# ScreamGate Quick Guide

ScreamGate routes audio through a realtime look-ahead gate so sharp high-frequency spikes can be muted before they reach your speakers.

## Simple Setup

1. Install VB-CABLE.
2. In Windows Volume Mixer, set your browser or video app output to `CABLE Input`.
3. Open ScreamGate.
4. Use:
   - Input: `9: CABLE Output`
   - Output: `12: Realtek HD Audio 2nd output`
5. Click `Start`.
6. If you hear nothing, tick `Bypass Gate` first and confirm the meter moves.

## Target A Scream

1. Play the movie or video.
2. Watch the spectrum at the bottom.
3. Scream-like spikes usually appear toward the right side.
4. Click the spike area you want blocked.
5. Leave `Target Clicked Spike` on.
6. Turn `Broad Detector` off if you only want the clicked frequency area to control muting.

## What The Graph Means

- Green: live incoming audio.
- Blue: learned baseline for normal sound.
- Orange: loudest each frequency has reached this session.
- Gray: quietest each frequency has reached this session.
- Red vertical line: target frequency.
- Cyan/yellow dashed line: active trigger threshold.
- Red `LEAK?` marker: a frequency outside your current target range is bursting above its learned baseline.
- Red `KILLED` marker: `Auto-Kill` caught an out-of-range spike and triggered the gate.

## Leak Advisor

If the graph shows `LEAK?`, click that marker or widen `Target width Hz`.

`Auto-Kill` starts on. It ignores silence and uses the loudest spectrum it has already heard as the baseline, so quieter repeats should pass while new spikes above that history can be killed.

If the top meter says `LEAK` while the gate is active, the target band is still escaping after processing. Try:

- lower `Attenuation dB` toward `-80` or `-100`;
- increase `Hold ms`;
- lower `Target absolute dB`;
- lower `Target over baseline dB`.

## Advanced Tuning

- `Target width Hz`: wider catches more nearby frequencies; narrower is more surgical.
- `Target over baseline dB`: lower catches smaller spikes; higher avoids false triggers.
- `Target absolute dB`: floor level required before relative targeting can trigger.
- `Look-ahead ms`: more look-ahead catches spikes earlier but adds latency.
- `Hold ms`: how long the gate stays down after a spike.
- `Release ms`: how smoothly sound returns.
- `Attenuation dB`: how much volume is reduced when gated.

The target detector compares a selected frequency band against its own learned baseline, so loud bass can pass while a smaller high-frequency scream band can still trigger the gate.
