DN540 Creative Quad Compressor Operator Manual Klark Teknik, Klark Industrial Park, Walter Nash Road, Kidderminster. Worcestershire. DY11 7HJ. England. Tel: +44 1562 741515 Fax: +44 1562 745371 Email: info@midasklarkteknik.com Website: www.klarkteknik.com DN540 Creative Quad Compressor — Operator Manual DOC02-DN540 Issue B — February 2011 © Red Chip Company Ltd. In line with the company’s policy of continual improvement, specifications and function may be subject to change without notice.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS The lightning flash with arrowhead symbol within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the presence of uninsulated “dangerous voltage” within the product's enclosure that may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of electric shock to persons. 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 the product.
INSTRUCTIONS DE SÉCURITÉ IMPORTANTES Le symbole représentant un éclair fléché dans un triangle équilatéral a pour but d'alerter l'utilisateur de la présence d'une "tension dangereuse" non isolée à l'intérieur du boîtier, pouvant être d'une force suffisante pour constituer un risque d'électrocution.
EC-Declaration of Conformity Klark Teknik EC-Declaration of Conformity The undersigned, representing the following manufacturer Manufacturer: Address: Midas Klark Teknik Ltd. Klark Industrial Park, Walter Nash Road, Kidderminster. Worcestershire. DY11 7HJ. hereby declares that the following product Product Type Number Product Description Nominal Voltage(s) Current Freq.
Precautions Before installing, setting up or operating this equipment please ensure that you have read and fully understand all of this section and the “IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS” at the front of this manual. This equipment is supplied by a mains voltage that can cause electric shock injury! The following special limitations must be observed in order to maintain safety and electromagnetic compatibility performance.
Precautions Installation Radio frequency interference - Class B device Before installing the equipment: • Power plugs must be inserted in socket outlets provided with protective earth contacts. The electrical supply at the socket outlets must provide appropriate over-current protection. • Both the mains supply and the quality of earthing must be adequate for the equipment.
Precautions Safety equipment Special accessories Never remove, for example, covers, housings or any other safety guards. Do not operate the equipment or any of its parts if safety guards are ineffective or their effectiveness has been reduced.
Precautions x DN540 Operator Manual
Contents Chapter 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Overview . . . . . . . Applications . . . . . Features . . . . . . . About this manual Chapter 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Contents Auto mode with hard knee (exponential RMS) . . . . Auto mode with soft knee (exponential RMS) . . . . . Limiter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Simple compression (auto mode) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Advanced compression (manual mode) . . . . . . . . . . . Stereo and multiple channel operation - linking . . . . . Sidechain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix A .... .... .... .... .... .... .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 1: Introduction Thank you for purchasing a Klark Teknik DN540 Creative Quad Compressor. The DN540 is a user-friendly, high-performance, four-channel (quad) analogue compressor designed for live sound reinforcement primarily on tour, in theatres and at corporate events, with applications in both front-of-house and monitoring situations. Other possible areas for use include broadcasting, the recording studio and installation.
Chapter 1: Introduction The presence control progressively reduces compression in the 5kHz region. Attenuation depth and input level meters are provided, plus a switch that changes the output level meter to monitor the input signals. A external sidechain input on the rear panel is switchable via the front panel. Applications The DN540 provides a quality, cost effective and compact compressor unit presented in a traditional 1U quad channel format.
Features Features The DN540 has the following features: • Great sounding compressor that provides good audio performance at extremely low noise and distortion levels. • Easy to use basic compressor, requiring minimum set up to produce excellent results. • Advanced envelope generator with manual controls that can be easily switched in or out to produce transparency or creative dynamic effects, as required, for any given source material. • Extremely transparent compression.
Chapter 1: Introduction 4 DN540 Operator Manual
Chapter 2: What Is A Compressor? The natural sounds of everyday life, which can be caused by anything from, say, the falling of a leaf to the roar of a jet engine, vary extremely widely in sound level. This variance is known as the “dynamic range” and is the difference — expressed in decibels (dB) — between the loudest and quietest sounds in a piece of audio, such as music or speech, or that can be reproduced by a piece of audio equipment without distortion.
Chapter 2: What Is A Compressor? The level of a vocal may vary widely. As shown in the typical example in Figure 1 “Compression - signal level graphs”, the unprocessed signal has a large dynamic range between the highest and lowest levels. Applying compression reduces the highest levels, thus reducing the dynamic range, while leaving the signal below threshold relatively unaltered. Because the peak level of the signal is now lower, make up gain is added to restore the original peak level.
Unwanted side effects Providing controls for threshold, attack, release and ratio, and providing responsive metering can go along way towards helping with suitable parameter set up for any signal source, such that most of the negative effects above can be reduced or eliminated. However, this is a complex and critical task that often involves a degree of compromise between the desired compression effects and the unwanted side effects, which can be time consuming.
Chapter 2: What Is A Compressor? 8 DN540 Operator Manual
Chapter 3: Getting Started Observing the IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS at the front of the manual and the guidelines in "Precautions" on page vii, carry out the following to get your DN540 unit fully operational. Unpacking Carefully unpack your DN540 equipment package. Then, inspect the DN540 unit carefully for any signs of damage that may have occurred during transit and notify the courier immediately if you discover any. Check the contents of your DN540 equipment package.
