DB2 LOUDNESS CONSISTENCY PROCESSOR USER’S MANUAL
IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS The lightning flash with an arrowhead symbol within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the presence of uninsulated “dangerous voltage” within the product’s enclosure that may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of electric shock to persons. The exclamation point within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the presence of important operating and maintenance (servicing) instructions in the literature accompanying the product.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS EMC / EMI. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in residential installations. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation.
INTRODUCTION Introducing DB2 Consistency in loudness levels plus sync of audio to picture: These are the two most important issues you need to get right in today’s broadcast. They are also two of the reasons why TC Electronic’s DB range of high definition audio processors has set the standard amongst broadcasters the world over.
INTRODUCTION The Tools DB-2 offers broadcasters a wide variety of connection options to ensure simple yet comprehensive integration into all of the most popular broadcasting systems. DB-2 can also be controlled remotely with TC’s award-winning Icon software, allowing direct parameter control and preset switching from any location.
FRONT PANEL OVERVIEW POWER On/Off Switches power On/Off. To completely disconnect from mains, the Rear panel POWER switch must be used. PCMCIA Slot For software updates and preset backups. ERROR LED Indicates various error states, e.g. signal overflow, digital input or sync lost. 48/44.1/32 kHz LEDs Indicates output sample rate. Note that input sample rate may be different when DB2’s sample rate converter is engaged. A blinking sample rate LED indicates a sync error, e.g.
REAR PANEL Power Input 100 to 240V Power Switch Balanced Analog Inputs XLR SIGNAL FLOW DIAGRAM Balanced Analog Outputs XLR GPI IN AES3-id S/PDIF RS 232 Input/ 9 pin Sub D Input/ Output Output RS232: For connecting to a PC RS232 port, use a standard 9 pin Sub D cable. (Supplied) For connecting to a PC USB port, use the supplied RS232 to USB connector (Note max recommended USB cable length 10 m, while the RS232 part of the cable may be much longer) GPI In: Use standard stereo ¼” jack.
TYPICAL SETUPS INSTALLATION - ICON EDITOR Connecting and Setting up the DB2 In use – no TC Icon Editor/PC connection necessary. • Connect your audio source material to DB2 Inputs. Options are balanced Analog, digital AES3-id or S/PDIF. • Connect Outputs to relevant media. Standard Setup • Connect a free RS232 serial COM port on the computer to the RS232 connection on the rear of DB2. Use the supplied RS232 to USB connector when connecting to USB. (Note max.
THE TC ICON EDITOR THE TC ICON EDITOR Introduction The TC Icon Software Editor is a generic editor that currently controls the following products by TC Electronic: System 6000, DB-8/DB-4/ P2/Reverb4000 and DB2. In this section only subjects relevant for usage with the DB2 will be discussed. DB2 is connected to your computer via a serial COM port (RS232) or via the supplied RS232to-USB converter. Another active application may access the selected COM Port, resulting in a conflict.
PRESET STRUCTURE – RECALL/STORE/DELETE Library Pages On these pages, all preset operations are handled. BASICS – PRESET HANDLING Engine Presets Bank Handling Via the Library Bank page, you can: • Backup and retrieve the System User bank. • Backup and retrieve any user bank (U1 to U8) to any user bank location (U1 to U8) or to your hard disk. Engine presets hold all parameters and settings from the Engine page.
CLONING DB2’S Cloning DB2s Cloning DB2’s using a PCMCIA card Once a single DB2 has been set up for the desired applications, other DB2’s in the house can be easily cloned using a standard PCMCIA card. In other words; it is NOT necessary to hook up every single DB2 to a computer to set these up. • Insert an unprotected PCMCIA card into the source DB2’s card slot. • Go to the TC Icon System/Card page.
off off on on RL2 GPI Implementation GPI Implementation SYSTEM – I/O PAGE Delay Select this setting to enable online adjustment of delay (e.g. for lip-sync) using an external switch or impulse relay. DB2 measures the time interval between two switch closures, and inserts this as its current delay. (The “Delay” parameter on the Engine/Main page has a range from 0 to 1000 ms).
