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Symetrix 258E User Manual

Voice processor
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528E Voice Processor

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Summary of Contents for Symetrix 258E

  • Page 1 528E Voice Processor...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    All rights reserved. Symetrix Part Number 53528-0E00 The information in this guide is subject to change without notice. Symetrix, Inc. shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein; nor is it liable for incidental or consequential damages resulting from the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.

  • Page 3: Chapter 1 Introduction

    Chapter 1 Introduction The Symetrix 528E is a single-channel Voice Processor intended for use in voice-over studios, broadcast studios, sound-reinforcement, music and speech recording, and post-production. Simply stated, the 528E consists of a high-quality microphone preamp coupled to a three-band parametric equalizer, a de-esser, and a dynamic range processor.

  • Page 4: Chapter 2 Operator Safety Summary

    Operator Safety Summary Chapter 2 Equipment Markings for safe operation. Grounding The chassis of this product is grounded CAUTION through the grounding conductor of the power cord. To avoid electric shock, plug the power cord into a RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT OPEN properly wired receptacle before making any connections to the product.

  • Page 5: Chapter 3 Fast Setup

    Fast Setup Chapter 3 Fast Setup Follow these instructions to get your 528E up-and-running as quickly as possible. The intent of this section is fast setup. If you need something clarified, then you’ll find the answer elsewhere in this manual. Connections Connect your input source to the appropriate XLR connector.
  • Page 6 Initial Setup i t t The 528E’s controls and switches are now set according to the preceding section. All connections listed in Section 6.1 are now made. The 528E should now pass , e l , r e signal. The O LED display and the P .
  • Page 7 Output Settings For many applications, setting the output G control at 0 dB (12:00 o’clock) works fine. If you are adding a bunch of EQ (which tends to cause an overall level increase), then you may need to decrease the G setting.

  • Page 8: Chapter 4 Front Panel Overview

    Front Panel Overview Chapter 4 Mic Preamp Selects between the Mic input (switch in) and MIC PRE-AMP Switch Line input (switch out). CLIP PHANTOM -15 dB P Inserts 15 dB pad for strong mic signals. LINE Switch Sets the gain of the mic preamp for best compro- mise between signal-to-noise ratio and headroom.
  • Page 9 Parametric EQ Low Varies the center frequency of the REQUENCY LOW EQ low-frequency equalizer from 16Hz to 500 Hz. Varies the bandwidth of the low- ANDWIDTH frequency equalizer from 0.3 to 4 octaves. (Q=4.8 to 0.27). Sets the degree of boost or cut; OOST ±15 dB.

  • Page 10: Chapter 5 Rear Panel Overview

    15 WATTS MAXIMUM MANUFACTURED IN THE USA BY BALANCE THIS UNIT CONTAINS NO USER SERVICEABLE PARTS. POWER FABRIQUÉ AUX E.-U. PAR SYMETRIX INC., LYNNWOOD, WASHINGTON. RÉFÉREZ TOUTE RÉPARATION À UN TECHNICIEN QUALIFIÉ. Note for your records. ERIAL UMBER AC P IEC-power connector.
  • Page 11 TRS phone jack (wired unbalanced). This is the input to the Expander/ NPUT Compressor. This jack interrupts the signal from the De-Esser. De-Ess TRS phone jack (wired unbalanced). This is the OUTPUT output of the De-Esser. This jack does not interrupt the signal flow to the 528E’s Expander/ DE-ESS Compressor.

