Orban 424A - Condensed Operating Instructions

Condensed
Operating Instructions
These
instructions are primarily designed to help
you get started using
your
422A/424A.
(The later parts of
your OPERATING MANUAL
contain much more
detail,
and
will
help you get the most from
your
422A/424A
after you
have
become familiar
with the
basics.)
Operationally,
the
422A/424A
can be considered to
be
a
basic compressor/li
miter
with enhancements. If you
are just beginning to learn
about it, or if you only
need
basic compressor
functions, you needn't worry
about
these enhancements.
Most of
the enhancements are associated with the Gating function. If
the GATE
THRESHold control is
turned OFF (fully
counterclockwise), these
enhancements
are
not operative
and need not concern you now.
To Use The
Compressor/Limiter: Preset the following controls:
REL
SHAPE
GATE THRESH
OUTPUT TRIM
IDLE GAIN
COMP/LIMITER
OPERATE/DEFEAT
DE-ESSER OPERATE/DEFEAT
LIN
OFF
0
(at
the detent)
0
OPERATE
DEFEAT
You
then need
to
deal with only four familiar controls:
INPUT ATTENuator,
RATIO, ATTACK TIME, and
RELEASE TIME.
These
controls are
always
adjusted by
ear to obtain the
desired sound.
If
you have used any common professional
compressor
or
limiter
before,
these controls should operate intuitively:
I)
Adjust
the INPUT ATTENuator control until the GAIN REDUCTION (G/R)
meter indicates the desired amount of
G/R.
Don't let the
G/R
meter enter
the
red
section of the scale.
2)
Adjust the
RATIO
control
to
determine
if
compression
will
be "tight"
or
"loose". "Tight" means that
a
large increase
in
input level
will
produce
a small
increase in output level. As
the
ratio becomes "looser",
the output level will
change more and more for a
given change in input level.
2:1
is the "loosest"
ratio;
i nf
inity:
I
is the
"tightest".
"Looser"
ratios
tend
to give more
natural,
dynamic sound
at
the
expense
of
lower loudness
and
less
consistent levels.
(Adjusting the
RATIO
control
to
"looser" settings automatically lowers the
compression threshold to prevent
peak overload of the 422A/424A
circuitry
or
of the device being driven by the 422A/424A when
high amounts
of
gain
reduction
are used.)
3)
Adjust the ATTACK
TIME
control
to
determine how
quickly
the
422A/424A
responds to
an
input level increase.
Fast attack times
produce
the most
consistent control
of peak levels (and therefore
produce highest
loudness).
However, their effect
tends to be more audible than that
of slow
attack times.
Slow attack
times
permit transient material to pass through the 422A/424A
unaffected, so that
transient definition is retained.
(To
prevent transient
overshoots
permitted
by
slow attack times from
overloading
either
the
422A/424A circuitry
or devices being driven by
the
422A/424A,
the
threshold
of
compression is
reduced as the attack time
is made
slower. This
way,
the
peak level at the output remains
approximately
constant
as
the ATTACK TIME
control
is
adjusted.)