FRONT PANEL CONFIGURATION SYSTEM – NET PAGE & ICON VIEWS Fader at right side Bypass Configuration Press the round BYPASS button to activate. Normal: No Delay in bypass and Dithering is active. Relay: Bit-transparent digital and analog Bypass Relay. No Codec Delay: No delay in bypass. Bypass bit transparency. Codec Delay: Delay active in Bypass. Bypass bit transparency.
I/O PAGE MAIN PAGE Analog Levels Analog Scale Range: -3 to +27 dBu @ Full scale Use this parameter to set the sensitivity of the analog input. Analog In Offset Range: -3 to +25 dBu @ Full scale Use this parameter to set the analog input level. Input & Clock Input Select Range: Analog, Digital Use this parameter to select the appropriate input type. Analog Out Offset Range: -3 to +24 dBu @ Full scale Use this parameter to match the analog output gain to the following (“downstream”) device.
MAIN PAGE MAIN PAGE Configuration Configuration LOUDNESS PAGE – Stereo: In this mode, the Loudness, EQ and Multiband sections operate in tandem: Whatever gain change is applied to one channel, is applied to the other. Also, many parameters have mutual left and right controls. Processing Overview – Dual Mono: In this mode, the Loudness, EQ and Multiband sections treat the two Input signals completely independently.
LOUDNESS PAGE Freeze Level Range: -10 dB to -40 dB Use this parameter to set the minimum level required before the Loudness Control will start adding more gain. It would typically be set to avoid boosting signals considered noise. The Freeze Level parameter is relative to the Reference Level setting on the Main page.
EQ PAGE Parametric Filter – Broad Type EQ PAGE Cut Filter – Bessel Type Type Click TYPE and use Faders 1 to 3 to set the BW value for each of the three EQ bands. Range for the Notch filter: Lo BW: 0.02 oct. to 1 oct. Mid BW: 0.02 oct. to 1 oct. Hi BW: 0.02 oct. to 1 oct. Range for the Parametric filter: Lo BW: 0.1 oct. to 4 oct. Mid BW: 0.1 oct. to 4 oct. Hi BW: 0.1 oct. to 4 oct. Shelving Filter Cut Filter – Butterworth Type Range for the Shelving filter: Lo BW: 3 dB/oct. to 12 dB/oct.
5-BAND PAGE Introduction Multi-band processing can be used for evening out spectral differences between programs, optimizing levels and/or assisting the loudness correction when changes in loudness occur suddenly. Make your settings on the 5-band pages according to the task at hand. The 5-band processor in DB2 may be used simultaneously with all other processing modules.
APPENDIX LIMITER with distortion figures surpassing the quality demands of DVD-Audio mastering. Oversampling is used to prevent inter-sample peaks from reaching the Output, and time-constants adapt to the Input signal. Emphasis Emphasis compensation may be added to the limiter. DB2 uses a sliding low-pass filter to complement the limiter. While emphasis is used in analog broadcast, low bit rate codecs may also benefit sonically from this function.
Port Conflict Another active application may conflict with the serial ports you have selected on the Setup – Devices – Ports page. If this is the case, the following screen will appear. There are two options to resolve this problem: 1 Connect the DB2 to another physical COM port and select this COM port on the COM port page. 2 Close the conflicting application.
DB2 PRESETS DB2 PRESETS The following Factory Presets are available with software version 1.25. All presets feature ultra-low latency loudness correction and true-peak limiting. Factory presets assume that the AES3-id input is used. If you require analog or SPDIF input, recall a preset, go to the Engine / I/O page and select the appropriate input. For analog I/O, remember to adjust the “Level at 0 dBFS” parameter to comply with your requirements.
DB2 PRESETS SELF TEST Accessing the Self-Test Routines • Press and hold the OK key while powering up the DB2 to access the self-test. • Press UTILITY to select “T”. • Press OK to enter. • Press UTILITY to select test-number and press OK to start the test. Test 4 – RS232 remote I/O Test Connect Rx and Tx on the RS-232 connector (pin no. 2 to pin no. 3). The symbol “+” will indicate that the test has been completed successfully. The symbol “-” will indicate that there is a problem.
