User manual MINDPRINT DTC

[. . . ] 1. 0 ENGLISH www. mindprint. com MANUAL IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE CONNECTING, READ INSTRUCTIONS · Read all of these instructions!· Do not place this product on an unstable cart, stand or table. The product may fall, causing serious damage to the product or to persons!· Slots and openings in the cabinet and the back or bottom are provided for ventilation; to ensure reliable operation of the product and to protect it from overheating, these openings must not be blocked or covered. [. . . ] Over the past several years, modern recording equipment has achieved a very high level of quality at continually improving prices. Often, however, much of the real potential of the recording is unfortunately lost due to inadequacies at either the input stage, the digital conversion stage, or the analog circuitry used around the converter. The DTCTM provides precisely this missing link in the signal chain, delivering those very elements and features that bring out the best of your other recording equipment. The resulting sound is more dimensional, more vivid and more truly musical. One of the underlying design principles behind the DTCTM is optimization of the signal paths. In each and every design decision the shortest possible signal path was chosen, bypassing unneeded components completely. All in all, the very effective filtering, the opto/tube-compressor and the optional digital inputs and outputs (24-bit/96 kHz) combine to make the DTCTM a universal processing center for every kind of audio signal. We wish you a great deal of enjoyment and success with your new DTCTM!Wendel, Germany December 2001 Info In the digital age achieving a higher level of quality is something that is nearly impossible to do with just higher sampling rates or bit depths. Digital processing quality is better than ever, and has reached a level (with the new DVD standard) that meets even the highest sonic and dynamic requirements. With a sampling rate of 96 kHz we can reproduce frequencies that are more than double the highest frequencies man's hearing mechanism is capable of perceiving. A resolution of 24 bits offers us a dynamic range that can capture sound at pressure levels that go far beyond the threshold of pain of human hearing. In the past, our attempt to reproduce all the perceptible nuances of a sound was severely limited by the available technology; today we are much closer to capturing all the details of a sound in its full glory. Question Since digital technology today is capable of such high resolution, one would think that the best and shortest connection would be a pure analog-todigital converter. Answer Even more important than the quality of the digital converter itself is the quality of the analog circuitry preceding the converter. Today the only part of the signal chain that is subject to loss is the analog section that prepares the signal right before it hits the digital realm. The task of the DTCTM is to make this part of the path as good and as short as possible. The thing to keep in mind is that the sound of instruments and microphones occur in the analog realm, as waves and current, and not as bits and samples. And waves and current are very sensitive as to how they react to physical quantities such as impedance, capacitance, and induction. And only when we pay proper attention to these quantities, and waves and current are turned into the "right form, " do we stand a good chance of performing a proper conversion to digital. Technically speaking, the job of the DTCTM is to take a very weak modulating eleHigh-ZensitivityTM Transformer. The complex interplay of impedance, capacitance and induction in the input transformer is responsible for the optimal matching of the microphone's diaphragm to its electronics, and aids considerably in enabling the microphone to reproduce sound in a natural manner. [. . . ] output level : +22. 5 dBu INSERT SEND: Output type: Tube Compressor Section: TYPE: Compressor / Limiter featuring tubes, optocoupler and Adaptive- ResponseTM. LIMIT: Controls limiting effect from +12dBFs to 0dBFs, and increase in compression from center to far right positions while limiting remains constant. Attack time : Release time : Filter: 5 ms to 50ms, depending on signal 20 ms to 2000 ms, adjustable 300 Hz with 6dB per octave, switchable 109 dB to 113 dB depending on settings MIC. IN: Input type: transformer balanced & floating Frequency bandwidth: 5 Hz to 127 kHz +/­ 3 dB Input impedance: 5 k Sensitivity: ­68 dBu to + 22 dBu Max. input level: + 7, 5 dBu @ ­20dB OFF SNR: ­131 dB Dynamic range: 122 dB INSTRUMENT IN: Input type: unbalanced Input impedance: 2, 2 M Sensitivity: ­35 dBu to +3dBu Max. [. . . ]