z-Qualizer manual
Z-Systems Audio Engineering
2
channel parameter banks, whereas the S position puts the unit into stereo-linked
mode. The left-most edge of the alphanumeric display will always show whether the
unit is in L, R, or S mode.
When the unit powers up, the left knob will be set to S, for “stereo” and the right
knob will be set to gain as indicated by the respective LEDs surrounding the left and
right knobs. In this mode, the only parameters showing in the alphanumeric display
will be an S (indicating the z-Qualizer is stereo-linked) and a number above the gain
knob indicating, in dBFS, the amount of gain (or attenuation) applied simultaneously
to the left and right channels:
S
+00.0
Turning the gain knob adjusts the stereo gain. To apply different gains to the left and
right channels, rotate the left knob to L, for “left channel.” Observe that the alpha-
numeric display changes to show an L indicating that the z-Qualizer is now in dual-
mono mode, with the left-channel parameters currently active. Rotating the gain knob
changes the left channel gain. The procedure is similar for the right channel. If you
turn the left knob back to S, you’ll see that the stereo gain is still the same as before.
The z-Qualizer is designed so that the left, right, and stereo gains can be different.
This allows you to dial in an offset between the left and right gains and then maintain
that offset by manipulating only the stereo gain.
Equalization
The equalization in the z-Qualizer is performed with floating-point arithmetic and uses
very special proprietary low-distortion algorithms developed. There are six bands, in-
cluding two first-order (6 dB per octave) shelves and four parametrics (bell curves).
Stereo-linked mode:
Make sure the left knob is in the S position and turn the right knob to the low shelf
position (one click counter-clockwise from the gain position). The low shelf LED will
light and the alphanumeric display should look like:
S
+00.0
1K00
Rotate the gain knob to change the gain of the low frequency shelving equalizer. Ro-
tate the freq knob to change the frequency
below
which the shelving action takes
place. This frequency is at the nominal 3 dB point of the curve. The first-order equal-
izer is extremely gentle and quite natural-sounding.
Dual-mono mode:
Rotate the left knob to put the z-Qualizer in left-channel mode. The alphanumeric
display now reads:
