C300 DUAL STEREO GATE & COMPRESSOR USER'S MANUAL IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS The lightning flash with an arrowhead symbol within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the presence of uninsulated "dangerous voltage" within the product's enclosure that may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of electric shock to persons. The exclamation point within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the presence of important operating and maintenance (servicing) instructions in the literature accompanying the product. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Read these instructions. Keep these instructions. Heed all warnings. Follow all instructions. Do not use this apparatus near water. Clean only with dry cloth. Do not block any ventilation openings. Install in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. Do not install near any heat sources such as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or other apparatus (including amplifiers) that produce heat. Do not defeat the safety purpose of the polarized or grounding-type plug. A polarized plug has two blades with one wider than the other. A grounding type plug has two blades and a third grounding prong. The wide blade or the third prong are provided for your safety. If the provided plug does not fit into your outlet, consult an electrician for replacement of the obsolete outlet. Protect the power cord from being walked on or pinched particularly at plugs, convenience receptacles, and the point where they exit from the apparatus. Only use attachments/accessories specified by the manufacturer. Use only with the cart, stand, tripod, bracket, or table specified by the manufacturer, or sold with the apparatus. When a cart is used, use caution when moving the cart/apparatus combination to avoid injury from tip-over. Unplug this apparatus during lightning storms or when unused for long periods of time. Refer all servicing to qualified service personnel. Servicing is required when the apparatus has been damaged in any way, such as power-supply cord or plug is damaged, liquid has been spilled or objects have fallen into the apparatus, the apparatus has been exposed to rain or moisture, does not operate normally, or has been dropped. Warning! · To reduce the risk of fire or electrical shock, do not expose this equipment to dripping or splashing and ensure that no objects filled with liquids, such as vases, are placed on the equipment. · This apparatus must be earthed. · Use a three wire grounding type line cord like the one supplied with the product. · Be advised that different operating voltages require the use of different types of line cord and attachment plugs. · Check the voltage in your area and use the correct type. See table below: Voltage 110-125V Line plug according to standard UL817 and CSA C22.2 no 42. 220-230V CEE 7 page VII, SR section 107-2-D1/IEC 83 page C4. 240V BS 1363 of 1984. Specification for 13A fused plugs and switched and unswitched socket outlets. · · · This equipment should be installed near the socket outlet and disconnection of the device should be easily accessible. Do not install in a confined space. Do not open the unit - risk of electric shock inside. Caution: You are cautioned that any change or modifications not expressly approved in this manual could void your authority to operate this equipment. Service · There are no user-serviceable parts inside. · All service must be performed by qualified personnel. a IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS EMC / EMI. This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B Digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in residential installations. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on. The user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures: · · · · Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna. Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver. Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected. Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help. Certificate Of Conformity TC Electronic A/S, Sindalsvej 34, 8240 Risskov, Denmark, hereby declares on own responsibility that following products: C300 DUAL STEREO GATE & COMPRESSOR - that is covered by this certificate and marked with CE-label conforms with following standards: EN 60065 Safety requirements for mains (IEC 60065) operated electronic and related apparatus for household and similar general use EN 55103-1 Product family standard for audio,video, audio-visual and entertainment lighting control apparatus for professional use. Part 1: Emission. EN 55103-2 Product family standard for audio, video, audio-visual and entertainment lighting control apparatus for professional use. Part 2: Immunity. With reference to regulations in following directives: 73/23/EEC, 89/336/EEC Issued in Risskov, April 2006 Mads Peter Lübeck Chief Executive Officer For the customers in Canada: This Class B digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES-003. Cet appareil numérique de la classe B est conforme à la norme NMB-003 du Canada. b TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Important safety instructions . . . . . . . .a Certificate of Conformity . . . . . . . . . . . .b Table of contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Front Panel overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Rear Panel connections . