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TUBE COMPOSER T1952
2.6 The vacuum tube of the TUBE COMPOSER
Our engineering team has made it possible to enhance the traditional tube circuitry (particularly for our
TUBE COMPOSER) and adapt it to meet the high sound quality and dynamics requirements of modern,
pro-level audio technology. The fact that we are still fascinated by antique tube radios and amps as well as
the fine and warm tonal character that we usually associate with them, are the reasons why vacuum tubes
have kept their ground even in state-of-the-art circuit topologies used especially in professional audio
technology or high-end devices. We are particularly proud that we have found a highly effective symbiosis
between solid-state and tube technologies making them affordable to almost anybody in audio technology.
3. APPLICATIONS
3.1 The TUBECOMPOSER in the studio
3.1.1 Controlling leakage in the studio
Expander/gates are most commonly used to suppress undesirable leakage of sound from one track to another
during recording or playback. They are usually used when recording drum kits, where the mics are very close
to each other. High volume levels of individual instruments often cause considerable leakage onto all the
adjacent mics and result 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 TUBECOMPOSER into a snare drum channel for example and adjust it so that
triggering only occurs on snare hits. Each mic should be set to its maximum operating level, monitored (see
SC MON switch) and the THRESHOLD level set so that each snare hit sounds acoustically clean and
separated, as though it was played on its own.
The optimum use of the expander/gate depends principally on microphone technique. Be particularly careful,
when high frequency instruments are located to the side or rear of a cardioid microphone. Most cardioids
exhibit a sharply rising off-axis response characteristic at higher frequencies. If there is only a 2 or 3dB
difference between the on-axis and off-axis response in the 5 to 10 kHz region, cymbals may leak excessively
into the tom mics and you may have hi-hat spilling all over the snare mic.
Please make full use of the directional characteristic of the mics, to acoustically exclude all other instruments
as much as possible. Make sure that you do everything possible to achieve source separation with good
microphone technique. Otherwise the expander/gate is not able to undertake clear acoustic separation.
Sometimes, it is necessary to prevent the expander/gate from responding to low frequencies (rumbles etc.),
especially if a singer is moving the microphone around on a mic-stand.
3.1.2 Using the TUBECOMPOSER for recording and cassette duplication
In the recording and duplication field the goal should always be to achieve an optimum recording level onto the
recording media. Too low or too high recording levels lead to side effects such as noise, distortion etc. In
mastering and multitrack recording, as well as in duplication, one should always take care to utilize the full
dynamic range of the tape recorder, DAT recorder etc. Principally, it is possible to control the recording level by
riding faders, which means with low level signals, the gain is increased, whereas the amplitude of high level
signals is reduced. It is obvious that this method is insufficient because, especially in live recordings, the
expected signal levels cannot be anticipated correctly. Especially with multitrack recordings, which are run
under hectic circumstances, the signal level of all channels cannot be monitored and controlled at the same
time. Generally, with manual control, it is not possible to achieve satisfying recording results.
An automatic gain control system achieves better and more constant results. Use the TUBECOMPOSER by
starting with the initial settings, and use its dynamic control functions in order to be able to drive an analog, as
well as a digital recording, up to the limit of its maximum dynamic range while remaining noise- and distortion-
free.
3. APPLICATIONS