TC Electronic NOVA Modulator NM-1, User Manual

Page 1: ...NM 1 NOVA Modulator USER S MANUAL ...

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Page 3: ...Zero Flanger 16 Phaser 19 Tremolo 21 Vibrato 24 TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 ADDITIONAL FEATURES Two Engines 25 LFO Sync 25 LFO Trigger 27 PRESETS Preset modes 28 Preset mode 28 Bank mode 29 Limiting the Number of Presets 30 Store 31 APPENDIX Calibrating Input Sensitivity 32 Technical Specifications 33 TC Electronic Sindalsvej 34 DK 8240 Risskov info tcelectronic com Manual revision 1 0 SW V 1 0 Prod No E6...

Page 4: ...out for the icing on the cake With its Dual Engine design Nova Modulator allows you to combine Chorus Flanger Phaser Tremolo and Vibrato effects sync the tempo between them and even trigger the LFO to start right on the beat Nova Modulator gives you unlimited sound shaping possibilities And with nine presets there is plenty of room to store your favorite settings Destined to spark new inspiration ...

Page 5: ... of the NOVA Modulator Connect the left output L of the NOVA Modulator to the input of your amp We recommend placing the NOVA Modulator pedal in the signal path after distortion overdrive pedals For best signal to noise ratio calibrate the pedal according to the level of the input signal For further information refer to this manual s Calibration section ...

Page 6: ...ct your guitar to the left input L of the NOVA Modulator Connect the left output L of the NOVA Modulator to the input of one amp and the right output R to another amp For best signal to noise ratio calibrate the pedal according to the level of the input signal For further information refer to this manual s Calibration section ...

Page 7: ... power amp Connect your guitar to the amp s input Connect the amp s effect send to the left input of the NOVA Modulator Connect the left output of the NOVA Modulator to the amp s effect return For best signal to noise ratio calibrate the pedal according to the level of the input signal For further information refer to this manual s Calibration section ...

Page 8: ...B we only use the power amp section of that second amp Connect your guitar to the input of amp A Connect amp A s effect send to the left input of the NOVA Modulator Connect the left output of the NOVA Modulator to amp A s effect return Connect the left output of the NOVA Modulator to amp B s effect return For best signal to noise ratio calibrate the pedal according to the level of the input signal...

Page 9: ...t on off tap tempo speed LFO SYNC speed shape feed shape feed tri mix tri mix effect effect depth depth time filter time filter flanger flanger vibrato vibrato HOLD to bypass HOLD to calib HOLD to bypass tri chor tri chor tremolo tremolo chorus chorus phaser phaser variation variation A B manual preset hold to store ...

Page 10: ...nly ALWAYS use the left input 3 Outputs These are mono jack connectors which carry the signals from channels A and B Controls 4 ON OFF Switch The ON OFF switch has several functions Press the ON OFF switch once to bypass or activate the pedal Press and hold the ON OFF switch for approximately 0 5 seconds to alternate between Manual mode and Preset mode 5 TAP TEMPO Switch Tap this switch rhythmical...

Page 11: ...play indicates when toggle modes active As long the dot is lit it is possible to step up down in presets as described above Edited dot 6 DEPTH Knob The DEPTH knob operates as a standard depth control for all effect types In the Chorus Tri Chorus Flanger and Vibrato effects the knob controls the pitch depth In the Phaser effect the knob controls the filter depth In the Tremolo effect the knob contr...

Page 12: ...ount Flanger Flanger Feedback Phaser Phaser Feedback Tremolo Pulse width 10 LFO SYNC Button The LFO Sync function syncs the speed of effect Engines A and B With LFO Sync activated LED lit tapping the tempo on the TAP TEMPO switch will sync both Engines to this tapped tempo For the Tremolo effect it is possible to select the sub division using the TIME knob This is explained further in the Effects ...

Page 13: ...ne If you want to fully switch off both Engines i e bypass the pedal use the ON OFF switch Press an EFFECT button several times to select between the different effect types The available types are Chorus Tri Chorus Flanger LED red Through Zero Flanger LED green Phaser Tremolo and Vibrato 14 17 VARIATION Buttons The various effect types have so called variations E g for the Tremolo there are hard a...

Page 14: ... SPEED knob of Engine B is inactive Chorus Introduction The basic idea of a Chorus effect is to split the signal and pitch modulate one of the signals slightly then mix the two signals again In this regular type of Chorus the Chorusing effect occurs when the pitch modulated signal is played against the dry signal DEPTH Knob Use the DEPTH knob to specify the intensity of the effect The more you tur...

Page 15: ...requencies in the Chorus effect Try using this parameter if you feel the Chorus effect is too dominant in your sound VARIATION Button Use the VARIATION button to tilt the phase of the signal on the right channel by 90 degrees resulting in a very broad stereo sound This only applies in stereo setups Tri Chorus Introduction The Tri Chorus is a variation of the regular Chorus that uses three stereo C...

Page 16: ...ormal or TZF Through Zero Flange mode Two Flanger modes are available To select the Flanger press the EFFECT button repeatedly The LED will turn red indicating Normal mode Press the EFFECT button once more and the LED will turn green indicating TZF mode The TZF mode emulates the original way of creating a flange effect with two identical pieces of audio material being played back simultaneously on...

Page 17: ...edback Positive Feedback Although the NOVA Modulator effects have been tuned to sound great with the knobs in 12 o clock position you should notice that setting the FEEDBACK knob to the 12 o clock position results in NO feedback For traditional pedal flanging sounds this will sound a little tame so you should use at least some feedback If on the other hand you have selected TZF mode and are aiming...

Page 18: ...ls are mixed together With negative summing VAR off the delayed signal is phase reversed resulting in severe frequency cancellations as the two signals get closer to the zero point When the two signals are exactly at the same point they will cancel out each other completely Positive summing VAR on happens when the delayed signal is in phase with the dry signal When mixed the result is a warm less ...

