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DN530
Operator Manual 19
Chapter 6: Gate Control Functions
This chapter gives details of the control functions of the DN530 gate.
Attack
Attack is the time taken for the gate to open after an over threshold signal. The shape
of the attack is fixed and has been carefully tailored to produce a transparent gating
action.
Hold
Minimises chattering in conjunction with the internal hysteresis. Once the signal has
been detected as having fallen below threshold, this control defines a waiting period
before the gate starts to close. This is particularly useful for low frequency material and
instruments with oscillating or unpredictable decay envelopes.
Release
Release is the time taken for the gate to close after the programme material falls back
below threshold. As with attack, the shape is crucial to the sound and has been tailored
to produce the most transparent gating action possible.
Range
Controls the amount of gain reduction that is applied to signals below threshold. The
gain reduction can be infinite, but things often sound more natural when it is backed off
to only 10dB or 15dB. With this type of setting, the background noise and spill remain
at a reduced level, but become less noticeable because they do not noticeably switch in
and out with the gating action. The maximum range is given when the control is fully
anti-clockwise, that is, set to infinity (
4).
Threshold
This is the gate operating point. Signals that go over threshold will open the gate, while
signals that go below threshold will close the gate. In both cases, gate opening/closing
occurs over a period of time, which is dependent on the envelope (attack and release)
control settings.
Accent
Normally, during an opening transition the gain changes from -n dB (n is set up by the
range control) to 0dB. When the accent control is turned up the transition goes from
-n dB to a positive +n dB gain (the amount of positive gain is set by the accent control
up to a maximum of +12dB). This accented level only lasts for a short period of time
(50ms), after which the gain returns to 0dB. The effect this produces is similar to the
thickening action compressors impart on drums when their attack time is set very slow.