2
Instrument input. Mic and line inputs, as well as the output, are
standard XLR, pin 2 hot.
"Mic48V" is selected when - and only when - you use phantom powered
condenser microphones.
The Microphone and line inputs are floating and transformer balanced
- an interface standard used in most serious audio designs. Observe,
that if you attach unbalanced equipment, you have to make sure that
the "cold" in- or output (XLR pin3) is connected to ground (XLR pin1.
The Instrument input on the front(19) is an unbalanced, high
impedance, standard 1/4" jack, handy for direct recording of bass,
keyboards or guitars. (I really like it on bass..)
The gain switch (3) sets the level of the incoming signal in 11
steps. The amount of useable gain is about 62dB (mic in), 50dB
(instrument in) and 35dB (line in)
The amplified signal is passed to the selectable Low-cut filter (5) -
a soft 6dB filter at either 90Hz or 160 Hz (or off). The low-cut
filter is mainly used for reducing proximity effects in directional
microphones or - more generic - getting rid of too "boomy" a low end
or low frequency noises from insufficient shock-mounting of
microphones.
Our Equaliser section is a bypassable (2), three band, variable
frequency, symmetrical boost/cut type build around fixed-Q, passive
6dB filters. The filters are optimised for gentle corrections, so you
shouldn’t expect them to do anything bizarre like telephone-type
sound or the like; they're merely for sweetening the tone and flavour
of your input signal. Each band has six switchable frequencies
(6,10,14), set at spots that we worked quite a bit on getting right.
The low and the high bands are "shelving" type controls, the mid is a
"bell" curve. We've purposefully avoided marking with nominal
frequencies, as this equaliser behaves somewhat different from
standard models, possibly confusing the user. Bear with us on this -
using your ears as main tool for EQ setting is a good habit.
Next in line is the Compressor. This is based on the electro-optical
principle, that is, the gain reduction element is a light dependent
