Orban OPTIMOD 6300, Operating Manual

Page: 186 / 255

3-68
OPERATION ORBAN MODEL 6300
The K
NEE
control’s setting is the gain reduction in dB at which the com-
pression ratio reaches

:1. (See page 3-45 for a description of the R
ATIO
,
K
NEE
, and B
REAKPOINT
controls.)
J) After you adjust the R
ATIO
and K
NEE
controls, adjust the T
HRESHOLD
controls in
the individual bands to achieve the desired amount of gain reduction.
The K
NEE
control automatically and invisibly changes a given band’s in-
ternal compression threshold to keep the compressor’s output level con-
stant whenever the drive level is high enough to move the gain reduc-
tion into the

:1 range. This means that the internal threshold automati-
cally decreases with softer knee settings (higher settings of the K
NEE
con-
trol). However, the indicated threshold the 6300’s user interface does not
change. This behavior ensures that the
T
HRESHOLD
control alone deter-
mines the maximum output level of the compressor, regardless the K
NEE
control’s setting.
K) Adjust equalization as necessary.
As discussed above, there is a versatile program equalizer available be-
tween the AGC and multiband compressor. In 5-band mode, there is also
a 5-band mix control (functioning as a phase-linear graphic equalizer) af-
ter the 5-band compressor. In 5-band mode, any fixed equalization will
be partially “undone” by the dynamic re-equalization effect of the 5-
band compression, so 2-band mode is most useful when you are relying
on the 6300’s fixed EQ or on external EQ earlier in the signal path.
Note also that you can use the
B
ASS
C
OUPLING
control, the HF
C
OUPLING
control, and the individual band compression threshold controls to affect
the amount of automatic re-equalization performed by the 5-band com-
pression. As you set these controls closer to 100%, they permit progres-
sively less dynamic LF and HF program-adaptive boost. If you feel that the
dynamic re-equalization is not producing enough brightness when the
program material lacks high frequencies, you should turn the
B
AND
3>4
and
B
AND
4>5 C
OUPLING
closer to 0%. Similarly, if weak bass is not suffi-
ciently boosted, turn the
B
AND
2>1 C
OUPLING
closer to 0%.
L) Adjust the L
IMITER
A
TTACK
T
IME
controls to taste.
These controls allow you to set the limiter attack anywhere from 0 to
100% of normal in the 5-band compressors, each of whose gain reduc-
tion has a fast-release (limiter) and slow-release (compressor) component.
Because the limiter and compressor characteristics interact, you will usu-
ally get best audible results when you set these controls in the range of
50% to 100%. Below 50%, you will usually hear pumping because the
compressor function is trying to create some of the gain reduction that
the faster limiting function would have otherwise achieved. If you hear
pumping in a band and you still wish to adjust the limiter attack to a low
setting, you can sometimes ameliorate or eliminate the pumping by slow-
ing down the compressor attack time in that band.
Of course, sometimes pumping is desired for certain styles of music
and/or recording. The
L
IMITER
A
TTACK
T
IME
controls can help achieve this
sound.
M) Adjust the
T
RANSIENT
E
NHANCE
control to taste.
This control allows you to insert an audio delay of up to 10 ms in the
sidechain of the five-band compressor. Delaying the gain control signal,