Arturia V76-Pre, User Manual

Page 1: ...USER MANUAL ...

Page 2: ...eylan FRANCE www arturia com Information contained in this manual is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Arturia The software described in this manual is provided under the terms of a license agreement or non disclosure agreement The software license agreement specifies the terms and conditions for its lawful use No part of this manual may be reprodu...

Page 3: ... this manual is believed to be correct at the time of printing However Arturia reserves the right to change or modify any of the specifications without notice or obligation to update the hardware that has been purchased IMPORTANT The software when used in combination with an amplifier headphones or speakers may be able to produce sound levels that could cause permanent hearing loss DO NOT operate ...

Page 4: ...r excellence and accuracy This led us to conduct an extensive analysis of every aspect of the V76 and V612 hardware and its electrical circuits even modeling the changes in behavior over the course of time Not only have we faithfully modeled the sound and behavior of this unique preamp we have added some features that were unimaginable in the days the Telefunken V76 was being manufactured V76 Pre ...

Page 5: ...troller configuration 15 3 5 The lower toolbar 16 3 5 1 Output LED Sensitivity 16 3 5 2 Bypass 16 3 5 3 CPU meter 16 3 6 The Preset browser 17 4 V76 Pre OVERVIEW 18 4 1 What is a preamp 18 4 2 What does a preamp do 19 4 3 What is an EQ 20 4 4 What does equalization do 20 4 5 A V76 preamp and a V612 EQ in a plug in 21 4 5 1 Signal Flow 21 4 5 2 The preamp section 22 4 5 3 The EQ section 22 4 5 4 Ou...

Page 6: ...71 the V76 the V77 and the V78 and also many variations as the V72a the V72b the V72s the V74a the V70 and the V77b Besides the German radio broadcast the V72 was used by most of the European recording companies like EMI Decca Telefunken and others Siemens designed the V72s to accommodate the specific needs of these recording studios These units featured a fixed gain of 40dB and lower input impeda...

Page 7: ...d REDD 37 consoles were powered by Siemens V72s units as we mentioned above One of the EMI REDD 37 consoles was used in all Beatles recordings up to 1964 when they changed to the REDD 51 Telefunken used the V72 units as standard preamplifiers for their broadcast division The company which became AEG Telefunken in 1967 sold many units to radio stations in South America Africa and the Middle East wh...

Page 8: ...synthesis Linear frequency spectrum of an oscillator modeled with TAE Temporal representation of the sawtooth waveform of a hardware synthesizer Temporal representation of a sawtooth waveform reproduced by TAE 4 Arturia User Manual V76 Pre WELCOME ...

Page 9: ... be switched Off by clicking the EQ switch and changing it to the Off position Baxandall curves are named after Peter Baxandall an English audio engineer who first came up with audio circuits featuring this kind of curve in the 1950s These are soft sweeping curves in the bass and treble shelf EQs that give a broad yet musical adjustment The slope is lower than usual and that contributes to the cur...

Page 10: ...gram the Arturia Software Center 2 1 1 The Arturia Software Center ASC If you have not already installed the ASC go to this web page https www arturia com support updates manuals Look for the Arturia Software Center at the top of the page and then download the version of the installer that you need for your system macOS or Windows Follow the installation instructions and then Launch the Arturia So...

Page 11: ...oad as many instances as you find useful and you will also find some other useful features You can automate numerous parameters using your DAW s automation system Your settings and current plug in state will become recorded in your project and you can pick up exactly where you left off the next time you open it Arturia User Manual V76 Pre ACTIVATION AND FIRST START 7 ...

Page 12: ...e it try Load a four beat clip into an audio track in your DAW a drum track is ideal for testing the EQ and saturation Load an instance of V76 Pre as an insert on that same track Make the interface of the V76 Pre visible by clicking its name in the Mixer Now start your DAW and play the loop It will sound the way it was recorded By default all parameters are in a neutral position There is still som...

Page 13: ... should be able to boost generously Try a boost of 9 If you think it s too much reduce the boost until you are pleased with the result You may also want to boost the Low Shelf EQ band This one is labeled Low Tone and also with a bass clef Again since the EQ curves are soft you should be able to raise it generously Try a value of 6 If it s too much reduce it until you find a good tone result By inc...

