Operating Instructions
INPUT LEVEL and LED signal metering
The input level controls the signal running through the ADR30. It affects both the wet and dry
signals. With the pot fully counter clockwise the signal is completely shut off.
The two LED signal meter shows the audio signal level going to the bucket brigade delay
(BBD) circuitry. If the signal is too high then the BBDs will be overdriven and produce
significant distortion. If the signal is too low then the inherent noise produced by the BBD
circuits will become very noticeable. The aim then is to have as large a signal as possible
without introducing too much distortion.
The input level should be set so that the green OK LED is always on when there is signal
present. If the red PEAK LED lights up the BBDs will probably be distorting. However,
depending on the signal that is going through the ADR30, overdriving the BBDs for very
short intervals may be acceptable. Indeed, sonically this can produce some interesting
artefacts. No harm will come to the unit if the unit is run continually in the red.
It should be noted that the input signal is compressed prior to be being sent to the BBDs to
reduce the likelihood of overdriving the BBDs and to improve overall signal to noise ratio.
The signal meter is monitoring the signal after it has been compressed, so the ADR30's meter
will behave slightly differently to normal LED meters such as that found on your audio mixer.
Any compressor takes a certain time to react to the input signal so very fast transient signals
will cause the higher signal LEDs to light even when the apparent volume is quite low. Since
the signal meter monitors the signal going into the BBDs it may be necessary to set the input
level lower for, say, drum loops, than for synth pads, to avoid any unwanted distortion.
With the input level control at maximum the ADR30's limiting circuitry will start to have a
noticeable effect on the audio quality once the input signal rises above 1V(peak to peak). For
most signals the red peak LED will be lit up by then.
DELAY TIME
This controls the delay time of the unit and works in conjunction with the internal LFO and
any external CV. The longest delay time is at the most clockwise point of the control. In other
words turning up the pot increases the delay time. With no external CV and no LFO
modulation applied then the range of this control is either 15ms to 300ms in 'short' mode, or
30ms to 600ms in 'long' mode.
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