digital audio weiss engineering ltd. Florastrasse 42, 8610 Uster, Switzerland ) +41 1 940 20 06 2 +41 1 940 22 14 8 http://www.weiss.ch / http://www.weiss-highend.com GAMBIT DS1-MK2 OPERATING MANUAL Software Version: 0S: 2.0 DSP: 2.0 OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK2 FRONT PANEL FRONT PANEL Graphic 1: Front Panel Elements ¬ - ® ¯ Graphic 2: Display Elements ° ± ² - Weiss Engineering Ltd., Florastr. 42, CH-8610 Uster ) +41 1 940 20 06 2 +41 1 940 22 14 8 http://www.weiss.ch Page 2 of 29 * weiss@weiss.ch OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK2 FRONT PANEL Front Panel Groups The front panel of the DS1-MK2 offers several control and display features. Control Refer to Graphic 1: Front Panel Elements Ê Ë Ì Í Î Ï Ð+Ñ - Menu- and softkeys - Snapshot keys - Preset keys - Gain / Data controller - Crossover controllers - Envelope follower controllers - Non-linear transfer curve controllers p. 6 p. 13 p. 13 p. 7 p. 11 p. 9 p. 10 Display Refer to Graphic 2: Display Elements ¬ ® ¯ ° ± ² - Gain value - Crossover setting (frequency selective mode only) - Non-linear transfer curve and signal metering - Status display - Peak limiter gain reduction meter - Envelope follower settings - Compressor gain reduction meter p. 7 p. 11 p. 10 p. 6 p. 10 p. 9 p. 10 - Weiss Engineering Ltd., Florastr. 42, CH-8610 Uster +41 1 940 20 06 2 +41 1 940 22 14 8 http://www.weiss.ch * weiss@weiss.ch Page 3 of 29 OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK2 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION Congratulations on purchasing the Weiss Gambit Series DS1-MK2 De-esser / Compressor ! This two channel digital De-esser / Compressor features linear-phase crossover filters covering the whole audio band. Thus the DS1-MK2 is not just a De-esser but can also be used as band selective or full band Compressor / Limiter. The controls for the two channels are always ganged and the sidechains are always linked. Internal processing is either 88.2kHz (with 44.1 and 88.2kHz input) or 96kHz (with 48 or 96kHz input) in DeEsser and in Compressor mode. Double-precision up- and down-sampling units within the DS1-MK2 result in negligible distortion and high transparency for absolutely clean sound. The non-linear segment can be adjusted from 1000:1 to 1:5, allowing every kind of dynamic processing, from limiting to upward expansion (for over-compressed signals). Put back a little dynamics into that ultra-finalized mix! An additional safety-limiter takes care of any overs that are generated in DeEsser as well as in Compressor mode. The large CFL LC display and the one-controllerper-parameter operation combine speed and ease of use with complete control over audio processing. This and the ability to remote control parameters and snapshots makes the DS1-MK2 the perfect tool for the recording and mastering engineer! Display Standardised peak meters for compressorstage in- and output with peak hold Gain reduction meter with peak hold for compressor and for safety-limiter each. Logarithmic graph of the transfer function of the de-esser/compressor calculated in real time Status display showing sampling frequency, channel status data handling, current workspace and snapshot number and a resetable peak-hold and over-hold per channel Parameter display (activated by touch) showing all timing, level and gain parameters Signal status LEDs, showing OVERs, range of envelope signal and the status of the release time comparator Snapshots 3 x 128 non-volatile snapshots where all parameters are stored A-B workspaces for quick comparison between two settings Processing 24bit digital input, internal 40bit floatingpoint arithmetic, dithered output for 16bit, 20bit or 24bit wordlengths. Transparent phase-linear crossover for frequency selective compression All parameters are immediately accessible with instant feedback through LEDs and the LC display. Remote Control Supports MIDI, RS-232 and RS-422 protocols Standard MIDI Continuous Controllers for parameter remote control (including overall gain) Snapshot automatization with MIDI Program Change Commands MIDI Dump of Snapshots - Weiss Engineering Ltd., Florastr. 