Chapter 3: Getting Started Connecting the power cable Making sure that the mains power at the power outlet is off, connect the mains cable supplied with your DN540 to the mains power outlet and then to the mains socket at the rear of your unit. Connecting the audio cables Making sure that all equipment is switched off, connect your DN540 to the rest of your audio equipment as shown in the following subsections. For more information on balancing, see “Balanced/unbalanced audio” on page 37.
Connecting the audio cables Sidechain inputs The electronically balanced sidechain inputs are on stereo 1/4” TRS connectors. Inserting a mono jack plug will automatically unbalance the input. The following diagram shows the sidechain input connection details.
Chapter 3: Getting Started Connecting to unbalanced equipment Ideally, you will be making the best use of the DN540’s low-noise high-headroom balanced inputs by connecting to similarly balanced equipment. However, if you do have to connect to unbalanced devices, the following wiring is recommended for best results (see Figure 3): • Connect the +ve (pin 2) of the balanced connection to the +ve terminal on the unbalanced connector.
Chapter 4: Front Panel Overview The front panel of the DN540 has four main channel sections, each containing a number of control knobs, pushbuttons and LEDs. All of the switches on the front panel are of the latching pushbutton type and have two positions, in (on) and out (off). Each of these switches have an associated LED that illuminates to show when the switch is on. Description The front panel comprises four channel sections and a power on/off indicator LED.
Chapter 4: Front Panel Compressor section Each compressor section houses six compressor parameter control knobs, a bypass switch and a hard knee switch, and two sets of six-LED meters (attenuation and level). 9 10 11 1 3 12 8 7 6 5 4 2 Item Type Label Function 1 Control knob ATTACK Adjusts the time taken for the compressor to respond after an over threshold signal. (Envelope time constant.
Switch section Item Type Label Function 11 LED (red) Not applicable On/off status indicator for the BYPASS pushbutton. 12 LED meter LEVEL Signal level meter. The meter has +18dB, +12dB, +6dB, 0dB, -6dB and -12dB LEDs for displaying the output signal level (default). When the MTR I/P pushbutton is on, the meter displays the input signal level.
Chapter 4: Front Panel 16 DN540 Operator Manual
Chapter 5: Rear Panel The rear panel of the DN540 (shown below) has a mains input section and four channel connector sections. Mains input Four channels Note: Although the rear panel of the DN540 has cutouts for two solo bus connectors, these are unused on this unit and are therefore blanked off. Mains input The mains input section has a mains IEC socket, below which is a fuse drawer. Printed just to the right are the mains supply voltage and fuse details.
Chapter 5: Rear Panel 18 DN540 Operator Manual
Chapter 6: Compressor Control Functions This chapter explains the control functions of the DN540 compressor. Attack Attack is the time it takes for the compressor to respond once the threshold has been exceeded. Attack may be set so that the initial transient of the instrument passes through unaltered, or set to a faster value so that the very start of the sound is compressed. Particularly with drum sounds, careful adjustment of attack time can make the sound more punchy and driving.
Chapter 6: Compressor Control Functions Release time plays a very important role in compression. During periods of high signal level, gain is reduced. When the signal level falls below the threshold, the gain will increase at a rate determined by the RELEASE control knob. If the release time is short, the gain will rise quickly. A long release time will mean that the gain will stay at its reduced level, only recovering gradually, see Figure 2 “Compression fast and slow release signal envelope graphs”.
Threshold Threshold The compression threshold is the point at which the compressor begins to operate. Signals that exceed this point, that is, go over threshold, will be affected by compressor actions. However, signals below the threshold do not trigger any compression, but may still be affected by compression releases from previous over threshold signals. If the compressor is being used as a limiter, the threshold level is the level at which the limiter begins to operate.
Chapter 6: Compressor Control Functions Soft knee and hard knee The point where the slope of the compressor curve changes is known as the “knee”. The DN540 can be set to operate as either a soft knee or hard knee compressor; the effects of both can be seen in Figure 5 “Soft knee and hard knee graphs”.
Chapter 7: Using The Compressor The DN540 is a dynamics processor that utilises premium quality, high precision components to achieve a high degree of accuracy and control. The DN540 has been designed primarily for creative use as front of house (FOH) or monitor. However, it is just as effective when used in the studio while broadcasting or recording. The DN540 processors offer, in a compact unit, control over the dynamic range for creative and corrective purposes.
Chapter 7: Using The Compressor Manual mode with hard knee (linear peak) With the HARD pushbutton switched on, the compressor is peak sensing with manually adjustable linear attack and second order release envelope characteristics. For limiter applications, a high ratio combined with fast attack times are best; set the release slow to minimise distortion on low frequency instruments.
Modes of operation Unprocessed signal Signal level Threshold level Time Limiting Signal level Threshold level Time Figure 6: Compression - limiting signal level graphs If a compression effect is required together with limiting of high level transients, two channels of the DN540 may be cascaded. The output of Channel 1 (compression) is fed to the input of Channel 2 (limiting), which gives powerful two stage control over gain.
