Dbx 164 Owners Manual

Page 2

WARNING

TO PREVENT FIRE OR SHOCK HAZARD,
DO NOT EXPOSE THIS COMPONENT
TO RAIN OR MOISTURE.

This triangle,
which appears on your
component, alerts you to
the presence of uninsulated
dangerous voltage inside
\ the enclosure -- voltage
> that may be sufficient to
' constitute a risk of shock. CAUTION
To Further Reduce the Risk
of Shock, Do Not Remove
the Cover or Back. There Are
No User-Serviceable Parts
Inside; Refer All Servicing
to Qualified Personnel.

TNs triangle

also appears on your
component, and it alerts
you to important operating
and maintenance instruc-
tions in the accompanying
literature.

Page 21

14

will generally be another compressor/limiter on the entire output of the console,
and without control over each submix, the horns (in this example) could get loud
enough to dominate the mix and effectively force the rest of the channels down
in level.

This is an important concept - that whenever several signals are run
through a single limiter which is setting the maximum system output. an increase
in the level of any signal will cause an apparent decrease in the level of other
signals (so that the same total level is maintained). It follows, therefore,
that the most accurate control of the mix is achieved by compressing at the
earliest possible stage in the signal chain. That is, the most control is
obtained at the channel-patch point, somewhat less at a submix or group match
point, and there is no control of the relative levels within the mix when the
compressor is at the output of the console. Since a limiter is almost always
placed at the console output to control the level of the total mix, it is common
to find compressor/limiters at all three positions in the signal chain.

For mono applications of a stereo audio console without submix or group
busses, one of the two stereo outputs can be used as a submix. In the example
above, all of the horns could be panned totally into the left output and
everything else into the right output. The left-output fader would then act
as the horn submix. It could be patched through a 163 and the compressed
signal returned to the console's right channel via the Aux return. The right-
output fader would now act as the master mono-output fader.