Sound Performance Lab Gain Station 2272 User Manual Download | Manualshive

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GainStation 1

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The 2 x 30-V current alone is first pre-regulated to 33 V and then
reduced to 30 V in order to filter out the last remnants of hum.
This task is handled by select 1000-µF electrolytic capacitors.
In addition, critical currents are stabilized via a 100-nF MKP foil
condenser, to ensure sufficient current for even the shortest
impulses. The transformer is encompassed by double shielding
to keep magnetic stray fields to an absolute minimum.

In our humble opinion, the time and energy invested in the deve-
lopment of the GainStation 1 was well worth it. The result is an
extremely compact, unusually flexible preamplifier that delivers
audio quality usually found only in units costing much more.
We believe we just may have set a new record in the sound per
cubic centimeter category.

Technology

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Summary of Contents for Gain Station 2272

Page 1: ... 38 41 46 54 63 dB dB L E V E L T U P T U O 26 6 10 12 14 18 16 20 22 24 25 9 8 6 5 2 5 0 2 3 5 5 5 5 dB 16 12 9 6 7 5 4 2 5 1 18 2021 22 23 24 24 5 25 25 5 25 8 26 Clip Hi Z Mic SOURCE Off 50 Hz HI PASS Off Fet LIMITER Peak Nor PHASE Rev On PHANTOM 30 0dB 9 18 1 2k 200 IMPED Ω 10k Off Power Limit 48V AD OVL Mic 7dB w transformer Class A Class A 60 Volt Amplifiers Discrete High Gain Preamplifier M...

Page 2: ...is document Sound Performance Lab SPL continuously strives to improve its products and reserves the right to modify the product described in this manual at any time without prior notice This document is the property of SPL and may not be copied or repro duced in any manner in part or fully without prior authorization by SPL SPL electronics GmbH Sohlweg 55 41372 Niederkruechten Germany Tel 49 0 216...

Page 3: ...LED LED Level Display AD OVL 18 Operation 19 Setting levels on the GainStation1 19 Limiter 20 Application examples 22 Vocals speech 23 Acoustic instruments orchestra 23 Acoustic guitar with pickup 23 Guitar amps 23 Electric Bass 24 Keyboards samplers drum machines 24 Tube distortions with GainStation1 24 Drums Snare Drum 25 Kick Drum 25 Toms 25 Overhead 25 Technology 26 Technical Specifications 30...

Page 4: ... this problem on the preamplification front with the goal of noticeably improving a signal and sending it along its path with a healthy foundation requires a great deal of thought and engineering effort To this end the GainStation1 employs technologiesthatnotonlysatisfytestequipment butalso and mostimportantly theuser Componentsandcircuitswerecare fully chosen and designed on the basis of extensiv...

Page 5: ...microsecond ensuringcleantransmissionofhigh frequencysignalportions and rapid transients with virtually no cut off An almost entirely DC coupled signal path making signal degenerating condensers unnecessary An optimized layout guarantees the shortest possible signal paths while generously proportioned grounding surfaces ensure low impedance and maximum shielding All switching functions are handled...

Page 6: ...and in many cases were truly amazed at what their trusty instrument was capable of Given this improvement in the input signal one is much less inclined to equalize and compress in many cases you will probably find that you can do without additional processing whichnotonlysavesanenormousamountoftimeandprocessor power but also has an extremely positive effect on the final result The GainStation1 its...

Page 7: ...tal processors In addition please Do not open the case You may risk electric shock and damage to your equipment Leave repairs and maintenance to a qualified service techni cian Should foreign objects fall inside the case contact your authorized dealer or support person To avoid electric shock or fire hazards do not expose your unit to rain or moisture In case of lightning unplug the unit Always un...

Page 8: ...ANA OUT 1 MIC INPUT 24 96 AD POWER VOLTAGE FUSE ON OFF MAINS INPUT WARNING TO REDUCE RISK OF FIRE OR ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT EXPOSE THIS UNITTO RAIN OR MOISTURE PUSH Converter HD recorder or mixing console 2 1 3 Pin wiring of the XLR microphone input Pin wiring of the XLR analog output 1 GND 2 hot 3 cold 1 GND 2 hot 3 cold Pin wiring of TRS connectors Tip hot Ring cold Sleeve GND Microphone S P DIF ...

