Instruction/ maintenance manual of the product QUANTUM dbx Pro
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® QUANTUM DIGIT AL MASTERING PROCESSOR User Manual.
W ARNING FOR Y OUR PRO TECTION PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING: KEEP THESE INSTRUCTIONS HEED ALL WARNINGS FOLLOW ALL INSTRUCTIONS CLEAN ONL Y WITH A D AMP CLO TH. DO NO T BLOCK ANY OF THE VENTILA TION OPENINGS. INST ALL IN ACCORD ANCE WITH THE MANUF ACTURERS INSTRUCTIONS.
U.K. MAINS PLUG WARNING A molded mains plug that has been cut off from the cord is unsafe. Discard the mains plug at a suitable disposal facility . NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMST ANCES SHOULD YOU INSER T A D AMAGED OR CUT MAINS PLUG INTO A 13 AMP POWER SOCKET .
T able of Contents QUANTUM Intr oduction 1.1 What is QUANTUM?.........................................ii 1.2 Service Contact Info ........................................iii 1.3 W arranty ...........................................................iii Section 1 - Getting Star ted 1.
T able of Contents QUANTUM Figur e Index Fig. 1.1 LCD Display ..............................................3 Fig 1.2 Signal Path ..................................................4 Fig. 3.1 Stereo MultiBand Chain ..........................20 Fig. 3.2 Stereo B roadband Chain .
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INTRO CUSTOMER SER VICE INFO What is QUANTUM? W ARRANTY INFO ® INTRODUCTION QUANTUM.
Intr oduction ® QU ANTUM User Manual ii QUANTUM Congratulations on your purchase of the dbx QUANTUM Digital Mastering Processor! For over 25 years, dbx has been the industry leader in dynamics processing. W ith the introduction of the QUANTUM, we apply our superior dynamics processing technology to the digital mastering process.
® Intr oduction QUANTUM QU ANTUM User Manual Imagine this scenario as an example. A client brings in a stereo mix on a sampling workstation. The mix is r ecorded at 96kHz/24-bit. In or der to cr eate a CD compatible mix you need to con- vert to 44.1kHz/16-bit.
Intr oduction ® QU ANTUM User Manual iv QUANTUM 4. dbx reserves the right to make changes in design or make additions to or impr ovements upon this product without incurring any obligation to install the same additions or improvements on products previously manufactured.
® Getting Started Section 1 QUANTUM.
Getting Star ted ® QU ANTUM User Manual 2 Section 1 QUANTUM Analog Input/Output Connectors Each analog channel features both XLR and 1/4" TRS electronically balanced connections. They may be used in a balanced or unbalanced configuration. MIDI In and Out/Thru Connectors These connectors provide full MIDI functionality to the QUANTUM.
® Analog Le vel Meters These meters monitor analog input and output. For more on meters refer to Section 3. TSE™ Audio Lev el Meters These meters monitor the level of T ape Saturation Emulation.
Getting Star ted ® QU ANTUM User Manual 4 Section 1 QUANTUM When working with the sidechain EQ, or the in-line EQ, the curve window changes to show a graphical representation of the 5 parametric bands in a frequency grid. Y our adjustments to the 5 bands are shown in real time.
® Getting Star ted Section 1 QUANTUM 5 The Quantum is a Mastering Pr ocessor that has man y featur es: • Multiband compression • Multiband gating • Multiband limiting • Parametric equalizer .
Getting Star ted ® 6 Section 1 QUANTUM Now that your bands are set up for your application, you monitor them and you hear how the sub-band (band one), is the ultra-low frequencies of the kick and bass as well as some of the guitar .
® NA VIGA TION Section 2 QUANTUM.
Na vigation ® 8 Section 2 QUANTUM QU ANTUM User Manual Navigate through the bands by depressing the "Compressor" button successively until arriving at the desired band All Bands Band 1 Band.
® Na vigation Section 2 QUANTUM 9 QU ANTUM User Manual Na vigating the "Br oadband Compr essor" Navigate through the P ages by depressing "Ne xt P age" or "Pre v P age" .
