562E
8
Attack
The attack control of a gate/expander allows the user to shape the leading edge of the sound
envelope by manipulating the attack time. The A
TTACK
T
IME
control setting can make the transfer
between silence and sound graceful, or it can make the transfer abrupt.
The attack time represents the amount of time that an expander or a gate needs to react to an
input signal rising above threshold. Generally, gating is associated with short attack times
and expansion is associated with longer attack times. For expander applications, such as
removing background noise from speech, you do not want to make the attack time lightning
fast because it can make the audio sound “chopped up”. A slower A
TTACK
T
IME
setting is
preferable, so that the expander makes a more graceful transition between silence and speech,
retaining a more natural character to the audio.
For gating applications, such as isolating drum kit microphones, a faster attack time is desired,
so that the gate can open quickly when the input signal rises above threshold (when the drum
is struck). Since much of the audio signal in this case occurs at the moment of impact, a gate
that opens slowly would miss most of the audio signal.
Note
The fastest attack time setting on the 562E is the “AUTO” position, which is meant to be
used in conjunction with the W
INDOW
A
DVANCE
F
eature. The 562E’s W
INDOW
A
DVANCE
feature is designed to open the gate before the audio signal passes through the VCA.
Engaging the W
INDOW
A
DVANCE
feature and setting the A
TTACK
T
IME
control to “AUTO”
will ensure that the gate will not miss any of the impact portion of the audio signal
generated when the drum is struck.
Release
The release control of a gate/expander allows the user to shape the trailing edge of the sound
envelope by manipulating the release time. The R
ELEASE
T
IME
control setting can make the
transfer between sound and silence graceful, or it can make the transfer abrupt.
Release time is the length of time required for the gain to recover to the no-signal state. When
you are using the 562E in G
ATE
mode, release time is the length of time required for the gate to
close, because the no-signal state for an audio gate is the closed state. When an above-
threshold signal disappears, the R
ELEASE
T
IME
control governs how long it takes for the
expander or gate to reduce the gain to the no-signal state.
The R
ELEASE
T
IME
control permits tailoring of the expander’s or gate’s recovery time to the
program material. Generally, gating is associated with short release times and expansion is
associated with longer release times.
For gating applications, such as isolating drum kit microphones, a faster release time is
desired, so that you can achieve better isolation and less leakage into the microphone from the
other drums in the drum kit. In the case of drums, a “choppy” sound can also be used as a
desired effect (like the infamous gated reverb, commonly used on a snare drum).
Hold
The H
OLD
T
IME
control sets the amount of time that the gate passes audio before it begins to
release. A long hold time will give a more natural sound. For example, when the program
material is speech, a long hold time can be used to prevent the gate from releasing (closing)
between words. A short hold time gives tighter control over the audio.
Note:
The H
OLD
T
IME
only functions in the gate mode.
Hint:
If you hear “jitter” (the gate rapidly toggling between the open and closed state), it means that
you have set the H
OLD
T
IME
too short, and you need to use a longer hold time setting (unless,
of course, you want that sound).
