Harman DBX 1066 - Frequency-Sensitive Gating; Frequency-Weighted Compression; Frequency-Weighted Compression for Speaker Systems

12
Applications
&REQUENCY3ENSITIVE'ATING
&REQUENCYSENSITIVEGATINGLETSYOUUSETHE3)$%#(!).).054TOTUNETHERESPONSEOFTHEGATINGACTION&OR
example, if you’re gating a kick drum in a track with lots of leakage, you can tune in to the frequency of the
KICKWITHANOUTBOARD%1ANDTHEGATEWILLRESPONDONLYTOTHATDRUM&EEDTHEKICKDRUMSIGNALBOTHDIRECTLY
INTOTHEGATEANDALSOTHROUGHANEQUALIZERWHICHISCONNECTEDTOTHE3)$%#(!).).0547ITHTHEEQUALIZER
ADJUSTEDSOTHATONLYTHEDESIREDSIGNALISEMPHASIZEDATTHE3)$%#(!).).054THEGATEBECOMESEVENMORE
selective in opening.
&REQUENCYWEIGHTEDCOMPRESSION
It is possible to separate certain vocals and instruments from a mix by frequency-weighted compression. With
ANEQUALIZERINSERTEDAHEADOFTHEDETECTORINPUTINTHESIDECHAINNOTTHEAUDIOPATHTHEEQUALIZATIONSET-
tings do not shift the timbre of frequency response of the audio signal. They merely alter the threshold response
OFTHECOMPRESSORONAhFREQUENCYWEIGHTEDvBASIS7ITHTHISARRANGEMENTRAISINGCERTAINFREQUENCIESONTHE
EQUALIZERCAUSESTHEMTOBESUPPRESSEDINTHEAUDIOSIGNAL!RELATIVELYHIGHTHRESHOLDSETTINGCANALLOWNOR-
MALSOUNDSTOBEUNAFFECTEDWHILESOLOANDVERYLOUDSOUNDSAREHELDBACK/FCOURSEWHENCOMPRESSIONDOES
OCCURTHELEVELOFTHEENTIREPROGRAMISAFFECTED$EPENDINGONTHETHRESHOLDSETTINGLOWERLEVELFUNDAMEN-
TALSORHARMONICSWILLNOTCAUSECOMPRESSIONANDTHEPROGRAMISNOTSUBJECTTOTHEPHASESHIFTNORMALLYCAUSED
BYPROGRAMEQUALIZATION
$URINGTHERECORDINGOFCYMBALSANDTOMTOMSACOMPRESSORWITHANEQUALIZERINTHEDETECTORPATHCANHELP
PREVENTTAPESATURATION4HEEQUALIZERCANBEADJUSTEDFORBOOSTWITHAPEAKOFABOUTK(ZCAUSINGTHECYMBAL
to be compressed on a very loud crash, stopping tape saturation or digital overload at high frequencies, where
there is less headroom. However, gentle tapping of a drumstick or brushing of the cymbal will not be held back.
Assuming the tom-tom is a lower frequency instrument and can be better tolerated by the tape, it has less need
FORCOMPRESSION4HEEQUALIZATIONINTHEDETECTORCIRCUITMEANSTHATTHECOMPRESSORISNOTTRIGGEREDASREADILY
by a loud tom-tom beat as by an equally loud cymbal crash.
4HECONVERSEOFTHEABOVE%1TECHNIQUECANBEUSEDDIPPINGTHEEQUALIZERBANDSCAUSESANYSOUNDWITHDOMI-
nant energy in the affected register to pull the level up because the 1066 will detect a need for less compres-
sion.
&REQUENCYWEIGHTEDCOMPRESSIONFOR-ULTIWAY3PEAKER3YSTEMS
)FASINGLECOMPRESSORISTOBEUSEDWITHAMULTIWAYSPEAKERSYSTEMIEBEFORETHECROSSOVERAFTER%1THE
system operator is faced with the problem of keeping levels below the point of destruction of the most sensitive
part of the system. If, for example, mid-range drivers are frequently damaged, the whole system must be oper-
ATEDATALOWERSOUNDPRESSURELEVELORADDITIONALMIDRANGEDRIVERSMUSTBEADDED"UTINSERTINGANEQUALIZER
INTHEDETECTORPATHSIDECHAINOFTHEITCANBEMADEMORESENSITIVETOFREQUENCIESINTHERANGEHANDLED
by the sensitive drivers. The system can then be run at higher levels and will only be dropped back when dam-
aging signals are present.
0REEMPHASISFORBROADCASTAPPLICATIONS
"YINSERTINGAPREEMPHASISFILTERNETWORKINTHEDETECTORPATHOFAPROCESSINGPREEMPHASIZEDAUDIO
higher levels can be run within the headroom limitations of the broadcast chain.
!NTICIPATEDCOMPRESSION
By feeding the program directly to the 1066’s sidechain input and sending the audio signal through a delay line
BEFORETHEAUDIOINPUTTHEUNITCANhANTICIPATEvTHENEEDFORAGAINCHANGE7ITHSOMEEXPERIMENTATIONTHE
EFFECTCANBETHATOFhZEROvATTACKTIMEATANYGIVENFREQUENCY!DDITIONALSIGNALDELAYSBEYONDTHIShZEROv
time will then cause the compressor to finish reducing the gain before the leading edge of the loud passage