OWNER'S MANUAL LANGEVIN MINI MASSIVE STEREO EQ MANLEY LABORATORIES, INC. MANLEY LABORATORIES, INC. 13880 MAGNOLIA AVE. CHINO, CA. 91710 TEL: (909) 627-4256 FAX: (909) 628-2482 http://www.manleylabs.com email: emanley @ manleylabs.com email: service @ manleylabs.com Rev.
CONTENTS SECTION PAGE INTRODUCTION 3 BACK PANEL & CONNECTING 4 FRONT PANEL 5, 6 Designer's Notes 7-9 THE MASSIVE PASSIVE BEGINNINGS, THE SUPER PULTEC THE PASSIVE PARAMETRIC WHY PASSIVE, WHY PARALLEL PHASE SHIFT, WHY TUBES 10 11 12 13 CURVES 14 -16 TRIMS and The GUTZ MAINS VOLTAGE SETTING 17 18 EQUALIZING EQUALIZERS (GENERAL) EQUALIZER TECHNIQUES TRANSLATIONS 19 20 -25 26 TROUBLESHOOTING 27, 28 MAINS CONNECTIONS 29 SPECIFICATIONS 30 APPENDIX 1 - TEMPLATE FOR STORING SETTINGS 31
INTRODUCTION THANK YOU!... for choosing the Langevin MINI MASSIVE STEREO EQUALIZER. This equalizer is based on the Manley Massive Passive Stereo Tube EQ and might be described as an evolution and an alternative to the original.The Massive Passive and the Mini Massive share a number of qualities. Both are based on passive circuits comprised of resistors, capacitors and inductors to sculpt tone; the exact same circuits for the most part.
THE BACK PANEL OUTPUT INPUT CHANNEL 2 PIN 1 GROUND PIN 2 HOT + PIN 3 LOW - IF IN DOUBT USE +4 BALANCED & “IRON” IF OPTION IS INSTALLED INPUT OUTPUT LEVELS +4 UNBALANCED TRANSFORMER OPTION VINTAGE +4 BAL N9512423 7 SERIAL NUMBER BYPASS 2 CHANNEL 1 INPUT BY MANLEY LABS FUSE 1A @ 117V FUSE .5A @ 220V MINI-MASSIVE TWO CHANNEL EQUALIZER DESIGNED BY HUTCH CAUTION - RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT OPEN. REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED PERSONNEL ONLY VOLTAGE 5 8 OUTPUT 13880 MAGNOLIA AVE.
THE FRONT PANEL 3 2 LEVEL FREQUENCY OUT 8 SHELF 680 HZ 7 1K 0 6 B 20 BELL 5 4 EQ IN FREQUENCY OUT 8 1K2 SHELF 16K 560 HZ 7 0 27K 6 B 20 BANDWIDTH POWER 8 BELL 5 4 1 FREQUENCY OUT HZ SHELF 7 0 6 B 20 LEVEL BELL 5 4 OUT 8 5K6 CUT 8K2 1K2 12K 820 1K BANDWIDTH 3K9 2K7 1K8 680 22 BOOST HI FREQUENCY EQ CUT 470 33 BELL 2 LEVEL 330 47 3 BOOST 220 68 12K 3 LOW FREQUENCY EQ 150 100 CUT 8K2 820 P 22 LEVEL 5K6 1K8 470 33 2K7 CUT 330 47
5) GAIN. This sets the boost and/or cut depth or amount and works with the BOOST, OUT, CUT toggle. FLAT is fully counterclockwise not straight up "12:00" like most EQs. It is more like a Pultec in this regard. Maximum boost or cut is fully clockwise and can be up to 20 dB - but not necessarily. There is a fair amount of interaction with the BANDWIDTH control. The maximum of 20 dB is available in Shelf modes when the Bandwidth is CCW and is about 12 dB when the Bandwidth is CW.
NOTES 1) Do not assume the knob settings "mean" what you expect they should mean. Part of this is due to the interaction of the controls. Part is due to the new shelf slopes and part due to a lack of standards regarding shelf specification. 2) You may find yourself leaning towards shelf frequencies closer to the mids than you are used to and the "action" seems closer to the edges of the spectrum than your other EQs. Same reasons as above.
More Mini-Ponderings from the Designer Clean versus colored - Active versus Passive - Tape versus Digital - well it all gets a bit tiresome. Here is the real deal: they are all a bit colored and for the most part remarkably clean. So if anything we are basing our preferences on which subtle flavor of color we either happen to like, or believe we need (based on something we read somewhere) which may be just a slightly familiar sound rather than some magnificient life changing event.