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Signal Flow diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Typical setups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Cables - (important) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 BASIC OPERATION Preset applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 C300 Processing Compression basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Comp/Limiter mode - C300 . . . . . . . .17 Gate Expander mode - C300 . . . . . . .18 New Style Compression - C300 . . . . .19 APPENDIX Software update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Technical specifications . . . . . . . . . . .21 TC Electronic, Sindalsvej 34, DK-8240 Risskov ­ tcdk@tcelectronic.com English Version Prod. No: E60506011 Rev 1 ­ SW ­ V 1.01 3 QUICK START If you are familiar with compressors, limiters, gates and de-essing techniques this quick guide is probably all the information you will need to operate the C300. For more information, please refer to other sections of this manual. IF YOU JUST CAN'T WAIT processing engines. Note that this routing works for both a stereo setup but also a single mono setup. Typically you would use one engine as a gate/expander and the other as deesser or compressor/limiter. But note that any combination of effects is possible as the engines operate independently. · Make all appropriate connections. You may refer to the examples on pages 10-12. · Decide application and set Routing accordingly. · Set MIX to 100% for normal compression. Any setting between 0 and 100% utilizes the C300 "new compression style", based on parallel compression. Read the section "New Style Compression" · Select desired processing type on the two Engines. · Start playing. · Feed the C300 channels with an appropriate level. The yellow -3 LED should only be lit at peaks. The level is set on the sending device. · Set MIX depending on your intentions and selected effect. · Now tweak the THRESHOLD, MAKE-UP GAIN and RATIO controls for the two engines until you have the intended result. For any questions left unanswered by this manual feel free to visit our online support center; TC Support Interactive, which can be accessed via: www.tcelectronic.com · Unpack the C300 and check for possible damages that could have been caused by transport. · Read the safety instructions. · Take a few minutes to register online via: www.tcelectronic.com or send in the registration card. Customers registered online will be notified directly via E-Mail about relevant news The C300 is a compressor/de-esser gate/expander with two independent channels that can be routed either in serial (stereo) or dual mono mode. Routings The C300 has two routing options. Dual Mono or Stereo/Serial. The Routing mode is set on the C300 front panel on the far left. Dual mono dual mono mode IN 1 MONO OR STEREO engine 1 engine 2 OUT 1 OUT 2 IN 2 - where C300 is split and operates as two 100% separate mono engines. A typical application for this mode is using the two engines as insert effects on two different channels. Stereo/Serial Mode stereo|serial mode Latest manual revision can always be downloaded from www.tcelectronic.com Manual revision number is found in the bottom of page 3. IN 1(L) IN 2(R) engine 1 stereo engine 2 stereo - utilizing both effect engines in serial. Engine 1 is feeding Engine 2. This is the mode to choose if you wish to process a signal with both 4 INTRODUCTION Congratulations on the purchase of your C300 Dual Stereo Gate/Compressor by TC Electronic C300 is an easy to use dual engine dynamics processor that gives you superior compression/ limiting and gate/expansion feasibilities. It features flexible control of the signal path, 16 gate/expander and 16 compressor/limiter audio-optimized presets with intelligent TC multi-band and full-band dynamics technology, innovative new style compression, state-of-the-art TC quality, and an extremely intuitive and straightforward user interface that gives you access to complex and comprehensive dynamic processing with just a few buttons and simple operations. C300's key application is as insert effects on mono or stereo channels. The C300 gives you highly advanced TC algorithms that will process your sound with extreme precision, ultimate audio quality and outstanding performance. State-of-the-art audio converters excellent quality on your analog signal into, and back from the digital domain. The entire music and audio business has celebrated and awarded TC Electronic for its outstanding products. TC will for many people be synonym with superior and excellent quality and we are confident that C300 will not disappoint you in any way. Enjoy TC Electronic Program Types Comp/Limiter - mode · Female Vocal · Male Vocal · Vocal Choir · Speech · Bass Guitar · Electric Guitar · Acoustic Guitar · Horns/Instr. · Piano Keyboards · Percussive · Toms · Bass Drum · Snare Drum · De-Ess 2 · De-Ess 1 · Composite Gate/Expander mode · Female Vocal · Male Vocal · Vocal Choir · Speech · Bass Guitar · Electric Guitar · Acoustic Guitar · Horns · Piano Keyboards · Percussive · Toms · Bass Drum · Snare Drum · Hum · Hiss · Composite 5 FRONT PANEL OVERVIEW ROUTING MODE switch Selects between the following routing modes: Dual Mono routing mode The two engines operate 100% individually and can be perceived as two separate mono units. Stereo/Serial routing mode This mode can be used for several different application setups: Serial mono: By using only the Left input/Left output, C300 operates as two mono blocks in serial. Serial Stereo: Connecting a stereo signal on Left/Right inputs the two engines can be used a two stereo devices in serial. Stereo: Engine 2 is bypassed by setting MIX to "bypass" (fully counter-clockwise) and Engine 1 is used as a stereo effect. Only one engine is applied. The following descriptions of controls are valid for both Engines 1 and 2. PRESET selector Use the PRESET selector to select the desired source preset for Engine 1. METERS I/P dB: Input meter showing the signal present on the input. Analog or digital. Meters indicate dBFS. Damp meter: Indicates the attenuation of the signal in dB. THRESH LED (Threshold LED) In Compression/Limiter mode: Indicates if the processed signal is close to overloading the output section. In Gate mode: LED off = signal above threshold LED on = signal below threshold OVERLOAD The OVERLOAD LED can indicate various types of overload. LED will be on if: 1. The incoming digital or analog signal is too hot. Reduce the source signal. 2. Internal overload in the digital domain. This situation occurs if the applied make up gain is set too high. This situation should not occur under normal working conditions. THRESHOLD Sets the threshold for the selected preset. The threshold should be set according to the level of the processed signal. The lower the threshold is set, the earlier the processing is applied. RATIO Sets the ratio for the selected engine preset. MAKEUP / RELEASE For compression presets this control sets the make-up gain. The release times are predefined in ...