BAE Audio 10DC, Instruction Manual

BAE 10DCF ©2017

3

BAE AUDIO – 10DCF

INTRODUCTION

Congratulations on purchasing the BAE Audio 10DC Compressor/Limiter!

 The 10DC was engineered 

to fulfill the critical need for a high performance audio compressor/limiter and is emblematic of the years of 

experience BAE Audio has had in professional audio. We recommend that you spend a few minutes reviewing 

this manual to learn about the operation and functionality of your unit.

UNPACKING

Prior  to  unpacking  you  BAE  10DC,  carefully  inspect  the  packing  material  for  any  damage.  Once  you  have 

determined that the packing material has not been compromised, carefully unpack the unit and inspect it for 

obvious damage. BAE takes great care in designing the packaging to withstand most expected impacts during 

shipping. If any damage is discovered during the inspection process, contact your BAE dealer so the issue can 

be immediately addressed.

SETUP

We know you can’t wait to plug in the 10DC but here are just a few things to know about during installation. When 

first powering on the 10DC, allow a few minutes of idle warmup. The components need time to charge before 

making any critical signal processing. It is not necessary to keep the unit on at all times. This was customary 

in the days of vacuum tubes where the sudden influx of power, coupled with the often cold internal ambient 

temperature, can shorten the life of the tube. Not so with transistors. You can turn the 10DC on and off everyday, 

but keeping in mind to allow for a few minutes of warmup time when powered on.

The power supply comes with a special power cord. Although it looks like an ordinary AC cord, you should look 

closely and you will read that it is SHIELDED. This means that the safety ground conductor covers the live and 

neutral conductors along with a drain wire. It is very effective in containing the electromagnetic field in the cord 

to help lower the coupling of noisy fields, and should be the only  AC cord to use for the 10DC.

It is recommended that the 10DC be located away from any strong electromagnetic sources when racked. These 

sources can include power supplies, AC distributors and power conditioners, digital clocks, power amplifiers, and 

other units that may work on larger currents which would usually have a field above or below the unit it powers. 

Some units with built in power supplies are made to be shielded for the circuit it was designed for inside the unit, 

but not designed to shield above or below the unit thereby throwing off interference to other units.

During initial installation, have the 10DC plugged into the power supply with the XLR’s connected. Turn the unit 

on and listen to it with no signal going through the input - just monitor the output. As a certain test for noise, 

you can also engage the Compressor and turn the Gain Make-Up level and listen for any hum or buzz that gets 

amplified proportional to the gain. This test would reveal any noise coupling in the system and give you a chance 

to find the source of the noise before starting recording.

If you hear any noise, you can start turning units around the 10DC off to see if something changes. You may need 

to redistribute the order of gear in your rack or put a space between units if possible. Another possibility of noise 

is simply known as “ground noise”. This is when one unit has two sources of ground with different impedances to 

each one, causing a voltage to flow and contaminating the audio signal. Be sure to connect all units that would 

otherwise interface with each other, like a compressor, equalizer, and digital recorder, to the same power outlet.