Manual. Multichannel Mastering Console MMC 1. Input. L t/o. R t/o. C R R Channel Assignment To. LS C C Channel Assignment To

Transcription

1 ultichannel astering onsole Input ilm hannel ssignment o hannel ssignment o hannel ssignment o hannel ssignment o hannel ssignment o hannel ssignment o t/o t/o hannel ssignment o t/o t/o hannel ssignment o anual

2 ultichannel astering onsole, odel anual anual, ersion., / & : olfgang eumann he information in this document has been carefully verified and is assumed to be correct. owever ound erformance ab () reserves the right to modify the product described in this manual at any time. hanges without notice. his document is the property of and may not be copied or reproduced in any manner, in part or full without the authorization of. imitations of iability: In no event will be liable for any damages, including loss of data, lost profits, cost of cover or other special, incidental, consequential or indirect damages arising from the use of the unit, however caused and on any theory of liability. his limitation will apply even if or an authorized dealer has been adviced of the possibility of such damage. ound erformance ab electronics Gmb.O. ox, - iederkruechten, Germany hone +9 9, ax +9 9 mail: info@soundperformancelab.com, Internet: electronics Gmb ll rights reserved. echnical specifications and appearance are subject to change without notice.

3 ontents ade In... onfiguration Overview/ignal low... Installation... ontrol urface... he ections In etail... 9 ource, Input... 9 Insert... toring a processor sequence... onitor ection: peaker anagement, peakers/im, onitor evel... onitor ection: urround onitor & s... aster ader, Output... easurements... lock iagram... oom emperature alibration... ower upply... arranty... ear anel/onnections... tereo and ulti-channel Inputs... ulti-channel eturns... tereo eturns... onitor Outputs... tereo ecording Outputs... 9 ulti-channel ecording Outputs... echanical rawings... ontrol urface... ront iew... ide iew... ear iew... Insert ox... eter bridge... Internal iring...

4 ade In igital audio formats have undergone continuous development and change and will continue to do so. he degree of incompatibility created by the format war between and has persuaded us to opt for a technology that is superior in dynamic range, headroom and sound quality to either or any other such format. It constitutes discrete analog technology in its most advanced implementation. oreover, there are additional prerequisites which speak for the employment of highperformance analog technology:. he number of necessary / conversions should be reduced to a minimum. ith the, digital sources can be connected to a digital router, which outputs the selected source through the preferred converter. his ensures that the sound quality remains comparable and is not affected by converter differences.. rom a purely aesthetic standpoint, high quality analog outboard processing consistently proves itself superior to digital processing. he analog concept allows for problem-free integration of such analog processors.. onitors and power amplifiers are almost exclusively analog in design. et another converter at this point in the chain could only degrade the final monitoring quality. takes pride in being the first audio manufacturer to have developed a multichannel mastering console that provides a complete spectrum of engineering solutions to multi-channel sources for surround mastering. he purpose of this development was the creation of a console that would be superior in audio quality to all known and foreseeable audio formats, whether analog or digital. uch a console would achieve two important goals of first, an unaltered reproduction in sonic quality of and -udio, and second, through such quality, of remaining for many years a safe capital investment. he is conceived as the center of a mastering environment that can fulfill the tasks of speaker management, source connectivity, audio metering, channel assignment, master and monitor level setting and automated x channel insert routing of external processors. ew echnologies s new operation amplifiers are used throughout the s design. hey perform at an industry benchmark volts and were developed during a four-year period during which searched for a new generation of superior discrete analog op amps. he op amp achieves a signal-to-noise ratio of d with a headroom of d. he dynamic range amounts to d with a frequency bandwidth of kz. ith such specifications, the rides comfortably beyond the requirements of either the current maximum it/9 kz format or it/ fs format. It is simply not realistic to expect at any foreseeable future date, a digital technology environment in which the could become a bottle neck.

