Sound Performance Lab Kultube 2049, Owner'S Manual

Page 1: ...Model 2049 Manual Stereo Compressor ...

Page 2: ... SPL Limitations of Liability In no event will SPL be liable for any damages including loss of data lost profits cost of cover or other special incidental consequential or indirect damages arising from the use of the unit however caused and on any theory of liability This limitation will apply even if SPL or an authorized dealer has been adviced of the possibility of such damage Sound Performance ...

Page 3: ...d Ratio Release Make Up Gain 11 Tube Harmonics 12 Operation Understanding and enjoying the Kultube The Threshold Control 12 The Ratio Control 13 The Attack Control 14 Progressive Time Control Attack 15 The Release Control 16 Progressive Time Control Release 17 Applications Using and enjoying the Kultube Summed Signal Processing 19 Single Track Subgroup Processing 19 Sidechain 20 Multi Channel and ...

Page 4: ...le from subtle unobtru sive compression to very obvious effect compressions it s all possible Used conventionally or as an effect in the MIDI and project studio or in the professional studio the Kultube delivers outstanding audio quality with SPL s acclaimed musicality and user friendliness Applications cover those of a classic compressor for vocals and instruments in both mono and stereo through ...

Page 5: ...e back of the unit whenever it is being mounted into a 19 inch rack especially important when touring Built around a torroidal transformer the power supply allows for a minimal electromagnetic field with no hum or mechanical noise The power supply s output side is filtered by an RC circuit to extract noise and hums caused by your power service 6000µf capacitors smooth out the positive and negative...

Page 6: ... 3 Cold 1 2 3 Pin wiring XLR Output 1 GND 2 Hot 3 Cold Pin wiring Stereo Jack Connector Tip Hot Ring Cold Sleeve GND Connection to console Insert Sends Analog Inputs Insert Returns Analog Outputs The Kultube can optionally be equipped with a 24 bit 96 kHz converter module Connector for external processing units e g Equalizer ...

Page 7: ... and RCA jacks Symmetrical XLR and RCA jacks are used for analog in and outputs An analog mixing console is generally connected here Insert Send Return Since the RCA and XLR jacks are wired in parallel unbalanced operation of the RCA jack will have the same effect on the XLR jack and vice versa The Kultube is configured for a nominal level of 4dBu and can handle an input level of max 25dBu with ma...

Page 8: ...onnect multiple Kultube units for multi channel operation so that they can be used together with a master unit Before connecting the link cable determine which is the master unit and connect the link cable to the MASTER jack All linked devices are connected only through the SLAVE jack CAUTION NOTE WARNING Always define only one master device Never connect more than one device through the MASTER ja...

Page 9: ...als as an input source for the Kultube The converter module thus adds digital in and outputs to the Kultube allowing it to be easily integrated into a digital production chain SOFTKNEE SOFTKNEE alters the slope of the compressor Normally the unit operates in hardknee mode but pressing the SOFTKNEE switch places the unit in soft knee mode Softknee provides generally less conspicuous and softer comp...

Page 10: ...nal KEY LISTEN Use the KEY LISTEN switch to monitor the external sidechain signal This makes it easy for example to monitor and adjust a connected equalizer Whereas the VU meter normally indicates the in and output level enabling KEY LISTEN causes the meter to indicate the sidechain signal This provides a quick way to check also whether a signal is present SLAVE This allows you to switch the Kultu...

Page 11: ...ntageous since the attack time is only as fast as is necessary for the respective signal The result is considerably unob trusive and thus more musical compression behavior without undesired side effects RELEASE The RELEASE control is used to set the time the compressor needs to back off by 63 to the original value Turned fully CCW this time is approx 30ms or approx 2s for fully CW If Progressive T...

Page 12: ...ed to determine at which level or loudness the unit even responds by specifying a corresponding threshold value Sometimes you only need to process individual peaks and at other times you need to take more drastic action and set the threshold lower Fig 1 shows the curves for various threshold settings The X axis repre sents the input level from 50dBu to 22dBu The Y axis shows the output level You c...

Page 13: ...cs is allowed to remain If the compressor is used to process vocals with very large variations in loudness you would select a high ratio value 1 5 1 10 to produce a well balanced and intelligible signal When processing summed signals on the other hand very high settings will be used in part to process only the peaks of the signal This means careful setting of the threshold control is very importan...

Page 14: ...l determines one of these times namely the kick in behavior of the compressor In general terms this determines the time starting at which the signal should be reduced This allows you to specify how rapid signal jumps are handled How this look with a sinus burst test signal is shown in Fig 4 Here you can clearly see that the first part of the burst signal is unprocessed and only responded to when t...

Page 15: ...such that a resistance value can be varied within the controller circuit to determine the control response time The main drawback to this parti cularly when it comes to complex musical material is that the setting only applies to a moment but is not ideal for every moment Automatic setting of the attack time in response to the input signal has the advantage of making the optimum setting for each m...

Page 16: ...nobtrusive and sounds natural You should feel free to jump right in to experimenting with the PTC and find out what it can do for you The Release control The Release control is used to determine how long the compressor needs after a reduction to drop back to the original value How it works is shown in Fig 6 Here you see the same sinus burst as for the attack diagrams but just the last burst on par...

Page 17: ...lts Progressive Time Control Release Here again we are talking about an automatic release that can be influ enced by the release control When PTC release control is activated the Kultube calculates an average of the levels that the music signal is providing Automatic control of the release time now refers to this average value so that while short loud peaks are handled correspondingly fast when it...

Page 18: ...clearly heard in a drum loop with lots of dynamics Turned fully CCW fast averaging the drums pump and you get lots of volume whereas turned fully CW the control is unobtrusive but you gain less loud ness For summed signals a mid range setting 0 8s to 1 5s is therefore recommended As in the case of attack control with PTC release control makes sense not just for sum processing but can also be used ...

Page 19: ... effects devices such as EQ are located in the same insert loop the Kultube may be connected either in front or behind there is no certain order required Single track and subgroup processing Another important application is single track processing vocals bass guitar strings etc The Kultube is looped in the insert paths of the respec tive channels Processing is then usually done during mixdown The ...

Page 20: ... the signal in the sidechain simply press the KEY ON switch Another interesting and useful feature is ducking whereby the sidechain is fed for example with a microphone signal The music volume is reduced whenever speech is introduced great for DJs Other very interesting effects can be obtained by turning on decompression mode with the ducking appli cation To do this turn the MAKE UP GAIN controlle...

Page 21: ...ch remote control would be extremely complex and would be far out of proportion to the benefit especially since this setting is generally not changed continuously anyway The data from all slave units are also used to create control voltages so that all units operate with the same control voltage We recommend proceeding as follows when working with 5 1 surround The master unit is responsible for th...

Page 22: ... dB S N A weighted 90 dBu Inputs Input impedance Line 20 kOhm Max input level Line 22 dBu Outputs Max output level XLR Jack 22 dBu Output impedance 50 Ohm Power Supply Toroidal transformer 30 VA Fuses 230 V 50 Hz 500 mA 115 V 60 Hz 800 mA Dimensions Standard EIA Housing 19 inch 2U 482 x 88 x 210 mm Weight 4 3 kg Specifications ...

Page 23: ...ed SPL warranty repair facility in the country where purchased or to the SPL factory in Germany in the original packaging or a replacement supplied by SPL with all transportation costs and full insurance paid each way by the purchaser or owner All remedies and the measure of damages are limited to the above services It is possible that economic loss or injury to person or property may result from ...

Page 24: ...24 Kultube Manual Your notes ...