Version 1.3 June 2001 ® www.behringer.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS CAUTION: To reduce the risk of electric shock, do not remove the cover (or back). No user serviceable parts inside; refer servicing to qualified personnel. WARNING: To reduce the risk of fire or electric shock, do not expose this appliance to rain or moisture. This symbol, wherever it appears, alerts you to the presence of uninsulated dangerous voltage inside the enclosure—voltage that may be sufficient to constitute a risk of shock.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 FOREWORD Dear Customer, Welcome to the team of COMPOSER PRO users and thank you very much for expressing your confidence in BEHRINGER products by purchasing this unit. It is one of my most pleasant tasks to write this letter to you, because it is the culmination of many months of hard work delivered by our engineering team to reach a very ambitious goal: making an outstanding device better still.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 COMPOSER® PRO Interactive 2-channel expander/gate/compressor/limiter of the reference class V Attack and release times controllable automatically or manually MDX2200 V IKA (Interactive Knee Adaptation) compressor concept combines the advantages of “hard knee” and “soft knee” characteristics V Switchable high-pass filter in control signal path avoids low-frequency signals from dominating compressor action V Compression characteristics switchable between IKA and “hard knee” character
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................7 1.1 Before you begin ............................................................................................................................. 1.2 Design concept ............................................................................................................................... 1.2.1 High quality components and design ..
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 6. EXTERNAL SIDE CHAIN APPLICATIONS ........................................................................... 24 6.1 The side chain function ................................................................................................................. 6.2 Using an equalizer in the side chain path ..................................................................................... 6.2.1 The COMPOSER PRO as a “de-esser” ..............................................................
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 1. INTRODUCTION In purchasing the new COMPOSER PRO MDX 2200, you have acquired an extremely efficient and universal dynamics processor, which combines the most commonly used dynamic functions within a compact stereo unit: every channel has its own independent compressor/limiter, an expander/gate and a peak limiter. The precision and flexibility of the functions are the main outstanding features of this high end unit.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 1.1 Before you begin The BEHRINGER COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 was carefully packed in the factory, in order to ensure safe transport. Nevertheless, should the box show signs of damage please check the equipment itself immediately for any signs of external damage. If the unit is damaged, please do not return it to us, but notify your dealer and the shipping company immediately, otherwise claims for damage or replacement may not be granted. Shipping claims must be made by the consignee.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 1.2.4 Transformer balanced outputs (optional) In contrast to electronic balancing, the use of transformer-balanced outputs offers the advantage of galvanic separation between units. Electrical potential differences and ground loops in audio installations do not therefore impair the performance of the units. The transformer-balanced outputs, commonly used in radio and TV engineering, can also be fitted retrospectively upon request.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 3 The RATIO control is used to adjust the expansion ratio when the signal drops below the threshold value. This control determines whether the unit works as an expander (low ratio level) or as a gate (1:8). The expansion ratio can be set from 1:1 to 1:8. 4 When a signal below the threshold value is applied, the “-” LED lights up, while the “+”-LED lights up when expansion occurs.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 13 Using the SC MON switch will enable you to connect the side chain control signal to the audio output, whilst at the same time muting the audio input. This function provides you with the ability to monitor the side chain signal that is returned via inserted equalizers or other external processors. The SC MONITOR function will assist you with tuning equalizer parameters for example.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 2.4 Rear panel control elements of the COMPOSER PRO Fig. 2.5: Control elements of the rear panel 21 SERIAL NUMBER. Please take the time to complete and return the warranty card within 14 days of the date of purchase, otherwise you will lose the right to the extended warranty. Or just use our onlineregistration (www.behringer.com). 22 FUSE HOLDER/VOLTAGE SELECTOR.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 also cause uncontrolled currents and voltages. The resulting sound of the various frequencies is heard as noise. Even the best possible tape biasing can “only” provide signal-to-noise ratios of about 70 dB, which is not acceptable today since the demands of listeners have increased. Due to the laws of physics, improving the design of the magnetic carrier is impossible using conventional means. 3.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 P/dB Clipping +20 0 Headroom Operating level -20 -40 Effective SNR -60 -80 Noise floor t Fig. 3.2: The interactive relationship between the operating level and the headroom The need therefore arises for a fast acting automatic gain control system which will constantly monitor the signals and which will always adjust the gain to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio without incurring signal distortion. This device is called a compressor or limiter.