CL-5000 DUAL CHANNEL COMPRESSOR LIMITER WITH GATE OWNER'S MANUAL DUAL CHANNEL COMPRESSOR LIMITER WITH GATE CL-5000 Congratulations! You have just purchased on of the finest professional compressor limiters on the market today. This unit was developed using the expertise of professional sound engineers and working musicians. You will find your new NADY AUDIO CL-5000 has superior performance and greater flexibility than any other compressor in its price range. Read this manual carefully to get the most out of your new unit. Thank you for selecting NADY AUDIO Date of Purchase Dealer's Name City State Zip Model# Serial # Features · · · · · · · · · Two independent compressor/limiter/gates in a road-tough steel single-rack-space (1U) housing Utilizes a unique circuitry which combines hard and soft knee compression styles, thus providing excellent inaudible and music program compression as well as providing creative and effective dynamics processing Advanced operating features include fully automatic or manually variable attack/release times, compression ratio, and threshold control Dual 12 stage gain reduction and 8 stage input/output metering Dual-mono or stereo operation; servo-balanced inputs (with automatic hum and noise reduction) and outputs Built-in adjustable dynamic enhancer (selectively replaces high-end loss during even severe compression brought on by high-energy low-end content) IRC (Interactive Ratio Control) expander/gate (which automatically adjusts expansion per the program material, thus eliminating the noise floor during quiet sections or music pauses) TRS side-chain applications, including de-essing, emphasizing/de-emphasizing certain instruments during recording, eliminating feedback in live applications, and ducking Shielded internal power supply and voltage selector for switching between ~115VAC (60 Hz)/~230VAC/(50Hz) An equilateral triangle enclosing a lightning flash/arrowhead symbol is intended to alert the user to the presence of uninsulated "dangerous voltage" within the product's enclosure, which may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of electric shock. An equilateral triangle enclosing an exclamation point is intended to alert the user to the presence of important operating and service instructions in the literature enclosed with this unit. IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS WARNING ­ When using electric products, basic precautions should always be followed, including the following: 1. Read all the instructions before using the product. 2. Do not use this product near water (e.g., near a bathtub, washbowl, kitchen sink, in a wet basement, or near a swimming pool, etc.) 3. This product should be used only with a cart or stand that will keep it level and stable and prevent wobbling. 4. This product, in combination with headphones or speakers, may be capable of producing sound levels that could cause permanent hearing loss. Do not operate for a long period of time at a high volume level or at a level that is uncomfortable. If you experience any hearing loss or ringing in the ears, you should consult an audiologist. 5. The product should be located so that its location or position does not interfere with its proper ventilation. 6. The product should be located away from heat sources such as radiators, heat vents, or other devices ( including amplifiers) that produce heat. 7. The product should be connected to a power supply only of the type described in the operating instructions or as marked on the product. Replace the fuse only with one of the specified type and size and with the correct rating. 8. The power-supply cord should : (1) be undamaged, (2) never share an outlet or extension cord with other devices so that the outlet's or extension cord's power rating is exceeded, or (3) be left plugged into the outlet when left unused for a long period of time. 9. Care should be taken so that objects do not fall into and liquids are not spilled through the enclosure `s openings. 10. The product should be serviced by qualified service personnel when: A. The power-supply cord or the plug has been damaged; or B. Objects have fallen, or liquid has been spilled onto the product; or C. The product has been exposed to rain; or D. The product does not appear to operate normally or exhibits a marked change in performance; or E. The product has been dropped, or the enclosure damaged. 11. Do not attempt to service the product beyond that described in the user-maintenance instructions. All other servicing should be referred to qualified service personnel. This product may be equipped with a polarized line plug (one blade wider than the other). This is a safety feature. If you are unable to insert the plug into the outlet, contact an electrician to replace your obsolete outlet. Do not defeat the safety purpose of the plug. (For use in the U.S.A.) IMPORTANT: THE WIRES IN THIS MAINS LEAD ARE COLORED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FOLLOWING CODE. BLUE : NEUTRAL BROWN : LIVE As the colors of the wires in the mains lead of this apparatus may not correspond with the colored markings identifying the terminals in your plug proceed as follows: The wire which is colored BLUE must be connected to the terminal which is marked with the letter N or colored BLACK. The wire which is colored BROWN must be connected to the terminal which is marked with the letter L or colored RED. Under no circumstances must either of the above wires be connected to the earth terminal of a three-pin plug. (For use in Europe) CONTENTS A INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................................... 5 B. CONTROLS, CONNECTIONS, OPERATION .............................................................................................................. 6 Expander Gate Section (Operation) ................................................................................................................... 6 Compressor/Limiter Section (operation) ............................................................................................................. 7 Dynamic Enhancer Section (Operation) .............................................................................................................. 9 C. APPLICATIONS ....................................................................................................................................................... 