5 onfiguration Overview/ignal low he ource section provides for the selection of inputs ( x stereo/ x -channel) and returns ( x stereo/ x -channel). he selected input can be monitored at the input or output stage of the console. he Input section itself offers a router for assigning various channel configurations to match the channel configuration (which is used throughout the console). ach input channel is equipped with an On, hase everse and a special rim switch for precise increments in. d steps from, d to + d. he Insert section is unique. It offers control functions for an automated patchbay, called the Insert ox. p to eight, -channel processors can be connected to this breakout box. he mastering engineer can store and compare up to four sequences with the push of a button. global bypass switch (Insert On) activates or deactivates the Insert ox. he aster section is outfitted with an eight-channel aster fader control for dynamic mastering purposes. he aster fader and onitor evel controls are specially built potentiometers with a tolerance of less the. d over their entire range in all levels. his system dispenses with step ladders and proves a quantum leap in dynamic mastering control. he Output section offers the same precision trim controls as the Input section. In each channel, level differences, which may have been introduced by outboard processing, may be compensated for in. d steps from. d to + d. he onitor section features a central volume control and buttons for ute and im levels. wo stereo loudspeaker sets and two surround loudspeaker sets of up to eight speakers can be connected to the. here is an On and olo button for each loudspeaker. he olo function operates as olo-in-lace, while a olo-to-enter switch shunts other channels through the center speaker for better comparison. here is provision to monitor the on the //. hree ono functions (/, /, t/o / t/ ) and two mode buttons for stereo or multi-channel operation round out the peaker anagement section. he eter ridge houses an urround onitor x and eight large meters with superb ballistics to display meterings with ultimate precision. he urround onitor remote control is built into the console next to the calibration switches for the s. s may be calibrated to eight different values ( d/-/-/-/- /-/-/- d). ote: etering always follows monitoring; depending on the selected monitoring signal (input, output or returns), the according metering is displayed automatically. etering ource Input Insert aster Output eturns onitor

6 Installation arts of box #:. mastering console. meter bridge with built-in urround onitor arts of box #:. Insert ox. Insert ox emote ontrol data wire ( ). ower supply unit (). I power cord. ulticord power cable. external power supply onnecting the onnect the with multicord power cable to the. he power connector is placed at the right side of the housing. bove the power connector are two ground connectors (black and yellow). he yellow connector carries the ground from the. It is bridged to the black connector connecting the ground to the chassis ground. If external grounding is required, disconnect the bridge and connect the external ground to the black connector. IO: sing both the external ground and the ground (with the ground bridge still in use) may cause a ground loop resulting in hum. ount the meter bridge into the custom built frame. his frame is not provided as it is part of the studio design. onnect the meter bridge to the with the four ribbon cables according to the numbers labeled to. ake sure that the ribbon cables are connected properly to both sides of the meter bridge. he end of a ribbon cable goes to the left connector/ meter bridge when looking from behind. he connectors only fit in one direction. o not force the connectors. ibbon cable #: ogic connecting connectors and 9. ibbon cable #: In uss connecting connectors and. ibbon cable #: umper preconnected between connectors and. ibbon cable #: Out/eturn uss connecting connectors and. ibbon cable #: umper preconnected between and. ibbon cable #: emote connecting remote modul with. onnect the external power supply to the urround onitor. witch on the. ress ack in the peaker/im section on the control surface of the once when powering up the for the first time to reset all relays and the logic. sually this switch is used to release both im and ute switch functions at once. onnecting udio e recommend to use a multi-channel audio player as reference signal. onnect your audio player to the multi-channel inputs (/////) of Input on the rear panel of the. onnect the multi-channel monitor set to onitor on the rear panel of the. elect the -. (multi-channel) operation mode in the onitor/peaker anagement section on the control surface of the to engage full multi-channel capability. elect Input/-. in the ource section on the control surface of the. he Input section above the ource section features routing switches which are used to assign the source material to the channel configuration of the. he configuration is used throughout the.

