Owners Manual

The Swiss Army Knife
The SLAM! is an unusual product that doesn't quite fit into a simple
catagory. We get questions like "Why have a mic-pre on a limiter?",
"Why have a DAC on a mic-pre?" and "Why so many input and
output jacks?" and "Why no hard-wire bypass on this mastering
processor?". And the only answer is "It's not just a ....., it does a lot
more". It isn't a channel strip - no EQ, besides being stereo. It isn't
just another front-end for the workstation. It isn't just a mastering
processor. Maybe the SLAM! is a new catagory.
The SLAM! is intended to be the reference analog I/O (input/output)
for a digital studio - the first choice analog insert for digital with
strengths as an input device, output device and killer go-louder box.
Sometimes digital gets cold and sterile, and people reach for tube
processors for particular vintage colors, the 'warmth factor', the
ballz, the thing that plug-ins or digital processors are not quite doing
for 'em. So the SLAM! has an outrageous D/A and A/D option which
sets it up as 'THE' Insert, and can be used with any other analog (or
digital) gear to process tracks already on hard disk and then return
them as pristene or mangled as desired. This requires great converters
and analog circuits that can be super clean or dirty or in-between.
The DAC can be pristene high-end solid state, tube, or driven hard
for a wide range of colors. The ADC uses a transformer (iron) for its
front end (and no chips) and is intended to be a 'warm' converter,
because most everybody has the other kind.
The SLAM! is a an outboard limiter and a new low-noise high gain
tube mic-pre, and a mastering processor, and a DI, and possibly the
best converter in your rack. As a mic pre it offers about 70 dB of gain
and a new circuit, unlike any previous Manley PreAmp. The gain
stages are based on a circuit developed by Mitch Margolis for the
SteelHead phono pre-amp. Mitch also designed the VIPRE. The
SLAM! can be used as a mastering processor (not a multi-band
limiter), a processor that real mastering engineers use to create
loudness without messing up the mix. As a DI or Instument Input it
offers 2 impedances 100K and 10 meg ohms, plenty of gain,
limiting, and if you want to have fun use both channels with your
fave EQ inserted between, and use the optional A/D straight into the
workstation.
Swiss army knife is the most appropriate description. A multi-
purpose, well constructed, generally useful tool. The analog to
digital converters also have the Swiss connection. They are designed
and built by a Swiss company called Anagram Technologies who
are not well known in pro-audio but getting an enviable reputation
in the high-end audiophile market. Stereophile Magazine in April
2002 (p77&79) named them the 'kings of digital filters' and they
build converters for Audio Aero, Camelot Technologies, Nagra, and
Manley.
What makes Anagram's converters so special? The DACs up-
sample to 192K and in the process remove jitter almost completely
and to the point where A/D/A worst case jitter components are well
below the -144 dB measurement limit of 24 bit digital. The analog
to digital converter similarly has a permanent sample rate of 192K
and then down-samples to any of the common data rates like 48K.
This provides both the audible benefits of 192K and the practical
benefits of a 48K data rate, like relaxed requirements for giga-bits
of storage space. This is all done with proprietary software running
on a pair of very fast SHARC DSP chips and 40 bit floating point
math.
4
First Things First
We only have a few simple suggestions for your first few dates with
the SLAM!.
1) Don't rack mount it until you are familiar with the back panel and
have experimented a bit with the jacks and switches that you might
use later. No problem racking it, but this way is easier at first.
2) Watch those levels. There is a lot of gain and ways to manipulate
gain on the SLAM!. We have seen guys set up 30 dB of boost to a
line signal, 30 dB of limiting and were not aware of how drastic those
settings might be because they were unfamiliar with the box. On he
LED meters, one segment = 1 dB (approximately), and if you see the
LEDS go half way down, you are hitting 13 dB of limiting which is
generally drastic. Most engineers prefer 6 dB or less limiting. You
need to use your ears, and your eyes. Common mistake.
a) Unity gain for line inputs is near 12:00 for the INPUT and
OUTPUT controls. Begin with the ELOP and FET thresholds fully
clockwise (5 oclock). A good starting point.
b) To set INPUT levels start with the VU on INPUT and the VU
attenuator at the "0dB" especially as you become familiar with the
SLAM!. You have to be aware that practically all the knobs and
switches affect level and gain and that you want to start off on the
right foot, so get the INPUT set first. Then set Thresholds and Output
level. Most early confusion has been due to level settings.
c) The LED PEAK METER (audio mode) is most useful to view
when setting up the limiters and comparing how much louder it can
get while hitting the same peak level. Compare your original peak
level in Bypass to the level possible with limiting engaged.
3) This is a limiter and limiters generally can create weird distortions
especially when the gain reduction is deep and releases are fast. The
SLAM! FET limiter has very fast releases so it can be dangerous.
The OPTO is easier to use because the attack & release are slower
which is why opto's have always been popular. Sometimes we want
the ease of opto and the speed of FET, and using the FET gently to
'clean up' the overshoots of the opto is pretty easy too. With the FET
limiter alone, some experimentation and critical listening is a must.
Different songs and sounds seem to want different settings and one
may often be surprised by the optimum setting.
4) Because the SLAM! is old-school analog, the limiters won't have
the 'precision' of a digital limiter that can be easily set to hold peaks
within 0.1 or 0.2 dB of clipping. If you intend to use it as a brick wall
limiter before the A to D converter as a method to be safe/lazy/
clever, in an attempt to get hot levels within .2 dB of digital clipping
you may be creating the worst case scenario for an analog box. It is
difficult to set the SLAM! up to do that. It can be pretty good IF you
take the time to carefully set the controls. Foolproof and easy - no,
but if you want 'easy', then the safest way is to accept -2 to -5 dB DFS
(23+ bits), and use a digital limiter like an L1 or L2 for the last few
dBs. The combination provides the best of both worlds. Another
approach is to try the "CLIP" setting plus the OPTO which is a bit
easier and may or may not be as audible. It might not be worth being
obsessed with hitting -.1 dB DFS and focus on the sound instead.
5) Once you have found your favorite back panel settings, feel free
to rack mount the SLAM!. Yes, you can leave Phantom on all the
time. Old consoles didn't have phantom switches and it was always
on - no problem. Most guys stick to one sample rate, 24 bits, and one
choice of filters.