Just a few notes for plug-in users. One question that gets asked a lot is “Why no ‘Link’ switch “or “Why not a stereo EQ with one set of controls?” Yeah, it would be sweet sometimes, especially if fewer knobs resulted in lower cost. The most accurate answer is “you guys are spoiled, ha ha”. To do it in digital is almost a no-brainer and is just a matter of passing a few numbers to the other side's parameter registers.
This section is borrowed from the Massive Passive Manual Beginnings "The Super-Pultec" The very earliest equalizers were very simple and primitive by todays standards. Yes, simpler than the hi-fi "bass" and "treble" controls we grew up with. The first tone controls were like the tone controls on an electric guitar. They used only capacitors and potentiometers and were extremely simple.
"The Passive Parametric" For years, we had been getting requests for a Manley parametric equalizer, but it looked daunting because every parametric we knew of used many op-amps and a "conventional parametric" would be very impractical to do with tubes. Not impossible, but it might take upwards of a dozen tubes per channel. A hybrid design using chips for cheapness and tubes for THD was almost opposite of how Manley Labs approaches professional audio gear and tube designs.
Why Passive? And Why Parallel? If you hate tech talk, just skip this section - it has to do with electronic parts and circuits and design philosophy. The Massive Passive is a "parallel design" as opposed to the far more common "series design". A few pages back, we mentioned the main reason for going with a parallel design was to avoid extreme signal loss, which would require extreme gains and present the problem of noise or extreme cost.
Phase Shift? Mini Massive and Massive Passive - Similarities & Differences Deadly topic. This is probably the most misunderstood term floating about in the mixing community. Lots of people blame or name phase shift for just about any audio problem that doesn't sound like typical distortion. We ask that you try to approach this subject with an open mind and forget what you may have heard about phase for now.
LOW SHELF CURVES Just like most EQs, a 100Hz low shelf doesn't reach "max" until about 10 Hz. Normal Shelf Wide Bandwidth (slope =about 4 to 5 dB/oct) Special Shelf Medium Bandwidth (slope = about 8 to 10 dB/oct) "Pultec Shelf" Narrow Bandwidth Bell Cut Narrow Bandwidth (just for reference) These 4 lowest frequency shelf curves are unique to the Mini Massive. These curves illustrate LOWFREQSHEL VES(22,33,47,68arenew) Boost at maximum BANDWIDTH SETTING AT1 1:00and Bandwidth at 11:00.
MORE 100Hz SHELVES SHOWING BOOST AND CUT WITH VARIOUS BANDWIDTHS THIS IS ABOUT +1.5 DB AT 300 Hz AND NEGLIGIBLE LOW SHELF +20 WIDE BW LOW SHELF +20 MED BW LOW SHELF -20 MED BW LOW SHELF -20 WIDE BW SPICE SIMULATION CURVES THESE CURVES SHOW ONE OF THE IDEOSYNCRACIES AND IT IS POSSIBLE FOR A LF BOOST TO SOUND AS IF IT HAS LESS LOWS DEPENDING ON THE FREQUENCY AND INSTRUMENT.
TYPICAL BELL CURVES "dB" set at max (20 dB) and changing the Bandwidth Narrow Bandwidth Bandwidth at 12:00 Wide Bandwidth Wide Bandwidth Bandwidth at 12:00 Narrow Bandwidth Changing "dB" and Changing Bandwidth Max Boost Narrow Bandwidth 12:00 Boost Narrow Bandwidth Max Boost Wide Bandwidth 12:00 Boost Wide Bandwidth 16
THE GUTS AC MAINS VOLTAGE GAIN TRIMRIGHT 30 30 1) To Open:There should be little or no reason to open the Mini Massive - No user servicable parts, no tubes to change and about the only reason to take the top off is unity gain adjustments. One can access the fuse on the back panel power connector without removing the top. A few Phillips head screws hold the perforated top in place and when these are removed the top should easily slide back.
AC MAINS VOLTAGE SELECTION This may involve soldering jumpers and cutting of printed circuit board traces. Danger : There is a possibility of electric shock if power is connected and danger of damage to the Mini Massive if the procedure is done wrong. This should only be done by a trained technician and ONLY ever be done with the power cable removed.
Equalizers EQs range from simple bass and treble controls on a hifi system to pretty tricky parametric EQs and 1/3 octave graphic EQs. As an audio freak, you have probably tried quite a few EQs and have gotten both great results and sometimes less than great and you probably have a favorite EQ. Now that you probably have a digital system, you may have questions about these digital EQs and the differences between any analog and digital techniques.
EQ TECHNIQUE One of the best things about almost all EQs is that you don’t really need an instruction manual. You plug it in, turn a few knows and when nothing happens you take it out of “bypass” and the rest is easy. You just keep twiddling until it sounds like you want it to. Most digital devices like synthesizers and reverbs tend to get a lot of use from the included presets. Most guys just don’t want to get into that kind of “programming”.