7 Installation esides the channel configuration, three of the main channel configurations (, ilm, ) are listed as a reference in the source section. In case you have connected the multi-channel inputs in order (//// /) you can set the routing switch to for channel one, for channel two... for channel six (factory preset). O: hannels and are only used if the source material carries an -channel signal (e.g. ). ress the On switches to to activate the respective channels. hannels and should be activated if the source material carries an -channel signal (e.g. ) ake sure that the hase everse switches are not engaged (factory preset). In the Input section, set the rim switches to zero (center) on all channels (factory preset). In the Output section, set the rim switches to zero (center) on all channels (factory preset). et the onitor evel control fully counter clockwise. urn up the onitor evel later when you have completed the checklist. et the aster gain control in the aster section to zero. he aster gain control sets the overall output level of the to the recording outs. ake sure that the Insert On switch in the Insert section is dsabled to maintain the signal flow if the Insert ox is not yet connected. ctivate the monitors by engaging the - switch in the peakers/im section. ake sure that all ims and the ute switch are disabled. ngage the peaker switches labelled,,,,, and in the peaker anagement section. ake sure that all olo, ono and the olo-to-enter switch are disabled. epress the -to-// switch in case you are operating a. monitor set up without a sub. urn up the olume control and set the monitoring level. ou should now be monitoring the audio player. he meter bridge houses a urround onitor x and eight big meters with superb ballistics. he remote control for the urround onitor is already built into the control surface of the next to the calibration switches for the s. he metering always follows the selected busses: input, output and return. lease also read the urround onitor manual carefully to ensure correct operation. he s can be set to eight different o d calibrations ( d/-/-/-/-/-/-/ - d). o quickly set the to d and d reference levels two switches labeled =d and =-d are provided. IO: he s superb ballistics are very sensitive to room temperature. he default calibration is adjusted to room temperature. Only a few degrees difference in room temperature cause deviations. alibration to room temperatures can be made after the has reached operating temperature. If re-calibration is necessary, open the meter bridge housing and adjust the trimmers on the labeled with GI (see graphic on page ). ith a + du input level, the must indicate a d level.

8 O O GI I ontrol urface _ O - O - _ O OIO _ t/o _ t/o ulti-hannel astering onsole Input t/o t/o ilm t/o t/o hannel ssignment o hannel ssignment o hannel ssignment o hannel ssignment o hannel ssignment o hannel ssignment o hannel ssignment o hannel ssignment o aster Output t/o t/o On On On On On On On On ev ev ev ev ev ev ev ev rim d rim d rim d rim d rim d rim d rim d rim d rim d rim d rim d rim d rim d rim d rim d rim d ource onitor Insert eturns Inputs eturn olo to enter t/o t/o equence osition rocessor election tore/ ecall tereo Input tereo eturn tereo eturn olo olo olo olo olo olo olo olo tereo Input tereo Input tereo tereo eturn tereo eturn tereo eturn tereo eturn G peakers im ono / tereo ono -. mode / mode onitor evel etering tereo Input -. Input tereo eturn -. eturn tereo eturn -. eturn tereo tereo -. Input -. eturn -. eturn -. Input -. Input eturn -. eturn -. eturn G -. eturn 9 9 to // rocessor tore ono t/o/ t/o rocessor rocessor tore tore im - d im - d ode emo elect Gain rocessor rocessor ew ecall -. im - d eset hift rocessor ecall -. eoxydize ires ute ack + = =- rocessor rocessor ecall Insert On

