload and during offline rendering.

Use SAVE BLOCK to store the complete Pitch Motion setup as a reusable .ssmotion file, and LOAD BLOCK to apply one to the oscillator whose popup is open. Files are suggested under Sample Squad/Presets/Motion Blocks/Redshift. A BLOCK LIBRARY menu in the same popup provides six factory starting points: Gentle Drift, Triangle Bloom, One-Bar Rise, Two-Bar Fall, Octave Pulse, and Smooth Wander. Saved .ssmotion files in the suggested folder appear below the factory entries automatically. Saving a new block refreshes this list immediately; use LOAD BLOCK for a file stored elsewhere. A Pitch Motion Block contains only A, B, Depth, Duration, Phase, Shape, and Key Reset. It cannot change waveforms, static tuning, oscillator levels, the filter, the Mixer, or lane ownership.

Oscillator Source Morph Motion

Press MORPH M beside either oscillator to animate that oscillator's source morph independently.

A and B choose the two source-morph endpoints as percentages.
Depth blends the animated journey with the main Morph knob. Zero is neutral.
Duration uses the shared tempo-synced list from short divisions to 16 bars.
Phase chooses where the shape begins.
Shape offers Sine, Triangle, both Ramps, Square, Smooth Random, and Sample & Hold.
Key Reset restarts each note; turn it off for continuous instrument-wide motion.

This does not add another oscillator. It animates the existing crossfade between OSC 1 and OSC 2, so contrasting sources give the clearest result. A useful first test is A at 0%, B at 100%, Depth at 100%, and a slow Triangle or Ramp.

Use SAVE BLOCK and LOAD BLOCK to move the seven Morph Motion settings between patches as a .ssmorph file. The block cannot alter oscillator sources, static Morph, tuning, levels, filters, Mixer state, or lane ownership. The STARTING POINT menu provides Slow Crossfade, Triangle Sweep, Rhythmic Swap, Reverse Bloom, and Smooth Wander as immediate foundations. Saved .ssmorph files in the normal Redshift Motion Blocks folder appear alphabetically under SAVED in the same BLOCK LIBRARY. Saving refreshes that list immediately; use LOAD BLOCK when the file lives somewhere else. Select a saved entry to enable DELETE SAVED; factory entries cannot be deleted. Confirmation removes only the file from the library and leaves the currently sounding patch unchanged.

You can also drag one .ssmorph file directly onto an open Morph Motion panel. The orange outline thickens while a supported file is over the target. A valid block applies to that panel's oscillator; malformed or unrelated files are rejected with an in-panel message. Dropping elsewhere in SpaceAge retains the normal global MIDI and package behavior.

Pads: slower Attack, high Sustain, and a longer Release.
Plucks: fast Attack, short Decay, lower Sustain, and a short Release.
Mono leads and basses: Mono or Legato mode with a short Glide time.

Motion Page

This page contains performance movement such as vibrato, oscillator spread, gate rhythm, and related timing controls. Tempo-synchronized settings follow the project tempo and should be preferred when the motion must align with a sequence.

Patch Workflow

Save a patch only after checking it in low, middle, and high registers. Also test a chord if the sound is meant to be polyphonic. Patch files own Redshift sound state; they must not own Mixer gain, pan, EQ, inserts, routing, or sends.

Imported User Cycles are project assets. A complete portable project archive packages them with the project, replaces local source paths with archive-owned references, and restores those references on import. Resaving the imported project keeps the cycle attached. If an ordinary project is moved without an archive and a cycle cannot be found, use Library > Repair Missing Assets to relink it.

Use the contextual Notes feature to record performance advice such as register, mod-wheel purpose, intended tempo, or recommended chord density.

Sound Design Recipes

Warm bass: Saw or Hollow on Oscillator 1, a quiet Oscillator 2 one octave down, 24 dB low-pass filtering, modest Drive, fast Attack, and short Release.
Wide pad: two contrasting cycles, slight Fine detune, slow Attack and Release, then gentle Cutoff and oscillator Pitch Motion on different multi-bar rates.
Focused lead: one bright source, Mono or Legato mode, short Glide, moderate resonance, and velocity-sensitive filtering.
Digital pluck: fast Attack, short Decay, low Sustain, restrained Bit Depth or Rate Reduction, and a short filter-envelope sweep.
Long evolving sequence: use 8- or 16-bar Tone Motion and offset a second route so that both destinations do not turn around together.

MSEG Curves

The STEP / MSEG selector in each Tone M popup chooses which advanced trajectory editor is visible. MSEG provides 2-16 editable points. Select a point, then set its POSITION, VALUE, and outgoing CURVE; the first and last point positions remain fixed so the curve always covers the complete motion journey.

LOOP can be Off, Forward, or Ping-Pong. LOOP START and LOOP END define the held-note region, while RELEASE chooses the point from which the release portion begins. With no release point, note-off continues from the current curve value. MSEG still uses the route's existing A/B values, Depth, Cycle Length, Trigger, Phase, Offset, Fade, and Note Launch controls.

Step Motion and MSEG are intentionally exclusive for one destination. Enabling one disables the other, so the popup always identifies the active trajectory.

The MSEG preset browser provides immediate starting shapes:

Ramp Up and Ramp Down provide simple one-way movement.
Triangle rises and falls evenly.
Pulse creates a repeating high/low gate contour.
Sidechain Duck drops quickly and recovers smoothly each cycle.
Swell + Release rises gradually and includes a dedicated release tail.
Syncopated supplies an uneven repeating rhythmic contour.

Choosing a factory shape enables MSEG and disables Step Motion for that destination. Editing any point or playback setting changes the browser to Custom; the resulting curve is still saved with the patch and Motion Block.

CPU-Conscious Use

Redshift is polyphonic, so long releases and dense chords keep more voices alive. Use only the release length the sound needs, disable unused Motion routes, and judge CPU at the same buffer size and polyphony. Imported cycle sources are prepared before playback; browsing or loading a file must not perform file work on the real-time audio thread.

FILTER TYPE: Off is a true DSP bypass in Redshift. Use it for patches that do not need filtering; Cutoff, Resonance, filter-envelope, and filter-slope processing do not consume voice-level filter DSP while bypassed. Turning the filter back on during a sustained note remains supported and starts from bounded transition state.

Troubleshooting

Cutoff appears inactive: turn FILTER TYPE on.
A Tone knob is ghosted: its Motion route has 100% Depth. Reduce Depth to regain manual control.
An orange marker moves outside a Tone knob: this is the read-only live Motion value, not a second editable control.
A patch sounds out of tune: check Oscillator 2 Ratio/Detune, Spread, metallic components, cross-modulation, and any pitch automation.
A user cycle is missing: use the project's missing-file repair workflow or put the file back in the watched waveform folder and relink it. Repairing one oscillator does not replace the other.
Another lane changes: stop testing and record the exact project, source lane, destination lane, old Engine, new Engine, and preset. Cross-lane mutation is a defect, never expected Redshift behavior.
CPU is unexpectedly high: disable unused motion routes and expensive effects, then compare at the same polyphony and buffer size before drawing conclusions.