Page 14: ...se to control that parameter If the connections are well established you should see the parameter assigned to the Input Level If your controller is able to and the control you selected is of the right type you should select Is Relative to make sure that when you touch that parameter the control will not jump suddenly For more information about this feature refer to the section Relative Control opt...

Page 15: ...pable of This plug in is more flexible than you probably would expect at first sight due to the relative simplicity of its User Interface That will always be the main focus of every Arturia product to unleash your creativity while remaining easy to use 3 1 The Control Panel We will have a detailed look at the Control Panel in the V76 Pre CONTROL PANEL Chapter p 27 Arturia User Manual V76 Pre USER ...

Page 16: ...te the active preset with any changes you have made so if you want to keep the source preset also use the Save As option instead See the next section for information about this 3 2 2 Save As If you select this option you are presented with a window where you can enter information about the preset In addition to naming it you can enter the Author name and select a Type You can even create your own ...

Page 17: ... resized from 60 to 200 of its original size without any visual artifacts On a smaller screen such as a laptop you might want to reduce the interface size so it doesn t dominate the display On a larger screen or a second monitor you can increase the size to get a better view of the controls The controls work the same at any zoom level but they can be harder to see at the smaller magnification valu...

Page 18: ...link has been made between the hardware control and the software parameter There s a popup window that displays which two things are being linked and an Unassign button that will disconnect the two 3 3 2 Min Max value sliders There are also minimum and maximum value sliders that you can use to restrict the parameter change range to something other than 0 100 For example you might want the Output T...

Page 19: ...ve it This can be a great feature when controlling things like volume filter or effect controls since you won t usually want them to jump noticeably from their current setting when they are modified Pitch Bend Mod Wheel and Aftertouch are reserved MIDI controllers that cannot be assigned to other controls 3 4 MIDI controller configuration There s a small arrow at the far right hand side of the too...

Page 20: ...nt features so let s take a closer look at them 3 5 1 Output LED Sensitivity The V76 Pre has two Glowing Output Lamps one when in Single Channel configuration at the top right of the control panel By clicking this button we can access a menu where we can calibrate their sensitivity We have three options High Medium and Low By default High sensitivity is the one selected 3 5 2 Bypass This one is ob...

Page 21: ...right preset There are two columns The first one lists the Presets by Name or by Featured Featured are presets that were classified as important by Arturia The second one lists the Presets by Type or Designer There is only one attribute visible which is the one you select by clicking the column title By default Type is the attribute selected When you select the Designer attribute the list changes ...

Page 22: ...alled line level Many of us probably still remember the days of vinyl records Vinyl records were played by turntables a device which had an output with a completely different impedance than for example a tape recorder The turntable output signal was much weaker To drive it to a level strong enough to be audible meant that it had to pass through a circuit that would amplify it to a level where it c...

Page 23: ... a power supply This is because it requires energy to boost a signal Currently the preamps get the energy from the main power circuit of the mixer Older preamps like the V76 had their own power circuit built in A balanced circuit is a signal carrying circuit with two active electrical conductors of equal impedance with respect to a common reference point which is usually ground Each conductor carr...

Page 24: ... a sound timbre and its harmonic balance We can use EQ for example to correct a particular sound in a mix allowing it to breathe by boosting the frequencies that are more important and sometimes also by decrementing those same frequencies in other instruments We may also use it as a creative tool for example by manipulating the timbre of a certain instrument to better match another one during over...

Page 25: ...nt saturation effect induced by vacuum tubes also called valves in the sound It s this kind of saturation effect that more than anything else you should expect from the V76 Pre and the main reason to use it will be the desire to achieve that effect in the sound 4 5 1 Signal Flow The signal flow of the V76 Pre follows the logical path for this type of devices Therefore the audio enters through the ...

Page 26: ...the same period the V612 is very simple We have just two Shelf Bands with fixed frequencies one for the highs and another for the lows The High Shelf is labeled with a Treble clef and also High Tone and the shelf frequency is around 5kHz The Low Shelf is labeled with a Bass clef and also Low Tone and the shelf frequency is around 100 Hz The EQ curves are the very broad and gentle Baxandall types a...

Page 27: ... we can choose between the three modes the plug in works on when in Double Channel configuration Stereo Mid Side or Dual Mono Stereo mode is achieved only if the Stereo Link button is On and we have the second switch in L R Left Right position In this mode any changes we make to one channel are reproduced in the other channel as well If we switch the Stereo Link to the Off position we enter the Du...

