ACI-AppliCAD VGM-1041 Quick start guide

VGM-1041 DSP Gated Mixer / EQ
Installation and Use
ACI-AppliCAD, Inc.
Version 1.1
Applies to Serial Number Series 114580100xxx
(732) 7 1-2 www.aci-applicad.com

Table of Contents
Introduction ------------------------------------------- 1
Features & Benefits
Quick Start Guide -------------------------------------- 2
Basic Connections
Basic Operation
Operator’s Guide --------------------------------------- 6
Front Panel Controls & Indicators
Managing Microphones
How Sound Gating Works
Installer’s Guide ---------------------------------------- 14
Mounting, Rear Panel Wiring & Switches
Line Outputs
Adjusting Power Amplifier Gain
USB Settings
In Case of Difficulty ------------------------------------ 37
Troubleshooting
Phone Support & Warranty
Specifications ------------------------------------------- 39
Index ------------------------------------------------------ 40

Introduction
1
The VGM-1041 DSP Gated Mixer / EQ targets sound reinforcement
applications, so your audience will enjoy higher quality sound than with generic
mixers or consoles. Operators see a uniquely compact, refreshingly simple
exterior. This is because the adjustments which you or your installer set up at
installation make operation easier later on. Its rugged construction should
provide you with years of reliable service.
Features and Benefits
The challenges often encountered running a sound reinforcement
system inspired the features of this mixer, as shown below:
VGM-1041 Feature What It Does User Benefit
Mic Sound Gating with
Last Mic ON & Adaptive
Threshold
Quiets idle mics by gating
only
active ones ON. The last live mic
remains ON until another is used.
Reduces distracting noise, allows
more volume with less
reverberation.
Gate/Clip LEDs
,
LED Level meter
Shows inputs
gated ON,
clipping
inputs, and overall level
You know what’s going on.
Selectable Compression
Limits unusually loud sounds, LED
indicates when active
Listeners remain comfortable.
Built
-
in Equalizers &
Pink Noise Gen.
Separate mic
& aux parametric EQs,
pink noise for setup
Saves space
and cost compared to
a separate equalizer
Selectable De
-
Esser
Advanced DSP algorithm limits
sibilance while preserving highs.
Spares audience
from terribly
excessive S and T sounds
USB
Setup
Port
Allows
configuring
EQ an
d other
functions via computer
Set
up
advanced options at
installation, & then hide them!
Industrial
-
quality active
level controls
Withstands millions of rotations,
controls volume via DSP.
Controls remain smooth and quiet
for life.
Ten balanced Lo
-
Z
Microphone Inputs
Enough for
nearly
any
use
Rejects electrical noise.
All your mics remain available with
reduced “hum” and “buzz.”
Two Aux (Music) Inputs
In addition, unused mic inputs
can
be placed on the “music” path.
Suitable for nearly any mono
sound reinforcement application
Input gain presets
Adapts to a 30dB source range.
Makes level setting easier.
Auto EQ setup option
Adjusts Voice EQ to your acoustics
Provides a quick setup choice
Four
balanced
Outputs
Main, Voice, Music, & Stage Mon
.
Handles most installations.

Quick Start Guide
2
Basic Connections
Here’s how to “bench test” your mixer – just plug in some cables and put
sound through it. If desired you can skip directly to the Installer’s Reference
section which fully describes installation details, but the experience you gain by
working through this section may help when installing the unit:
Place your VGM-1041 on a table or other flat surface.
Audio Source – Using a stereo RCA cable (the sort that often comes with audio
components), connect a CD player or a similar “line level” audio source to both
AUX inputs.
Amplifier – Connect your amplifier’s balanced, line-level (not mic-level) input
to it to the mixer’s MAIN balanced output. Leave the amplifier switched OFF
for the moment.
AIN
OUT
AIN
OUT
USIC
OUT
ONITOR
OUT
Connect your
amplifier here
Balanced 3-Wire
Cable, Shield goes
to the middle.
Strip ¼”
insulation
from wires.
Insert bare wire.
Close lever.
AUX 1
AUX 2
Plug in your sound
source here
IC 10
AUX
OUT

Quick Start Guide
3
Power – Now for the easy part: Find the supplied 24VDC power adapter. Plug
its end into the 24 VDC jack; plug the other end into a power outlet. Your mixer
powers ON immediately. There’s no power switch, since mixers of this sort are
usually installed as part of a sound system – and with no switch to leave OFF by
mistake, there’s one less thing to go wrong! A powered VGM-1041 always
shows at least one illuminated LED on its front panel.
l
Level eter – Start your audio source playing. On your mixer’s front panel,
increase both AUX controls until you see an indication about halfway up on the
LED level meter.
Is This Thing Working? – Turn down your amplifier’s gain or volume control,
and then power it ON. Advance the control until you hear your sound playing.
It’s In Your Head – If you have a pair of headphones handy, plug them into the
jack at the far right – the sound appears there as well. The knob directly under
the headphone jack controls your headphone volume.
C O M P R E S S
AUX 2
VGM
1
04
1
1
AUX 1
AIN
OUT
ONITOR
OUT
VOICE
OUT
24 VDC
Connect the DC
power adapter

