User manual ALESIS MODFX AMPLITON

[. . . ] Reference Manual This page intentionally left blank 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Copyright 2002, Alesis. 7-51-0110-A 8/2002 Table of Contents Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Welcome!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 About the Ampliton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Important features of your Ampliton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Ampliton Key Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 How to Use This Manual. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Safety Instructions/Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Important Safety Instructions (English). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 CE Declaration Of Conformity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 FCC Compliance Statement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Instructions de Sécurité Importantes (French) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Lesen Sie bitte die folgende Sicherheitshinweise (German) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Quick Start Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 If you can't wait to get started. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Hook it up to a synthesizer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 A quick overview of the controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Rear Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Unpacking and Inspection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Installing in a Rack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Connecting to the Channel Inserts of a mixing console: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Connecting to the Main Outputs of a mixing console: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Connecting to the Effect Send/Return of a mixing console: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Connecting to the inserts on an instrument amplifier: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Connecting to equipment with XLR inputs and outputs:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 About audio cables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Using the ModLink. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Using the Ampliton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 The two sides of the Ampliton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 What is Tremolo?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 What is Autopan? [. . . ] Get a hard-wired adapter or cable from your professional audio dealer, or make one yourself from components. About audio cables The connections between the Ampliton and your studio are your music's lifeline, so use only high quality cables. These should be low-capacitance shielded cables with a stranded (not solid) internal conductor and a low-resistance shield. Route cables to the Ampliton correctly by observing the following precautions: · · Do not bundle audio cables with AC power cords. Avoid running audio cables near sources of electromagnetic interference such as transformers, monitors, computers, etc. Stepping on a cable may not cause immediate damage, but it can compress the insulation between the center conductor and shield (degrading performance) or reduce the cable's reliability. Always unplug by firmly grasping the body of the plug and pulling directly outward. · · · 22 Connections Using the ModLink The Ampliton can be connected to other effect boxes in the ModFX family via the ModLink. The ModLink is a cable-free connection between two ModFX units that transfers digital audio and word clock. The 9-pin male connector on the left side of the unit is the ModLink IN port. By directly connecting two ModFX units via the ModLink, audio will pass from the left-most unit to the right-most unit. Inputs AC adapter Outputs 2 What about the 1/4" jacks on the slave units? When a unit is a slave to another unit, its audio input jacks are disabled; it will get its audio input digitally from its ModLink port. The output jacks, however, are always active; so an audio output can be tapped from any linked unit, without interrupting the flow to the rest of the chain. Master First Slave Audio Flow Second Slave The audio signal flows from left to right. The Master will send its digital audio output to the First Slave, and the First Slave will, in turn, send its output to the Second Slave. 23 2 Connections This page intentionally left blank. 24 3 Using the Ampliton This section defines tremolo and autopan, and explains the functions of the Ampliton's controls in greater detail. The two sides of the Ampliton The basic operation of the Ampliton couldn't be simpler. It gives you access to two different kinds of amplitude-based effects: on the left side is tremolo, which feeds the autopan on the right side. Each side is independent of the other, so they can be used alone or together. The particular type of tremolo is chosen by the switch on the left, with the rate and depth of tremolo set by the two knobs on the left. Down the center of the Ampliton are controls that affect both sides: RESET MOD, TAP TEMPO, the SIGNAL LED, and the BYPASS switch. What is Tremolo? Tremolo is an effect that rapidly changes the volume of a signal up and down. If you have ever grabbed the volume knob on your radio and moved it up and down as fast as you could, that was tremolo. Tremolo first became a common effect on surf guitar in the 50s and 60s. It also sounds good on electric piano. A more technical term for tremolo is amplitude modulation--you can achieve it on a synthesizer by routing a low-frequency oscillator (LFO) to the final amplifier stage (VCA). Many classic tube amps featured tremolo. What is Autopan? Autopan is similar to Tremolo, but it changes pan position (the left and right balance in a stereo field) instead of volume. The simplest autopan would take a signal and slowly pan it from the left to the right speaker and back again. However, the Ampliton is capable of much more complex autopan effects than that, as you will see later in this chapter. If the left and right outputs of the Ampliton aren't connected to two different amps and speakers (for example, inline to a mono guitar amplifier), Autopan will sound like tremolo. . . as it pans to the side that's not connected, the level will go down in the side that is. Autopan and a stereo input The Ampliton can take any mono input and turn it into a quasistereo output, by panning it from side to side. [. . . ] The Alesis Limited Warranty applies only to products sold to users in the USA and Canada. Customers outside of the USA and Canada are not covered by this Limited Warranty and may or may not be covered by an independent distributor warranty in the country of sale. Do not return products to the factory unless you have been given specific instructions to do so. 44 Specifications Audio Input Input Connectors: Maximum Input Level: Nominal Level: Input Impedance: Input Converter Resolution: 2 unbalanced 1/4" jacks +10 dBV -10 dBV 470k 24-bit, 48 kHz sampling All measurements done over a 22Hz ­ 22kHz range with a 1kHz sine wave at -1dBFS input. Impedances are measured at 1kHz. Audio Output Output Connectors: Maximum Output Level: Output Impedance: Output Converter Resolution: 2 unbalanced 1/4" jacks +9 dBV 500 24-bit, 48 kHz sampling Audio Performance (Analog In to Analog Out) Signal To Noise Ratio: THD+N: Frequency Response: Internal DSP Resolution: Power Consumption: >100 dB A-weighted < 0. 005% ± 1dB from 22Hz to 22kHz 28-bit 7 Watts max (9VAC Alesis P3) Mechanical Size: 2. 1" H x 5. 8" W x 3. 9" D (53mm H x 148mm W x 98mm D) 12. 6oz. [. . . ]