Sound Performance Lab EQ MAGIX manual

SOUND PERFORMANCE LABORA TORY O O w w n n e e r r ´ ´ s s M M a a n n u u a a l l[...]

SOUND PERFORMANCE LABORATORY EQ MAGIX Owner´s Manual by Hermann Gier Manual version 2.1/94 The information in this document has been carefully checked and is assumed to be correct. However Sound Performance Laboratory (SPL electronics GmbH) reserves the right to modify the product described in this manual at any time. This document is the property[...]

3 Contents F orew ord 4 Introduction 4 T he c oncept of sound processing in t he EQ MAGIX 7 Inst allation 9 Inputs & outputs 9 P ower suppl y 10 Rear panel 11 Connection ex amples 11 Control elements Input Mic /Line 12 Line -30dB 12 P eak 13 Phase rev erse 13 48V phantom pow er supply 13 Insert 14 P arametric Active 15 F requency 15 Boost/Cut ([...]

4 Dear cust omer , T hank you f or the c onf idence you hav e shown towards SPL electronics GmbH by purc hasing the SPL EQ MAGIX. T he EQ MAGIX is a first-rate Equalizer wit h ex emplary s pecifications , ex cellent w orkmanship and unri- valled sound quality . Please stud y t his owner´s manual caref ully so t hat you can mak e t he most of t he [...]

5 The I I N N P P U U T T section features a microphone preamplifier with 48V phantom power supply, P HASE R EVERSE and L INE -30 dB switch, P EAK indicator I I N N S S E E R R T T jacks between microphone preamplifier and PARAMETRIC equalizer. P P A A R R A A M M E E T T R R I I C C equalizer with a frequency range from 14 Hz to 58 kHz, constant-Q[...]

6 4. V IT ALIZER ® ® : T he V IT ALIZER is an equalizer c oncept whic h makes use of scientif ic psyc hoacous tic tec hnol ogy to process audio signals . T he unique c ombination of dynamic equaliz ers , amplitude-controlled phase c orrection and harmonic f iltering in t he V IT ALIZER opens up a whole new lis tening dimension by adapting t he so[...]

7 The concept of sound processing in the EQ MAGIX The P ARAMETRIC section serves to perfectly remove any interference frequency or to accentuate a frequency band as desired. With its enormous range of frequencies from 14 Hz to 58 kHz, the EQ MAGIX provides a plat- form for experimentation as to the extent signal portions affect the tonal perception[...]

8 T he V IT ALIZER is t he creative sound c omponent in the EQ MAGIX. It w orks »intelligentl y«, provided t he appropriate paramet ers are preselected. T his means t hat it does not just raise or lower a cert ain frequency range but analy ses t he signal and reacts to it, inf luencing t he frequency and phase res ponse in a sophisticat ed f ashi[...]

9 T he housing of t he EQ MAGIX has the s tandard 19" EIA f ormat and occupies 1 height unit (1 U = 44 mm) in your rac k. W hen installing t he unit in a 19" rac k, the rear side of t he unit needs some support, es pecially in a T ouring Case . T he EQ MAGIX should not be inst alled near units whic h produce strong magnetic f ields or ext[...]

10 Special attention has been paid t o the pow er supply of t he EQ MAGIX. T he pow er pac k is the heart of any unit, and t he more accurately it w orks , t he more this improv es results. T he pow er supply is ins talled around a t oroidal-core transf ormer w hic h does not cause any electronic humming or mec hanical sounds as a result of its min[...]

11 Rear panel E E Q Q M M A A G G I I X X r r e e a a r r p p a a n n e e l l electronically balanced mic/line input; pin 2 = hot / pin 3 = c old unbalanced I NSERT S END /R ETURN jac ks outputs: XLR (balanced, +6dB) and jac k (unbalanced, 0dB) mains volt age selector : 220-240V / 50Hz or 100-120V / 60Hz G ND L IFT switc h and binding post f or alt[...]

12 Input Mic / Line Line -30 B T he I NPUT st age of the EQ MAGIX is based on t he SSM 2017 semic o n- ductor . The s trengths of t his particular component are its e xtremely l o w noise and distortion c haracteristics . Unlike discretel y designed circuits , the SSM 2017 has 64 transistor f unctions (discretely up t o 24), thus ac hieving a c omm[...]

13 P eak 3 Phase reverse 4 T he I NPUT section of t he EQ MAGIX is equipped with a P EAK LED w hic h lights up approximat el y 3 dB below the value w hic h would signify pot en- tial overdriving of t he output (I NSERT S END ). T he headroom of the I NPUT stage is around 26.5 dB . T he P EAK LED does not indicate t he overdriving limit of t he P AR[...]

14 Inser t Input All microphones wit h balanced floating output, i.e . also microphones equipped wit h tubes can be used when t he phantom volt age is switc hed on. W W A A R R N N I I N N G G : : I I t t i i s s e e s s s s e e n n t t i i a a l l t t o o s s w w i i t t c c h h t t h h e e p p h h a a n n t t o o m m s s u u p p p p l l y y o o f[...]

15 T he A CTIVE f unction switc hes the P ARAMETRIC equalizer on or of f . If the switc h has been pressed, the int egrated LED indicat es that t he P ARAMETRIC section has been activated. T he A CTIVE f unciton is a so-called "electronic bypass". Any DC v oltages are f iltered out via c oupling capacitors . T o increase t he operational [...]