1) The song and the vocals was what producers wanted and perhaps that hasn’t changed much. Bands were recorded with live vocals back then. Even overdubs were a band thing. Much of the signature of both the British or American sound were the vocal harmonies. Same today. 2) It was only practical to record as a band, as a group. They rarely used a click, except for TV & film scores. The “groove”, as today, was important, but it was a little less rigid.
Rather than try to do all your compression while recording vocals, save some for the mix. This takes a little pressure off of finding the “ultimate” compressor with perfect settings and you have the option of compressing the vocals as a group. Real Drums: Typically need lots ‘o’ EQ because we typically closemike individual drums. Big shelf boosts on the Massive Passive are particularly good.
Loops: The trick? Make the bad stuff sound good and the good stuff sound bad. Put it all together and go nuts with the mute switches. For that ol’ telephone filter, first try the two mid bands with deep shelf cuts. You might expect to just use the filters but these ones probably neither go high enough nor low enough for this purpose so use them in combination with those deep shelves. Synths: There is a lot of room to EQ on analog synths and often less with samplers.
If you are attempting to master the project or “pre-master” (this year’s hot, new audio buzzword) yourself, here are some suggestions. Take a week off after mixing, then listen to the mixes on as many different systems as you can, friend’s homes, cars, boom boxes, headphones, etc. and make notes. With an eye on those notes, adjust. Now check it out on some of those systems again, before you send it out.
Line Drivers and Interfacing Most balanced line drivers are one of a few variations of crosscoupled mixed feedback circuits. You know, the ones where you can plug in balanced, or unbalanced pin 2 or pin 3 grounded gear and are supposed to allow fool-proof transformer-like interfacing. Two problems - most use positive feedback at just under oscillation levels which may mis-behave with reactive loads (like long cables).
Translations This is just a few commonly used musical terms translated into technical terms or specific Massive Passive techniques. Note that these are fairly loose descriptions and definitions. Your mileage may vary. Bottom, Fat the deep lows for more: bell boost below 100Hz or use any low shelf up to even 330Hz. When you use a shelf this high, you should experiment with the bandwidth control. One should be extra careful pushing deep lows if one can't really hear them on 6 or 8 inch woofers.
TROUBLE-SHOOTING There are a number of possible symptoms of something not quite right, some may be interfacing, others we will touch on as well. If you suspect a problem the following paragraphs should help. NO POWER, NO INDICATORS, NADA - Probably something to do with AC power. Is it plugged in? Check the fuseon the back panel. A blown fuse often looks blackened inside or the little wire inside looks broken or it's resistance measures higher than 2 ohms.
GETTING DISTORTION WHEN WE BOOST A LOT. No doubt. The Mini Massive by itself should have enough headroom so that mega-boosts won't cause clipping in it, however, it can push out about +30dBv, 6 or 8 dB more than most gear can accept without clipping. You're gonna have to turn something down, whether it is the signal feeding the EQ, the "Gain Trims" on the EQ's front panel or the input levels of the next piece.
MAINS CONNECTIONS Your MINI MASSIVE has been factory set to the correct mains voltage for your country. The voltage setting is marked on the serial badge, located on the rear panel. Check that this complies with your local supply. Export units for certain markets have a moulded mains plug fitted to comply with local requirements. If your unit does not have a plug fitted the coloured wires should be connected to the appropriate plug terminals in accordance with the following code.
SPECIFICATIONS LANGEVIN MINI MASSIVE STEREO EQUALIZER Maximum Input : 1% THD Unbalanced -10 dBv ` Maximum Output : Balanced +4: (50 to 20K) UnBalanced +4 Unbalanced: -10 +26 dBm +12 dBm +30 dBm +24 dBm +18 dBm THD & Noise (1kHz @ +4 dBm) .007% (noise dominated) Frequency Response: +/- 0.5 dB (transformer +0.
BANDWIDTH 68 SHELF 680 22 HZ 0 B 20 FREQUENCY SHELF 16K 560 HZ 0 27K 20 B PRODUCER ENGINEER HZ 1K2 0 B 20 SHELF 16K 560 BELL CUT 12K 820 1K HZ BOOST LEVEL 0 27K B 68 330 47 SHELF 680 HZ 1K 0 B 20 FREQUENCY SHELF 16K HZ 0 27K 20 B POWER BANDWIDTH 8 SONG PRODUCER ENGINEER SHELF 680 22 HZ 0 B 20 CUT 8K2 1K2 12K SHELF 16K 560 BELL HZ 0 27K B BOOST LEVEL 68 SHELF 680 HZ 1K 0 B 20 BELL EQ IN FREQUENCY OUT 8 SHELF 16K 560 HZ
