ART

Reviews | ART Voice Channel
102
E
ver since someone ripped out
a mixing desk channel and
put it in a rack box,
manufacturers have been
lining up to offer their take on the audio
jack-of-all-trades that is the channel
strip. Trying to cram amplification,
dynamics processing and equalisation
into a 1U or 2U package as well as
multiple metering and signal routing
options can result in some scary.
ART’s penchant for creating budget
conscious quality audio tools has
inevitably led them to offer up the Voice
Channel as their ultimate all-in-one-box
recording solution.
The preamp section comprises of
mic, line and instrument inputs via
front- and rear-mounted combo XLR/
jack sockets. After the usual pad,
low-cut, phase invert and +48v buttons
there is a mic impedance knob to allow
for the use of low-impedance ribbon
mics as well as frequency response
tailoring for most other mics. Next in
line is the dynamics section with
threshold, ratio, attack and release
controls for the compressor. There is no
on/off button but the 1:1 ratio is
labelled ‘offas it has no dynamic
effect, which saves on front panel space
but makes A/B checking less instant.
The Voice Channel features a de-esser,
but instead of making this a separate
section it has been added into the
compressor (with threshold and
frequency controls) and allows for more
compression at the selected frequency.
The final part of the dynamics
section is the expander/gate (a button
above switches modes) and this
features a single threshold control.
A light next to the gain reduction LEDs
indicates when the expander/gate is
working it’s magic.
High voltage
Above the expander controls, stranded
all on its own, is the tube voltage button
that switches the valve supply voltage
between ‘normal’ and ‘high’. The lower
voltage allows the valve to distort at a
lower gain level and thus impart more of
a valve sound’, while the high voltage
increases headroom and bandwidth.
The EQ section comprises of a
high- and low-shelf with two switchable
frequencies: 50Hz/150Hz and
ART Voice
Channel | £419
The everything-in-a-box knob-fest that is the
channel strip gets the ART treatment. Robbie Stamp
checks out what ‘everything’ sounds like...
WHAT is iT?
Valve amplified 2U channel
strip with digital interface
ConTACT
Who: Sonic8 distribution
Tel: +44 (0)8701 657456
Web: artproaudio.com
HiGHLiGHTs
1 Switchable valve
supply voltage
2 Quality preamp
3 Excellent external routing
and digital connections
Like many channel strips,
the Voice Channel has a
mic preamp output and
insert input at the rear.
These are both ¼” TS
jack sockets and offer a
few possibilities. The mic
preamp output and insert
inputs can be used on
their own to record a
pre-EQ/dynamics signal
and bypass the valve amp
stage for an external
signal respectively. In
conjunction they work as
standard send and return
external processing loop.
There are a pair of A/D
insert points that can be
used several ways.
Plugging an external
source into the right A/D
insert (using a TS jack)
adds this signal to the
right digital output. The
A/D can be used on it’s
own by plugging in an
external line level source
(TS jack) to both A/D
inserts. Using TRS jacks
(ring as send and tip as
return) the mono Voice
Channel signal can be
processed with a stereo
effect (e.g. reverb) and
then sent to the A/D.
The Voice Channel has
a number of digital
output options. Two
channel S/PDIF and AES/
EBU (via phono coaxial
and XLR respectively) are
available up to
24-bit/192kHz. External
sync can be achieved via
the wordclock input or
the ADAT In.
The ADAT input acts as
an external sync source
as well as allowing
channels three to eight to
be passed to the ADAT
output. The optical
output is switchable
between ADAT and TOS
(two channel S/PDIF up
to 24-bit/192kHz).
Digital Connections and Analogue Routing
FMU210.rev_art 102 7/1/09 3:08:52 pm

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