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Additional Resources/Product Registration/Warranty/Service & Support 

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Additional Resources 

 

We’ve got a pretty cool website, if we may say so ourselves. Check us out at http://www.uaudio.com.  

 

There, you’ll find tons of information about our full line of products, as well as e-news, videos, 
software downloads, FAQs, an online store, and a way cool webzine that features hot tips, techniques, 
and interviews with your favorite artists, engineers and producers each month. The webzine even 
offers something we call “Playback”—a monthly contest where the winners get their music posted 
on our site, exposing their songs to thousands of visitors per day! 
 

Product Registration 

 

Please take a moment to register your new Universal Audio product by visiting our website at 
http://www.uaudio.com/support/register.html 

 

Registration allows us to contact you regarding important product updates and also makes you 
eligible for online promotions. 
 

Warranty 

 

The warranty for all Universal Audio hardware is one year from date of purchase, parts and labor.  
 

Service & Support 

 

Even gear as well designed and tested as ours will sometimes fail. In those rare instances, our goal 
here at UA is to get you up and running again as soon as possible.  

 

The first thing to do if you’re having trouble with your device is to check for any loose or faulty 
external cables, bad patchbay connections, grounding trouble from a power strip and all 
inputs/outputs (mic/line/Hi-Z, etc.). If your problem persists, call tech support at 877-MY-UAUDIO, or 
send an email to [email protected], and we will help you troubleshoot your system. 
(Canadian and overseas customers should contact their local distributor.) When calling for help, 
please have the product serial number available and have your unit set up in front of you, turned on 
and exhibiting the problem.  

 

If it is determined your product requires repair, you will be told where to ship it and issued a Return 
Merchandise Authorization number (RMA). This number must be displayed on the outside of your 
shipping box (use the original packing materials if at all possible). Most repairs take approximately             
2 - 4 days, and we will match the shipping method you used to get it to us. (In other words, if you 
shipped it to us UPS ground, we will ship it back to you UPS ground; if you overnight it to us, we will 
ship it back to you overnight). You pay the shipping costs to us; we ship it back to you free of charge. 
Qualified service under warranty is, of course, also free of charge. For gear no longer under warranty, 
tech bench costs are $75 per hour plus parts. 

Summary of Contents for 1176AE

Page 1: ...6AE Anniversary Edition Limiting Amplifier Universal Audio Part Number 65 0010 Revision 1 0 Universal Audio Inc Customer Service Tech Support 1 877 MY AUDIO Business Sales Marketing 1 866 UAD 1176 www uaudio com ...

Page 2: ...rial Copyright 2008 Universal Audio Inc All rights reserved This manual and any associated software artwork product designs and design concepts are subject to copyright protection No part of this document may be reproduced in any form without prior written permission of Universal Audio Inc Trademarks 1176AE 1176LN 2 1176 6176 2 610 LA 610 LA 2A 2 LA 2 LA 3A 4110 8110 SOLO 610 SOLO 110 2192 DCS Rem...

Page 3: ...nding of the company and over 40 years since the original release of the most recognized studio limiter ever made This hand built customized unit is one of only 500 a fitting tribute to the legend that is the 1176 and Bill Putnam Sr s amazing audio design legacy Tested by Final Assembly by Serial Number Universal Audio Inc 1700 Green Hills Rd Scotts Valley CA 95066 4926 ...

Page 4: ...nd ideas to re create Universal Audio as a company that would bridge the growing divide between analog and digital electronics old vs new The 1176LN was the first hardware product we decided to make largely due to the pride my father took in not only its commercial success but also its creative and technical success As a matter of chance the day that we shipped our first 1176LN out of my garage in...

Page 5: ...the plug body when connecting or disconnecting it 7 Grounding of the Plug This unit is equipped with a 3 wire grounding type plug a plug having a third grounding pin This plug will only fit into a grounding type power outlet This is a safety feature If you are unable to insert the plug into the outlet contact your electrician to replace your obsolete outlet Do not defeat the purpose of the groundi...

Page 6: ...Basics About All Button Mode And Other Multi Button Modes About Class A Making A Custom Insert Cable Terminal Strip Connections Maintenance Information Calibrations Zero Set Q Bias Meter Driver Null Stereo Operation and Calibration Changing the Voltage Selector Changing Fuses 1176LN Circuit Details Glossary of Terms Recall Sheet Specifications Additional Resources Product Registration Warranty Ser...

Page 7: ...place it there The 1176AE is housed in a standard two rackspace 19 chassis and so we recommend that it be securely mounted in a rack if possible Step 2 On the rear panel make sure the voltage selector switch is set correctly for the voltage in your area On the right side of the front panel make sure the bottom Meter button OFF is pressed in and then connect the supplied IEC power cable to the rear...

Page 8: ...ain reduction Depress the 2 Ratio button 2 1 and slowly raise the Attack knob to hear the effect of moderate compression on your signal Step 9 Experiment by selecting different Ratios and by trying various Multi Button combinations pressing in all more than one ratio button simultaneously Also try varying the Input level and Attack and Release times for different compression and limiting character...

