Sound Performance Lab Gain Station 2272 manual

Mod e ls 2 2 72, 22 73 Us er ’ s Guide Gain Stat ion 1 Singl e channel mic r ophone and instr ument preamplif ier N I A G E B U T N I A G N A E L C T u b e + F e t O f f Gain Station 10 21 19 18 15 16 14 13 12 11 22 24 26 29 32 35 38 41 46 54 63 dB dB L E V E L T U P T U O -26 6 -10 -12 -14 -18 -16 -20 -22 -24 -25 -9 -8 -6 -5 -2.5 0 2 3.5 5 5.5 d[...]

2 GainStation 1 User’ s Guide GainStation 1 Models 2272, 227 3 Ve r s i o n 1.0 – 6 /200 3 Designer : Ru ben Ti lg ne r Thi s use r' s gu id e c ont ains a descr iption of the pro duc t. I t in no way represent s a guar antee of p ar t icular charac teris tic s or result s of us e. The infor matio n in t hi s doc ume nt h a s be en ca refu[...]

GainStation 1 3 Introduction .................................................................. 4 Be fo re you begin .......................................................... 7 Rea r p ane l/ co nne c t io ns ................................................ 8 Wi ri ng ....................................................................... 8 Genera[...]

4 GainStation 1 Introduction Inpu t ma ke s al l the dif ference. Modern au dio prod uc tion relies increasingl y on digit al sys tems fo r recording and mix ing proce sse s (DAW ‘s, dig ital console s etc.). The advantages of d igita l audio ar e mani fo ld an d inc lud e af f ordable storag e, comfor t able ed iting, reca ll capabili ties and a[...]

GainStation 1 5 Introduction To a c commodate por tabilit y , the optionall y available SPL GainBag ensures saf e tra nsp or t of th e Gain Sta ti on 1 and of f ers additional stor age for c ables and an average -size d micro- phone. For more pe r mane n t in s tal la ti ons , up to f our Ga inSt at ion 1‘s c an be ra ck -mou nt ed in one optiona[...]

6 GainStation 1 Thi s c uttin g-ed ge tec hno lo g y ensures that sig nal s recorded with the GainS t ation 1 hav e mor e pre s enc e and s ubs t an ce an d will easily cut th ro ug h a mi x e ven a t low er le ve l s. E x t rem ely low-f requency sig nal s ar e ti g ht an d t r ansp ar ent w i th c lear i nto - nation. Percus sive tr ansient s ar [...]

GainStation 1 7 It mak es good sens e to thi nk ab out w h ere y ou pl ace y our GainStation 1 b ef ore co nne c ting it. It should b e po sit ioned so that you c a n ea sil y rea ch i t , bu t th ere ar e ot her c onsi der a ti ons . Tr y n o t to pl ace i t nea r hea t so ur ces or in dire ct su nl i ght, and avoi d e x p osur e to e xce ssi ve v[...]

8 GainStation 1 R ear panel/connections Wir ing Made in Germany PUSH 230 V – 50 Hz/315 m A 115 V – 60 Hz/630 m A OPTICAL SPDIF SPDIF LOCK x2 48 44.1 XLR W iring : 1 = GND/ 2 = (+)/ 3 = (–) Jack: Tip = (+)/ Ring = (–)/ Sle . = GND RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT OPEN CA UTION AV IS: RISQUE DE CHOC ÉLECTRIQUE - NE PAS OUVRIR AD I N 2 ANA. OUT [...]

GainStation 1 9 Aga in , wh il e th e Gai nSt at ion 1‘s ho u sing is E MV- pr oof a nd protect s ag ainst HF-inter f erence, plac ement of the unit is ver y impor tant since it amplif ies microp hone si g nals as well as other unwan ted sig nal s. Be fore co nnecting the GainS tation 1 or any other equipmen t turn of f all p ow er . IMP OR T A N[...]

10 GainStation 1 R ear panel/connections MIC INPUT Dynam ic, c onden ser or tu be micr ophones ca n be conn ec ted to the MIC input. The 48 V s wi tch p rov id es t he p han tom p owe r necessar y for some microphones (see als o „ Control element s/ Phant om “ on page 16 ). The MI C input c a n al s o be u s e d a s a bal an ce d conn ec tio n [...]

GainStation 1 11 POW E R The POW E R sw itc h tu r ns t he G ainSt a tio n 1 on ( in di ca te d by th e blue POWER LED on the fro nt p a ne l) o r o ff . 24 / 96 AD Conver ter (optiona l) The opt ion al 24 /9 6 C o n v er t e r mo dule (m od el 2376) p rov ide s a digi tal ou tput for the GS 1 in t he f or m of a n S/ P - DI F out p ut wi th RC A a[...]

