Harman 286 manual

286 U s e r Ma n u a l M ic P re a mp/ Pro ce ss o r Professional A udio Equipment ®[...]

286 IMPOR T ANT SAFET Y INFORMA TION W ARNING FOR Y OUR PRO TECTION READ THE FOLLO WING: KEEP THESE INSTR UCTIONS HEED ALL W ARNINGS FOLLO W ALL INSTR UCTIONS THE APP ARA TUS SHALL NO T BE EXPOSED T O DRIPPING OR SPLASHING LIQUID AND NO OBJECT FILLED WITHI LIQUID , SUCH AS V ASES, SHALL BE PLACED ON THE APP ARA TUS. CLEAN ONL Y WITH A DR Y CLO TH. [...]

286 DecLara tIon of conforMIty Manufacturer’ s Name: dbx Professional Products Manufacturer’ s Address: 8760 S. Sandy Parkway Sandy , Utah 84070, USA declares that the product: Product name: dbx 286s Note: Product name may be suffixed by the EU. Product option: None conforms to the following Product Specifications: Safety: IEC 60065 -01+Amd 1 E[...]

286 Section 1 - Introduction ........................................1 1.1 Service Con tact Inf o ...................................... 2 1.2 W arr anty ...................................................... 3 Section 2- Operating Controls ................................4 2.1 Rear P an el ................................................... 4 2.2 [...]

286 Section 1 - Introduction Congr atulati ons on ch oosin g th e dbx 286s Mic Pr eamp/Pr ocessor . The 286s is a powerful, user-frien dly unit, pr ovidin g con cise an d intuitive con tr ols for all your mi c pr ocessin g needs , wheth er you use a mi croph on e to r ecord vocals an d acousti c instrum en ts, sample acoustic sounds , or f or a pub[...]

286 1 .1 Service Contact Info If you requir e techni cal support, contact dbx Custom er Servi ce . Be pr epar ed to accurately describe th e pr oblem. Know th e seri al n umber of your unit - this is prin ted on a sti ck er attached to th e bottom pan el. If you have not alr ead y tak en the tim e to fill out your warr an ty registr ati on card an [...]

286 1 .2 W arranty This warran ty is vali d only for th e ori gin al purchaser an d only in th e United States . 1. The warr an ty registr ati on car d that accompanies this pr od uct m ust be m ailed within 30 days after pur chase d ate to valid ate this warr an ty . Proo f-o f-purchase is con si d ered to be th e burd en o f the con sum er . 2. d[...]

286 2.1 Rear Panel s s s s s MIC INPUT Jack The 286s MI C INPUT jack supports pr ofessi on al an d hom e stu dio mi cr oph ones by acceptin g either balan ced or unbalan ced sign al thr ough an XLR conn ector . Pins 2 an d 3 ar e symmetri cally balan ced and floatin g; th us , either can be used as “H O T” without difficulty . Pin 2 is in phase[...]

286 T o use the INSERT jack to MUL T the preamp out (i.e ., to provid e an output with a buffer ed version o f th e sign al after th e Mi c Preamp cir cuitry , but before th e Pr ocessing Secti on), in sert a Mon o 1/4” plug fully in to the INSERT jack, th en pull th e plug out on e click. Plug th e oth er end o f th e cable to the appr opri ate [...]

286 of th e mi c sign al an d ad dition al gain e xceeds th e cir cuit’s capabiliti es; red u ce gain vi a the MIC G AIN con trol. Set th e MI C G AIN contr ol so that th e CLIP LED never li gh ts . The LEVEL LEDs can also be used to ch eck th e stren gth o f th e input sign al. For e x ample , th e 286s does n ot support low level mi croph on es[...]

286 Compr essor DRIVE Control The DRIVE con tr ol determin es th e over all amoun t o f gain red u cti on by setting th e si gnal level goin g in to the gain con tr ol cir cuitry . T urnin g DRIVE clockwise will incr ease th e input sign al, an d ther ef or e incr ease th e amoun t o f appli ed gain red u ction. T urning DRIVE fully counter clockwi[...]

286 Enhancer Note: The low an d high fr equen cy enhancers ar e o ff wh en their r espective DET AIL controls are set to OFF . LF DET AIL Control The 286s Low Fr equen cy enhancem en t sim ultaneously appli es an 80Hz boost an d 250Hz cut to the pr ogr am. This lets you apply substanti al bass boost with out m aking th e pr ogr am sound mu d dy or [...]

286 Readjust as need ed to gate out n oise -- extern al, as well as hiss fr om th e unit. The 286s other pr ocessin g can add substan ti al gain to a si gnal, especi ally at hi gher settin gs , th ereby incr easin g the n oise floor . Output GAIN (dB) Control and CLIP LED The OUTPUT G AIN con trol sets th e level at th e lin e output. The OUTPUT G [...]