Page 9: ...le from 20 microseconds to 800 microseconds both extremely fast plus the 1176AE offers a unique fixed 10ms SLO Attack when this control is clicked to the far counter clockwise position The attack time is fastest when the Attack knob is in its fully clockwise position and is slowest when it is in its fully counterclockwise position Disengaging all ratio buttons disables compression altogether The s...

Page 10: ...atio moderate compression 8 Selects an 8 1 ratio severe compression 20 Selects a 20 1 ratio hard limiting If the release time is too fast pumping and breathing artifacts can occur due to the rapid rise of background noise as the gain is restored If the release time is too slow however a loud section of the program may cause gain reduction that persists through a soft section making the soft sectio...

Page 11: ...o a level of 4 dBm at the rear panel outputs see 3 and 4 on the following page Depressing the OFF position has the effect of powering off the 1176AE In order to obtain a specific amount of limiting or compression on the 1176AE begin by setting both the Input and Output knob to approximately 24 their twelve o clock positions for unity gain Set the Ratio as desired then set the Attack and Release co...

Page 12: ...outed via a patchbay to a channel or bus insert return 4 Terminal Strip Because it predated standard XLR connectors the original 1176AE provided terminal strips for input and output line level connections and so in addition to providing a convenient XLR input and output see 2 and 3 above that feature has been retained here Use the leftmost two terminals for input connections the next terminal for ...

Page 13: ...terconnection illustration should show 1176AE in standard insert send return configuration with patch bay using XLR and optionally terminal strip connections For most applications we recommend starting with the 1176LN INPUT and OUTPUT knobs set to approximately 24 their 12 o clock position for unity gain ...

Page 14: ...ly in the mix with a nice top end to the sound Producer engineer Mike Shipley Def Leppard Shania Twain says I grew up using 1176s in England they were the compressor of choice They re especially good for vocals most anything else I can do without but I can t be without at least a pair of 1176s and an LA 2A The 1176 absolutely adds a bright character to a sound and you can set the attack so it s go...

Page 15: ...que What you do is you run your room mics through a couple of 1176s just so that they are nudging a bit This brings up the decay time of the room when your guy hits the bass drum or the snare If it s a very quick tempo it won t work but at medium or half time tempo it brings up the room It s wonderful and there is not another compressor that will do it the same way as an 1176 When I am mixing he a...

Page 16: ...trols and with careful positioning it was possible to give the guitar a lot of punch and an apparent sense of urgency in the mix The 1176LN can serve as a perfect complement for acoustic and electric bass as well In his Sound on Sound magazine review in June 2001 Hugh Robjohns observed that the original 1176 was often celebrated as a compressor for bass and I certainly found the re issue s compres...

Page 17: ...lps tracks to cut through in a mix without you needing to even reach for EQ Throughout the years engineers have variously referred to this characteristic sound as edge growl present and urgent Generally speaking the higher the Input level the more these descriptive terms come into play You ll find that the 1176LN is most transparent when doing gain reduction of 4 dB or less This will serve to subt...

Page 18: ...s configurations and eventually found a way of using it as the gain controlling element of a compressor limiter The original version of the 1176 released in 1967 was denoted the 1176A but was revised to the model AB only a few months later with improvements in stability and slightly reduced noise The following year saw revision B with further minor changes to the preamplifier circuit These models ...

Page 19: ...e launched Universal Audio In 2000 the company released its first product a faithful reissue of the original 1176LN revision D E which quickly garnered rave reviews finding a home in hundreds of professional and project studios worldwide In 2000 Bill Putnam Sr was awarded a Technical Grammy for his multiple contributions to the recording industry Highly regarded as a recording engineer studio desi...

Page 20: ...peak levels causing distortion While many of today s digital recording media approach or even exceed 120 dB of available dynamic range quiet passages of recorded music can still be lost in the ambient noise floor of the listening area which in an average home is 35 to 45 dB Despite the increased dynamic range compression is especially important when recording digitally for two reasons One it helps...

Page 21: ...er to cause a 1 dB increase in output A ratio of 1 1 therefore means that for every 1 dB of increase in input level there is a corresponding 1 dB increase in output level in other words there is no compression being applied A ratio of 4 1 however means that any time there is an increase of 4 decibels in the loudness of the input signal there will only be a 1 dB increase in output signal A ratio of...

Page 22: ...ng and breathing artifacts can occur due to the rapid rise of background noise as the gain is restored If the release time is too long however a loud section of the program may cause gain reduction that persists through a soft section making the soft section inaudible In the 1176LN both the attack and release times are user selectable Attack time can be set to between 20 microseconds and 800 micro...

Page 23: ...nique and constantly shifting compression curve that results yields a trademark overdriven tone that can only be found in this family of limiter compressors With the 1176AE a range of Multi Button combinations are achievable offering various interpretations of the All Button idiosyncrasies Play around with various multi button combinations to hear the various sounds they range from wild to tame to...

Page 24: ...e pins 1 cold and 3 ground together on each XLR connector Only solder pin 3 as you will also need to solder an audio lead into pin 1 2 On both XLR connectors solder the hot red lead into pin 2 and solder the cold black lead into pin 1 as well as the other end of the bus wire as described in the previous step 3 Solder the hot red lead from the cable connected to the male XLR to the tip connection p...