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 inaudible as soon as considerably louder sound signals in the same frequency band are added. Nevertheless, the further the level that the desired signal decreases, the more the noise floor becomes a disturbing factor. Expanders or noise-gates offer a solution for this problem: these devices attenuate signals when their amplitudes drop, thereby fading out the background noise.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 average level without affecting signal peaks above the threshold, this is referred to as the program limiter. For this purpose the attack time will be set above 20 ms. If the attack time is further reduced in order to also control signal peaks, this is defined as the peak limiter.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 4.2.1 Controlling leakage in the studio Expander/gates are most commonly used to suppress undesirable leakage of sound from one track to another during recording or playback. They are usually used when recording drum kits, where the mics are very close to each other.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 4.2.3 Reducing leakage in stage mics The COMPOSER PRO has many uses in live-work, on stage and in multi-miking situations: a well set up expander/gate can effectively suppress background noise, compressor type pumping noise and microphone leakage etc. without producing any undesirable side effects. Expander/gates are commonly used for processing vocals.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 Output Gain 0 dB Threshold Ratio 2:1 Hard Knee Ratio 4:1 Limiter oo:1 IKA Curve LED green yellow red Input Fig. 4.2: IKA characteristic of the compressor section The new IKA (Interactive Knee Adaptation) circuit prevents aggressive compression, created by high ratios, from sounding too unnatural.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 technique is required, the attack and release times can also be manually adjusted. The experienced user will be in a position to specify parameters while in bypass mode and thus realize the effect before the unit is actually switched into operation. This is important in live situations, where a signal needs to be managed efficiently by the engineer, without the convenience of continual A/B comparison. 4.3.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 Peak Limiting Level Program Limiting Release Threshold Input Output 5 ms 10 20 approx. 1 s 20 ms t/ms 30 Fig. 4.3: IGC characteristic of the limiter section The diagram illustrates the functioning of the IGC limiter. The solid graph represents the output signal, while the dashed graph above shows the input signal response. The areas between the graphs represent the amount of gain reduction (bright areas are “clipping areas“, i.e.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 5.1.1 The COMPOSER PRO in digital recording and sampling In an analogue recording, too low recording levels lead to an increased noise level, whereas too high levels will cause a compressed and “squashed” sound. In extreme cases, it will cause distortion due to tape saturation.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 5.2.1 Protection of a system with a passive crossover If your sound system incorporates a passive crossover network (included in the loudspeaker case), insert the BEHRINGER COMPOSER PRO between your mixing console output and the power amplifier input. It is used as the last link in the chain preceding the power amp.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 6. EXTERNAL SIDE CHAIN APPLICATIONS 6.1 The side chain function The BEHRINGER COMPOSER PRO offers an exceptionally usable external facility by using the side chain function. By activating the SC EXT switch, the COMPOSER PRO’s control path is disconnected from the audio input and therefore interrupted. The audio input is routed to the SC SEND output and the SC RETURN input now receives the new control signal which is derived from an inserted effects processor.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 Control Setting SC EXT switch IN SC MON switch OUT INTERACTIVE switch OFF SC FILTER switch OUT THRESHOLD control +20 dB RATIO control: 1:4 AUTO switch OUT ATTACK control 1 ms RELEASE control 150 ms OUTPUT control 0 dB Tab. 6.1: Initial settings for the De-Esser functions 6.2.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 6.4 “Voice-over” compression (“ducking”) The COMPOSER PRO can be used to automatically reduce music to a background level, when an announcer is speaking through a microphone. For this purpose, the COMPOSER PRO is used as an automatic fader and is controlled by the announcer’s microphone, which is connected to the SC RETURN input via a preamplifier. The music output and the announcer’s voice, are then mixed.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 Unbalanced use of mono 1/4" jack plugs Balanced use of stereo 1/4" jack plugs Tip = Signal Tip = hot (+ve) Ring = cold (-ve) Sleeve = Ground / Shield Sleeve = Ground / Shield Tip Tip Sleeve Ring Sleeve Strain relief clamp Strain relief clamp For connection of balanced and unbalanced plugs, ring and sleeve have to be bridged at the stereo plug.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 8. SPECIFICATIONS AUDIO INPUT Connectors Type Impedance Nominal operating level Max. input level CMRR AUDIO OUTPUT Connectors Type Impedance Max. output level XLR and 1/4" jack RF filtered, servo-balanced input 50 kOhm balanced, 25 kOhm unbalanced +4 dBu/-10 dBV switchable +21 dBu balanced and unbalanced typ. 40 dB, >55 dB @ 1 kHz XLR and 1/4" jack Electronically servo-balanced output stage (optional transformerbalanced).
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 PEAK LIMITER SECTION Type Threshold Ratio Stage 1 Limiter Type Attack Release Stage 2 Limiter Type Attack Release FUNCTION SWITCHES SC EXTERN SC MON INTERACTIVE CONTOUR AUTO I/O METER IN/OUT OPERATING LEVEL COUPLE IGC (Interactive Gain Control) peak limiter variable (+4 dB to OFF (+22 dBu)) oo:1 Clipper “zero” “zero” Program limiter program dependent, typ. < 5 ms program dependent, typ. 20 dB/s Switches the detector section to the external SC input.
COMPOSER PRO MDX2200 9. WARRANTY § 1 WARRANTY CARD/ONLINE REGISTRATION To be protected by the extended warranty, the buyer must complete and return the enclosed warranty card within 14 days of the date of purchase to BEHRINGER Spezielle Studiotechnik GmbH, in accordance with the conditions stipulated in § 3. Failure to return the card in due time (date as per postmark) will void any extended warranty claims.