Na vigation ® 10 Section 2 QUANTUM QU ANTUM User Manual 2.3 Multiband Gate Navigate through the bands by depressing the "Gate" button successively until arriving at the desired band All Ban.
® Na vigation Section 2 QUANTUM 11 QU ANTUM User Manual All Bands Na vigating the "Br oadband Gate" Navigate through the P ages by depressing "Ne xt P age" or "Prev P age" successively until arriving at the desired P age Gate On/Loc/Off Threshold Ratio Attack Hold Release Max Att Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 2.
Na vigation ® 12 Section 2 QUANTUM QU ANTUM User Manual Navigate through the bands by depressing the "Limiter" button successively until arriving at the desired band All Bands Band 1 Band 2.
® Na vigation Section 2 QUANTUM 13 QU ANTUM User Manual Na vigating the"Br oadband Limiter" Navigate through the P ages by depressing "Ne xt P age" or "Prev P age" successively until arriving at the desired P age Limiter On/Loc/Off Threshold T ype Attack Hold Release OverEasy® Auto On/Off 2.
Na vigation ® 14 Section 2 QUANTUM QU ANTUM User Manual The "EQ/XOver" button toggles between EQ and XOver . Depress once to access EQ and a second time f or XOv er EQ XOv er Na vigating th.
® Na vigation Section 2 QUANTUM 15 QU ANTUM User Manual The "EQ/SEQ" button toggles between EQ and SEQ. Depress once to access EQ and a second time f or SEQ EQ SEQ Na vigating the "Br .
Na vigation ® 16 Section 2 QUANTUM QU ANTUM User Manual Navigate through the bands by depressing the "Norm/Output" button successively until arriving at the desired band Normalize Output Na.
® Na vigation Section 2 QUANTUM 17 QU ANTUM User Manual Na vigating "Other" Navigate through the bands by depressing the "Other" button successively until arriving at the desired .
Na vigation ® 18 Section 2 QUANTUM QU ANTUM User Manual Na vigating "Utility" Navigate through the P ages by depressing "Ne xt P age" or "Prev P age" successively until .
SOFTW ARE OPERA TIONS ® SOFTW ARE Section 3 QUANTUM.
Softwar e Operations ® 20 Section 3 QUANTUM QU ANTUM User Manual This section explains how signals are routed, monitored, and controlled in the QUANTUM. Changes that are made to the QUANTUM’s dynamic processing can be monitored visually and aurally at several differ ent points in the chain.
® Softwar e Operations Section 3 QUANTUM 21 QU ANTUM User Manual Fig 3.2 Chain T ype: Stereo Broadband PEQ may be Pre or P ost Dynamics What the QUANTUM scr een shows for Pre: De-Esser CH1 CH2 Stereo.
Softwar e Operations ® 22 Section 3 QUANTUM QU ANTUM User Manual Fig. 3.3 Chain T ype: Mono PEQ may be Pre or P ost Dynamics What the QU ANTUM scr een shows f or Pre: What the QU ANTUM scr een shows .
® Softwar e Operations Section 3 QUANTUM 23 QU ANTUM User Manual The QUANTUM has a unique method of storing your settings. It stores your changes to para- meters as setups.
Softwar e Operations ® 24 Section 3 QUANTUM Saving a setup can be done by following these steps: 1. After you have edited your setups to your liking, press the STORE button. The screen will look like the figure below. Pressing the DA T A WHEEL move the cursor down to either CH 1 Setup, or CH 2 Setup, if you have been editing a dual mono program.
® Softwar e Operations Section 3 QUANTUM 25 2. T o name your setup, there are instructions for you in the Curve Window. Press STORE when you are done. 3. Y ou now must choose what you want to do with the setup you are going to save. Y ou have two choices: you may write over another setup, or you may make a new one.
Softwar e Operations ® 26 Section 3 QUANTUM BYP ASS T o bypass the QUANTUM press the BYP ASS button once. All digital dynamic modules are ren- dered inactive. The QUANTUM also has a CLONE BYP ASS mode, passes the digital audio through the QUAN- TUM to the digital output directly as it came in—a digital clone.