Page 25: ... lead TS tip to the IN terminal Connect the GROUND shield braid to the IN C terminal UNBALANCED OUTPUT Connect the HOT cable lead TS tip to the OUT terminal Connect the GROUND shield braid to the OUT C terminal BALANCED INPUT Connect the HOT cable lead TRS tip or XLR pin 2 to the IN terminal Connect the NEUTRAL cable lead TRS ring or XLR pin 3 to the IN C terminal Optional If there is a hum proble...

Page 26: ...rewdriver to slowly adjust the Zero Set potentiometer so that the meter reads 0 dB Watch how the meter settles before completing the calibration Q Bias The compression threshold is set using R59 Under normal circumstances this control does not need to be adjusted The threshold is dependent upon the specific characteristics of the VVR FET Q1 and it will be necessary to re adjust it if Q1 is changed...

Page 27: ...e 21 so that the meter reads near 0 dB 5 Connect the multimeter across R74 6 Adjust R75 for a minimum voltage reading 7 Disconnect the multimeter 8 Readjust the Zero Set potentiometer R71 so that the meter reads 0 dB Stereo Operation and Calibration With the use of an external 1176 Stereo Adapter 1176SA available from Universal Audio two 1176AEs can be connected for stereo operation When used in s...

Page 28: ...E can operate at 115V or 230V It will be factory preset for the voltage in your area however if it is necessary to change the voltage selector located directly below the transformer on the rear panel use a small slotted screwdriver to slide it to the desired operating voltage NOTE When changing operating voltage the fuse value must be changed as well Make sure the 1176AE is properly set for the vo...

Page 29: ...and performance is critical to the sound of the device This transformer was distinguished by the fact that it used several additional sets of windings to provide feedback a practice widely used in the tube amplifiers of the era which made it an integral component in the operation of the output amplifier Putnam spent a great deal of time perfecting the design of this tricky transformer and carefull...

Page 30: ...ve the FET based gain reduction stage Additionally the adjustable input level is used to control the amount of compression This input circuit was used in Revisions A F With Revision G a differential op amp input instead of the attenuator transformer input stage was used Gain Reduction Stage Figure 3 Gain Reduction Stage As shown in Figure 3 gain reduction is achieved by a Field Effect Transistor F...

Page 31: ...e 1176LN is a feedback style compressor since the sidechain circuit samples the signal level after the gain reduction LN Circuitry The LN circuit which appeared in revisions C and later was designed to reduce the distortion that the FET introduced in the gain reduction stage FETs are inherently nonlinear devices and any non linear device will introduce signal distortion The LN circuitry was design...

Page 32: ...ol Circuit Figure 5 Gain Reduction Control Circuit As shown in Figure 5 this circuit controls the amount of compression as well as the attack and release times of the limiter The input to this circuit is taken from the output of the preamplifier section just before the volume control potentiometer R23 The compression ratio push button switches determine the level of the signal which is sent to the...

Page 33: ...he correct value as determined by the currently selected compression ratio selection R55 controls the compressor s attack time by regulating how fast C22 is charged Likewise R56 determines the compressor s release time by controlling the rate at which C22 discharges The output of this stage is then applied to the gate of the FET in the gain reduction circuit which in turn controls the gain in the ...

Page 34: ...ectronic devices such that their active components are drawing current and working throughout the full signal cycle thus yielding a more linear response This increased linearity results in fewer harmonics generated hence lower distortion in the output signal Clipping A particularly harsh form of audio distortion caused when the loudness of an incoming signal exceeds a digital audio recording devic...

Page 35: ...y A gradual transition is called soft knee while a more rapid transition is called hard knee Soft knee compression and limiting is generally more desirable for musical applications Limiter A compressor that operates at high compression ratios of 10 1 or higher Limiting A more severe form of compression where a high compression ratio of 10 1 or higher is being used Limiting Amplifier A synonym for ...

Page 36: ...ire wound on a common core of magnetically permeable material Audio transformers operate on audible signal and are designed to step voltages up and down and to send signal between microphones and line level devices such as mixing consoles recorders and DAWs Transient A relatively high volume pitchless sound impulse of extremely brief duration such as a pop Consonants in singing and speech and the ...

Page 37: ...Recall Sheet __________________________________________________________ 32 ...

Page 38: ...th of 30 Hz to 18 kHz Attack Time Adjustable from 20 to 800 microseconds plus 10ms Slo mode Release Time Adjustable from 50 milliseconds to 1 1 seconds Threshold vs Output Level External Connections XLR Original Jones barrier strip Stereo Interconnection Optional using 1176SA stereo interconnect accessory Power Requirements 115V 230V Power Connector Detachable IEC power cable Fuse 125 mA time dela...

Page 39: ...here at UA is to get you up and running again as soon as possible The first thing to do if you re having trouble with your device is to check for any loose or faulty external cables bad patchbay connections grounding trouble from a power strip and all inputs outputs mic line Hi Z etc If your problem persists call tech support at 877 MY UAUDIO or send an email to hardwaresupport uaudio com and we w...

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