286 10 Section 3 - Basic Operation 3.1 Connecting the 2 8 6s to Y our S ystem The 286s can be used with an y low-level mi croph on e si gnal (vi a th e MI C INPUT) or any line-level d evi ce (via th e LINE INPUT). Som e comm on line-level d evi ces inclu d e: mixin g consoles , electr onic m usi cal in strumen ts , patch bays, an d si gn al process[...]

286 Section 3 Basic Operation 11 286s Press th e HI GHP ASS button In to cut signals below 80Hz by 18dB/octave , effectively filtering out mic pr o ximity effects, h um, rumble , wind and oth er low frequen cy “un d esirables .” Use th e MI C GAIN con tr ol to achi eve the best d efiniti on and char acter possible fr om your micr oph one . The [...]

286 Section 3 Basic Operation 12 by blowing air thr ough a con stricted (n arr ow) m outh opening or acr oss th e edg e o f th e teeth, as in the “s” an d “sh” in “sash.” Sibilan ts contain pr ed omin antly hi gh fr equency compon en ts with a sharp rise above 1kHz and m ost o f th e ener gy in th e 4kHz to 10kHz band , cen ter ed on 6k[...]

286 Section 3 Basic Operation 13 286s to pass. If th e input si gnal is below th e thr esh old, th e gate “ closes” and the input si gnal is attenu ated . With suffici en t atten uati on, it effectively cuts that si gnal o ff. On th e 286s , the amoun t o f attenu ati on is set with th e EXP ANSION RA TIO con tr ol. The 286s gate pr ovi des m o[...]

286 Section 3 Basic Operation 14 slow the compr essor’s r elease time , set the DENSITY contr ol to 0. Set the De-Esser fr equen cy contr ol to 4kHz (12:00 positi on). Adjust th e De-Esser THRESH OLD contr ol to r ed uce th e vocalist’s sibilan ce . Use th e HF DET AIL, to taste, to ad d life to th e vocal. Defeat the LF DET AIL by setting it t[...]

286 Section 3 Basic Operation 15 286s Enhancer Note: The Hi gh and Low Fr equen cy Enhan cers are OFF wh en th eir respective DET AIL contr ols are set to th e “o ff” position. Suggested U sag e: Female V oice Male V oice Keyboard Guitar Bass Guitar Drums Strings/ Horns Club Sound/DJ LF Detail -- ◊ ◊ ◊ ¤ ◊ ◊ ¤ HG Detail ¤ ¤ ◊ ¤[...]

286 Section 4 Problems, Possible Causes, Solutions 16 Section 4 - Problems, Possible Causes, Solutions Always verify that the pr oblem is n ot in the sour ce m ateri al being fed in to th e 286s , or in the oth er parts o f the system. If you still have problem s wh en using th e 286s , con sid er th e followin g r emedi es . Noise Rushups, Hiss Bu[...]

286 Section 4 Problems, Possible Causes, Solutions 17 286s that the r ed (-) THRESH OLD LED (located to the ri gh t o f the EXP ANSION RA TIO con trol) d oes not li gh t until th e r equir ed sign al is finish ed. Lispy V ocals With high er settin gs of th e De-Esser THRESH OLD or Expan der/Gate THRESH OLD con trols , a vocal perform an ce can be m[...]

286 Section 5 T echnical Support and Factory Service 18 Section 5 - T echnical Support and Factory Service The 286s is an all-soli d-state pr odu ct with compon en ts chosen f or hi gh perf orman ce an d ex cellen t reli ability . Each 286s is tested and calibrated at th e f actory an d should r equir e no in tern al adjustmen t o f an y type throu[...]

286 19 286s MIC INPUT Floating balan ced , Pin 2 Hot Impedance ~ 4.2k Ω Balanced Maximum Level 0.25Vrms , Gain=30dB Gain Adjustmen t Rang e +0dB ... +60dB Phantom P ower +48VDC, applied to XLR pin s 2 an d 3 through 6.81k Ω r esistors CMRR >40dB, typically 55dB EIN –125dBu, 22Hz-22kHz, 150 Ω source imped an ce LINE INPUT Floatin g balan ced[...]

286 Section 6 T echnical Specifications 20 ENHANCER HF Detail Characteristi c Progr am-con trolled sh elvin g equ alizer , appro xim ately 15dB maxim um HF boost LF detail Char acteristi c Bell-shaped boost @ 80Hz, bell-shaped cut @250Hz, rati o is appr o ximately 2:1 EXP ANDER/GA TE Threshold Ran ge OFF ... +15dBu Expansion Rati o Adjustable 1.5:[...]

286 21 286s Section 7 - Block Diagram[...]

286 22 286s[...]

286 23 286s[...]

286 8760 South Sand y P arkway • Sand y , U tah 84070 Ph on e: (801) 568-7660 • Fax (801) 568-7662 In t’l Fax: (801) 568-7583 Visit us onlin e at www .dbxpr o.com 18-0728V-A Printed in Chin a[...]