42, CH-8610 Uster +41 1 940 20 06 2 +41 1 940 22 14 8 http://www.weiss.ch * weiss@weiss.ch Page 4 of 29 OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK2 UPDATE HISTORY UPDATE HISTORY Update from DS1 to DS1-MK2 v1.0 or v1.1 The main difference between these two versions is the ability of the DS1-MK2 to accept 88.2 / 96kHz input signals. Contrary to the DS1, where double sampling processing was only used in compressor mode, the DS1-MK2 now uses internal up- and downsampling stages and all processing is at 88.2 / 96 kHz. There is a completely new feature available in the DS1-MK2, the upward expander. This is the logical extension of the compressor. Just turn the ratio controller counterclock wise to experience this new sound. New scale range on p. 19. The DeEsser section has been enhanced with a new crossover, which covers the whole audio bandwidth (the DS1used 271 Hz as lowest cutoff frequency, the DS1-MK2 can now be tuned down to 41 Hz). New scale range on p. 18. And for those who like it hot, there is a new peak limiter section added in series to the compressor / de-esser, which cuts down spikes above 0.0dBFS. Read about its operation on p.7. bass instruments without causing breathing or pumping. You name it, it works very well. Variations: Use it like the Dolby Spectral Enhancer, by split band [parallel] compression, so that (for example) high frequency inner details at low levels are enhanced. " The other change in architecture is the addition of a second gain before the safety limiter, referred to as pre-limiter gain. The old overall gain is also still available. Read on p. 7. Also, the scales of the gain, gain makeup and ratio parameters has been modified to suit customer feedback. New values on p. 19. Update from DS1-MK2 v1.3 to DS1-MK2 v2.0 In the v2.0 version POW-R dithering capabilities have been added. The dithering menu now has a "setup" entry which gives you access to the three POW-R algorithms. Update from DS1-MK2 v1.0 or v1.1 to DS1-MK2 v1.3 The main new enhancement is the parallel compressor option. To read about operating and options of the parallel compressor, turn to p. 12. This way of using a compressor was motivated by Bob Katz, here is what he says about it on the Mastering Webboard: "You want a patch that compresses without stomping on the attacks at all, preserves transients but gives you great inner detail? ... You have one control, one control only, and that is the output level of the compressor [gain makeup], the `sidechain'. You can bring out inner details without losing breathing, and hardly affecting the upper dynamics at all. Works great. Not just great, absolutely fantastically. Fattens - Weiss Engineering Ltd., Florastr. 42, CH-8610 Uster +41 1 940 20 06 2 +41 1 940 22 14 8 http://www.weiss.ch * weiss@weiss.ch Page 5 of 29 OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK2 OPERATION OPERATION The following explanations assume that the de-esser/compressor is in power-up mode, i.e. no menu is active. If a menu is active, press the "menu" key repeatedly until the status display appears. Status Display Key A Key B Key C Key D Graph 3: Status Display Peak-Hold The numeric peak value is measured relative to 0dBFS (digital full scale). Use this value to set the optimum gain for a specific session. Reset it for every session by pressing key B twice. Over-Hold Whenever an over is encountered, the boxes to the side of the peak-hold values are marked. The functions of the over-LED's and the overhold both depend on the NUMBER OF CONSECUTIVE OVER-SAMPLES setting. To adjust this setting, press key B once. Use the gain/ data controller (Í) to change the value, then press "menu" to return to the status display. This setting defines the number of consecutive over-samples needed for an over-indication. To indicate every over-sample, enter 1. If another value is entered, you are still able to detect a single over-sample with the peak-hold function. The status display (Graph 3) consists of four groups displaying audio signal properties and information about the current state of the DS1MK2. Channel Status Group Situated adjacent to key A, displays the following information: sampling frequency in kHz: "44.1", "48", "88.2" or "96". pre-emphasis: "E" appears if pre-emphasis is set (empty if not used) input output channel status data format: "C" for consumer and "P" for professional To change the output channel status data format, press key A and select format type or loop through. Over-samples are defined as exceeding the integer range. A full scale signal (0dBFS) will not be treated as over. Remote Group Situated adjacent to key C, displays remote control protocol ("MIDI", "RS 232" or "RS 422"), channel ("1" - "16") and status (on/ off, displayed with check box). For setup see chapter Remote Control (p. 15). Peak Group Situated adjacent to key B, this group contains a peak-hold and an over-hold for each channel. To reset these values press key B twice. - Weiss Engineering Ltd., Florastr. 