Page 28: ...that track A full mix or a sub mix would be better for the test we want to do Load an instance of V76 Pre as an insert in that track Open the V76 Pre window Check that you have the Default preset loaded You should have the plug in set for Stereo with the Stereo Link button pointing to Stereo Input Gain at 3dB all filters in Flat position all the EQ section settings at their default values which me...

Page 29: ...ctrum band which are controlled by the Side channel You may even want to try this with headphones which will give you an even better perception Double click the left Output Trim knob It will return to its default position and the sound will return to normal Now let s reduce the output of the Side channel by turning the right Output Trim knob all the way to the left 24dB position Now we almost have...

Page 30: ...You ll notice that this time the sound on the left speaker will decrease to almost silence while the right will remain as it was Double click on the left knob and do the same with the right knob This time the right speaker will become almost silent while the left one will play unaltered Double click the knob again to get it back to the default position And with this last action we have concluded o...

Page 31: ...ly loaded when we use the plug in with mono channels The preamp section in the Single Channel configuration is simpler as are all the other sections It is located on the right side of the control panel The significant elements start with the Gain control knob at the top The original unit had a discrete control that moved in 6dB steps but in the Arturia plug in version the Input Gain control is con...

Page 32: ... cut amount There is one boost cut control for each band naturally and they are labeled with a Treble Clef and a Bass Clef The range is between 10dB and 10dB Default position is 0 The High Pass Filter positioned below the two EQ bands was part of the original V76 This is a High Pass Shelf Filter with gentle curves This filter has several choices We start with the Flat position filter Off Besides t...

Page 33: ...nd bright red when the signal reaches the analog clipping level The glowing sensitivity may be calibrated using the option in the right hand part of the lower toolbar The Single Channel Output only has another control which is the Output Trim knob This knob controls the Output Volume and the Glowing Output Level indicator will reflect its action The range varies between 24dB and 24dB with the defa...

Page 34: ...anges in the channel on the left the Mid Channel affect the way we perceive the sound in the center of the stereo spectrum while changes in the channel on the right the Side channel affect the way we perceive sound in the edges of the stereo spectrum We also have a third mode which is Dual Mono In this mode each of the two channels works independently as if they were mono channels Therefore any ad...

Page 35: ...V76 Pre Double Channel Glowing Output Lamps and Preamp gain controls Arturia User Manual V76 Pre V76 Pre CONTROL PANEL 31 ...

Page 36: ...ol for each band naturally and they are labeled with a Treble Clef and a Bass Clef and also as High Tone and Low Tone The boost cut range is between 10dB and 10dB and the default position is 0 Below the EQ controls we have the High Pass Filters that complement this section These High Pass were part of the original V76 circuit and are very smooth and gentle filters The filters have several choices ...

Page 37: ...ositioned right below the Input Gain controls When Off both the EQ bands and the High Pass Filter are bypassed Default position is On Make some changes on the EQ bands Now press the EQ button to turn Off the EQ section and turn it On again Hopefully you ll perceive a noticeable difference in the audio Despite being just a two band EQ each band has a large bandwidth which means that they act in a l...

Page 38: ...Sensitivity option in the right hand part of the lower toolbar We can choose between High Medium and Low with High as the default option The lamps are positioned on the top right of the control panel above the Input Gain controls Besides them the Double Channel Output only has another pair of controls which are the Output Trim knobs in the bottom These knobs control the Output Volume and the Glowi...

Page 39: ... Possible configurations are as follows Stereo Link On and Stereo Mode at L R True Stereo mode Stereo Link Off and Stereo Mode at M S Mid Side mode Stereo Link is automatically turned Off Stereo Link Off and Stereo Mode at L R Dual Mono mode 5 2 4 Some final words Some final words to mention something very important Usually to change values in the plug in controls we click on the corresponding con...

Page 40: ...ses other than storage purposes You shall have no further right or interest to use the software other than the limited rights as specified in this Agreement Arturia reserves all rights not expressly granted 3 Activation of the Software Arturia may use a compulsory activation of the software and a compulsory registration of the OEM software for license control to protect the software against unlawf...

Page 41: ...t apply to you All programs and accompanying materials are provided as is without warranty of any kind The complete risk as to the quality and performance of the programs is with you Should the program prove defective you assume the entire cost of all necessary servicing repair or correction 9 Remedies Arturia s entire liability and your exclusive remedy shall be at Arturia s option either a retur...