Version 1.4 June 2001 ® AUTOCOM PRO www.behringer.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 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 enclosurevoltage that may be sufficient to constitute a risk of shock.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 FOREWORD Dear Customer, Welcome to the team of AUTOCOM 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.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 AUTOCOM® PRO Interactive 2-channel expander/gate/compressor/enhancer of the reference class s Attack and Release times controllable automatically or manually MDX1400 s IKA (Interactive Knee Adaptation) compressor concept combines the advantages of hard knee and soft knee characteristics s Switchable highpass filter in control signal path avoids low-frequency signals from dominating compressor action s Compression characteristics switchable between IKA and hard knee character
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 TABLE OF CONTENT 1. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................... 6 1.1 The Design Concept ........................................................................................................................ 6 1.2 Before you begin ............................................................................................................................. 7 2. CONTROLS ...............................
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 1. INTRODUCTION In purchasing the new AUTOCOM PRO Model MDX1400, 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 Dynamic Enhancer. The precision and flexibility of the functions are the main outstanding features of this high end unit.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 Gate section can be used as an independent unit to eradicate noise offering almost limitless possibilities within this application. The BEHRINGER Dynamic Enhancer One of the most common negative effects of broadband compressors is the dulled or squashed sound that is produced when it is applied to composite music, since high-energy low frequency instruments cause a compressor to reduce the overall gain.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 2. CONTROLS 1 Fig. 2.1: AUTOCOM PRO front panel The BEHRINGER AUTOCOM PRO has two identical channels. Each channel is equipped with 8 backlit push-buttons, 7 rotary controls and 26 LEDs. The COUPLE switch is for stereo operation: 1 + By engaging the COUPLE switch the AUTOCOM PRO is converted to stereo mode, where the controls of the left channel take over the control of both audio channels.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 2.2 Compressor Section 11 12 14 5 15 17 16 6 7 9 8 10 13 Fig. 2.3: Control elements of the compressor section 5 The THRESHOLD control sets the threshold point for the compressor section. It has a range of -40 to +20 dB. If the channel is switched to INTERACTIVE mode (Interactive Knee Adaptation), a Soft Knee characteristic is applied to the signal exceeding the threshold point by a maximum of 10 dB. Above 10 dB, the signal would experience Hard Knee compression.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 15 The SC FILTER switch activates a highpass filter in the sidechain path and thus limits the influence of low frequencies on the AUTOCOM PROs control processes. 16 The 12-digit GAIN REDUCTION meter indicates how effectively the gain is reduced by the compressor, within a range from 1 to 30 dB. 17 The 12-digit INPUT/OUTPUT LEVEL meter informs you depending on the setting of the I/O METER switch about the current input or output level, within a range from -30 to +18 dB.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 22 AUDIO IN. These are the audio inputs of your AUTOCOM PRO, available both as balanced 1/4" TRS and XLR connectors. 23 AUDIO OUT. These are the audio outputs of your AUTOCOM PRO. Matching phone jack and XLR connectors are wired in parallel. These outputs can be transformer-balanced by retrofitting the optional output transformer OT-1. 24 With the OPERATING LEVEL switch you can adapt the AUTOCOM PRO to various operating levels, i.e.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 Clipping In contrast to the two previously mentioned limiters, the clipping mode features infinitely fast control times, an infinite compression ratio and creates an unsurpassable barrier (brickwall) for all signals above a certain level. To be able to control the signal peaks, the clipping function radically cuts signals above the threshold, without affecting the amplitude of the original signal.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 adjacent mics and results in conflicting frequency and phase coherence problems, as well as unspecified sounds (comb filter effects). It is vitally important that every instrument is recorded into a separate mic and that each mic is individually gated. Patch the BEHRINGER AUTOCOM PRO into a snare drum channel for example and adjust it so that triggering only occurs on snare hits.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 3.2.4 Reducing Feedback In Stage Mics When a singer is using a vocal mic, their voice effectively stops other sounds from entering the mic. But in pauses between the singing, the mic will pick up noise from the house PA and monitors, which can lead to unpleasant feedback problems. If the AUTOCOM PRO is inserted into the mic channel, it will shut off the channel when it is not being used, reducing the possibility of feedback. Principally all mics should be included in this application. 3.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 Output Threshold Gain 0 dB Ratio 2:1 Hard Knee Ratio 4:1 Limiter oo:1 IKA Curve Input Fig. 3.2: IKA characteristic of the compressor section The new IKA (Interactive Knee Adaptation) circuit prevents aggressive compression, created by high ratios, from sounding too unnatural. This is achieved with an interactive control function, which begins above the threshold level and introduces a Soft Knee curve characteristic in the range up to 10 dB above the threshold point.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 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. For using the AUTOCOM PRO as a Limiter, you should set RATIO to oo:1, INTERACTIVE to off and use short Attack and max. Release Times.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 Output 0 dB No Gain Reduction With Enhancer -20 dB 20 dB Gain Reduction Without Enhancer Frequency Fig. 3.3: The frequency response with and without dynamic enhancer 3.4.1 Initial Settings For The Dynamic Enhancer Section Turn the PROCESS control beginning from Off to a value, where you have the impression of a correct frequency response at compression. Also check out the combination with the sidechain filter. Control Se tting PROCESS control OFF Tab. 3.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 4.1.1 The AUTOCOM PRO In Digital Recording And Sampling In an analog 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.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 the midrange/tweeter range caused by high-energy bass signals! This statement, as paradox as it may seem at first, can be explained with the fact that especially low-frequency signals with high amplitudes can overload the power supplies in the amplifier(s). The resulting clipping (cutting off of signal peaks) produces high-energy distortion (upper harmonics), which is abruptly added to the midrange/tweeter signals.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 5. EXTERNAL SIDECHAIN APPLICATIONS 5.1 The Sidechain Function With the AUTOCOM PROs sidechain function you have a very useful external control option. By activating the SC EXT switch, the AUTOCOM PROs 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.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 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 0,5 ms RELEASE control 200 ms OUTPUT control 0 dB Tab. 5.1: Initial settings for the De-Esser functions 5.2.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 5.4 Voice-Over Compression (Ducking) The BEHRINGER AUTOCOM PRO can be used to automatically reduce music to a background level, when an announcer is speaking through a microphone. For this purpose, the BEHRINGER AUTOCOM PRO is used as an automatic fader and is controlled by the announcers microphone, which is connected to the SC RETURN input via a preamplifier. The music output and the announcers voice, are then mixed.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 P/dB 140 120 Cassette Recorder Radio Ear 40 Tape Recorder 60 Power Amplifier 80 Microphone Amplifier 100 Fig. 6.1: The dynamic range capabilities of various devices It is therefore useful to keep the operating level as high as possible without risking signal distortion in order to achieve optimum transmission quality.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 of distortion or, for example, to avoid loudspeakers being damaged by overload, Compressors or Limiters are used. The principal function used in these devices is dependent on an automatic gain control as mentioned in the previous section, which reduces the amplitude of loud passages and therefore restricts the original dynamics to a desired range.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 7.1.2 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.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 8. TECHNICAL DATA 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).
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 DYNAMIC ENHANCER SECTION Type Process FUNCTION SWITCHES SC EXTERN SC MON INTERACTIVE CONTOUR AUTO I/O METER IN/OUT OPERATING LEVEL COUPLE Dynamically controlled frequency correction variable (Off to 6) Switches the detector section to the external SC input. Monitoring the external SC input, disengaging the normal audio. Enables the Interactive Knee Adaption characteristics. Allows for frequency dependent detection.
AUTOCOM PRO MDX1400 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.