42, CH-8610 Uster +41 1 940 20 06 2 +41 1 940 22 14 8 http://www.weiss.ch * weiss@weiss.ch Page 6 of 29 OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK2 OPERATION Snapshot Display Bottom line in the status display. Refer to this for information on current workspace and snapshot. There are two workspaces ("A" and "B") for quick comparison of two de-esser/compressor settings. A workspace can be stored to a snapshot for later use. The number of the last recalled snapshot will be displayed. If you change any value after the recall, the " " will change to " " to symbolise that the workspace is not equal to the displayed snapshot anymore. For snapshot handling see chapter Snapshots (p. 13). Dither Icon The dither icon is situated right next to key D (see Graph 3). If dither is off, the icon contains the number "24", the word length of the output signal in bits. Turning dither on will produce arrows above and below the new word length number ("16" or "20"). Additionally, if autoblacking is enabled, the bottom right corner of the icon is inverted. For details on dither refer to chapter Dither (p. 13). Overall Gain There are two gains, one pre-limiter and one post-limiter, as depicted in Graphic 4. Gain from previous processing X Output Gain Safety Limiter X Output Graphic 4: Output section When touching the gain controller (Í), the required gain can be selected from a menu. To change the output gain, press softkey D. If an arrow appears inside the output gain window, the output gain can be adjusted. Press the D key again to control the pre-limiter gain. Both gains are bypassed when Bypass is active, and stored in workspace snapshots. The value shown in ¬ is the setting of the prelimiter gain. The post-limiter output gain should be used to set the maximum output level only (usually 0.0dB). Safety Limiter This feature is activated by pressing the "safe" key. When the "safe" key is lit, the limiter is on. Safety limiter activity can be monitored with the second gain reduction meter below the "GAIN" window (°). If the "safe" key is lit, overs will be limited by this fast peak limiter. The parameters of the limiter are fixed and cannot be adjusted. However, the pre-limiter gain can be used to drive the safety limiter. Too much pre-limiter gain will result in distortion! - Weiss Engineering Ltd., Florastr. 42, CH-8610 Uster +41 1 940 20 06 2 +41 1 940 22 14 8 http://www.weiss.ch * weiss@weiss.ch Page 7 of 29 OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK2 OPERATION Compressor Parameters Following is a detailed description of all parameters that can be adjusted in the compressor stage. Guidelines are given for settings (see also the presets), but optimal settings are usually programme dependent, so experimenting and listening is inevitable for satisfying results. Graphic 5 shows schematic and parameters of the DS1-MK2 compressor stage: Graphic 5: Compressor schematic Delay A typical compressor/limiter circuit measures the audio signal and then generates the gain reduction control signal. At the time the control signal changes the gain, the programme material is already there, so the gain change occurs too late. The result is overshoot and possible subsequent distortion. The DS1-MK2 uses a different method to generate the gain control signal: The audio passing through the mainchain is delayed by a fixed amount of time, determined by the ,,overall delay". By branching the signal out of the delay line, the sidechain ,,sees" the signal before it reaches the output, thus allowing look-ahead compared to the mainchain. The resulting corrected output signal has no overshoots, no leading edge distor- tion or other side effects due to timing lags in the sidecha ...