Owner's manual

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The Mastering Compressor!
p. 2
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OVERVIEW
The!Shadow!Hills!Mastering!Compressor!Plugin!is!a!faithful!1:1!model!of!the!corresponding!
hardware!version,!offering!all!its!non?linear!b eh a vio r!an d !an a log !so u nd !q u ality !in!th e!d ig ital!
domain.!As!is!standard!in!all!equipment!deployed!by!Shadow!Hills,!the!Mastering!Compressor!
boasts!discrete!op?amp!technology,!custom?designed!transformers,!and!a!signal!path!devoid!
of!any!IC's.!The!unit!houses!two!linkable!channels!of!two!separate!compressors,!which!can!be!
operated!independently,!or!in!a!chain.!The!first!compressor!in!the!circuit!is!the!Optical!
Section.!Utilizing!electroluminescent!optical!attenuator,!the!circuit!provides!gain!reduction!
with!a!very!musical!two?stage!recovery .!The!second!compressor!in!the!circuit!is!the!Discrete!
Section,!which!is!powered!by!our!discrete!voltage?controlled!amplifier!in!a!feed?forw a rd !
mode.!By!the!versatility!of!its!features!and!the!precision!of!its!controls,!the!Discrete!Section!
capably!finishes!the!job!started!by!the!Optical!Section.!However,!the!coup!de!grace!lies!in!the!
final!proce ss ing !sta g e!o f!th e!S ha d ow!Hills!M as te rin g!C o m p re ss or.!E a ch !ch a n ne l!is!e qu ip p ed !
with!three!distinctive!output!transformers,!which!can!be!toggled!via!the!Transformer!Select!
Switch,!effectively!changing!the!frequency!response!and!distortion!characteristics!of!the!
entire!unit.!
HARDWIRE BYPASS
The!operation!of!the!Shadow!Hills!Mastering!Compressor!is!controlled!by!a!series!of!toggle!
switches.!When!flipped!to!“IN”,!the!“Hardwire!Byp ass”!switch!eng ages!the!line!am p!and !
output!transformer!circuitry.!When!flipped!to!“OUT”,!the!inputs!are!directly!connected!to!the!
outputs!with!no!processing.!The!Optical,!Discrete,!and!Side!Chain!switches!function!in!an!
identical !m a n ne r! –!“IN”!eng ages!the!corresp ond ing!circuit,!and!“OUT”!bypasses!it.!In!order!for!
the!compre ssors !to!ope rate,!the!h ardw ire !byp ass!m u st!be !“IN”,!howe ver!the!hard wire!byp ass!
can!be!engaged!with!the!compressors!“OUT”.!This!allows!audio!to!be!colored!by!our!discrete!
op?amp!and!custom!transformer!technology!at!unity!gain,!even!when!no!compression!is!
desired,!turning!the!Mastering!Compressor!into!an!effective!tone!shap ing!too l.!
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STEREO OPERATION
The!Shadow!Hills!Mastering!Compressor!can!operate!in!Dual!Mono!or!Stereo.!While!in!Dual!
Mono,!each!side!has!independent!operation!and!all!of!the!controls!on!both!sides!are!active.!In!
Stereo,!the!left?hand!controls!operate!all!of!the!Mastering!Compressor’s!features!with!the!
right?hand!controls!not!having!any!effect!and!the!green!light!bulbs!reflecting!th e!left?hand!
settings.!The!only!exception!is!the!Meter!Select!Sw itch ,!which !rem ain s!indep en den t!on !both !
channels.!This!facilitates!viewing!a!combination!of!gain!reduction!and!output,!or!the!two!
different!stages!of!compression!simultaneously!while!in!Stereo.!!