Page 9: ...ack so that it corresponds with the power conditions The following graph shows the correct wiring for connecting unbalanced signals to the balanced XLR connectors The HI Z Line Input connector is designed for unbalanced signals only The TRS output connector see Analog Outputs page 10 can be operated both with balanced and unbalanced wiring Simply use a mono 1 4 plug for unbalanced operation Rear p...

Page 10: ...basses or other high impedance line level signals such as keyboards samplers drum machines etc with unbalanced outputs If a balanced connector TRS is inserted the ring of the plug is automatically connected to the ground to ensure proper unbalanced operation ANALOG OUTPUTS 1 2 The preamplified output signal is fed to the balanced Analog Outputs Since the XLR and 1 4 TRS connectors are wired in par...

Page 11: ...nverter by AKM with a variable sample rate of up to 96 kHz All common sample rates can be selected see below Highly accurate quartz oscillators ensure a clean low jitter master clock SAMPLE RATE The 24 96 AD converter module allows you to select between the four most common sample rates 44 1 48 88 2 and 96 kHz Using the 44 1 48 button select one of the two basic sample rates out 44 1 kHz in 48 kHz...

Page 12: ... AD IN 2 on the Gain Station1 One channel of the converter output will contain the dry or unprocessed signal while the other channel will contain the processed signal AD IN 1 MUTE Channel 1 of the converter is internally connected to the analog output so that the AD OVL LED is always active If the converter is not being used this connection can be bypassed via the AD IN 1 MUTE switch so that the L...

Page 13: ...d to accept Word Clock for synchronization The yellow SYNC LOCK LED illuminates when a valid sync signal is present at the SYNC input and the converter is automatically synchronized to the external sample rate The internal oscillators are automatically disabled when an external clock signal is present to prevent interference If the sync signal is no longer present e g in the case of a dropout the ...

Page 14: ...tube stage for the desired sound Due to the nature of tubes and tube circuitry the tube stage is somewhat noisier than the solid state stage OUTPUT LEVEL This potentiometer adapts the output level to devices following in the chain or to the converter At 0 dB the output level is equal to the internal level indicated by the LED display The OUTPUT LEVEL control allows an additional 6 dB of amplificat...

Page 15: ...state preamplification to prevent the amplification of unwanted low frequency signal portions PHASE The phase reverse function reverses the polarity of the micro phone signal turning the phase by 180 to correct phase inverted signals caused by multiple signal sources A voice over artist for example hears himself during recording through the headphones and simultaneously through the bones in his he...

Page 16: ...ch will power all micro phones IMPORTANT NOTE All microphones with balanced ground free outputs including tube microphones can be used with the phantom power activated First connect the microphone to the GainStation 1 then activate the phantom power When finished first deactivate the phantom power and wait at least 30 seconds before disconnecting the microphone to allow residual current to dischar...

Page 17: ...he tube stage is activated The FET circuit operates with a Field Effect Transistor FET which is connected to the tube and enables always in conjunction with the peak limiter a reduction of signal ampli tude Thusthislimiterworksinasimilarfashiontoacompressor which makes it very effective for signals that undergo unfore seeable level changes i e vocals speech guitar bass piano etc and where minimum ...

Page 18: ... at 9dB and so on The CLIP LED operates post CLEAN GAIN stage and displays clipping at this point in the signal path It will not react to tube saturation in the tube stage since this can be a desired effect AD OVL This LED displays clipping in the internal AD converter and illuminates at approximately 0 5 dB before 0 dBfs This LED should never illuminate when using the internal or an external conv...

Page 19: ...he red Clip LED should never illuminate this indicates clipping in the clean stage which generally should be avoided as it will lead to distortion of the solid state circuitry You may find this desir able in some rare cases we had lots of fun creating heavily distorted guitar sounds The Clip LED does not display high amplification levels in the tube stage that could lead to distortion The GainStat...

Page 20: ...ic guitars electric and acoustic basses and violins since it highlights the harmonics of the strings Naturally theseeffectsbecomemorepronouncedastheamount of Tube Gain is increased The tube can be driven to full satu ration to produce pronounced distortion which can be very effective with synthesizers samplers and drum machines that lack punch Signals recorded in this fashion will generally cut th...

