Tutorials; The Vhd Preamplifier; Using The Preamplifier; Mono Channels - Solid State Logic XL-Desk Owner's Manual

4. Tutorials

T vHD
He PReAMPLIFIeR
XL-Desk has 8 Variable Harmonic Drive preamplifiers built-in.
The red pot provides up to +75 dBs of gain, whilst the black pot provides a variable mix of 2nd to 3rd harmonics (once the
vHD button is engaged).
The outputs of these 8 preamplifiers feed the main inputs of mono channels 1-8.
vHD Engages the Variable Harmonic Drive circuit within the preamplifier
HI-Z Switches the preamplifier impedance from 1.2K Ω to 10K Ω
+48v Applies phantom power
PAD
Applies 20 dBs attenuation before the signal enters the preamplifier

Using the preamplifier

When the vHD button is not engaged, the preamplifier has been designed to give a transparent
sound, great for sources such as acoustic guitars, vocals and strings.
When the vHD button is pressed, the preamplifier can be driven to give a wide-range of overdriven
sounds, ranging from subtle to... well, not so subtle! Drums and electronic instruments can often
benefit from VHD colouration.
The best way to drive the VHD preamplifier is to increase the input gain (red pot) whilst using the
Line Trim pot to reduce the overall level and not clip the channel output. Remember, it's the input
to the preamplifier that likes being driven. From this point, adjust the harmonics to fine-tune the
desired sound.
If sending pre-recorded audio back through the preamplifiers, you will find it useful to engage the
input PAD. This will lower the level at which the signal hits the preamplifier.
M C
ONO HANNeLS

Input

Each channel of XL-Desk has two inputs, switchable by pressing the DAW button.
The primary input on channels 1-8 is the VHD microphone preamplifier. This is labelled as MIC INPUT
1-8 on the rear panel. Pressing the DAW button will instead source the line-level input labelled DAW
INPUT 1-8 on the rear panel.
The primary input on channels 9-16 is the line-level input labelled LINE INPUT 9-16 on the rear panel.
Pressing the DAW button will instead source the line-level input labelled DAW INPUT 9-16 on the
rear panel.
Typically, the outputs from your DAW's audio interface/converter would be connected to DAW INPUT
1-8 and DAW INPUT 9-16. Some people may like to think of these as 'monitor returns'. LINE INPUT
9-16 may be connected to outboard microphone preamplifiers (to extend the number of
preamplifiers already available) or perhaps a line-level instrument.
XL-Desk – Owner's Manual
Mono
Mono
Channels Channels
1 – 8
9 – 16
Page 9