® Softwar e Operations Section 3 QUANTUM 27 Digital Meters The middle portion of the meter rep resents the peak level of the signal. The sides of the meter represent the average peak level. Since the digital output meter is located after dither , changes made to dither will be seen at this meter .
Softwar e Operations ® 28 Section 3 QUANTUM Limiter The limiter’s threshold meter works on the same principle. When the signal is under the thr esh- old setting, the signal is not being processed by the limiter section. The next part of the thr esh- old meter is the “o”.
DET AILED P ARAMETERS ® P ARAMETERS Section 4 QUANTUM.
Detailed P arameters ® 30 Section 4 QUANTUM QU ANTUM User Manual Section 4 Within the multiband compr essor menu on the QUANTUM the following parameters are user adjustable on all setups. Compressor LOC/On/Off Local (per band control) or global on and off.
® Detailed P arameters Section 4 QUANTUM 31 QU ANTUM User Manual Threshold -60 to 0 dB (per band or global) Thr eshold is the signal level at which the QUANTUM starts to compress. If the threshold is set to -10 dBFS, then any signal lar ger than -10 dBFS is compressed, while any signal that has a level lower than -10dBFS is left at the same level.
Detailed P arameters ® 32 Section 4 QUANTUM QU ANTUM User Manual Section 4 The broadband compressor can be used in both stereo or dual mono configurations. W ithin the broadband compressor menu on the QUANTUM the following parameters are user adjustable on all setups.
® Detailed P arameters Section 4 QUANTUM 33 QU ANTUM User Manual Gain -20 to +20 dB This is used to compensate for the gain lost during compression. By using heavy compr ession on a signal and than boosting the signal with the output gain we can than create a signal that sounds much louder than it was.
Detailed P arameters ® 34 Section 4 QUANTUM QU ANTUM User Manual Section 4 Ratio 1:1.0 to 1:15 (per band or global) This is where you decide how much downward expansion you want. This ratio works back - wa rds from that of the compr essor or limiter .
® Detailed P arameters Section 4 QUANTUM 35 QU ANTUM User Manual Hold 0 to 500 m Sec The Hold control sets the amount of time the gate is held open after the signal passes below the threshold point. Release 360 to 5 dB Release sets the speed at which the gate “closes” when the end of the Hold time is r eached.
Detailed P arameters ® 36 Section 4 QUANTUM QU ANTUM User Manual Section 4 Attack .01 to 200 m Sec (per band or global) This is the speed at which the QUANTUM limiter starts to compress the signal once it has crossed the threshold. Set the attack time longer for lower fr equency bands, and shorter for higher frequency bands.
® Detailed P arameters Section 4 QUANTUM 37 QU ANTUM User Manual Hold 0 to 500 m Sec (per band or global) Hold is the time the limiter stays in gain reduction after the signal level has dropped below thr eshold. Hold is useful when you want the limiter to function for a period of time after it has been trigger ed.
Detailed P arameters ® 38 Section 4 QUANTUM QU ANTUM User Manual Section 4 Band 1 FC 20.0 Hz to 20.0 kHz This controls the corner frequency for the low frequency shelving EQ band. Slope 3 to 12 dB / Octa ve Sets the slope of the shelf. Le vel -12 to + 12 dB Amount of boost or cut.
® Detailed P arameters Section 4 QUANTUM 39 QU ANTUM User Manual When in the broadband mode, not only do you have access to the equalizer but also another EQ in the sidechain. Having EQ in the sidechain lets you boost or cut various frequencies prior to the dynamics processor detector .
Detailed P arameters ® 40 Section 4 QUANTUM QU ANTUM User Manual Section 4 Slope 3 to 12 dB / Octa ve Sets the slope of the shelf. Le vel -12 to + 12 dB Amount of boost or cut. Adjustable in 1/2 dB steps. The QUANTUM uses dbx Type IV™ 96 kHz converters.
® Detailed P arameters Section 4 QUANTUM 41 QU ANTUM User Manual Ambience uses a combination of gain and compression to enhance low level information. Reverb tails and acoustic guitar finger picking are examples of sounds that can be enhanced by using the Ambience effect.
