Aphex Compellor 320A Owner'S Manual Download Page 1

Page: 1 / 41

Owner’s Manual

Dual Mono/Stereo Automatic Level Controller

Manual P/N 999-0760 • Revision 2 • 09/30/03

Compellor

320A

Compellor

S Y S T E M S

11068 Randall St., Sun Valley, CA 91352 U.S.A.

Summary of Contents for Compellor 320A

Page 1: ...vel Controller Manual P N 999 0760 Revision 2 09 30 03 Copyright 2003 Aphex Systems Ltd All rights reserved Printed in U S A Written and produced by Donn Werrbach Compellor 320A Compellor S Y S T E M...

Page 2: ...n the equipment is operated in a commercial environment This equipment generates uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance with the operating guide may ca...

Page 3: ...3 Main Voltage Selection 4 4 Power Cord 4 5 Mounting In A Rack 4 6 Proper Ventilation 4 7 Panel Security 4 8 Tools Equipment Needed 4 9 Safety Considerations 4 10 Remote Connector 4 11 Reference Level...

Page 4: ...tion 7 6 DRC 7 7 DVG 7 8 Silence Gate 7 9 Stereo Enhance 7 10 Stereo Linking 7 11 Meter Selection 7 12 Limiter 7 13 Process Balance 7 14 Drive Control 7 15 Output Control 7 16 Process Switch 7 17 Inpu...

Page 5: ...Page 5...

Page 6: ...rocess Balance to 12 o clock 5 Switch the Meter Select to G R gain reduction Adjust the Drive control to achieve 12dB of gain reduction with 0 VU input The last lighted LED shows the total amount of g...

Page 7: ...he limiter If you can then you realize just a few things the Compellor can accomplish Without a Compellor it is usual to insert a compressor or limiter in the line to control varying levels That alway...

Page 8: ...but into a tape duplicating lab an album recording studio and several live showrooms where it quickly proved its usefulness as a gain controller without processing artifacts At Boyd s urging Aphex s p...

Page 9: ...ented Leveler circuit called the Frequency Discriminate Leveler FDL while all other aspects of the Model 320 remain the same With the FDL Compellors became even more transparent and useful than ever b...

Page 10: ...ugh the transparent fuse cover on the rear of the chassis AC Line power is supplied to the unit via an integral receptacle fuse holder on the rear panel This receptacle meets the various international...

Page 11: ...space which severely restricts air ventilation around the unit such as a totally sealed rack enclosure unless you can provide an empty rack space above and below the unit to facilitate cooling Typical...

Page 12: ...t s n o n a e v a h u o y f I For DAT machines and other digital media that define operating levels according to a maxi mum level rather than an average level we have found the 10dBV position most oft...

Page 13: ...LR jacks The pinout follows the same conventions as the input jacks described above and you should exercise the same care about wiring as described for input wiring Refer to Appendix 1 for complete de...

Page 14: ...Max level out unbal 20dBu ref 4 10 8dBV ref 10 5 3 AUDIO Frequency response 1dB 10Hz to 65KHz Hum noise measured for a 1KHz tone at unity gain No gain reduction 67dBu ref 4 86dBV ref 10 10dB gain red...

Page 15: ...ncy Discriminate Leveler Limiter 1 uSec 5 8 RELEASE TIMES Compressor 200 mSec to 1 Sec program dependent Leveler fast 3 Sec Leveler slow 10 Sec Limiter 200 mSec 5 10 OTHER SPECIFICATIONS AC input IEC...

Page 16: ...in better signal to noise performance in the recording medium 6 3 Mixing Layering elements within a mix so that each sits in its own pocket not interfering with other elements is a critical part of as...

Page 17: ...playing from a juke box and the selections all have different levels one speaker in a confer ence room trying to shout down a more soft spoken individual The Compellor controls the level variations wi...

Page 18: ...k to average ratio e g a live news broadcast it speeds its release time Segues between program and commercials are much smoother Another complaint made to cable systems is the difference of levels cha...

Page 19: ...d be nice to have a way to even out those levels so the on air segues will always be smooth and fat The Compellor can do that without adding artifacts across the whole inven tory of titles Simply tran...

