COMPRESSOR ® USER GUIDE
SAFETY REVIEW ! The Exclamation point within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the presence of important operating and maintenance (servicing) instructions in the literature accompanying this product Certain precautions should be taken when using electrical products. Please observe the safety hints by reading the manual and obtaining qualified help if necessary to adhere to the precautions. ! 1. Always use a properly grounded power supply cord with this product.
| 1 | II THANK YOU Thank you for choosing products from the exciting and innovative line of Dangerous Music recording equipment. Many years of reliable service can be expected from our gear. This is made possible through careful design, construction, and component choices by recording industry veterans. The Dangerous Music Compressor is designed to control dynamics without sacrificing timbre. There are comprehensive tips and application notes in this user’s guide, so don’t skip the read.
iii | DANGEROUS MUSIC TABLE OF CONTENTS Overview 1 COMPRESSOR Rear Panel Features & Benefits 1 COMPRESSOR Front Panel Features, Benefits & Connection 3 Specifications 13 Warranty 14
COMPRESSOR | 1 OVERVIEW The dangerous compressor was designed to be simple, transparent and powerful. Built to the exacting standards of the mastering community, as with all things Dangerous, it has also proven indispensable for tracking and mixing. Tame a vocal, tighten a snare, crush a sampled loop or gently smooth a track- the compressor will rise to the occasion, providing rapid results, intuitive feedback and without coloration. Enjoy. Unpack this game changer and celebrate.
2 | DANGEROUS MUSIC [rear panel meter zero recessed trim pictured above] 2. METER ZERO RECESSED TRIM Feature: Readjust your meters to zero in the unlikely case of drift. Benefit: Always have dead-on accurate metering. Operation: Perform this operation only when the unit has warmed up a minimum of 2 hours. Activate the vu/comp button (red) in order to view gain reduction. Make certain no audio is present. Turn screwdriver in appropriate meter (left or right) until perfectly in line with zero.
COMPRESSOR | 3 Feature: Three pin IEC cable. Benefit: Simple to replace if lost.! Feature: Selectable voltage. Benefit: Travel with your audio tools anywhere in the world while compressing / limiting judiciously, artfully and with integrity. Operation: Please review the mains voltage in the red window before plugging in the unit or electrifying events may transpire.
4 | DANGEROUS MUSIC quality. Therefore, you cannot compare the “before” and “after” honestly. “Hard wire” effectively removes the unit from the signal path. Tip: , To(ACtestor battery). any unit (even a guitar pedal) for “true hard wire bypass” design, place it in bypass and disconnect the power If the unit still passes audio, it’s a true hard wire bypass circuit. Trivia: Known in the inner circles as a “sober switch”. 2.
COMPRESSOR | 5 English: Control sibilance by reducing “s’s” from a singer or gently tame the harshness from cymbals recorded with cheap Chinese condenser mics or poorly re-sampled loops. Technical: sibilance boost kicks in a Baxandall shelving EQ with 2dB of boost at 5kHz. EXTERNAL SIDECHAIN Feature: When external sidechain is engaged, this allows connectivity with an external equalizer (i.e. plug in that graphic or parametric equalizer you had junked in the attic).
6 | DANGEROUS MUSIC SMART DYNAMICS Feature: smart dyn employs two independent slopes in the detection circuit. Benefit: One section of the detector controls the average level. The other handles only rapid transients. Normally a spike would shove down the entire track, creating an audible faux pas moment. Instead, the normal slope portion handles the smoothing of the entire content and the other deals with the spikes.
COMPRESSOR | 7 MANUAL ATTACK / RELEASE Feature: By default, the unit is set to auto attack / release mode. Engaging this button will override the auto attack / release. Benefit: The auto attack / release has a preset timing of approximately 30 milliseconds for both. Engaging the button will allow the use of the attack and release knobs. The green LED between the knobs will also light, reminding you that they are activated.
8 | DANGEROUS MUSIC Tip: , meter button not working? Don’t panic. With the vu/comp button engaged (red), the meters will only display the amount of gain reduction, thereby rendering the meter button inactive. Disengage the vu/comp button (unlit). -6VU BUTTON Feature: Reduce the signal present at the meters by -6VU. Benefit: When the levels are hot, pinning the meter can damage it. Note: Does not affect gain reduction meter ballistics, just sensitivity (don’t blush). 5.
COMPRESSOR | 9 Note: While in stereo mode, the gain reduction will always track identically, since the control voltages are added together. Both channels react to whichever one is triggered, thus maintaining the stereo image. 6. VU METERS & LED INDICATORS [vu meters and led indicators pictured above] Feature: Visual feedback via both classic vu meters and leds.
10 | DANGEROUS MUSIC Feature: Stepped controls with subtle ratios: 1.4:1 • 1.7:1 • 2:1 • 3:1 • 4:1 • 6.1 • 20:1 Benefit: “Stepped” in this case means exacting, so you can control with confidence. The subtle ratios (i.e. 1.4 : 1 vs. 1.7 : 1) are incredibly powerful. Definition: ratio is the “how much” control. threshold is the “when” control. In other words, ratio determines “how much” the level will be tamed once the audio crosses the threshold or the “when” control. 8.
COMPRESSOR | 11 9. THRESHOLD KNOBS [threshold knobs pictured above] Feature: threshold selects the point where the gain reduction kicks in. Benefit: threshold is the “when” control. “When” does the compressor start working? Gain reduction is implemented when the audio crosses this level or threshold. Operation: Full clockwise has little or no effect. Bring it back gradually, counterclockwise for implementation. , determines “how much” the level will be tamed once it crosses the .
12 | DANGEROUS MUSIC Feature: Determines “how fast” the gain reduction kicks in. Benefit: Tailor the speed to control transients or allow them to slip past and sculpt other portions of the audio. Operation: Full clockwise is 100 milliseconds (slow), full counterclockwise is 1 millisecond (fast). , On a kick drum, setting the Tip: , Most end users will opt for the Tip: attack Note: Tip: too fast, will make it appear to lose bass content. auto attack / release option.
COMPRESSOR | 13 SPECIFICATIONS Frequency Response +- 0.25dB from 15Hz to 80kHz Maximum level > +27dBu Noise floor < -93dBu band limited from 22Hz-22kHz THD+N < 0.005% IMD < 0.
| DANGEROUS MUSIC 14 WARRANTY Free 2 year extended warranty with online registration. Standard warranty: 90 days parts and labor, subject to inspection. Does not include damage incurred through shipping damage, abusive operation or modifications/attempted repair by unauthorized technicians. USA Dangerous Music Inc. 231 Stevens Road Edmeston, NY 13335 Email: info@dangerousmusic.
Dangerous Music Inc. 231 Stevens Road, Edmeston, NY 13335 info@dangerousmusic.com www.dangerousmusic.