Detailed P arameters ® 42 Section 4 QUANTUM QU ANTUM User Manual Section 4 Amount 0 to 100% This controls the amount of De-Essing. The amount control is very much like a combination threshold / ratio contr ol. A higher amount applies more De-Essing to the signal.
® Detailed P arameters Section 4 QUANTUM 43 Shaping S1 or S2 This lets you change between the 2 different digital noise shape algorithms. See Figur e H-2 in the Appendix, pg. 82 Dither Out - All or Digital Sets the routing of the Dither output. When All is selected, the Dither is routed to the digital outputs and the D/A.
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UTILITIES ® UTILITIES Section 5 QUANTUM.
Utilities ® 46 Section 5 QUANTUM ® QU ANTUM User Manual The QUANTUM’s “Utility” section contains many important operations. These operations affect the QUANTUM on a global scale. This means that any changes that are made to this section affect all the presets.
® Section 5 47 ® QU ANTUM User Manual this variance is reduced. The QUANTUM clock output is accurate and clean, whether it is mas- ter or slave. See Appendix C for possible clock modes. SCMS This turns on/off SCMS copy protection. If you are mastering a mix on which you wish to have copy protection written, turn SCMS “ON”.
Utilities ® 48 Section 5 QUANTUM ® MIDI CH Selects which MIDI channel the QUANTUM will receive program changes and CC’s on. Selections are; OFF , 1-16, OMNI. SY SEX CH Selects which MIDI channel the QUANTUM will receive SYSEX information on. Selections are; OFF , 1-16, OMNI.
® Utilities Section 5 QUANTUM 49 ® QU ANTUM User Manual 1. Enter the “Utility” menu by pressing the UTILITY button once. 2. Pr ess NEXT P AGE button until page 8 is r eached. 3. Use the DA T A WHEEL to select which setup you would like to dump. 4.
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APPLICA TION GUIDE ® APPLICA TIONS Section 6 QUANTUM.
Application Guide ® 52 Section 6 QUANTUM ® QU ANTUM User Manual Hardwar e 1. Connect 2-track left output to the QUANTUM’s channel one input. 2. Connect 2-track right output to the QUANTUM’s channel two input. 3. Connect the QUANTUM’s AES/EBU or S/PDIF OUTPUT to digital recorder .
® Application Guide Section 6 QUANTUM 53 ® QU ANTUM User Manual Hardwar e 1. Connect AES/EBU or S/PDIF output of digital source to the QUANTUM’s AES/EBU or S/PDIF input. 2. Connect the QUANTUM’s AES/EBU or S/PDIF output to AES/EBU S/PDIF of DA T machine.
Application Guide ® 54 Section 6 QUANTUM ® QU ANTUM User Manual Hardwar e 1. Connect AES/EBU or S/PDIF output of digital source to the QUANTUM’s AES/EBU or S/PDIF input. 2. Connect the QUANTUM’s AES/EBU or S/PDIF output to AES/EBU S/PDIF of DA T machine.
® Application Guide Section 6 QUANTUM 55 ® QU ANTUM User Manual Hardwar e 1. Connect external Mic Preamp’s output to the QUANTUM’s input. 2. Connect the QUANTUM’s output to analog tape machine input. Software 1. Press the UTILITY button to enter the QUANTUM’s utility section.
Application Guide ® 56 Section 6 QUANTUM ® Hardwar e 1. Connect external Mic Preamp’s output to the QUANTUM’s input. 2. Connect the QUANTUM’s AES/EBU or S/PDIF output to the digital recorder’s input. Software 1. Press the UTILITY button to enter the QUANTUM’s utility section.
® Application Guide Section 6 QUANTUM 57 ® QU ANTUM User Manual Hardwar e 1. Connect the analog console’s outputs to the QUANTUM’s analog inputs. 2. Connect the QUANTUM’s analog outputs to the recorder . Software 1. Press the UTILITY button to enter the QUANTUM’s utility section.
