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6.  Advanced Tricks 

Here are a few tricks that are not really for rookies.  
They come from guys doing major records for years 
and won’t work unless you’ve mastered the basics. 
In other words if we gave you a Strat and Marshall it 
won’t make you another Jimi. Also we don’t suggest 
that you try these out while paying big-time studio 
rates - they may not be easy to get right at first.

Trick#1

Each compressor or device in the chain has certain 
flavors and characteristics and with experience we 
grab the ones we like because of the sound - not 
because “it is a compressor”. The idea is to use 
several cool compressors in a chain getting flavors 
from each depending on how much GR (gain 
reduction) is used in each and how hard they are 
driven. It’s this second concept that can be tricky.

How far to turn up each Make-up Gain to overdrive 
or not overdrive the next unit - and still not get 
flooded with noise when the music stops. You can 
chain the two channels of the Nu Mu and turn up the 
make-up of the first channel. This works best with 
classic discrete and tube units and usually IC units 
are to be avoided. 

The finesse comes from which order they are 
patched. See how long it might take to get best 
results.

Trick#2

This one is easier, but also requires serious listening. 
Rather than just “inserting” a limiter, try driving the 
limiter from the tape patch (pre EQ), returning it to 
a spare fader and mixing it with the original. 

So what is so tricky ? How you EQ and automate and 
add effects to these channels. You can also have fun 
phase reversing one of the channels. You get 
cancellation but only at a certain level. It is sort of 
like gating, but different - it is a way of controlling 
the “ambiance”. 

Trick#3

Using one track to “duck” another. This may work 
better with compressors with attack and release and 
ratio controls if you are thinking drums. Bass and 
vocal is very cool with the Nu Mu. Set it up like 
trick#2 with bass in one channel and vocal in the 
other (in LINK mode) and experiment with each 
threshold. 

Two guitar tracks also work here sometimes. 
Obviously, we pull out this trick when two tracks are 
stepping on each other and EQ isn’t making enough 
room for clarity. 

Trick#4

Drive the compressor from an AUX send and return it 
to a channel. Once you have some limiting, carefully 
turn up that aux send on the return channel to “feed 
back” into the limiter. Watch out for real howling 
feedback and over the top limiting. If you are lucky it 
won’t scream during the quiet parts. 

The key is balancing the faders, track auxes, the 
return auxes, the thresholds, and make-up gains. The 
technique can get pretty crunchy and wild. Works 
best with not-so-clean compressors, but is interesting 
with the Nu Mu. 

Trick#5

This one is a way to get a very good single channel 
De-esser from the Nu Mu or other compressor good 
enough for lead vocals. Split the Insert send of the 
vocal to the Nu Mu and to a spare channel. EQ the 
snot out of that second channel -boosting the 5 or 6 
kHz band and chopping everything below that. 

Use the insert from this channel to drive the other 
channel of the Nu Mu, but it is unlikely that you want 
this fader up. Set the Nu Mu to Link. The threshold of 
the first channel sets compression and the second 
channel sets de-essing. 

Unlike some de-essers it will not chop highs, but 
reduce wide-band which is less obvious. The only 
drag is that the release is a little slow. Remember 
good de-essing is not to remove esses - the idea is to 
reduce esses and make them natural sounding. 

BTW if you need to de-ess, you might want to re-
think your choice of gear. There are 3 main reasons 
we get horrible esses: 

1) a gap in the singer’s teeth or just a strange voice, 
2) too much or wrongly chosen EQ, or, 
3) gear that distorts the highs. 

If the cause is “1”, try sticking some dental wax in 
the gap. No joke! If the cause is “2” then we can tell 
you some EQs allow one to boost highs with less 
problems with the esses or you might try boosting a 
higher freq, or less during tracking. If it is “3” you 
may want a better mic or sell off some of that cheap 
IC gear that seems to be distorting the top in a way 
that you don’t like. 

Actually we have heard some pretty expensive gear - 
both tube and solid state - that has this particularly 
ugly distortion. If in doubt, try some tough percussion 
through it like shakers or tambourines, and see how 
they sound... 

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Summary of Contents for NU MU

Page 1: ...ATTACK ST E R EO L I M I T E R CO M P R E S S O R 3dB 3dB dB 0 HIP GR METER OUTPUT HP SC INPUT LEVEL V U 710 CHANNEL 1 CHANNEL 2 INPUT 2 INPUT OUTPUT 2 OUTPUT 1 INSERT 2 INSERT 1 u OR VACUUM TUBE STEREO LIMITER COMPRESSOR n u u m n u u m TM OWNER S MANUAL ...

Page 2: ...n This equipment generates uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions may cause harmful interference to radio communications However there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception which can be determined by turnin...

Page 3: ...ucts shall be considered a warranty by Manley Laboratories Inc for any purpose or give rise to any liability of Manley Laboratories Inc 2016 COPYRIGHT Manley Laboratories Inc All rights reserved This manual and any associated artwork product designs and design concepts are subject to copyright protection No part of this document may be reproduced in any form without prior written permission of Man...

Page 4: ... attempt to service the unit beyond that described in the operating instructions All other servicing should be referred to qualified service personnel This unit has high voltages present even after the power has been switched off 8 DO NOT connect the AC supply cord until all other connections have been made Afer initial power up the VU Meter will blink for thirty seconds The unit remains in MUTE u...

Page 5: ...ER The Large custom VU meters allow easy tracking of both channels with the Nu Mu It shows the amount of gain reduction in dB from the 0 dB mark when the switch 7 is set to REDUCTION When this switch is selected to O P and illuminated the meter measures the output in decibels Note VU meters and PEAK meters rarely agree digital recorders usually use peak meters Rely on those for a precisie recordin...