Chapter 7: Using The Compressor Simple compression (auto mode) For many every day compression jobs an RMS compressor with automatic time constant set up (attack and release) is the best solution, providing quick and easy set up. The RMS compressor slows the time constants on relatively steady state signals, reducing distortion and pumping, and when large signal changes occur they automatically speed up, capturing and constraining the bulk of any large sound level variations.
Stereo and multiple channel operation - linking Stereo and multiple channel operation - linking Using the intermediate LINK switches (in channels 1, 2 and 3), you can link to the adjacent channel on the right for stereo or multi-channel operation. Linked channels form a group, with the lowest numbered channel in the group being the master and the other group members being slaves.
Chapter 7: Using The Compressor When LINK is switched on, the compressor sidechains of the linked channels are combined by a true power law summer such that a single source panned from left to right will not change the compression levels that have been applied to it. Sidechain For most applications the DN540 is triggered by the level of the incoming signal. Sometimes it can be useful to use a different signal to trigger the compressor; this signal is known as an “external sidechain”.
Appendix A: Application Notes The compressor of the DN540 can perform various compression styles for different applications. Drums and percussive instruments Drums require a slow attack time to thicken the sound. Try the compressor in manual mode with high ratios, slow attack, medium release and soft knee. Stringed acoustic instruments Acoustic instruments benefit from subtle processing. Settings that are too aggressive can sound unnatural.
Application Notes compressor relaxes there is no gain reduction — but the upper frequency boost remains, increasing noise and making microphonic feedback much more likely. The DN540’s presence accentuation corrects the tendency for dull sound during compression, without changing the sound of uncompressed signals.
Appendix B: Functional Block Diagram The following page contains the signal flow diagram for the DN540.
32 EXTERNAL SIDECHAIN 2 PUSH IN 2 EXTERNAL SIDECHAIN 1 PUSH IN 1 _ + _ + _ + _ + Block Diagram QUAD COMP CREATIVE RMS Detector RMS Detector DN540 EXT EXT 20ms Auto Attack/Release 2s 0.8 RELEASE 50ms 0.2 Envelope control 20ms 6ms ATTACK 0.1ms 25 -50 THRESHOLD 1ms 0dB -20 COMPRESSOR - CHANNEL 2 Auto Attack/Release 2s 0.8 RELEASE 50ms 0.2 Envelope control ATTACK 0.
Appendix C: Balanced/Unbalanced Audio Balancing refers to the type of input or output signal connections in an audio system. These connections are specifically designed to reject external noise, such as from mains wiring and internal interference from adjacent signal cables.
Balanced/Unbalanced Audio 34 DN540 Operator Manual
Appendix D: Technical Specification This appendix contains the technical specifications specific to the DN540.
Technical Specification Weight Net Shipping 4.6 kg 5.6 kg Operation Temperature +5°C to +45°C Storage Temperature -20°C to +60°C Due to a policy of continual improvement, Klark Teknik reserves the right to alter the function or specification at any time without notice.
Appendix E: Crib Sheet The following page contains a crib sheet, which you can photocopy (or print) if you want more copies.
38 QUAD COMP CREATIVE DN540 QUAD COMP CREATIVE DN540 QUAD COMP CREATIVE DN540 BYPASS 0.8 3 6 MAX PRESENCE MIN 0dB GAIN 18 12 RELEASE AUTO MTR I/P 0.2 0.8 AUTO MTR I/P RATIO HARD MAX PRESENCE MIN GAIN 18 EXT LINK ATTEN 20 10 6 3 :1 5:1 RATIO 1:1 2:1 25 HARD MAX PRESENCE MIN 20ms BYPASS 0.1ms THRESHOLD ATTACK -50 GAIN 18 12 2s RELEASE 0dB 6 50ms AUTO MTR I/P LINK ATTEN 20 10 EXT -6 -12 LEVEL 6 3 0 6 2 0.8 12 0.
Appendix F: Service Information This appendix contains routine service and maintenance instructions. Routine maintenance To help keep your DN540 unit in good working order and to make sure it gives you optimum performance, we recommend that you carry out the following at monthly intervals: • Clean the unit (see “Cleaning” below). • Check the controls for freedom of operation. • Check the functionality of all controls, that is, control knobs, pushbuttons and LEDs.
Service Information Equipment disposal When this equipment has come to the end of its useful life, its disposal may come under the DIRECTIVE 2002/96/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 27 January 2003 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Hazardous substances in WEEE contaminate water, soil and air and ultimately put at risk our environment and health. The directive aims to minimize the impacts of WEEE on the environment during their life times and when they become waste.
Thank you for reading through this Operator Manual. We hope you found it useful. Please feel free to send us your comments. Our contact details and website address can be found at the front of this manual.
© 2011 Red Chip Company Ltd. Klark Teknik Klark Industrial Park, Walter Nash Road, Kidderminster. Worcestershire. DY11 7HJ. England. Tel: +44 1562 741515, Fax: +44 1562 745371 Email: info@midasklarkteknik.com Website: www.klarkteknik.