Samson C.valve C Class manual

C Class Signal P r oc essors TUBE MICROPHONE/INSTRUMENT PREAMPLIFIER WITH DIGIT AL OUTPUT[...]

Safety Instr uctions Caution: To reduce the hazard of electrical shock, do not remove cover or back. No user serviceable parts inside. Please refer all servicing to qualified personnel. W ARNING : To reduce the risk of fire or electric shock, do not expose this unit to rain or moisture. The lightning flash with an arrowhead symbol within an equilat[...]

T able of Contents Introduction 2 C valve Features 3 Controls and Functions 4-5 Front Panel Layout 4 Rear Panel Layout 5 Operating the C valve 6-13 Setting Up the C valve 6-7 Setting a Good Level 8 Using The C valve For Getting A Sound 9 Using the Low Cut Filter 9-10 Using the T ube Process 10 Using the Enhancer 10 Using C valve With An External Si[...]

2 Congratulations! Y ou just purchased one of the most useful audio tools for digital audio recording, C valve from Samson Audio. The C valve is a high quality microphone/instrument tube pre-amplifier offering a tremendous amount of transparent gain with a pristine audio path that terminates in both balanced analog and S/PDIF digital outputs. By us[...]

3 C valve F eatures The Samson C valve microphone and instrument pre-amp utilizes the latest technology in circuit design. Here are some of its main features: •A high quality microphone or instrument pre-amplifier using discrete transistor and tube gain cells. • On board Limiter for leveling the output is useful in recording and live sound appl[...]

4 C valve La yout 1 INPUT GAIN – Rotary control used to adjust the input level. 2 LOW FREQUENCY – This rotary control is used to set the EQ cut off point for the Low Cut filter. 3 INPUT METER – Six segment LED VU meter dis- plays the input level after being affected by the Gain control. 4 SATURATION – Rotary control used to adjust the total[...]

A AC INLET – Connect the included AC1800 power supply here. B2 4 BIT 48 / 96 (DIGITAL OUT) - 24-bit S/PDIF Digital Output on an RCA connector. C DIGITAL LINK IN - 1/4-inch input jack for con- necting the balanced line output of a second C valve so that the two units work as a stereo unit transmitting the left and right signals from a sin- gle S/P[...]

6 Operating The C valve Setting up the C valve Setting up your C Valve tube pre-amp is a simple procedure, which takes only a few minutes: 1. Remove all packing materials (save them in case of need for future service) and decide where the pre-amp is to be physically placed. To avoid potential overheating problems, be sure that there is good ventila[...]

7 Setting Up the C valve (continued) 6. Plug the C valve power pack into a wall outlet and switch the unit on by pressing the power switch. 7. If you are using an instrument with your C valve, press the MIC/INST switch in to set the C valve’s input to accept instrument levels. The LED will illuminate. If you are using a microphone skip this step [...]

8 Operating The C valve Setting a Good Level One of the most important fundamentals of good audio engineering is setting proper levels. Even on a small typi- cal mixer, or basic multi-track recorder, there are several controls that affect the level of a signal as it makes it’s way from your sound source to your speakers and then, ultimately, the [...]

9 MIC/INST - Select switch The MIC/INST switch is used to set the operating level of the C valve’s input. When using a microphone, set the switch to the “MIC” position, which is selected when the switch is in the out position and the green LED is off. When you press the MIC/INST switch in, the green LED will illuminate indicating that the C v[...]

10 U sing the L ow Cut F ilter ( continued) LOW FREQUENCY You can set the exact frequency to start attenuating the low-end using the LOW FREQUENCY control knob. Be sure that the LOW CUT filter switch is engaged as described in the previous section. The variable LOW FREQUENCY rotary knob allows you to set the low-cut filter to operate at any frequen[...]

11 U sing C v alve W ith An External Signal Processor To further control your signal, the C valve features an insertion point, or “effects loop”, on two 1/4-inch phone jacks, INSERT SEND and RETURN. An insertion point is a patch-point that interrupts the signal, allowing you to bring that signal outside to be processed by another device. You ca[...]

12 Using the Digital Output If you are using a digital recorder that has an S/PDIF digital input, you can take advantage of the C valve’s high quality 24-bit A-to-D converter to make a direct digital connection. Use a high quality co-ax digital cable to connect the C valves RCA S/PDIF output to the S/PDIF. When using one C valve, the mono signal [...]

13 Using the DIGITAL LINK Jack For stereo applications, you can connect two C valves together by using the DIGITAL LINK jack. The DIGITAL LINK jack is a 1/4-inch TRS (TIP, RING, SLEEVE) connector providing a balanced input that is connected directly to the C valve right channel input of the A-to-D converter. Since the C valve’s signal is internal[...]

14 C valve Sy stem Set-Ups Using C V alve in a Live P A Sy stem Using C V alve to W arm-up a signal In this example, a condenser microphone is connected to the C valve’s MIC input using a standard XLR cable. To make a balanced connection, the C valve’s output is connected to the input of a standard PA mixer using a stan- dard 1/4-inch TRS (TIP-[...]

15 C valve Sy stem Set-Ups CV alve Stereo Digital Recording Set-up with External Compression In this example, two C valves are used for recording a stereo signal to a computer based hard disk recorder . The balanced OUTPUT of the second C valve is connected to the DIGIT AL LINK input on the first C valve so that both signals are sent the S/PDIF out[...]

16 Stacking and T ilting the C valve Installing the T ilting F eet Y ou can install the tilting rubber feet included with your C valve so that you can set the unit at a com- fortable operating angle on a workstation or desk- top. Follow the simple instructions below to install the tilting feet. • Remove the bottom screw from right front bumper . [...]

17 C valve Connections Unbalanced 1/4” C onnector Insert Cable 1/4” male TRS connector to two male 1/4” in send and return configuration. XLR Balanced W iring Guide CONNECTING THE C valve The are several ways to interface the C valve to support a variety of applications. The C valve features servo- balanced inputs and outputs, so connecting b[...]

18 The C Class Dual Rack Adapter is available as an accessory from an authorized Samson dealer. 1. Disconnect any cables, that may be connected, from the C•Class unit to be mounted, i.e., the power supply cable, audio cables, headphones. 2. Align the holes in the C•Rack with the holes on the bottom of of the C•Class unit to be mounted. Use th[...]

19 C valve Block Diagram[...]

20 Sy stem Specifications Frequency Response 20Hz to 20kHz + - 0.5 dB Dynamic range 95 dBu, un-weighted, 22 Hz to 22 kHz THD 0.008 % typ. @ +4 dBu, 1 kHz Crosstalk 90dB 22 Hz to 22 kHz Detector RMS Inst/Line In Connectors 1/4"TRS jack Impedance 1 meg Ohm balanced Max. Input Level +21 dBu, balanced and unbalanced Mic Input Connectors XLR Impeda[...]

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Samson T echnologies Corp. 575 Underhill Blvd. P .O. Box 9031 Syosset, NY 1 1791-9031 Phone: 1-800-3-SAMSON (1-800-372-6766) Fax: 516-364-3888 www .samsontech.com[...]