Instruction/ maintenance manual of the product 160A dbx Pro
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® A Harman International Company MODEL 160A COMPRESSOR LIMITER.
W ARNING FOR YOUR PROTECTION, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING: WATER AND MOISTURE: Appliance should not be used near water (e.g. near a bath- tub, washbowl, kitchen sink, laundry tub, in a wet basement, or near a swimming pool, etc). Care should be taken so that objects do not fall and liquids are not spilled into the enclosure through openings.
M ANUAL C ONTENTS Q UICK S ET -U P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 I NSPECTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 I NTRODUCTION . . .
QUICK SETUP To get your unit up and running as quickly as possible, do the following steps. For more detailed information, refer to the specified pages. ¥ Unpack and Inspect the 160A Package. ¥ Set Levels and Controls as Needed. ¥ Connect the 160A to Your System.
APPLICA TIONS The dbx 160A is capable of handling a wide range of applications. In the studio, the 160A can be used on everything from vocals to percussion. In live sound reinforcement, the 160A can allow the engineer to get that Òfat studio soundÓ out of the drum kit or provide protection limiting for the speakers.
OUTPUT GAIN Control: Adjust this control to vary the amount of fixed gain (up to +20dB) in the 160A's output amplifier stage. The OUTPUT GAIN control does not interact with the threshold of compression. DISPLAY Button and LED: Depress this button to make the upper LED array display the INPUT LEVEL to the 160A.
+24dBu. This jack accepts 1/4Ó phone plugs. In normal operation the TRS phone jack is internally wired with the TIP HOT (+), and the RING and SLEEVE connected to ground. In Bypass mode, however, the RING is connected to the COLD (-) leads of the input jacks, to allow for balanced connections.
160A by 1dB. See Figure 3 above. The control curve of the RATIO potentiometer has been designed to provide total oper- ator control, with scale expansion at the subtle lower ratios for easy, repeatable settings. METER CALIBRATION Control: The INPUT/OUTPUT LEVEL display in the 160A is factory-calibrated to indicate Ò0Ó when the signal is +4dBu (1.
Negative ratios can also be used to prevent musicians from continually increasing the volume of their instrument (e.g., in live applications where there is no sound engineer to control the house levels).
As a general rule, compressors should be as close to the amplifiers as possible in the signal chain. If the 160A is placed before the EQ (equalizer), for example, a potentially damaging boost in the EQ won't be seen by the 160A and the speakers may be damaged.
The converse of the above EQ technique may be used: dipping the equalizer bands causes any sound with dominant energy in the affected register to pull the level up because the 160A will detect a need for less compression. De-Essing To apply de-essing to vocals (i.
CONNECTING THE 160A T O YOUR SYSTEM Basic Connection The 160A has balanced inputs and outputs, and can be used with any line-level device. Some common examples include: mixing consoles, musical instruments, patch bays and other signal processors. For more specific cabling information, refer to Installation Considerations, page 12.
Using External Level Detector Inputs To control the compressor by signals other than the audio input (via an auxiliary device), connect the auxiliary device's output to the 160A's DETECTOR INPUT jack, and feed the auxiliary device's input with the same signal fed to the 160A's INPUT (Figures 4 and 5).
Note: DO NOT CONNECT the output of a power amp or the speaker out of an instrument to the input of the 160A. Severe damage to system components may result. Patch Bay In the studio, the 160A may be connected to a patch bay to allow it to be used anywhere in the studio system.
Grounding For maximum hum rejection with a balanced source, avoid common grounding at the 160A's input and output. Most bal- anced (3-conductor) cables have the shield connected at both ends. This can result in ground loops which cause hum. If hum is a problem, try changing the position of the rear panel GROUND LIFT switch.
SPECIFICA TIONS Input (1/4Ó TRS Phone and XLR) Floating Balanced; XLR: Pin 2 Hot, Phone: Tip Hot Impedance 100k½ balanced, 50k½ unbalanced Maximum Level +24dBu, Balanced or Unbalanced CMRR >45dB.
NOTES dbx 160A COMPRESSOR / LIMITER 15.
NOTES 16 ® PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS dbx 160A COMPRESSOR / LIMITER.
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® 8760 South Sandy Pkwy . Sandy , Utah 84070 Phone: (801) 568-7660 Fax: (801) 568-7662 IntÕl Fax: (219) 462-4596 Questions or comments? E¥mail us at: customer@dbxpro.
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If you already are a holder of dbx Pro 160A, but have not read the manual yet, you should do it for the reasons described above. You will learn then if you properly used the available features, and whether you have not made any mistakes, which can shorten the lifetime dbx Pro 160A.
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