9 he ections In etail ource ource he ource section is subdivided into two parts. t the left are the input selectors, which are fed to the mastering path. ere the can accept four stereo inputs and four -channel inputs. he eturn button allows to switch between the selected input (four stereo/four multi-channel) and the selected return (eight stereo/eight multichannel). he returns consist of selection options for returns from recorders,, analog multi-tracks, and -layers,, / encoder/decoder, and so on. he return inputs from the rear tereo eturn slot are provided by the tereo eturn buttons -, the returns from the rear tereo eturn slot are provided by the tereo eturn buttons -. Inputs tereo Input tereo Input tereo Input tereo Input tereo eturns eturn tereo tereo eturn eturn tereo tereo eturn eturn tereo tereo eturn eturn G tereo tereo eturn eturn ll Input buttons allow for switching between the input monitoring mode and the output monitoring mode. ress once, the input button is permanently illuminated. he output signal after the aster fader is monitored. ress again, the input button flashes. he input signal before the input trim is monitored. his way, you can easily compare what comes in and what goes out of the console. -. Input -. Input -. Input -. Input eturn -. eturn -. eturn -. eturn -. eturn -. eturn -. eturn G -. eturn IO: electing the input monitoring mode (input button flashes) overrules the eturn mode. O: ll buttons allow for individual labelling. Input ignals selected in the ource section are routed to the Input section. passive routing switch, which can route individual channels to any other channel a function that is essential to achieving the differing channel configurations of surround formats. table gives an overview of the most important channel configurations: : / / / / / / t/o / t/ ilm: / / / / / / t/o / t/ : / / / / / / / he buss structure follows /I channel configurations: : / / / / / / / t/o / t/ ote: t/o and t/ explained: he appendix t means total and refers to the automatic stereo downmix function within -encoders, whereas the appendix o means only and stands for a separate stereo mix. > 9

10 he ections In etail age 9 continued: he routing selector translates any possible channel configurations into the configuration. he high-quality switch has gold-plated silver contacts with a life span of over, switching cycles. he audio signal continues through an On and a hase everse switch, followed by the -position rim switch. he trimming range is. d to + d scaled in. d steps. he specialty of this switch is its mechanical architecture that involves only two contacts at a time. ommon switches route the audio through a chain of resistors in series. hermal noise and tolerances add up. he rim switch avoids this by routing the audio through only one, metal film resistor at any of its positions. Insert equence osition rocessor election rocessor rocessor rocessor rocessor rocessor rocessor rocessor Insert tore/ ecall tore tore tore ew ecall ecall ecall hile it is relatively easy in a stereo environment to connect processors via a patchbay and specify their position in the audio path, this task is much more complicated and time consuming when dealing with surround. o help alleviate this complexity, the features an Insert ox to which up to eight -channel processors can be connected. he unique advantage of is that the engineer can specify up to three routings, called sequences, which can be stored and re-called. he Insert section provides a button for each of the eight external processors. he order in which the processor selection buttons are activated determines the processor sequence. seven segment -display next to each button indicates the current position of a processor. he mastering engineer can use this feature to compare between sequences in varying order or to compare the same type of processors such as in the case of an equalizer from anufacturer and one of anufacturer. rocessor ypass hree memory banks are available which allow an active signal flow sequence to be compared instantly at a button push with three others (for a total of four). n Insert On switch engages the Insert ox or switches to hard-bypass.

11 he ections In etail toring a processor sequence. ress ew. elect processor sequence. ress tore, tore or tore o recall a stored processor sequence, press the respective ecall button. o exclude one or more processors from a stored preset, press the according rocessor election button (illumination off). he processor is hard-bypassed. It can be switched into the signal path at the former position by pressing the rocessor election button again (illumination on). O: hen working with a sequence that has not been stored previously, a processor can not be taken out of the sequence like described above, but you can add processors to the selection. hen working with a previously stored sequence, you can not add further processors to this selection.