  • Page 12: Chapter 6 Voice Processing Tutorial

    Chapter 6 Basics The Symetrix 528E Voice Processor combines Symetrix’ program controlled interactive dynamic range processing technique with a three-band parametric equalizer. This combination of processors is similar to a voiceover or vocal signal processing chain as used in a recording or voiceover studio.
  • Page 13 generated electrical noise. Very noisy circuits have a high noise floor, quiet circuits have a low noise floor. All circuits have a noise floor, unless they are operating at -460 degrees Fahrenheit (absolute zero). The maximum output level of a circuit is the upper limit of the operating level, and is the level at which clipping begins and is a function of the internal power supply voltage.
  • Page 14 allows only a 1 dB increase in the output level for every 10 dB increase in the input level. Limiters can be thought of as high ratio, high threshold compressors. They are intended to “stay out of the way” until the level goes above threshold. However, above threshold their action is very definite. The Threshold Concept The threshold is the level at which a dynamic range processor’s activity begins.
  • Page 15 a 10 dB drop in the signal with its 1:2 ratio. De-essers A de-esser is another type of dynamic range controller that’s specially designed to regulate high frequency content. The technique was originally developed for motion picture dialogue recording, when it was discovered that speech sounded more natural and pleasing when the accentuation of sibilants was reduced.
  • Page 16 Equalization Equalization is one of the most powerful tools available to the audio engineer. It is, quite possibly, the first signal modification device that most people experience (aside from the volume control). This experience takes the form of using the tone controls found on most consumer audio equip- ment.
  • Page 17 parts of the spectrum at levels that are lower than those of reality. Fletcher’s compensation curves (the well known Fletcher-Munson curves) show that for equal loudness in this range at lower recorded and reproduced levels shows requirements for tremendous boosts, on the order of 10 to 30 dB.
  • Page 18 women less so. In popular music, this range shifts downward somewhat. It follows that voices deficient in the 5 kHz range can be enhanced in listening value by a generous boost on the order of 5 to 8 dB at 5 kHz. A secondary benefit of this boost is an apparent increase in level; a 6 dB rise at 5 kHz frequently gives an apparent increase of 3 dB to the overall signal.
  • Page 19 On the other hand, if the levels within the 528E are too low to start with, using the equalizer for boost may increase noise to unacceptable levels. If levels are too low, increase the preamp gain (or the output level of the device feeding the line input). Know What You Are Listening To Low frequency boost may increase the level of some frequencies that cannot be heard, for one reason or another.
  • Page 20 A common problem when trying to set an equalizer for someone’s voice is converting the descrip- tive adjectives that people use in describing the character of a voice into the numbers that make equalizers happy. The following table list some commonly used adjectives and their corresponding frequency ranges.

  • Page 22: Chapter 7 Using The 528E

    Using the 528E Chapter 7 This section is intended for more advanced users. If you are a first-time user, we recommend that you start out by using the procedure found in “Fast Setup.” Block Diagram Figure 7-1 on the next page is the block diagram for the 528E. Please take a moment and take note of the following: •...
  • Page 23 Figure 7-1. 528E Block Diagram...
  • Page 24 Operational Details This section describes the details of operating the 528E. Usage information can be found later in this chapter. The 528E accepts monaural analog input signals at mic or line level, processes them, and delivers them back to you as balanced line, unbalanced line or balanced mic level signals. Stand-alone Operation A vast majority of users use the 528E as a stand-alone device.
  • Page 25 For best results, the 528E should replace the mic preamp in your console or recording chain. If you have to plug the 528E into a microphone input (-40 dBu nominal level), then you’ll need to pad (attenuate) the output of the 528E down to microphone level. An internal jumper connection reduces the 528E’s output to this level.
  • Page 26 Changing the Sequence of Processing You may wish to change the sequence of processing within the 528E to allow the signal processors to work on the input signal in a particular way (your way). A good example of this is the compres- sor: should the equalizer precede or follow the compressor.
  • Page 27 Tips and Techniques for Using the 528E Following are some tips and techniques for using the 528E. You should consider any settings given as starting points for developing your own settings. More general discussions of these topics may also be found in Chapter 6 of this manual. METERING The 528E has several LED bargraphs that serve as gain reduction and output meters.
  • Page 28 A parametric equalizer offers perhaps the greatest flexibility of any type of equalizer, however it can be more difficult to arrive at a setting than with other equalizers. A good strategy for setting any equalizer is to set the level control for maximum boost, then vary the Frequency and Band- width until you locate the portion of the spectrum that you wish to modify.
  • Page 29 USING THE SIDECHAIN The sidechain is a patch point in the control circuit of a dynamic range processor, which provides access to the part of the circuitry that tells the VCA what to do. The 528E’s sidechain routes through a rear panel TRS jack that allows the control signal to be processed outside the unit (see Figure 7-6 for specific hookup information).

  • Page 30: Chapter 8 Applications

    Applications Chapter 8 The 528E Voice Processor was designed to make the same kind of specialized processing that’s applied to voice-overs and vocal tracks in recording studios available for use in broadcasting, paging, public address and sound reinforcement. In a recording studio, four or five separate pieces of equipment are usually patched together to obtain the kind of processing provided by the 528E.
  • Page 31 Bear in mind that limiting is an extreme dynamic control action intended to prevent overload farther down the line. Limiting may be more pleasing to the ear than clipping distortion, but it doesn’t sound good enough to be used for more than 6dB attenuation. Using the De-esser De-essers are used to reduce the level of certain high frequency vocal sounds like sibilance, overemphasized fricatives, and lip smacking.
  • Page 32 the equalizer. Likewise, cutting or attenuating certain frequencies desensitizes the compressor to those frequencies. Keep in mind that the C becomes a function of the amount of overall gain through HRESHOLD the equalizer, including the boost. This technique can be used with any frequency that can be controlled by the equalizer.
  • Page 33 Adding Dynamics, or “Punch” By setting the expand threshold above the level of the program material, the 528E can be made to behave like a linear expander (see Chapter 6). With this technique, the 528E can simultaneously create a more dynamic feel, add compression, and reduce noise. Use this kind of processing for special effects, and to increase the dynamic feel of percussive instruments like electric bass, snare drum, rhythm guitar, etc.

