User Manual

ManualsBrandsChandler Limited ManualsAudio accessoriesZener Limiter

The EMI TG12413 Zener Limiter is the ultimate TG limiter issued in celebration of the 75th

birthday of Abbey Road Studios. The Zener Limiter was conceived by Chandler Limited designer

Wade Goeke and is based on the vintage EMI circuits used to record The Beatles and Pink Floyd.

It continues the tradition of EMI Limiters started in 1954 with the RS114 tube limiter and the 1968

RS168 Zener Limiter. The Zener Limiters were also part of the 1969 TG12345 console channel and

the 1974 TG12413. This newest version borrows from the RS168 Zener Limiter and TG12345 console

strip to make a new full featured and flexible unit for modern use.

The Zener Limiter is reissued to add features and flexibility to the powerful and vintage sounding TG limiter

circuits. Wade has added many new controls including switchable input impedance for hard or

soft driving of the unit, 11-position attack, 21-position release, side chain filtering, and Comp 1, Comp 2,

and limit settings.

NOTE ON FRONT PANEL LABELING - You will notice white and yellow markings on the controls

of the front panel. This is not a mistake :-) Because of the new controls and settings added to the

Zener we have used two colors for control labels. White labels designate a setting exactly as it

would have been on a vintage TG unit. Yellow designates expanded selections chosen by Wade.

This way you may accurately recall a standard

TG setting or purposely break all the rules.

ZENER LIMITER

Connections - All connections on the Zener are transformer balanced with pin 2 hot.

Power supply - This is designed to be used with Chandler Limited PSU-1 MKII power supply.

The power pin out is as follows:

1) chassis and audio ground

2) 48 volt

3) +28 volt

4) -28 volt

Notes on Grounding - On the back of the power supply are two black banana connectors.

These join the audio ground to earth ground with a solid wire between them. Depending on your

studio you may want this connected or disconnected. Turn up your monitors or headphones a bit

and experiment with which has a lower noise floor in your system. You may also need to join the audio

banana plug to other sections of your studio to obtain lowest noise floor. The audio banana is located

closest to the edge of the power supply case. Use something simple like a guitar cord and touch the

tip to other portions of your studio to find best results. In some cases it may be best to connect a

10 ohm resistor between banana plugs. Please contact the factory for any help in this area.

Summary of content (7 pages)

PAGE 1
ZENER LIMITER The EMI TG12413 Zener Limiter is the ultimate TG limiter issued in celebration of the 75th birthday of Abbey Road Studios. The Zener Limiter was conceived by Chandler Limited designer Wade Goeke and is based on the vintage EMI circuits used to record The Beatles and Pink Floyd. It continues the tradition of EMI Limiters started in 1954 with the RS114 tube limiter and the 1968 RS168 Zener Limiter. The Zener Limiters were also part of the 1969 TG12345 console channel and the 1974 TG12413.
PAGE 2
Controls and Features IN LEFT IN RIGHT FULL BYPASS - Each channel of the Zener may be fully bypassed by use of these pushbuttons. Its main use is for direct comparison of dry and compressed sounds. INPUT GAIN HIGH LOW INPUT GAIN - The Zener has selectable input gain and input impedance via the input gain toggle on the top right of the panel. This was added so the Limiter could more easily replicate different versions of the RS168 and TG12413 Limiter.
PAGE 3
Controls and Features continued At unity gain input with the INPUT switch on full you will get about 2% THD. If this is increased to +4-5db, distortion will increase to around 5%, which is many, many times that of tape and without clipping. One excellent use of this is to patch the two Zener channels in series and use the first to Limit and the second for THD.
PAGE 4
Controls and Features continued 30 50 90 150 300 OUT SIDE CHAIN SIDECHAIN - Sidechain filtering was added to the Zener as part of the effort to make an ultimately flexible TG Limiter. In situations where a TG1 may be too aggressive, the sidechain, combined with other Zener modifications, makes this new TG useable in nearly every situation. With this control you can remove low frequency information feeding the limiting circuit from 30 to 300 Hz.
PAGE 5
Controls and Features continued 8 9 (3) 11 12 13 14 (4) 7 16 (2) 17 5 4 (5) (1) 19 20 2 1 (6) RELEASE RELEASE - A special feature of all EMI Limiters from the RS114 tube limiter, RS124/Altec compressor, RS168 Zener prototype, TG12345 console limiter, and TG12413 mastering limiter was that they all shared a special set of six release times. This is a very important part of the EMI and TG sound.
PAGE 6
Controls and Features continued LINK STEREO MONO LINK - As with the previous versions of the TG Limiter, the LINK system is relatively primitive. To link channels you must not only set the LINK control to stereo but also set the controls on each channel to matching settings. Since all controls on the Zener are stepped with high quality resistors, matching channels for stereo use is very easy. Please feel free to call our shop anytime for help or questions.
PAGE 7
CE Certification Chandler Limited declares under its sole responsibility that all products manufactured by them are in compliance with EC directives 2004/108/EC Electromagnetic Compatibility; 2004/108/EG Electromagnetic Compatibility; 2006/95/EC Low Voltage Equipment Safety.