SPL DynaMaxx 9735 User Manual page 9

any closely following notes will suffer increased transient distor-
tion because the control voltage within the compressor rises
further as successive notes are processed.This behaviour is some-
times described as 'surfing' , and can be overcome by setting a
lightly longer attack time, but now some peaks get through
because they are faster than the compressor's Attack time. This
problem is widely appreciated, which is why many manufacturers
include a separate Peak-Limiter to catch those fast transients that
the compressor is unable to control. If this is done using two VCA
stages, the signal undergoes more quality degradation than is
desirable, but even with designs that use the same VCA for both
compression and limiting, you still end up with more controls
than necessary.
D M doesn't need a separate Peak-Limiter, because it
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detects very fast transients automatically and activates a second
and faster attack time circuitry. This ensures that no peaks slip
through, but the speed of activating the second attack stage is so
fast that all signals stay within the soft-knee curve for a more
natural sound. To activate the second stage, D
nuously compares the output of the Attack time control stage
with the input of Attack time control stage. If the comparison
reveals that a fast transient has slipped through the first Attack
time control stage, a second, much faster Attack time control
stage is immediately activated to catch the peak. D
12 dB/octave filtering instead of the 6 dB/octave filtering used in
standard compressor side-chains so as to increase the precision
and speed of transient detection and processing.
How does this work?
D M can reduce its Attack time in the instant of a percussive
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hit or bass guitar slap to a minimum of 50 microseconds. As soon
as the peak is passed, the attack returns to a longer time constant
(up to 10ms of first Attack time circuitry), and in this way, both
pumping and distortion are avoided.
The ability of D M
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program dynamics is clearly valuable when complex stereo mixes
are being treated. If, for example, a snare drum peak occurs,
D M rapidly changes to a very short Attack time so that the
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snare hit keeps its original transient characteristics rather than
sounding 'softened' . Following signals are compressed using
longer Attack times to minimize distortion and surfing – short
attacks are only brought in when necessary to deal with fast, high
level transients. If D
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sion mode, breathing and pumping effects are unlikely to be
encountered, so this is the mode to select when compression is
being used purely to control levels and to compress the dynamic
range of the source material.
If pumping effects are needed for creative reasons, you have
the option either to turn COMPRESS control to maximum and/or
switch the unit into EFFECT COMPRESSION mode. For heavier
effects, you can also depress the SOFT LIMIT switch.
DynaMaxx
to respond so quickly to changes in
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M is operated in its normal compres-
AXX
M conti-
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M uses
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- Attack too fast: adds distor-
tion plus "surfing"-effects
- Attack too slow: peaks slip
through
D M ' Attack time re-
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adjustment is fast enough to
make an additional Peak-
Limiter redundant
D M automatically
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adapts the Attack times to the
characteristics of the music:
- fast transients: fast Attack
times (> 50 µs)
- slow transients: slow Attack
times (<10 ms)
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