  • Page 34: Chapter 9 Technical Tutorial

    If so, then the input impedance of the succeeding input must be equal to or greater than the output impedance of the driving device. Symetrix equipment inputs are designed to bridge (be greater than 10 times the actual source impedance) the output of whatever device drives the input. Symetrix equipment outputs are...
  • Page 35 designed to drive 600-ohm or higher loads (600-ohm loads are an archaic practice that won’t go away). You don’t need to terminate the output with a 600-ohm resistor if you aren’t driving a 600- ohm load. If you don’t understand the concept of termination, you probably don’t need to anyway. The two facts that you need to derive from this discussion are: 1.
  • Page 36 Input and Output Connections Figure 9-1 illustrates how to connect the 528E to balanced and unbalanced sources and loads. To operate the 528E from line level unbalanced sources, run a 2-conductor shielded cable (that’s two conductors plus the shield) from the source to the 528E’s line input. At the source, connect the low/minus side to the shield, these connect to the source’s ground;...
  • Page 37 TERMINAL STRIP (+) = HIGH (-) = NOT USED = GROUND FROM NON-TRANSFORMER (ELECTRONIC) BALANCED OUTPUT (TYPICAL OF SYMETRIX PRODUCTS) TO UNBALANCED IN MALE TS PLUG FEMALE XLR TIP = HIGH PIN 1 = GROUND + LOW SLEEVE = GROUND +...

  • Page 38: Chapter 10 Troubleshooting

    Troubleshooting Chapter 10 Troubleshooting Chart SYMPTOM PROBABLE CAUSE No output Check cables and connections. Are inputs driven by outputs, and outputs driving inputs? Verify cables, source and load by patching input and output connections together at the unit. Check for AC power presence. Power LED on? Check output by plugging headphones into output connector (use an adapter).

  • Page 39: Chapter 11 Specifications

    Chapter 11 Specifications 528E Specifications Inputs Overall Performance Data Controls and Switches Mic Gain, Phantom Power, Mic/Line Frequency Response 20 Hz to 20 kHz (+0, -0.5 dB), EQ out Mic and Line Input Connectors XLR-female (2) compressor out, downward Clip LED Fires at +17 dBu output level expander out, de-esser out from mic preamp or line input amplifier...
  • Page 40 The voice processor shall be capable of operating by means of its own built-in power supply connected to 117V AC nominal (105 to 130V), 50/60 Hz or 230V AC nominal (207 to 253V ), 50 Hz. The unit shall be a Symetrix Incorporated model 528E Voice Processor.

  • Page 41: Chapter 12 Warranty & Service

    Product or any part thereof which gives rise to the track of your Product and process your warranty repair claim. In no event will Symetrix be liable for any as quickly as possible. Buyer will prepay all freight incidental or consequential damages including but not...
  • Page 42 Be sure there is enough clearance in the charges will be COD unless you have made carton to protect the rack ears. other arrangements (prepaid, Visa, or We will return the unit in Symetrix packaging. MasterCard). Out-of-Warranty Repairs If the warranty period has passed, you'll be billed for all necessary parts, labor, packaging materials, and freight charges.

  • Page 43: Appendix A Disassembly Instructions And Output Level Switch

    4. Lift the top cover free of the chassis. Changing the XLR Output to Microphone-Level The 528E ships from Symetrix with the XLR output configured for a line-level output. If you must have a microphone-level output, get our your soldering iron. The following steps lead you through the process of converting the line-level output to microphone-level.

  • Page 44: Appendix B Declaration Of Conformity

    The authorized representative located within the European Community is: World Marketing Associates P.O. Box 100 St. Austell, Cornwall, PL26 6YU, U.K. Date of issue: March 15, 1999 Place of issue:Mountlake Terrace, Washington, USA Authorized signature: Dane Butcher, President, Symetrix Incorporated.
  • Page 46 Symetrix, Inc. 6408 216th St. SW Mountlake Terrace, WA, 98043 Tel: (425) 778-7728 Fax: (425) 778-7727 Web site: www.symetrixaudio.com Email: symetrix@symetrixaudio.com...

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