10 1. MAIN APPLICATIONS AND INITIAL SETTINGS ............................................................................................. 10 1.1 Compression/Leveling/Limiting/Clipping ........................................................................................... 11 2. EXPANDER/GATE SECTION ......................................................................................................................... 12 2.1 Controlling Leakage in the Studio ...................................................................................................... 12 2.2 Initial Settings for the Expander/Gate Section ..................................................................................... 12 2.3 Reducing Leakage in Stage Mics ....................................................................................................... 12 2.4 Reducing Ambient Sound Pickup and Feedback in Stage Mics .............................................................. 13 2.5 Noise Reduction on Effects Paths ....................................................................................................... 13 3. THE COMPRESSOR FUNCTION .................................................................................................................... 13 3.1 Initial Settings for the Compressor Function ........................................................................................ 13 3.2 The CL-5000 as a Sound Effects Unit ................................................................................................. 14 4. THE LIMITER FUNCTION .............................................................................................................................. 14 4.1 Initial Settings for the Limiter Function ................................................................................................. 14 D. SPECIAL APPLICATIONS ......................................................................................................................................... 14 1. USING THE CL-5000 FOR RECORDING AND CASETTE DUPLICATION .......................................................... 14 1.1 The CL-5000 in Digital Recording and Sampling ................................................................................. 15 1.2 The CL-5000 in Mastering ................................................................................................................. 15 2. THE CL-5000 AS A PROTECTIVE DEVICE ..................................................................................................... 15 2.1 Protection of a System with a Passive Crossover .................................................................................. 16 2.2 Protection of a System with an Active Crossover .................................................................................. 16 2.3 Improving the Sound of a "Processed" System ..................................................................................... 17 3. USING THE CL-5000 WITH TAPE RECORDERS ............................................................................................. 17 4. THE CL-5000 IN BROADCAST ..................................................................................................................... 17 5. USING THE CL-5000 TO CHANGE SOUND ................................................................................................ 17 5.1 Reshaping Sampled Sounds ............................................................................................................... 17 5.2 Altering the Texture of Musical Instruments .......................................................................................... 18 E. EXTERNAL SIDECHAIN APPLICATIONS .................................................................................................................... 18 1. THE DETECTOR LOOP CONNECTOR ........................................................................................................... 18 2. USING AN EQUALIZER IN THE SIDECHAIN PATH ......................................................................................... 18 2.1 The CL-5000 as a "De-Esser" ............................................................................................................ 18 2.2 Frequency Selective Filtering of Unwanted Signals .............................................................................. 19 2.3 Suppressing Instruments During Recording .......................................................................................... 20 2.4 Emphasizing Musical Instruments During Recordin .............................................................................. 20 2.5 Reducing Feedback in PA Systems ..................................................................................................... 20 3. ANTICIPATED COMPRESSION ...................................................................................................................... 21 4. "VOICE-OVER" COMPRESSION ("DUCKING") ............................................................................................. 21 F. SPECIFICATIONS .................................................................................................................................................... 22 INTRODUCTION The CL-5000 incorporates several new state-of-the-art circuit designs which make it an extremely efficient and universal dynamics processor: intelligent program recognition, interactive Expander/Gate and a new Dynamic Enhancer. IKA (Interactive Knee Adaption) Compressor The IKA (Interactive Knee Adaption) circuitry successfully combines the traditional "Hard Knee" compressor concept with the "Soft Knee" feature. The "Soft Knee" mode, with its "soft" control characteristics, is the basis of the "inaudible" and "musical" compression of the program material, while the "Hard Knee" function is a prerequisite both for creative and efficient dynamics processing and for limiting signal peaks reliably and precisely. This latter function is required to protect subsequent equipment against distortion, and possible damage. The Interactive AUTO Processor The CL-5000 offers an interactive AUTO processor and intelligent program detection. In the AUTO mode, the attack and release times are derived automatically from the program material, thus effectively eliminating common adjustment errors. This feature enables optimum results by allowing you to heavily, yet "musically", compress the signal's dynamic range w ...