12 GainStation 1 AD IN 2 If the optional 24/96 AD conver ter module is ins talle d, this input can be use d t o conver t an e x tern al anal og sign al. T o avoid clip - ping, the inpu t le vel sh oul d not e xc ee d +1 2 dB u (+1 2 dBu co r re - spond s to full dig it al gain of 0 dBf s). Ex c e s s iv e i n p u t l ev el s ar e indic ated by the [...]

GainStation 1 13 SYN C I NP UT The SYN C inpu t all ows y ou to f ee d an e x ter na l sig na l into t he conver ter to cont rol the sample rat e. Co nnec t an S /P- DIF ou tpu t fr o m y ou r m as t e r sour ce (e .g. so und c ard ) to th e S Y NC i npu t. The AD c on ver ter w ill au tomat ic al ly co nve r t to the s am e s ampl e rat e t hat is[...]

14 GainStation 1 CLE AN GA IN Thi s po t enti ome ter c ont ro l s th e amo unt of p ream pli f ic at ion provided by the cl as s A s ol id- s ta te st ag e. A r ang e of up to + 6 3 d B is provided. Fo r mo re inf or m at ion , pl ea se s e e „ S et ti ng le vel s on the Ga inStation 1“ on pag e 19. IMP OR T A N T NOTE: If a Lundah l input t r[...]

GainStation 1 15 SOUR CE Thi s swi tch all o ws y ou t o se lect between th e M IC a nd H I -Z/LI NE input s. Both input s can remain connec ted at all time s, reg ard- less of which in put is se lec ted. When f irst thr own af ter power ing up th e unit , t his s w itc h ca n cause a not ice able p op due to t he d isc har ge of r esi dual cur r e[...]

16 GainStation 1 IMPED. Ω Thi s 3- way switc h a l lows you t o sel ec t betwee n thre e in put impedan ces for the MIC input . The ef fect va ri es d ependin g on the microphone us ed. With dyna mic microphone s, a lower impe dance set ting will al so reduce the inpu t level— t his ef f ec t is less pronounced with good co ndense r microp hone[...]

GainStation 1 17 LIM ITER The Ga inS tati on 1 of fe rs t wo t yp e s of out pu t lev el lim it ing: PE A K a nd FE T . Th e li mite r is pr e - ou tp ut l eve l con t rol , s o th at the lim ite d sig nal c an b e op tim all y ada pte d to th e in ter na l or exte rnal conver ter . The pea k l im ite r op er ate s wi th sp e cial di ode s th at co[...]

18 GainStation 1 POW E R -LE D Thi s LE D in dic ates that the GainStatio n 1 i s con ne c te d to th e proper AC curren t a nd s w itc he d on . If t he t ub e st ag e is a c t iv e when the unit is switched on, it c an t a ke se ver al s e con ds b ef ore a sig n al c an b e hea rd— th is t ime i s ne ces s ar y f or th e t ube to reach operat [...]

GainStation 1 19 In spit e of it s qualit y an d f le x i bil it y, the Ga inSt at io n 1‘s tr ans - parent user inter f ace allows quick , intuit ive oper ation. Th e unit i s suite d f or a wi de v ar ie t y of a ppl ic at ion s. T h e fol low ing sections will provid e an over v iew of the most imp or t ant oper a- tiona l conce pt s and sever[...]

20 GainStation 1 Combining dif f erent amount s of clean and tube gain will create vari ous e f fec ts. The G ainStation 1 oper ates vir tually distor tion- fr ee w it h the tube stage bypa ssed. Th e soun d is cl ean an d t ra ns- parent with ext reme de tai l an d ve r y low no is e. Th e cl ean s t ag e is ideal for most acous tic in strum ents,[...]

GainStation 1 21 The pea k l im i ter s oun ds di f fe ren t wi th t he t ub e st ag e ac t i v ate d, since leveling occur s somewhat a sy mmetrically with the tube i n the si g nal path, so that the nega ti ve half-wave is leveled with a much f lat ter cur ve. To d e t e r m i n e the idea l limi ter s et ti ng f or th e in ter na l con ver ter, [...]

22 GainStation 1 Ne xt to th e ob vious recording or soun d reinforcement appli- cati on s, th e GainStation 1 i s al s o e x t re mel y in tere s ti ng a s an inst rument preamp for music ians. Bassists can go throu g h i t direc tl y into a p ower amp, resu lti ng in a soun d t hat i s har d to ach ie ve w it h st an dard ba ss pr eamps, wit h un[...]