Page 21: ...Tube Gain to a setting well above your working level so that the Limit LED illuminates brightly Then reduce the Output Level until the AD OVL LED goes out Now your gain levels can be returned to their normal settings and the limiter can be switched into FET mode if desired The same method should be used with an external converter except that in this case the external unit s clip LED is used for ca...

Page 22: ...dard DI boxes which rarely have high enough imped ance to effectively amplify low level pickup signals With the GainStation1 guitars sound much more transparent and dynamic subtle string transients and harmonics are repro duced with amazing detail to create a harmonious colorful sound Keyboardists also benefit from the GainStation1 s excellent sonic characteristics On stage the keyboard signal oft...

Page 23: ...ls should be set with the utmost care since distortion and clipping are easily heard and absolutely undesirable in classical and most acoustic record ings In general the limiter should only be used if absolutely necessary Acoustic guitar with pickup A combination of clean and tube stages will deliver good results here Lower tube gain settings between 1 and 9 dB will result in a very acceptable S N...

Page 24: ...nation of clean and tube stages for most other sounds The more dynamic the material the more effectively you can utilize the limiter Tube distortions with GainStation1 The GainStation can be a great creative tool for creating distor tion effects for suitable instruments and loops Try using very high tube gain settings so that the 18 dB LED is constantly illu minated Increasing the clean gain will ...

Page 25: ... see Limiter page 20 In FET mode the limiter may be more audible than you d like it to be when used on drums Bass drum Here pretty much the same applies as for snare drum The peak limiter may tend to accentuate the attack or click of the bass drum which can lead to undesirable sound variations with less disciplined drummers Toms Level setting is not quite as critical with toms Moderate use of the ...

Page 26: ...e transistor to the next Class A operation requires much higher closed circuitcurrent approximately6mAwiththisop ampsor roughly three times the total current consumption of a conven tional amplifier which in turn leads to increased heat genera tion Several months went into the development of the GainStation1 op amp First we tested several different circuit configurations using test equipment as we...

Page 27: ... frequency response at virtually every gain setting With its slew rate of over 200V us it is able to amplify fast transients and extremely high frequencies with almost no distortion An op amp subsequently converts the instrument amplifier s output signal into an unbalanced signal which is fed to the tube The tube type a Sovtek 12 AX7 LPS was also selected after extensive measurements and listening...

Page 28: ... tolerance The op amp circuits use premium FKP foil condensers which sound much more open than ceramic types and provide more natural dynamic response All circuit boards have oversized grounding surfaces for optimal shielding In the case of the power supply no expense was spared After all the power supply is one of the primary factors in the audio quality and overall sound of any device Just like ...

Page 29: ...sufficient current for even the shortest impulses The transformer is encompassed by double shielding to keep magnetic stray fields to an absolute minimum In our humble opinion the time and energy invested in the deve lopment of the GainStation1 was well worth it The result is an extremelycompact unusuallyflexiblepreamplifierthatdelivers audio quality usually found only in units costing much more W...

Page 30: ... Tube Gain off output level 0dB 20 22kHz A weighted 91 8dBu Noise Clean Gain 60dB Tube Gain off output level 0dB 20 22kHz A weighted 67 2dBu Noise Clean Gain 20dB Tube Gain 10dB output level 0dB 20 22kHz A weighted 86 4dBu EIN CleanGain60dB TubeGainoff outputlevel0dB 20 22kHz A weighted 40Ω 127 2dB Dynamic response 20 22kHz A weighted 130dB Common Mode Rejection Clean Gain 30dB Tube Gain off 1kHz ...

Page 31: ...for up to four GainStation1 Information on Lundahl input transformers Transformers have the characteristics usually associated with other analog components like tubes or coils they sound warmer fatter punchier more direct improved presence without boosting the top end One main reason for this is that transformers cancel out a large amount of odd harmonics those portions of an audio signal that sou...

Page 32: ...ncelab com or in the USA or Canada at www spl usa com The warranty period begins on the date of purchase The warranty is non transferable Repairs or replacements do not extend the warranty period This warranty does not apply if the product was not purchased from an authorized SPL dealer repairs are required due to normal wear and tear the product has been abused misused or improperly maintained or...

Page 33: ...GainStation 1 33 Notes ...

Page 34: ...User s Guide GainStation1 Models 2272 2273 All you need is imagination good ears and three letters ...

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