Page 19: ...notches characteristic for a Phaser Changing the mix ratio changes the depth of these notches The deepest notches occur when the mix ratio is 50 which is the fixed ratio of the Phaser in NOVA Modulator DEPTH Knob Use the DEPTH knob to specify the intensity of the effect The higher the setting the more aggressive the effect will sound SPEED Knob Use the SPEED knob to set the speed of the effect SHA...

Page 20: ...f filters used for the phaser The variations are 4 8 or 12 filters The display will indicate the number of filters while you turn the knob The fewer filters the more grainy the effect The more filters are used the smoother the effect sounds Indication 4 filters 8 filters 12 filters Most old school pedals use four filters VARIATION Button Use the VARIATION button to shift between high and low empha...

Page 21: ...00 setting means that the signal is completely muted between signal peaks SPEED Knob Use the SPEED knob to set the speed of the effect TIME FILTER Knob Time Parameter Use the TIME FILTER knob to set the subdivisions of the global tempo used for the Tremolo effect The options are EFFECT TYPES TREMOLO Set the knob in this range for 1 4 quarter notes The display will show Set the knob in this range f...

Page 22: ...ow Set the knob in this range for 1 16 triplets The display will show SHAPE FEED Knob Pulse width Parameter Use the SHAPE FEED knob to set the width of the pulse Example narrow peaks with a hard waveform Knob position Waveform Example classic symmetric tremolo Knob position Waveform Example wide peaks with a hard waveform Knob position Waveform ...

Page 23: ...dulation sources for the Tremolo effect Using the Hard option results in a steeper effect Listen and choose the appropriate option Soft Hard For a 100 on off kind of Tremolo choose Hard Tremolo and turn the DEPTH knob fully clockwise EFFECT TYPES TREMOLO ...

Page 24: ...d Read more below SHAPE FEED Knob Use the SHAPE FEED knob to set the frequency of the high cut filter applied to the signal Adding high cut on a vibrato results in a more subtle vintage sounding effect VARIATION Button With the VARIATION button activated you can hold the TAP TEMPO switch to activate deactivate the Vibrato function AND the Ramp function In this mode the TAP TEMPO button works as a ...

Page 25: ... tone In the NOVA Modulator this rhythm is routed to control the speed of the various effects LFO Sync Press the LFO SYNC button to activate this function The LFO Sync function allows synchronization of the two effect Engines Speed parameters With LFO Sync activated tapping the tempo on the TAP TEMPO foot switch or turning Engine A s SPEED knob will set both Engines to the same tempo i e synchroni...

Page 26: ...O Sync mode is off it is possible to select which effects Engine that is controlled using the TAP ADDITIONAL FEATURES 26 TEMPO switch This is great if you e g want to control the speed of a tremolo in Engine A but not the speed of the chorus selected in Engine B Step by step example Object TAP TEMPO controlling the speed of Engine B Turn the SPEED knob on Engine A and then tap the TAP TEMPO switch...

Page 27: ...ple Bypass the NOVA Modulator Select the Tremolo effect for Engine A and activate Engine A the EFFECT switch LED is lit Select e g 1 8 as subdivision by setting the TIME FILTER knob within this interval Tap the tempo of the song in quarter notes using the TAP TEMPO switch Press ON OFF in tempo e g on the count of one The LFO trigger works on all effects You can e g set a Phaser to start at its low...

Page 28: ...cess a preset You can store up to nine presets Each preset holds the parameter settings for both Engines A and B You can not toggle between Engines A and B as both Engines are always part of a preset whether they are active or not Selecting presets can be done in a couple of ways Press the PRESET button several times to step through the presets Press the TAP TEMPO switch once and immediately after...

Page 29: ...set 1 Preset 2 Alternating between the two presets in a bank can be done in two ways Press the PRESET button for preset 1 or the MANUAL button for preset 2 or Press and hold the ON OFF button for approx one second Selecting banks can also be done in a couple of ways You can press the PRESET button several times to step through the banks or You can press the TAP TEMPO switch once and immediately th...

Page 30: ...ve to do is change the range for each session PRESETS 30 When storing a preset in bank mode only the modified parameters will be stored There is no overwrite function The 2x9 presets in Bank mode are completely separate from the 9 presets in Preset mode No presets will be deleted when switching back and forth between the two modes When switching to a new bank NOVA Modulator is automatically bypass...

Page 31: ...4 seconds The current settings are now stored in the current location To store a Preset in Bank mode As explained on the previous page the Bank Preset mode holds two presets per bank The two presets can be stored individually STORE 31 Bank 2 is selected and the preset represented by the PRESET button LED is active Press and hold PRESET approx 4 seconds to store the current settings in the same loc...

Page 32: ...s start by turning on boosters and other signal attenuating equipment that has been placed before the NOVA Modulator pedal in the signal chain Press and hold the MANUAL button until the 5 green button LEDs are lit Play using your loudest sound for a few seconds The LEDs will turn off one by one How many LEDs are turned off depends on the output of your guitar When there seem to be no more changes ...

Page 33: ...dB 0 0032 1 kHz I O Level 16 dBu Load 2400 Ohm 0 1 0 2 dB 20 Hz to 20 kHz 100 dB 20 H z to 7 KHz 94 dB 7 kHz to 20 KHz EN 55103 1 and EN 55103 2 FCC part 15 Class B CISPR 22 Class B Environment Operating Temperature Storage Temperature Humidity General Finish Dimensions Weight Mains Voltage Power Consumption Warranty Parts and labor 32 F to 122 F 0 C to 50 C 22 F to 167 F 30 C to 70 C Max 90 non c...

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