GainStation 1 23 Vo c a l s /s p e e c h The tube stag e is well s uite d f or ad ding p re se nce to vo c al s . Ex e r c i se ca u ti o n w h e n set tin g l eve ls , p arti cu l arl y with the cl ean stag e, s inc e v oca l s can be extr emely dynamic . The FE T li mite r can be v ery he lp fu l h e re t o le ve l p e ak s in a subt le , mu sic [...]

24 GainStation 1 Ele c t r i c Ba s s If an elec t r ic bass is direc tl y connec ted to th e HI-Z input, a combi- nation of clean and tube st age s is usually best. I n th e ca se of extrem e d ynam i cs, the FE T l imi ter w ill d el iv er e xce lle nt re su lt s and a t ig ht , pun chy b a ss s oun d th at u suall y ne ed s no ad dit ion al comp[...]

GainStation 1 25 Dr ums / snare drum Ex e r c i se ca u ti o n w h e n s e t t i n g l e v e l s t o avoid cli ppi ng. Dr um s are notoriou s f or f a s t , p owe r f ul tr an sie nt s t ha t c an ea sil y ad d 10 dB t o the ave r ag e lev el . In ad dit ion , f ew dr um mer s ( or any musicians , for that ma tt e r ) ar e s o dis c ipl ine d th at[...]

26 GainStation 1 Inside th e Ga inSt at ion 1 The most ti me-con su ming par t of the de velopment of the GainStation 1 wa s searching f or , selec t ing and matching compo- nent s, PCB‘s and IC‘s . O ne de ci si ve f ac tor i n ach ie vi ng imp ec- cab le au di o quali t y i s th e ref u s al to a ccep t any w eak sp ot s in the chai n— the [...]

GainStation 1 27 An ou tpu t st age , w hi c h al s o op er ate s i n c l a s s A m o d e w i t h o v er 6 m A of cl os ed - c ircui t cur rent , f unc t io ns a s a cur r en t ampl if ie r . The trans ist or s and re sis tor s u til iz ed al so h ad an en or m ou s ef fec t on the audio qualit y. T o fac i li ta t e se le cti o n, w e a sse m- ble[...]

28 GainStation 1 The Hi- Z in pu t is a f ull y dis cr ete im pe da nce c onv er ter t hat a l so oper ates in cl as s A mo de. It is ba se d on a l ow -n ois e f ie ld ef f e c t tran sist or tha t i s e s p e c i a l l y w e l l s u i t e d t o t h i s t a s k d u e t o i t s extrem ely high in put impedanc e. The si g nal then passes to the clea[...]

GainStation 1 29 The 2 x 3 0 -V cu r ren t al one i s f ir s t pre - re g ula ted to 33 V a nd t hen reduce d to 30 V in orde r to f i lter o ut t he l a st r emna nt s of h um. Thi s tas k is handle d by select 10 0 0 -µF elec t roly t ic capacitors. In addition, cri tic al current s are stabi lized vi a a 1 0 0 -n F MK P f oi l condenser, to ens[...]

30 GainStation 1 Fr e q u e n c y r e s p o n s e (Cl ea n G ain 30 dB, T u be Gai n off, outpu t level 0 dB , +/- 0 . 5 d B) : ‹1 H z -125 kHz Fr e q u e n c y r e s p o n s e ( C l e a n G a i n 3 0 d B , T u b e G a i n o f f , o u t p u t level 0 dB , +/- 3 dB ): ‹1 H z -31 0 kH z Fr e q u e n c y r e s p o n s e ( C l e a n G a i n 30 d B [...]

GainStation 1 31 Dimensions ( W x H x D): 1 0 6 x 1 22 x 271 mm Weig ht ( w/o Lund ahl t r an sf or m er an d A D con ver te r): 2.6 5 k g The foll ow ing access or y is optionally available : • Lu nda hl inp ut t r ans f or me r (up g r ade s af ter s ale b y auth or iz ed ser vice person ne l or SPL o nl y) • 2 4- B it/9 6 k Hz A D c onv er t[...]

32 GainStation 1 SPL produc t s are manuf ac tured using c aref ully sele c ted compo - nent s an d mater ia l s and s t ate - of-th e -ar t p ro duc ti on te chn o - log y. Ever y S PL p rod uc t is t hor oug h in spe c te d an d tes te d be for e leaving the f ac tor y , including acous tic and elec t ronic testing. SPL war r antees the SP L 2 4/[...]

GainStation 1 33 ............................................................... ............................................................... ............................................................... ............................................................... ............................................................... .............[...]

User ’ s Guide GainStation 1, Models 2272 & 22 7 3 All yo u nee d is im ag ina ti on , go od e ar s and t hr ee l et ter s:[...]