12 he ections In etail onitor ection he onitor section is divided into four sub sections: peaker anagement, peakers/im, onitor evel, etering/ urround onitor & s.. peaker anagement ach loudspeaker is controlled by an On switch, and each is shown with its respective loudspeaker position. nderneath each control is a olo function. o improve comparing channels, a olo-to-enter function allows for monitoring of each channel through the center speaker. O: he olo-to-enter function can only be activated if a speaker is previously switched to solo. In cases where a surround sound mix does not have separate subwoofers, the -to-// switch distributes an signal (at - d level) to // channels. wo Operation ode buttons are provided to change the configuration from stereo to multi-channel operation. or improved operational safety and to switch off all monitoring functions other than /, the tereo button must be pressed before starting a stereo mastering job. he onitor section offers three mono functions:. ono /,. ono / (not available in stereo mode),. ono t/o / t/ (not available in stereo mode).. peakers/im hree different im levels (- d, - d, - d) can be selected with the respective buttons. n additional ute function and ack switch are provided so that when ute is activated while a im function is on, the ack switch can alone quickly restore prior monitor level settings. wo stereo pairs and two surround loudspeaker sets can be connected for monitoring the s output. wo speaker sets can be used in parallel for simultaneous monitoring. O: hen operating two speaker sets simultaneously, the speaker s/amplifier s input impedance must be above kohm to avoid level decreases.. onitor evel he global onitor evel is regulated with a custom-made eight-tiered potentiometer. he does not use s, step ladders or s for this function, and the specifications of this potentiometer are substantially better than either of these other options normally could be. he maximum tolerance is, d over the entire control range. >

13 he ections In etail ecause such an engineering masterpiece deserves an appropriate optical and functional presence, this control sports a massive, mm diameter aluminum knob. he scaling is illuminated with blue s on a circular area of mm with a pointer element from miniature orange s.. etering/ urround onitor & s O - _ O O GI o the right of the onitor evel potentiometer are the switch functions for the s and the urround onitor. ll functions of the can be controlled remotely. hey are placed next to the onitor ontrol potentiometer for easy access, and thus the mastering engineer does not need to leave his chosen optimal listening position. O OIO I lease refer to the enclosed manual for further information. he s are likewise custom-made by amaki from apan which manufacture s with optimal ballistic characteristics. he s can be calibrated at eight different reference levels ( d/-/-/-/-/-/-/- d), displayed by two seven segment displays. wo dedicated buttons can be used to quickly calibrate the s to d or - d. he metering always follows the selected signal: Input is displayed as I, output is displayed as O and return is shown as by the seven segment displays. aster ader Output he provides three, eight channel and four dual channel global recording outputs. his fader features the same level control potentiometer as in the onitor evel section. ith this control s extremely fine level settings, the engineer can attain every ounce of recording headroom. he result, thanks to these controls of practically infinite resolution, is an unparalleled excellence in dynamic mastering. Output he s reverse provides three parallel -channel and four parallel dual channel recording outputs. or each channel, there is the same -step,. d trim control as in the Input section, e g. to compensate for level differences arising from processing signals through the insert box. rim d rim d rim d rim d rim d rim d rim d rim d

14 he provides both balanced an input and output sockets, working in parallel. - (+) tereo left tereo right (-) G ( ) / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / in I/Os in iring Inputs = Ground, = hot (+), = cold (-) = Ground, = hot (+), = cold (-) in iring Outputs I/Os ear anel/onnections I t/o t/o - t/o t/o I - t/o t/o I - t/o t/o I - t/o t/o OIO - t/o t/o OIO - t/o t/o O -. - t/o t/o -. - t/o t/o O -. - t/o t/o -. - t/o t/o O -. - t/o t/o -. - t/o t/o -. - t/o t/o -. - t/o t/o -. - t/o t/o -. G - t/o t/o -. - O O - O - O - I - - O OO

15 I t/o t/o - t/o t/o I - t/o t/o I - t/o t/o I - tereo and ulti-channel Inputs

16 t/o t/o -. - t/o t/o ulti-channel eturns

17 tereo eturns O O - -

18 t/o t/o OIO - t/o t/o OIO - onitor Outputs

19 tereo ecording Outputs O O - 9

20 t/o t/o O -. - t/o t/o O -. - t/o t/o O -. - ulti-channel ecording Outputs

21 echanical rawing/ontrol urface

22 echanical rawing/ront iew mm (.") mm (.") mm (.").9") (.9") (.9") 9 (.") (.") (.") 9 mm (.") (.")

23 echanical rawing/ide iew (.") (.9") (.9") (.") able.9") (.9") (.9") (.9") 9 (.") ø (.") (.") (.") mm (.") (.") (.")