Practical applications bring accurate processing of subw oof er trac ks to mind, along with a problem w hic h modern rec ording procedures (PCM, hard disk, samplers etc .) frequently inv olv e; here , the frequencies rec orded are often in t he infra-sonic frequency range (digital c oding). When t hey are reproduced (whic h involv es D/A conv ersio[...]

17 Parametric W hen the Q pot entiometer is tur ned to the e xtreme left, the band widt h around t he selected centre frequenc y is very narrow . T his is known as »high Q« wit h a value of Q3.6. W hen it is turned t o t he extreme right, t he selected band width is of maximum widt h, i.e . »low Q«. The v alue is Q0.6. T he band width f actor i[...]

18 ristics can be altered from G ENTLE to S TEEP , (also see point 9: B OOS T /C UT , page 16). I I m m p p o o r r t t a a n n t t : : If you swit c h on t he N OTC H mode , the band widt h c ontrol Q mus t be set at 0.6 (e xtreme right), so as to ensure a 1:1 lev el ratio with t he original signal. Narrower not c hes can be obtained if the Q c on[...]

19 Deleting an interference frequency T wo possibilities are a vaila ble with t he EQ MAGIX to delete a int erf e- rence frequency: 1. T he C UT mode wit h max. attenuation of 15 dB 2. T he N OTC H mode wit h max. attenuation of 30 t o 50 dB . In order to localize and delet e an interf erence frequenc y proceed as f ollows: 1.a) Activate t he P ARA[...]

20 The initial settings on the V ITALIZER Switching on the V ITALIZER section 1.The P ROCESS control 2. The B ASS control 3. The M ID -H I T UNE control Introduction into the VITALIZER ® If you are w orking with a V IT ALIZER filt er netw ork f or the v ery f irst time , it is advisa ble to operat e the c ontrol parameters in a certain order to ac[...]

21 tiometer scaling: t he l ower t he frequency , the bright er and c learer sounds t he programme material. T his is because the M ID -H I T UNE c ontrol sets a starting frequenc y above w hic h all frequencies are processed. If this st ar- ting frequency is low ered, t he frequency s pectrum inc luded in processing increases . T he programme mate[...]

22 The VITALIZER's control elements Active P eak +10 B p T he A CTIVE f unction switc hes the V IT ALIZER section of the EQ MAGIX on or of f . The s tatus LED indicat es that t he V IT ALIZER has been activated. As wit h the P ARAMETRIC s tage , t he A CTIVE f unction of the V IT ALIZER stage is an »electronic bypass«. Any DC v oltages are f[...]

23 T he B ASS c ontrol is res ponsible f or the »c ol our« of the bass sound y our signal is to ha ve . If you move t he B ASS c ontrol to the right, y ou get a drier , percussive bass sound, known as T IGHT . As a result of this , on the right- hand side of t he scaling points , there are squares w hic h increase in size , in line wit h increase[...]

24 Deep Mid-Hi T une 17 18 T he D EEP circuit increases t he processed bass range . The bass range enc l oses frequencies betw een ca. 20 Hz and 110 Hz with a bass centre frequency at 50 Hz. T he D EEP f unction enlarges this range t o approx. 16 Hz to 140 Hz wit h the same bass centre frequenc y and increases the amplif i- cation level b y ca. 3 d[...]

25 Fig. 8: Five frequency responses are shown for the M ID -H I T UNE filter at max. P ROCESS value and B ASS at 0. 1. 1 kHz 2. 2 kHz 3. 3,5 kHz 4. 8 kHz 5. 20 kHz Fig. 9: The dotted line shows frequency responses for a soft Bass (S OFT )a t varying P ROCESS and a M ID -H I T UNE of 3.5 kHz. The solid line shows the phase responses, which always dr[...]

26 Combine 21 T he V IT ALIZER w orks with st eep f ilters and c ontrolled c hanges of the phase relationships of t he harmonics t o process t he harmonics s tructure . W e consciousl y did wit hout the generat or principle of »Excit ers«. T he V IT ALIZER 's har monic filt er does not add any distortions t o t he original signal, unlike wit[...]

27 Output T he O UTPUT section is an output st age with activ e P AN c ontrol. A double Mono signal is produced from t he Mono input signal whic h is availa ble via t he balanced and unbalanced outputs . T he output signals can be f ed to tw o insert returns on t he mixing desk, a recorder or a s tereo ef f ects processor . T he activ e P AN contro[...]

28 EQ MAGIX Specifications F F r r e e q q u u e e n n c c y y r r a a n n g g e e 10 Hz - 100 kHz (100 kHz = -3dB) E E q q u u a a l l i i z z e e r r F F r r e e q q u u e e n n c c y y r r a a n n g g e e 14 Hz - 58 kHz C C M M R R R R (common mode rejection ratio) -85dBu @ 100 Hz (Set-up for measurements: input resistor 150 Ω , -76dBu @ 1 kHz[...]

29 SPL electronics GmbH (hereafter called SPL) products are warranted only in the country where purchased, through the authorized SPL distributor in that country, against defects in material or workmanship. The specific period of this limited warranty shall be that which is described to the original retail purchaser by the authorized SPL dealer or [...]

SOUND PERFORMANCE LABORA TORY SPL electronics GmbH, Tel. +49-(0) 21 63 / 98 34-0, Fax +49-(0) 21 63 / 98 34-20 Factory address: Sohlweg 55; D-41372 Niederkrüchten Postal address: P.O. Box 12 27; D-41368 Niederkrüchten  1994 All rights reserved, printed in Germany[...]