AEQ
CAPITOL
Ultra-compact digital audio mixer
46
The “
COMP
” contextual key enables you to activate the compressor whose parameters are
shown at that time on the screen. The activation of the compressor is confirmed by the
activation of the
LED
of the contextual key and the
LED
”
PROCESS
” of the selected mixer
channel (see section “
2.1.1.5. Indicator of active processes
” of this manual). The “
COMP
”
contextual key also enables you to return to the Compressor/Limiter menu when you are in the
Noise Gate menu (in that case, the associated LED lights for a moment and then it turns off).
IMPORTANT NOTE: The dynamics process, and especially the Compressor/Limiter, requires
either extensive experience or caution and time to check, while off the air, the result obtained on
the signal. Without these precautions, you may generate sound effects that can be perceived as
dirty sound, lack of definition, distortion and other defects in general.
By pressing the “
NGATE
” contextual key you will access the screen dedicated to the control
and configuration of the Noise Gate for that input channel (the associated LED lights for a
moment and then it turns off).
NOISE GATE:
A noise gate is a dynamics processor that lets signals through whose level exceeds a certain
threshold, strongly attenuating the signal levels below that threshold and thus muting noise. It
enables its user to eliminate extraneous noise from a signal source, whether it is background
noise in the studio, in the case of a microphone, or the background noise generated by a
playback device, for example, a tape.
From top to bottom and left to right, the information shown in the Noise Gate configuration and
control screen is as follows:
•
“
ATT
”
:
Attack Time. It ranges between 0 and 95 ms.
•
“
REL
”
:
Release Time. It ranges between 0 and 9000 ms.
•
“
HOL
”
:
Hold Time. It ranges between 0 and 2000 ms.
•
“
THR
”
:
Threshold. It ranges between -72 and 0dB.
•
“
R
”
:
Range. It ranges between 0 and 90dB.
A cursor blinks over the fields placed on the left or on the right to indicate the fields that can be
modified at that momento. To change from the one to another just press any of the three
associated encoders. When you select the fields on the left, turning the first encoder allows you
to change “ATT”, the second one changes “REL” and the third one changes “HOL”; when you
select the fields on the right, turning the first encoder allows you to change “THR” and the
second one changes “R” (the third one has no function in this case).
When establishing the settings, the threshold for the noise gate will be much lower than in the
case of the compressor, as its operation is the opposite. The noise gate prevents the passing of
lower levels of the signal that could be considered noise. Therefore, the range of settings is
different. In addition, there is an additional parameter for noise gates, which is “Hold Time.” This
is a safety period used to prevent the gate from accidentally closing if a signal is suddenly
absent, for example, in speech.
