Specifications

SIGNAL FLOW
 Thesignal-owthroughtheconsoleissimpleenoughtodescribeandmostlyfollowsthefrontpanel
left-to-right layout. Three pairs of XLRs on the back panel are balanced line inputs associated with the
client‘s source format. These could typically be a superb DAC (or two) and an analog tape machine.
INPUT SELECTION
Next come a pair of XLRs that are direct outputs of the chosen input. Typically these outputs would
feed a pair of monitor control box inputs and are used for comparing the raw tracks that were brought
inversustheeffectofthemasteringprocess.Masteringengineersmayusethisasa“condencecheck”
and as an immediate way to show the client the “before and after pictures”. There are other outputs
thatcanbeusedtocheckthenaloutputafterprocessors,andforamid-pointintheprocessorchainif
desired.
The chosen input then can be Left-Right swapped just for those occasional sessions when either the
mixing studio accidentally swapped cables or the mix seems to sound better in the opposite perspective.
Themixcanalsobepolarityipped.Thisreversesthe“phase”(polarityisthecorrectterm)ofboththe
left and right channels. Probably one wants the kick drum pushing the speaker out rather than sucking
the speaker inward. Most of the time, “Polarity Reverse” is a subtle effect and with some mixes the ef-
fect is inaudible. Strangely, the effect is often most pronounced on reed instruments and some types of
vocal character. It is usually worth a quick check to verify which way seems to sound best and/or seems
to have the kick pushing the woofer outward. If in doubt, leave the polarity alone.
The Input Selection, Left-Right Swap and Polarity Reverse are accomplished purely passively, and
are highly unlikely to damage the signals at all. This is achieved with simple sealed gold-contact re-
lay closures. In fact, the Left channel and Right channel signal paths are generally on separate circuit
boards and/or widely separated physically to maintain ideal channel separation and cross-talk. Where a
signal meets a connector, two gold contact pins and two wires are used for extreme reliability. That fea-
ture is called “redundancy” so that if one expects one failure in one thousand without, one might expect
one failure in a million, given redundancy (1,000 X 1,000).
INPUT LEVEL SWITCHES
Next up are the two INPUT LEVEL rotary switches that provide 24 precise ½ dB gain steps. The
rangeisfrom6dBofboostto-5.5dBofattenuation.Ultra-lowdistortionthinlm0.1%tolerance
resistors are combined with sealed gold contact Greyhill switches. As described earlier, the gain stage is
that new-topology fully balanced circuit followed by a pair of unity gain high current buffers.
There is a BYPASS switch that removes all active electronics for both the INPUT LEVEL and
OUTPUTLEVELcontrolcircuits.Thisisonemoreformofcondencecheckthatallowsyoutocom-
pare whether two sets of gain stages have any hint of possible signal degradation. It also allows one to
run the console in a 100% passive mode.