Quick Start Guide
4
Hi, ike! – Connecting a microphone is a bit more challenging – since this
mixer is designed for installation, its mic connectors are tool-less terminal
blocks. Thus, on-stage cables terminated with XLR (A3M) connectors won’t fit
directly. If you have an old cable handy, you could cut it and wire its cut end
as shown. Just insert the bare wire end and close the lever:
Connect your microphone to the cable’s free end.
If your microphone is a condenser type, activate phantom power (this is how
condenser mics get their supply) by setting the appropriate rear panel switch:
IC 1
Switch ON
Phantom Power
if your mic needs
it ( IC 10 input
shown)
IC 2
PHANTO POWER
AUX 1
AUX 2
Connect your
mic here
IC 10
MIC wiring:
Shield in the
middle,
others on
either side
(keep colors
consistent
among
mics)
Strip ¼” of
insulation
Insert wire.
Close lever.
Strip outer
jacket

Quick Start Guide
Basic Operation
Now, bring up the level control corresponding to your mic. As you’ll speak into
the mic, you’ll see several things happen:
•The LED above this level control shows green, indicating that this mic is
gated ON. Gating activates each mic when it’s receiving sufficient sound.
Other mics remain muted, so they don’t contribute to background noise
and feedback. Thus, you get more sound with less distraction.
•Of course the level meter indicates the sound level.
•Speak loudly enough, and you’ll see the COMPRESS LED illuminate. The
VGM-1041’s built-in compression is limiting this mic’s level, preventing
excessively loud sound. This feature is selectable for each mic via the
mixer’s USB port (covered in the Installer’s Guide section). The factory
setting activates compression for all mic channels except MIC 3.
If you play the audio source you have connected to the AUX inputs earlier,
you’ll hear both the mic and the audio together (it’s a mixer, after all!), from
both your amplifier and the front-panel headphone jack.
Prefade – While listening to the mix on your headphones, press the small
button to the right of your mic’s knob. This puts your mic on the Prefade (cue)
bus. Now, you hear only this mic through the headphones, even when its
control is turned down to zero. This feature allows you to monitor any input
before or without turning it up – helping to prevent unwanted surprises. Press
the Prefade button again to return to main output at the headphones.
C OM P R E S S
AUX 2
VGM
1
04
1
1
AUX 1
IC 10
Mic is
Gated ON
Lights when
Compression
Is active
Press to activate
Prefade

Operator’s Guide
6
With the VGM-1041 mounted as part of your sound system and set up
according to the Installer’s Guide later in this manual, operation is as simple as
it could be!
Front Panel Controls & Indicators
Power – When you power up your sound system, the VGM-1041 goes through
a self-check routine which among other things, lights up all front panel LEDs in
sequence. Once this “light show” finishes, your mixer is ready to use.
Gain controls – adjust as needed for good listening levels. You can apply labels
on a blank panel above or below your mixer (as shown here) to describe their
actual use. Depending on the microphones and their placement, about halfway
to 2/3 up should provide good usable level. If not, ask your system’s installer
whether they have set the rear panel gain preset switches (see Page 16). The
gating and compression features mean you’ll do less knob-turning than would
be needed with non-automatic mixers.
Gate/Clip LEDs – above each microphone gain control. Each lights green when
the mixer gates that microphone ON. Use these LEDs to identify live mics.
These LEDs light yellow when Prefade is active, and red when their input
channels are in danger of “clipping” (excessive level) – reduce their gain to
remedy this condition.
C O M P R E S S
AUX 2
VGM
1
04
1
1
AUX 1
IC 10
Headphone
Volume
Stage Left Music Phone
Mic is
Gated ON
Stead Yellow = Cue
Peak flash Red =
Clipping!
Headphone
Jack
Lights when
Compression
Is active
Shows Main or
Prefade Levels
Prefade (Cue)
Bus Enable

