Revision C • 1/04
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3-19
3 Operation
digital
BMX
digital
Bargraph Meter
Left Channel Level
Right Channel Level
Separate Blue Peak
Indicators for the
Left and Right
Channels
Signal name
dB below FSD*
* FSD = Full Scale Digital, or 0 on the meters—the maximum console output level
BARGRAPH METERS
Horizontal bargraph meters display stereo outputs as detailed below. The name of the signal being metered is
shown below each meter.
The first four meters from the left, except for the BMX
digital-8, provide separate level monitoring for the four
Program or four Utility buses (toggled by the PGM 1-4 and UTL 1-4 buttons on the Session module, see page 3-
12). On the BMX
digital-8, the left hand meter shows one Program or Utility bus. Repeatedly press the PGM 1-
4 or UTL 1-4 buttons to display each bus in numeric order on the left hand meter.
The fifth meter, Auxiliary (the right hand meter on the BMX
digital-8), shows the cue or solo bus level, or a
source (an external input, a Send bus, a Utility bus, or the Telco Record Base Mix) set by the Source Selector
buttons in the Aux Meter section of the Session module (see page 3-12). The meter’s alphanumeric display
identifies the name of the selected source (e.g., CUE, SOLO, SEND-2, EXTERNAL-1, etc.).
Each bar segment, from 0 down to -30 represents, a 1 dB level change between bars. From -30 to -57, each bar
represents a 3 dB difference in level. The bars are green from -57 up to -20. The -20 level is equivalent to a 0 VU
setting on a mechanical meter. With a properly set up console this results in a +4 dBu analog output (analog
outputs can be level trimmed, however). From -20 up to -3 the LEDs are yellow. Levels should always peak in this
area. The 0, -1, and -2 bars are red to indicate the signal is dangerously close to clipping. To prevent digital
distortion on the outputs, the red bars should rarely, if ever, light up—especially the 0 bar since this indicates the
signal is at, or attempting to go beyond, Full Scale Digital (the digital clipping point).
A Session module DIP switch (see page 2-33) sets the meter displays for average only (a solid moving bargraph
indicates the average signal level) or for average and peak (a solid bargraph represents the average level with a
single bar, typically 6 to 10 dB higher than the average bargraph, representing the peak level).
The two blue peak indicators may light up in either mode to indicate the signal is too hot. The level at which
the blue peak indicators turn on (0, -2, -4, or -6), and the meter display mode (peak hold, where the highest peak
bar stays lit for about 3 seconds, or non-peak hold, where the peak more accurately follows the signal), is set
separately for each meter using DIP switches on the edge of each meter PCA (see page 2-6).
