6
© SPL electronics GmbH, Stand 04/97
Charisma
Charisma
Control elements
1
2
3
4
5
Setting the drive level to
the tubes
P
ROCESS
= processing starts
M
AX
= max. saturation
Examples:
– with snare or kick drum
you can use heavy distor-
tion (M
AX
LED illuminates)
– with layer sounds you
should be very careful!
Only use very little distor-
tion if any (P
ROCESS
LED
rarely)
The D
RIVE
control sets the drive level to the tubes. D
RIVE
values can be adjusted between -oo dB and +24 dB.
You have control over the tube´s onset of saturation to find
the optimum point of processing. The higher the D
RIVE
, the
more tube harmonics are being generated. At the same time,
limiting gets stronger, increasing the density of the tube distor-
tion.
Start off with the D
RIVE
set at 0 dB. Now the input level is
equivalent to the level driving the tube electronics. When you
increase the value, you will get a more intense tube processing
and the output volume rises. To compensate this use the O
UTPUT
control (4).
The P
ROCESS
LED illuminates when C
HARISMA
starts its tube
processing. The tubes are starting to generate their typical
sound and harmonical structure.
The M
AX
LED indicates that the processing has reached its
maximum position. Now the tube is fully saturated and the
typical limiting effect occurs. Increasing the D
RIVE
results in more
tube distortion.
IMPORTANT:
When you start to process a sound with heavy
transients and attack, like snare or kick drum, you can drive the
tubes into heavy saturation before you start to hear the tube´s
distortion. When the P
ROCESS
LED starts to illuminate you hardly
hear a difference. When driving the tubes into heavier distortion
the M
AX
LED illuminates frequently and the tube distortion is
becoming audible. On the other hand, when you want to process
layer sounds or almost sinewave-like sounds you will sometimes
hear the tube´s distortion even before the P
ROCESS
LED illumi-
nates. So, you have to set the D
RIVE
level depending on the
character of the sound you want to process. Our hearing starts to
hear overtones on sinewave-like signal immediately, whereas
squarewave-like sounds can be heavily distrorted before the
additional harmonics are perceived.
Note:
Do not set the D
RIVE
controls to identical settings and
expect the tubes to act identical when different input signals are
present.
Drive
2
1
Max/Process LEDs
