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ART XL 231 Dual 31 Band, 1/3 Octave Extended, Long Throw, Professional Equalizer 

 

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Tuning a sound system by ear. 

To tune a room by ear also makes sense. Test equipment won’t always indicate what 
sounds best. Acoustic environments are very complex and many tradeoffs are made. 
System performance can vary quite a bit from one listening position to another. Not only 
does frequency response vary, reverb decay times verses frequency can vary also.  
The human hearing system is quite complex and often is the best piece of test 
equipment when it comes to room tuning. 
 
Select Source Material: 
Choose a piece of source material. You may want to experiment with trying different 
sources such as:  
1)  a music CD that uses a lot of the audio spectrum. If the system is being set up for a 

particular performer, then a recording of that performer may be a good choice. 

2)  A music CD that the user is very familiar with. 
3)  A pink noise generator. 
Having multiple sources to experiment with is useful for testing the system. 
 
Step-by-step: 
With the system up and running, start with the equalizer set to a flat position. To tune 
the room, with source material playing, working on one frequency band’s slider at a 
time, move the slider very high so the signal in that band dominates the overall signal. 
Listen to what you hear in this band. Slowly decrease the slider to the point where you 
can barely hear that band. Then lower it just a bit so the energy in that band gets buried 
in all the other sound. Repeat this for each frequency band. 
 
After the first tuning, try different source material and perform the tuning again. As more 
tuning is done, the improvements will be smaller and smaller. Stop tuning when the 
improvements are very small. 
 
The tendency for users new to this is to end up with all bands boosted by some amount. 
Try to learn not to do this. Practice by boosting each band from center and returning it to 
center. The way that a single band’s energy disappears in the overall sound is what you 
want to train yourself to hear. With practice, you will find room tuning to become easier, 
and, quicker. 
 
When tuning is complete, while listening to your source material, switch between 
ACTIVE and BYPASS to see what you have done. Set the Level so that the overall level 
is approximately the same when in BYPASS or ACTIVE, that is normalized. 
 

Ringing out a Room 

Setting an EQ by ringing is useful for increasing the available system gain before 
feedback. In a live sound system, with stage monitors and separate front of house 
system (FOH), only the monitors should be rung out. This is where feedback is most 
likely to occur. The FOH should be equalized for the best overall sound. The ringing 
method doesn’t necessarily create the best sound. 

 

To ring out the monitors, if available, use a limiter set to infinite slope, a low threshold, 
and, set the level low to save everyone’s ears. 

Содержание XL 231

Страница 1: ...OPERATION MANUAL ...

Страница 2: ...t is not likely to be walked on stretched or pinched by items placed upon or against Grounding Do not defeat the grounding and polarization means of the power cord plug Do not remove or tamper with the ground connection on the power cord Moisture To reduce the risk of fire or electrical shock do not expose the unit to moisture or use in damp or wet conditions Do not place container of liquid on it...

Страница 3: ...low noise components including 1 resistors and precision high performance 2 film capacitors Enhanced Cut Mode The XL 231 offers an enhanced cut mode which allows more narrow filters and deeper cut of 18dB This helps when trying to tame resonance and minimizing overall spectral changes Only each filter s cut mode is enhanced while their boost characteristic remains unchanged Precision Slide Potenti...

Страница 4: ...comparison between the equalized and non equalized signal for each channel Multiple Connectivity The XL 231 Graphic Equalizer may be connected to a wide variety of audio devices It has three sets of input and output connectors XLR phone and detachable Euroblock barrier strip connectors The inputs are wired in parallel The XLR and Euro block output connections are also wired in parallel A separate ...

Страница 5: ...onnections include XLR balanced or unbalanced phone and detachable Euroblock barrier strip connectors The inputs are wired in parallel The XLR and Euroblock output connections are also wired in parallel A separate output circuit is used for the phone outputs which provides the same output level when used with either balanced or unbalanced connections For optimum performance use balanced connection...

Страница 6: ...If there is too much input signal or the equalizer has many filter bands boosted the red LED Clip indicator will indicate when signals are within 6dB of clipping If the Clip LED flashes occasionally this is okay but if this LED is steadily on you should reduce the input signal level or the amount of boost in the filter bands Reducing the output level will not reduce clipping if it occurs INITIAL S...

Страница 7: ...esponse FILTER RANGE SWITCH INDICATORS The gain range of the filter sliders is switchable as a group for maximum boost cut flexability Normal range is 12dB 12 18 when Enhanced Cut Mode is active When Fader Range is set to 2 the yellow LED is illuminated and the range is cut in half to 6dB 6 9 when Enhanced Cut Mode is active ENHANCED CUT MODE The XL 231 offers an Enhanced Cut mode which has a more...