Operator’s Guide
7
Clip LEDs – Above the two AUX gain controls, they light red when these
channels are near clipping. To prevent audible distortion, reduce gain should
you see them go red. If you still need more sound, turn up your power
amplifier instead. As with the mic LEDs, these also light yellow for prefade.
Level Bargraph Display – Shows the program level. Its first yellow LED indicates
a level of 0 VU -- which is equal to +4dBm at the VGM-1041’s balanced output.
Each LED above or below this point represents a change of approximately 4 dB
in output level.
If your power amplifier’s gain control has been set up according to the
recommended procedure on page 18, a comfortable level for spoken material
often reaches the first or second yellow LED. Dramatic or musical material can
often be played louder, covering the entire yellow range into the first red LED.
Use the meter as a guide – although your ears, and the audience response, are
your best judge of how much sound to provide.
COMPRESS
VGM
1
04
1
0 VU (+4dBm)
output
Compress
LED
Output Level
Prefade
(Cue)
AUX 2

Operator’s Guide
8
CO PRESS LED – This LED displays the status of the mixer’s compression system.
It lights whenever compression is limiting the sound level. For each
microphone channel with compression enabled, limiting begins to occur at
approximately 0 VU. The CO PRESS LED shows green at 3dB gain reduction,
yellow at 6dB, and red when compressing by 9dB. Your mixer’s DSPs perform
compression independently on each enabled microphone while adding virtually
no distortion.
To use the mixer’s compressor, first make sure that compression is
enabled on the desired mic inputs (see page 28). Then adjust each mic’s level
control until the CO PRESS LED blinks green and perhaps yellow on level
“peaks”. If totally dark, you may want to turn up that channel. On the other
hand, if the CO PRESS LED illuminates red, the channel in use is set too high
and constantly “hitting” the compression. In this case, reduce that mic level.
If you find that the CO PRESS LED remains dark for enabled mics in all
conditions, or lights red even though the sound is barely adequate, adjust the
volume of your power amplifier accordingly – you or your system installer
should perform or repeat the procedure on Page 18.
Prefade bus and Headphone jack – Press an input’s PREFADE button to place
that input on the Prefade bus. Press it again to remove the input. The input’s
LED turns yellow, and the input can be heard at the Headphone jack, regardless
of its Gain setting. When Prefade bus is in use, the Level Meter responds to the
Prefade level instead of the main output level.

Operator’s Guide
9
anaging icrophones – Your goal as sound operator is to provide sufficient,
quality sound from all program participants, to all in your audience. We’ve
prepared this section to help you do this.
Your sound system allows participants to speak naturally or even softly
as their material requires, confident that the audience hears every word
clearly. To do this, the power of the sound coming from the loudspeakers
greatly exceeds that picked up by the microphones. However, this advantage is
also a liability: When one or more microphones receive enough of their own
amplified sound from the auditorium loudspeakers, the result is that familiar
“howl” often called, “feedback”. Strictly speaking, a measure of feedback
occurs even when not enough for a full-blown “howl”. Lesser amounts of
feedback can result in a hollow sound, as if your participants were speaking
into an oil drum. Pros call this effect, ringing. Your audience finds this effect
distracting and tiresome.
If you turn your mics down to zero, you guarantee no feedback and no
ringing – but no benefit as well. As you increase your mic controls, the
audience gets to hear more of the program, as amplified sound overcomes
background noises. The sound becomes louder than your participants could
provide alone – your system is producing “gain.” In fact, the expression,
“raising the gain” simply means turning up your mic controls.
This graph shows that as you
turn up the mics, the desired
sound (blue line) steadily
increases and the audience
hears better. At first, the bad
effects of feedback (red) are
minimal. Increase gain beyond
a certain point, however, and
feedback multiplies. Once
ringing is heard, you must
reduce gain to achieve clear,
usable sound. The dotted
lines show when gain is set
properly – enough sound while feedback remains inaudible.
Gain
Sound
Ideal level
Quality
Sound
Feed-
back

Operator’s Guide
10
Ideally, your sound system, room acoustics, and the way mics are used,
all allow you to provide plenty of sound without ringing. Extra available gain is
logically called, gain be ore eedback. Having extra gain before feedback
insures that you won’t have to compromise between quantity and quality of
sound. Your audience will benefit, and all will appreciate the results. If you
find it difficult to make your sound loud enough without ringing, you need
more gain before feedback. Here’s some simple ways to get it:
•Train participants and stage handlers so that everyone speaks between
4" and 6" from their microphones. Aim boom mics so they point toward
the speaker’s chin when the speaker is looking straight out at the
audience. Proper miking lets everyone be heard with lower gain,
resulting in sufficient sound without feedback problems.
•The VGM-1041's sound gating automatically increases your available
gain before feedback, by muting unused microphones. Unneeded mics
receive no useful sound -- only feedback and noise. You win about 30%
more gain before feedback for each mic gated off.
•Don’t use excessive compression. If any mic input is causing the
CO PRESS LED to glow red, lower that input’s control. Compression
actually reduces gain before feedback by encouraging more gain with
quieter inputs – so allow the compressor to activate only for unusually
loud sounds.
•Anything you can do to provide a quiet auditorium directly adds to your
available gain before feedback. For example, keep auditorium doors
closed during the program, to deflect lobby noise. If your hall’s HVAC
system makes excessive noise, see if anything can be done to quiet it.