Application Guide ® 58 Section 6 QUANTUM ® QU ANTUM User Manual Hardwar e 1. Connect AES/EBU or S/PDIF output of the digital console to the QUANTUM’s AES/EBU or S/PDIF input. 2. Connect the QUANTUM’s AES/EBU or S/PDIF output to AES/EBU S/PDIF of DA T machine.
® Application Guide Section 6 QUANTUM 59 ® QU ANTUM User Manual Hardwar e 1. Connect line inputs to QUANTUM’s analog inputs. 2. Connect the QUANTUM’s AES/EBU or S/PDIF OUTPUT to digital recorder . Software 1. Press the UTILITY button to enter the QUANTUM’s utility section.
Application Guide ® 60 Section 6 QUANTUM ® QU ANTUM User Manual Hardwar e 1. Connect AES/EBU or S/PDIF output of the digital source to the QUANTUM’s AES/EBU or S/PDIF input. 2. Connect the QUANTUM’s AES/EBU or S/PDIF output to AES/EBU S/PDIF of DA T machine.
® Appendix QUANTUM.
® 62 Appendix A QUANTUM Occasionally, it may be necessary to perform a “Soft” or “Har d” reset. The Soft Reset resets everything except user pro- grams. The Hard Reset Pr ocedure will reset all pr ogramable infor mation back to the factory defaults.
® Appendix B ® QU ANTUM User Manual 63 dbx T ype IV™ Con v ersion System White P aper b y Roger Johnson The dbx Type IV™ Conversion System is a proprietary analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion pro.
® 64 Appendix B QUANTUM ® QU ANTUM User Manual analog, we could really exploit its wide dynamic range and more completely capture the essence of the musical per for- mance.
® Appendix B ® 65 Appendix B QUANTUM ® Fig. 2 illustrates the mapping function in a differ ent way. Input levels are shown on the left of the graph, while con- verted levels are shown on the right. Notice the mapping of lar ge signal excursions to the 4 dB “Type IV™ Over Region.
® 66 Appendix B QUANTUM ® QU ANTUM User Manual Figure 3b - Signal of Fig. 3a Going Beyond the A/D Clip Lev el Amplitude Time A/D Clip Lev el A/D Clip Lev el Figure 3a - Signal Having Low and High F .
® Appendix B QUANTUM 67 ® Now you’re p robably wondering, “What’s the catch? I can’t get something for nothing so what did I give up?” Y ou may be worried that your A/D noise floor got 4 dB worse because we borrowed the top 4 dB of your converter .
® 68 Appendix C QUANTUM ® QU ANTUM User Manual With digital inputs, clocks are recovere d from the incoming sample str eam. For example, if you have a few differ en t units digitally connected by S/PDIF , digital transfers may induce jitter into the audio stream.
® Appendix C QUANTUM 69 ® QUANTUM comes with the sync input terminated. For certain configurations, you may wish to have the sync input be unterminated. However , dbx Pr ofessional Products recommends that the sync input be terminated whenever you are using a Superclock, e.
® 70 Appendix C QUANTUM not allow the user to change the termination setting. These pieces of equipment are usually provided with a per manent termination. If you use QUANTUM with another piece of terminated equipment in a tapped configuration, you should unterminate QUANTUM’s sync input.
® Appendix D QUANTUM 71 Hex V alue Definition F0(h) System Exclusive 'Begin Message' byte 00(h) 01(h) Manufacturer's ID Number (dbx) 1E(h) 0n(h) n = units Device or SYSEX Channel number (minus one) e.g. 01(h) is device or SYSEX Ch 1...
® 72 Appendix D QUANTUM yy The Setup number , 1-100 (00-63h) zz Byte Count dd(n) Program data The Receive One Setup procedure is used to load a Setup into the QUANTUM.
® Appendix D QUANTUM 73 The Reset Program pr ocedure causes the QUANTUM to reload the current saved pr ogram. Reset De vice (21h) SYS_HEAD, 21(h), F7(h) The Reset Device procedure causes the QUANTUM to reboot the software as if the power had been turned off, and then back on.
