TC Electronic SYSTEM 6000 MKII Algorithm Manual

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Soft Clip
SoftClipisabandwidthlimiteddistortioneffect,notunlike
analog tape saturation. Soft Clipping can add loudness to
a signal at the price of distortion. The Soft Clip threshold
shouldbeadjustedsoonlythepeakcontentofthesignalis
affected, not the average part.
Because of the double precision calculations used in
the algorithm, pre-limiter signal level and the Soft Clip
Thresholdmayexceed0dBFS.TheLeftandRightSoft
Clippersalwaysoperateun-linked.
Operational Hints
Normal operating procedures involve first setting the
Limiter Threshold at the desired maximum Output level. If
youwanttoprotectdownstreamequipmentfrom0dBFS+
signals,remembertoinvoketheUpsampleoption.Ifonly
limiting action is required, set Input Gain at 0dB. To add
loudnesswithoutraisingthepeakcontentofthesignal,use
theInputGainasadrivecontrollikeonanalogLimiters.
UsetheGainReductionmetersandyourearsas
guidelinestowhenitistimetostopaddingmoregain.For
not previously limited or compressed signals, as a rule of
thumb,don’texceed8dBofgainreductionifnotforartistic
reasons. If the signal is already heavily dynamic range
reduced, less drastic limiting treatment is indicated.
ExperimentwithdifferentAutoReleaseandSoftClip
settings to find the type that best compliments the material.
When used in combination with the Dynamic Limiter, Soft
Clip can produce a louder and denser impression than the
dynamic limiter by itself. If mis-used, excessive Soft Clip
can lead to an ear fatiguing sound.
Withbittransparentsettings,theBrickWalllimiter
canremove0dBFS+peaksonalreadymasteredand
finallyditheredmaterial.Undersuchconditions,itisnot
necessary to apply dither to the signal again.
What goes in goes cloned to the output, as long as the
input stays below the threshold of limiting. This can be
guaranteed because the architecture of System 6000 is
designedthatway,andBrickwall2doesn’trelyonawork
stationprogramoracomputerOStokeepitsfingersoff
the audio.
ExamplesofBrickwall2presetsforCDmastering,
broadcastandpostproductioncanbefoundinEngine
FactoryBank10,decade2.
Look-ahead Delay (Latency)
Tocontrolpeaksmorepreciselyandminimizetransient
distortion,Brickwall2insertsashortdelayintothe
signalpath. The delay amounts to approximately 0.8 ms at
allsamplerates:37samplesat44.1kHz,39samplesat48
kHz,64samplesat88.2kHzand69samplesat96kHz.
(DelaytimesgivenreflectEngineintoEngineout,and
therefore excludes delay in I/O circuitry such as AD and
DA converters).
More information
About0dBFS+signals,requiredheadroominthe
signalpath, behavior of consumer CD players and
production equipment can be found at the TC website, from
which technical papers about related issues also can be
downloaded.
Main Page
Input Gain Left and Right
Range:+/-24dB
Overall Gain/Drive control at the input of the limiter. Once
the threshold has been set, this is a convenient place to
adjustmoreorlessdynamicsprocessingandloudness.
TheGainparameteroffersthesame“Drive”approachto
levelandthresholdusedinclassicanaloglimiters.Unlike
analogdesigns,however,Brickwall2’s48bitinternal
resolution prevents resolution and signal/noise ratio from
being sacrificed, because the processing dynamic range is
larger than even the highest resolution input would be.
If bit transparency and/or conservation of bit
patterns are of essence, note the green indicators
above the Gain controls. When they are lit, bit shifts
are used for gain control rather than rounded
calculationswherebitpatternsarere-shuffled.For
instance,ifa1bitshiftupisusedasGain(+6.0
dB), the antidote 1 shift down (-6.0 dB) can be used
attheoutputFadertoassure24bittransparency,
when the signal is below the threshold of limiting.
IftheFaderinsteadremainsat0.0dB,theinputbit
pattern is still preserved, but the bits are shifted one
position towards MSB.
Green Input Gain LED indicator
Indicates bit transparency (read introduction for details).
Link
PresstoLinkLandRGaincontrolsandthesidechains.
Notethatphaseanddelaycontrolsworkindependentlyof
this setting. If the limiting threshold is frequently hit with
music,linkthechannelstostabilizethestereoimage.For
dialog or un-correlated instruments, best results may be
obtainedbykeepingthechannelsun-linked.

TC Electronic SYSTEM 6000 MKII Specifications

General

Brand	TC Electronic
Model	SYSTEM 6000 MKII
Category	Computer Hardware
Language	English