f u n c t i o n s
17
Gate/Expander
A gate and an expander both serve to keep out unwanted noise. A gate does not
allow any signal through until the volume of the signal passes a certain threshold,
while an expander compresses the volume of any signal below a certain threshold. (If
you are not familiar with compression, see the Compressor section.) Which you
should use depends on the characteristic of what you are recording, since a gate is
essentially on or off, whereas the expander comes in and out more gradually.
The equaliser and compressor sections of the unit do not affect the gating/expansion
applied to the signal, since the original input signal is passed to the gate/expander.
(The only exception to this is the filters section, which can affect the gate/expander –
see the section Using the Low and High Filters with the Gate/Expander.)
Controls
• The Gate In button switches the gate/expander in or out.
• The To Meter button modifies what the meter displays, and how it displays it.
• When the switch is out, the meter acts as a VU meter displaying the level of the
input signal. It displays the signal in bar mode (that is, the meter lights all the LEDs
up to the signal level, thus creating a bar effect).
Ext
Threshold
Release
Expand
To Meter
Key
Fast
Gate In
dB +10
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
dB 4.0
0.1
0.2
0.5
1.0
2.0
LED LIT
LED UN-LIT
-20 -10 -7 -5 -3
-1
0
+1 +2 +3
VU mode
(showing OVU)
