TC Electronic DB6, User Manual

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DB6: An introduction
DB6 English Manual (2014-10-07) 20
Signal path transparency check
Once a transmission signal path has been con-
figured and adjusted, check that it is indeed
free of loudness processing when you think it
should be. A good indicator of this is Loudness
Range. Measure a program’s Loudness Range
in the production studio, and check if the value
stays the same when delivered to the consumer.
As long as no dynamics processing is applied,
Loudness Range does not change if a program
is offset in gain.
Loudness range is also robust even across lossy
data reduction unless a low bit rate (lower than
64 kbps) is used. For AC3 transmission, be sure
to check Loudness Range after a domestic de-
coder as the DRC system may unexpectedly be
engaged.
Solid foundations
TC’s involvement with high quality digital audio
dates back to the mid-eighties of the last cen-
tury. Our commitment to digital excellence has
continued over the years with equipment for the
music, film and mastering industries. The ad-
vanced loudness and true-peak meters in TC’s
signal processors are founded on ITU and EBU
standards – standards that TC has contributed
to significantly.
Many years of experience with analog and digi-
tal broadcast and the know-how of skilled engi-
neers: This is the foundation on which this prod-
uct was built. From the purist and quality-con-
scious hardware engineers to the software writ-
ers, some of whom were involved with designing
the MPEG codecs: The team who has worked on
this signal processor forms a competent, non-
dogmatic design group ready to take broadcast
audio to the next level.
We are confident you will value the result of their
hard work.
One-step loudness management
DB6 is a signal processor that is able to handle
all aspects of loudness in one simple process:
►
loudness metering at the input stage,
► up and/or down conversion at any stage,
► loudness processing,
►
on-line lip-sync delay,
► loudness metering at the output stage and
► logging
of all relevant loudness statistics.
In short: DB6 is an intelligent loudness processor
that keeps your audio at its finest – regardless
of which platform you need to deliver to. How-
ever, please note that DB6 is
not a substitute for
managing loudness and true-peak level sensi-
bly in production and linking. The best result is
obtained when production, ingest, linking and
transmission is a transparent loop where as little
adjustment as possible happens downstream of
production.