Страница 8: ... provide a peak hold function This allows viewing both the peak level as well as the average signal level in a glance Peak level is especially important when driving power amplifiers or A D converters which tend to clip hard The peak level indicator helps to set level in a manner that will avoid this harsh clipping LOW CUT FILTER FREQUENCY CONTROL To cut down on unwanted low frequency signals this...

Страница 9: ...lize the entire system Note also that in either indoor or outdoor events changes in temperature or humidity can affect high frequency absorption and the Trim controls are useful to help compensate for these changes LEVEL CONTROL This controls the output signal level from the equalizer Unity gain can be set by adjusting this knob so that as you toggle the Bypass switch the overall level sounds the ...

Страница 10: ...ains the AC primary fuse This fuse should be replaced with the same type fuse if it is blown If fuses continuously blow stop replacing them and refer servicing to qualified personnel CAUTION After checking the AC supply voltage be sure that the correct fuse is in the fuse holder 0 5Amp for 95 125VAC as well for 220 240VAC The orientation of the fuse holder determines the line voltage range and is ...

Страница 11: ...bination of output connectors may be used TRS Phone The TRS Tip Ring Sleeve phone connections may be used balanced or unbalanced When balanced the tip is High the ring is Low and the sleeve is ground To use unbalanced use a mono phone cable this will automatically ground the ring to the sleeve The TRS Phone connector is balanced and wired as Tip High Ring Low Sleeve Ground XLR The XLR input connec...

Страница 12: ...nd microphones Bass 40Hz to 160Hz These two octaves are normally perceived as the bass frequencies Instruments such as the electric and string bass tuba bass drum and the lower notes of keyboard instruments fall within this range The bottom end of most music is reflected here Mid Bass 160Hz to 315Hz In this octave the transition between bass and midrange occurs Low frequency crossover points in sp...

Страница 13: ...noise out of the speakers To correct this problem set the power amplifier input level controls for much less gain Reducing the gain of the power amp by 12 to 20 dB will allow increasing the operating level through the equalizer The goal is to have the operating level in the range of the front panel level bars Rather than turning the gain controls all the way up on the power amplifier try setting g...

Страница 14: ...se the slider to the point where you can barely hear that band Then lower it just a bit so the energy in that band gets buried in all the other sound Repeat this for each frequency band After the first tuning try different source material and perform the tuning again As more tuning is done the improvements will be smaller and smaller Stop tuning when the improvements are very small The tendency fo...

Страница 15: ... to know which frequencies are in each band As soon as the first tone disappears increase gain more and a new tone will begin to build Again reduce the slider for the corresponding frequency Continue this procedure until tones start to come on in multiple frequencies At this point you are probably done Expect to actually remove from 1 to 4 tones Repeat the procedure for the other monitor channels ...

Страница 16: ...the form of a valid sales receipt Exclusions This warranty does not apply in the event of misuse or abuse of the product or as a result of unauthorized alterations or repairs This warranty is void if the serial number is altered defaced or removed A R T reserves the right to make changes in design or make additions to or improvements upon this product without any obligation to install the same on ...

Страница 17: ...ment at 716 297 2920 for your Return Authorization number or questions regarding technical assistance or repairs Customer Service hours are 9 30 AM to 5 00 PM Eastern Time Monday through Friday 4 Pack the unit in its original carton or a reasonable substitute The packing box is not recommended as a shipping carton Put the packaged unit in another box for shipping Print the RA number clearly on the...

Страница 18: ...20K Hz into 600 Ohms 1 THD RFI Input Filters Yes Bypass Switching Passive Relay Clip LED Threshold 3 dB below clipping Sensed at all gain stages High Pass Filter 10 to 250 Hz 12dB Oct High Trim 4 dB 10 KHz Low Trim 4 dB 40 Hz Frequency Response EQ and Level centered HPF fully counter clockwise 0 0 25 dB 20 20K Hz 0 1 dB 17 50K Hz 0 3 dB 10 80K Hz THD Noise 0 005 4 dBu 20 20K Hz 22 KHz BW EQ and Le...

Страница 19: ... 24dBu measured with a 22KHz bandwidth Input impedance shall be 9 4K Ohms balanced and maximum input level shall be 24dBu Output impedance shall be 100 Ohms and maximum output level into 600 Ohms shall be 26dBu balanced Inputs and outputs shall be active transformerless balanced type on XLR phone and detachable Euroblock connectors Individual bandpass filters shall be 3 precision tolerance constan...

Страница 20: ...Y 215 TREMONT STREET ROCHESTER NEW YORK 14608 USA 585 436 2720 Voice 585 436 3942 Fax www artproaudio com E mail support artproaudio com Model XL231 Dual 31 Band 1 3 Octave Extended Long Throw Professional Equalizer XL 5004 100 ...

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