® 74 Appendix E QUANTUM 74 cc 0 -> TypeIV on/off cc 1 - > TypeIV color cc 2 - > TypeIV Level cc 3 -> EQ On Off cc 4 -> EQ Position cc 5 - > EQ Freq BAND1 cc 6 -> EQ Slope BAND1 c.
® Appendix E QUANTUM 75 cc 98 -> Limiter On Off Band1 cc 99 -> Limiter Threshold Band1 cc 100-> Limiter Attack Band1 cc 101-> Limiter Hold time Band1 cc 102-> Limiter Release Band1 cc .
® 76 Appendix E QUANTUM cc 54 -> Limiter Hold time cc 55 -> Limiter Release cc 56 -> Limiter Over Easy cc 57 -> Limiter Auto cc 58 -> MONO TCM™ On Off cc 59 -> MONO TCM™ Ti me c.
® Appendix E QUANTUM 77 cc 18 -> EQ Slope BAND5 cc 19 -> EQ Lvl BAND5 cc 20 -> DSr On Off cc 21 -> DSr DS HP Fre q cc 22 -> DSr DS Range cc 23 -> DSr DS Ty pe cc 24 -> DSr DS W i.
® 78 Appendix F QUANTUM 1) Pop Master1 2) Piano T rack 3) Studio V oc / Acoustic Gt 4) Country Mix 5) Classical CD 6) Squash It 7) Expand It 8) Funkngroove 9) Jazz Master 10) Smooth V oc 11) Rockin C.
® Appendix F QUANTUM 79 Stereo: Default MB Default ST Mix Maximum Country Mix Folk Master Subtle Mix Pop Master1 Pop Master2 Classical CD Funkngroove Rock Master Country CD Jazz Master Cass.
® 80 Appendix G QUANTUM Specifications Inputs Connectors: Female XLR and 1/4” TRS (Pin 2 and tip hot) Type: Electronically balanced/unbalanced, RF filtered Impedance: Balanced >18 k Ω , unbala.
® Appendix H QUANTUM 81 TPDF Dither . (a) 24-Bit word output, (b) 20-Bit word output, (c) 16-Bit word output (d) 8-Bit wor d output. Parameters: Input -60dBFS, 1 kHz; FFT Length= 2048, Sample Rate= 48 Khz, A verages= 32; Graph Steps= 1024.
® 82 Appendix H QUANTUM 16-Bit TPDF dither . (a) Shape “off”, (b) with shape set to “S1”, (c) with shape set to “S2.” Parameters: Input -60dBFS, 1 kHz; FFT Length= 2048, Sample Rate= 48 Khz, A verages= 32; Graph Steps= 1024.
® Appendix H QUANTUM 83 (a) 24-Bit word, (b) 16-Bit truncated output, no dither . Parameters: Input -60dBFS, 1 kHz; FFT Length= 2048, Sample Rate= 48 Khz, A verages= 32; Graph Steps= 1024.
® 8760 South Sandy Parkway Sandy, Utah 84070 Phone: (801) 568-7660 Fax (801) 568-7662 Int’l Fax: (219) 462-4596 Questions or comments? E-mail us at: customer@dbxpro.
An important point after buying a device dbx Pro QUANTUM (or even before the purchase) is to read its user manual. We should do this for several simple reasons:
If you have not bought dbx Pro QUANTUM yet, this is a good time to familiarize yourself with the basic data on the product. First of all view first pages of the manual, you can find above. You should find there the most important technical data dbx Pro QUANTUM - thus you can check whether the hardware meets your expectations. When delving into next pages of the user manual, dbx Pro QUANTUM you will learn all the available features of the product, as well as information on its operation. The information that you get dbx Pro QUANTUM will certainly help you make a decision on the purchase.
If you already are a holder of dbx Pro QUANTUM, 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 QUANTUM.
However, one of the most important roles played by the user manual is to help in solving problems with dbx Pro QUANTUM. Almost always you will find there Troubleshooting, which are the most frequently occurring failures and malfunctions of the device dbx Pro QUANTUM along with tips on how to solve them. Even if you fail to solve the problem, the manual will show you a further procedure – contact to the customer service center or the nearest service center