Page 20: ...tput level down to only 1dB The actual range of leveling depends on how much gain reduction the user chooses The leveler has two operating speeds which can be selected by a front panel switch fast and...

Page 21: ...gue without resorting to excessive compression effects 7 6 DVG The dynamic verification gate continuously detects the Compellor s processed VCA output signal and computes the historical average of pea...

Page 22: ...ndicate the meter mode as the selector is repeatedly depressed to cycle through the selections Selection 1 displays the Compellor s incoming signal level Selection 2 shows the Compellor s output level...

Page 23: ...el selects the normal operating level for the Compellor You can chose 10dBV 4dBu and 8dBu as the reference level This switch sets the dynamic range of the Compellor s circuitry to best match your stan...

Page 24: ...duction if any The amount of gain reduc tion contributed by compression is inferred from the remainder of gain reduction indicated above the red dot If all gain reduction is due to compression then th...

Page 25: ...ted above EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES Aphex Systems liability for any defective unit is limited to the repair or replacement of said unit at our option and shall not include damages of any other kind...

Page 26: ...about the principles of balanced and unbalanced lines wiring standards and how to effectively interface them Standards Professional audio equipment usually comes equipped with inputs and outputs that...

Page 27: ...uipment grounds are connected to power outlet grounds and there can be a sig nificant difference of ac voltage between alternating wall outlet grounds For this reason unbalanced sys tems can sometimes...

Page 28: ...in the socket That may reduce the ground current generated by the internal electronics of the offending gear Redirect Ground Loops Sometimes it just comes down to brute force ground ing That means pr...

Page 29: ...good common sense engineering practice which is what you would expect from us course Unfortunately many prod ucts are designed so that the noisy currents from the shield drain into signal ground inste...

Page 30: ...o balanced inputs is ultimately simple and the same cable will work for all flavors of output stages Connecting a balanced output to an unbalanced input requires a little more knowledge and care You s...

Page 31: ...ment together Preferred for Line Levels Shield grounded at receiving end only Positives Stops ground loops and reduces noise Negatives None OK Standard store bought cable Shield is grounded at both en...

Page 32: ...Outputs Used on the 207 Mono Phone Plug Female XLR SIMPLIFIED SCHEMATIC Don t Ground or Connect Pin 3 Ground Pin 3 Directly to Pin 1 Alternatively Carry Pin 3 Through Twisted Pair Cable and Ground at...

Page 33: ...S Phone Plug Stereo TRS Phone Plug Standard Method Standard Cable Guitar Cord Mono TS Phone Plug Stereo TRS Phone Plug Enhanced Method Pseudo Balanced Advantage Reduced Hum and Noise Pickup Mono TS Ph...

Page 34: ...rence an assumption is made of an average reference level For peak referenced systems such as the 6dBu German system the average program level will reside far below the reference level typically 10 to...

Page 35: ...the widespread problem of misunderstanding the technology COMPELLOR TO THE RESCUE A Compellor can make necessary corrections to the average levels in a peak referenced system either analog or digital...

Page 36: ...he same However since sound waves are complex their peak to average ratio varies depending on the sound characteristics and that ratio can vary from 3dB to as much as 15dB So in the real world peak an...

Page 37: ...indicate the peak levels of the audio In VU meter practice audio electronics must be designed to have sufficient peak headroom to allow safe passage of all unseen audio peaks To allow this at least 20...

Page 38: ...meters have emerged with instant peak response no peak integration like the PPM with 0dB at the very top of the scale The new scale is called dBFS dB referred to full scale This allows you to accurate...

Page 39: ...Dominator pair is the best audio packaging system there is for effectiveness and sonic trans parency Handling Codecs Digital STL s Studio Transmitter Links The Ideal Audio Package Digital audio that i...

Page 40: ...le or add an external attenuator to the coder s analog input to get the 20dBFS digital reference conver sion Reducing the Compellor s analog output gain will not solve the problem because it will also...

Page 41: ...Page 41...

Search results

Summary of Contents for Compellor 320A

Reviews:

Brands by name

Popular brands

Aphex Compellor 320A, Owner'S Manual

Search results

Summary of Contents for Compellor 320A

Reviews:

Brands by name

Popular brands