Page 6: ...R SWITCH The Power Switch glows a soft blue color when an IEC power lead is connected to the unit This indicates that the Nu Mu is in STANDBY mode Engaging the power switch takes the Nu Mu out of standby mode and into warm up mode The power switch will illuminate to a brighter blue and the backlit VU meters will start to flash This warm up process last 30 seconds after which the MUTE relays will l...

Page 7: ...S 1 4 jack interrupts the connection to the input drive of the side chain of Channel 2 allowing external gear to be inserted to trigger the side chain circuitry The pinout is TIP SEND RING RETURN SLEEVE GROUND MANLEY LABORATORIES INC 13880 MAGNOLIA AVE CHINO CA 91710 PHONE 1 909 627 4256 service manleylabs com www manley com HAND CRAFTED IN THE USA MAINS VOLTAGE SHOWN ON SERIAL TAG WARNING TO REDU...

Page 8: ...compressing the signal even if the controls aren t quite set right You can get the Manley Sound without excessive compression The cleanest settings are easiest to set up and most recommended for mixes Set the THRESHOLD near MIN set the ATTACK near FAST and adjust the INPUT for 2 to 4 dB of LIMITING then adjust the OUTPUTS to reach the levels you want or by comparing with BYPASS You can fine tune t...

Page 9: ...NG OR COMPRESSION Two basic rules of thumb with any compressor or limiter should be reminded Typical amounts of gain reduction shown by GR meter should be 2 to 6 dB The more that the needle swings the more likely the gain changes will be audible Listen for objectionable pumping with fast settings Use your ears to determine optimum settings more than the meters Some limiters add unpleasant artifact...

Page 10: ...s trick when two tracks are stepping on each other and EQ isn t making enough room for clarity Trick 4 Drive the compressor from an AUX send and return it to a channel Once you have some limiting carefully turn up that aux send on the return channel to feed back into the limiter Watch out for real howling feedback and over the top limiting If you are lucky it won t scream during the quiet parts Th...

Page 11: ...imply from the rack All the other gear in the rack is dumping ground noise onto the rack rails Try removing the Nu Mu from the rack so that it is not 7 Questions Troubleshooting touching any metal You may have cured a non loop hum Some gear radiates a magnetic field and some gear especially if it has transformers might receive that hum Method 3 Another method of reducing all sorts of hum and noise...

Page 12: ...equire calibration after a tube change Consult the Manley website or contact us for the calibration procedure required after a tube change GROUND LIFT JUMPER If necessary the Circuit Ground can be disconnected from the Chassis Ground This practice is usually required if hum loops cannot be cured in any other way Removing both jumpers JP6 will break the chassis signal ground PSU FUSE The PSU fuse i...

Page 13: ...t only after changing 6BA6 tubes This trimmer adjusts internal balance and trims for the lowest distortion This balance sets the relative gains of the 2 halves of a differential circuit matched pair 6BA6 lowest distortion thumps THIS IS NOT LEFT RIGHT BALANCE 1 Set a multi meter to read DC volts on its lowest scale expect a very small voltage reading 1 0VDC 2 Adjust one channel at a time 3 This is...

Page 14: ...ain outputs 4 Meter switch set to OUTPUT 5 L CH VR13 adjust to set Left meter to read 0 VU 6 R CH VR14 adjust to set Right meter to read 0 VU METER GR ADJUST This trimmer calibrates VU meter gain reduction read to match actual audio gain reduction at the main output 1 Set Meter to OUTPUT 2 Confirm VU meter reads 0 VU 3 Adjust the threshold controls ccw for a gain reduction of 2dB Meter drops to th...

Page 15: ... match stereo VU meter assemblies to obtain the best possible tracking loudness PPM The VU meter was not designed to measure signal but to let users target a signal level of 0 VU sometimes labeled 100 so it is not important that the device is non linear and not precise at low levels The VU meter intentionally slows measurement averaging out peaks and troughs of short duration and reflects more of ...

Page 16: ...r passages Ÿ Large Illuminated Stereo VU meters Reads Output level or Gain reduction Ÿ Sidechain INSERT Insert point for limiter compressor sidechain Two Stereo Phone Jacks TIP Send RING Return SLEEVE ground Ÿ For Unity Gain set Input level switch to 0 and Output control to 11 O clock Input source Z 150 Ohms Output load Z 100k Ohms Ÿ Maximum Input level 1 kHz Sine 0 3 THD N Ÿ 3 25 dBu Ÿ 0 21 dBu Ÿ...

Page 17: ...m OUTPUT THRESHOLD MIN MAX SLOW SLOW FAST FAST RECOVERY ATTACK H A N D C R A F T E D I N C A L I FO R N I A U S A COMPRESS IN LINK 3dB 3dB dB 0 INPUT LEVEL OUTPUT THRESHOLD MIN SLOW FAST MAX SLOW FAST RECOVERY ATTACK S T E R EO L I M I T E R C O M P R E S S O R 3dB 3dB dB 0 HIP GR METER OUTPUT HP SC INPUT LEVEL V U LIMIT BYPASS n u u m OUTPUT THRESHOLD MIN MAX SLOW SLOW FAST FAST RECOVERY ATTACK H...

Page 18: ... ON SERIAL TAG WARNING TO REDUCE THE RISK OF FIRE OR ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT EXPOSE THIS UNIT TO RAIN OR MOISTURE CAUTION RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT OPEN REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED PERSONNEL ONLY n u u m STEREO LIMITER COMPRESSO XLR PIN 1 SHIELD GROUND PIN 2 POSITIVE PHASE PIN 3 NEGATIVE PHASE PIN CONNECTIONS 1 4 JACK TIP SEND RING RETURN SLEEVE GROUND SERIAL No Rev 1 3 ZF 2017 Designed Handcra...

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