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2.0 FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION
Traditionally, limiters have been designed specifically for
a particular
application, or
with a
mUltitude of
interacting
controls that must be adjusted to adapt the unit to a particular
purpose.
Because
the
Studio
Dominator
circuitry
is
"intelligent", only a few basic adjustments are necessary to get
proper results
in any
application.
The
user simply
sets the
OUTPUT CEILING
to the
level where
peaks must
absolutely stop
(such as
100% modulation
or just
under system
overload), and
sets the DRIVE control to obtain the desired amount of limiting.
Some additional controls are
provided, but they are
mainly for
those who wish to obtain effects from the limiter.
2.1 Multiband vs. Wideband processing
Much of the studio Dominator's high performance is due to a
newly created multiband
processing technique that overcomes the
problems previously encountered
with both wide-
and multi-band
limiting.
One of the main problems of wideband limiting is
"spectral
gain intermodulation" or "hole punching", the audible effect
of
the more powerful low frequencies, such as a bass drum,
causing
the
whole
program,
including the
high
frequencies,
'to drop
momentarily in level.
Wideband limiters also tend to sound dull
for this reason.
Multiband
limiting
attempts
to
solve
this
problem by
splitting the audio into two or more bands, and processing
them
separately.
But more bands means more parameters to control and
the summing
of the
separate bands
to deal
with.
For a three
band limiter, the number of controls could easily run to
twelve
or more per channel!
The Studio Dominator uses program dependent,
II
intelligent"
circuits to eliminate all but the most necessary controls.
This
dynamic control also tends to make the
limiting
less audible
by
providing the right amount of processing at the right time.
2.2 ALT (Automatic Limit Threshold)
Though free of "hole punching" multiband limiters generally
do not
keep the
output peak
amplitude at
a consistent level.
This is due to the
varying amount of band energies
being added
together together
with different
amounts of
limiting in
each
band.
Such a characteristic
is usually unacceptable (at
least
in broadcast applications), so a final clipper is added to
chop
down the final level to
a reliable amplitude at the
expense of
added distortion.
Another solution is to add a wideband limiter
3
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