24 echanical rawing/ear iew able thickness max. mm 9 eter bridge should be kept in place by a wooden pole on both sides. iameter mm. o not use adhesives. / frame I t/o t/o - t/o t/o I - t/o t/o I - t/o t/o I - t/o t/o OIO - t/o t/o OIO - t/o t/o O -. - t/o t/o -. - t/o t/o O -. - t/o t/o -. - t/o t/o O -. - t/o t/o -. - t/o t/o -. - t/o t/o -. - t/o t/o -. - t/o t/o -. G - t/o t/o -. - O O - O - O - I - - O OO

25 high epth: mm 9" mounting is possible if the insert box is to be installed in a 9" rack., ower socket I mains connector emote ontrol connector () rom evice rom evice rom evice rom evice rom evice rom evice rom evice t/o rom evice t/o o evice o evice Insert end In Insert eturn Out o evice o evice o evice o evice o evice t/o o evice t/o echanical rawing/insert ox

26 echanical rawing/eter ridge xmm holes for metal screws 9, , O xmm holes for wood screws O / O - / GI / O - /,, / / O OIO - 9 / t/o / t/o

27 Internal iring _ O - O - t/o _ t/o Insert equence osition rocessor election

28 easurements udio recision Input - onitor Out udio recision requenz Input - onitor Out d r k k k k k z Input - onitor Out at c d r k k k k k k k k z - Q Input-onitor at c

29 easurements udio recision requenz Input - ec Out udio recision + vs. mplitude Input-onitor Out d r k k k k k k k k z - Q Input-ec Out at c d du - + Input-ec Out at c 9

30 easurements udio recision pectrum Input - onitor Out udio recision Input - Insert end d u k k k k k z - Input - onitor Out at c d r k k k k k z Input - Insert end at c

31 lock iagram

32 oom emperature alibration lease refer to page for details on the room temperature calibration.

33 xternal ower upply he comes with an extraordinary linear power supply featuring toroidal transformers for optimal audio quality and dramatically reduced inductive disturbance/ interference. he power supply is divided into two separate parts to constantly provide stable power conditions. One supplies the four ecording Out driver cards ( -Os), the other part powers the Input, onitor and Output stages. Input voltage: - / z or - / z oise: - du (@ +/- ) ousing: tandard I 9-inch rack chassis imensions: x x 9 mm ( x x ) ca. 9 / x 9 / x / inch ( x x ) eight:, kg/ ca..9 lbs

34 arranty electronics Gmb (hereafter called ) products are warranted only in the country where purchased, through the authorized distributor in that country, against defects in material or workmanship. he specific period of this limited warranty shall be that which is described to the original retail purchaser by the authorized dealer or distributor at the time of purchase. does not, however, warrant its products against any and all defects: ) arising out of materials or workmanship not provided or furnished by, or ) resulting from abnormal use of the product or use in violation of instructions, or ) in products repaired or serviced by other than authorized repair facilities, or ) in products with removed or defaced serial numbers, or ) in components or parts or products expressly warranted by another manufacturer. agrees, through the applicable authorized distributor, to repair or replace defects covered by this limited warranty with parts or products of original or improved design, at its option in each respect, if the defective product is shipped prior to the end of the warranty period to the designated authorized warranty repair facility in the country where purchased, or to the factory in Germany, in the original packaging or a replacement supplied by, with all transportation costs and full insurance paid each way by the purchaser or owner. ll remedies and the measure of damages are limited to the above services. It is possible that economic loss or injury to person or property may result from the failure of the product; however, even if has been advised of this possibility, this limited warranty does not cover any such consequential or incidental damages. ome states or countries do not allow the limitations or exclusion of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation may not apply to you. ny and all warranties, express or implied, arising by law, course of dealing, course of performance, usage of trade, or otherwise, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for particular, are limited to a period of (one) year from either the date of manufacture. ome states or countries do not allow limitations on how long an implied warranty lasts, so the above limitations may not apply to you. his limited warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state, country to country. electronics Gmb, iederkruechten, Germany