Operator’s Guide
11
Thanks to the sound gating feature, there’s far less need for you to turn
mics up and down during the program. We still recommend, however, turning
down mics that are obviously finding only noise:
•ics being moved by stage handlers
•Certain wireless receivers that pick up radio noise when their mics are
turned OFF – turn up wireless mics only after they’ve been switched ON.
In short, working this mixer is like driving with cruise control – it makes
your job easier, but you still have to drive. Here’s some “safety tips.”
•When you hear ringing, reduce gain on the affected mic(s). You’ll know
which mics are causing ringing by watching the mixer’s GATE LEDs while
listening for the ringing. Mics gated “off” cannot contribute to ringing at
that moment.
•The CO PRESS LED may glow green or perhaps yellow momentarily at
“high points” in the material. That’s good – it indicates you’re providing
maximum usable sound.
•When accidents happen – a dropped mic, a cough, or a feedback howl –
the mixer limits these nasty sounds (the CO PRESS LED lights red).
•If the CO PRESS LED lights red for normal material, your mic gain(s) are
set too high! Turn them down until the mixer indicates only a slight,
intermittent compression. You’ll get clearer, more natural sound and
less feedback. If you find yourself frequently needing more volume this
way, slightly increase your power amplifier’s gain setting. You and/or
your system installer may wish to repeat the procedure on Page 18.

Operator’s Guide
12
How Sound Gating Works
The VGM-1041’s digital signal processors arrive at each channel’s level using a
nonlinear, wave-sensing algorithm. Then the mixer’s microcontroller monitors
all these continuously, 6000 times per second. It “learns” the ambient sound at
each mic to ignore background noise such as from air conditioning. Any mic
whose level is at least 6dB louder than the others, gates ON. Once live, a mic
remains ON as long as any of these conditions are met:
•Its level remains higher than the threshold described above
•Less than 0.2 seconds “hang time” has elapsed since being above
threshold
•It’s the only live mic remaining (including any forced ON, see page 28)
Microphone inputs gate OFF when all these conditions become false,
remaining so until active again. Gating works best for orderly discussions --
where generally, one person speaks at a time. The two dedicated Auxiliary
inputs are not gated – thus they operate concurrently along with mics.
If the VGM-1041 has not been set up properly at installation, you may find that
the sound gating performs less than optimally. If for example the gating is not
sensitive enough you may notice:
•Mics remaining dead for very soft speakers
•Missed syllables when someone begins speaking
In these cases, first be sure to turn each mic control sufficiently high. Mics that
are turned down cannot gate ON or be heard!
On the other hand, you may find that the gating is too sensitive, allowing mics
to gate ON chaotically. Such operation renders the gating feature ineffective,
reducing the available gain before feedback – thus although this does not
interfere with your program, you may wish to have the gating adjusted.
If the sound gating is not working properly, and handling your Gain controls
appropriately doesn’t help, ask your system installer about adjusting the power
amplifier volume (page 18) and the gating (page 28). It’s best if you can be
present for these adjustments to insure everyone’s satisfaction.

Operator’s Guide
13
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
Don’t you love it when they say that?

Installer’s Guide
14
AIN OUT AUX 2 AUX 1
Line Output
s
Balanced line output
s
drive
pro-audio amplifiers, etc.
1
–
+ Output
2 – Ground (Shield)
3 – - Output
1 – White wire
2 – Ground (Shield)
3 – Black wire
icrophone Input
s
1
–
10
Balanced
Lo
-
Z
connectors
Microphone wiring:
Auxiliary Inputs 1 – 2
RCA jacks to play line-level sources:
•CD player
•Telephone interface (receive)
24
V
D
C Power
Plug the included adap
ter
into a switched outlet so it
goes ON with the rest of
your system. Connect the
adapter’s DC cord here.
Compressed
RCA
Output
RCA jack for connecting:
•Recording devices
•Telephone interface (transmit)
•FM transmitter
IC 10 IC 9 IC 8 IC 7 IC 6 IC 5 IC 4 IC 3 IC 2 IC 1 PHANTO POWER
AIN ONITOR VOICE USIC
VGM
-
1041
Rear Panel
Phantom Power
For condenser microphones
Down = ON
Gain Presets Adjusts gain for each input
in four 10-dB steps
1 2 3
Lift lever if closed,
insert wire, then
close lever.
Strip ¼”
insulation
-
1
0 dB
-
30 dB
ax.
-
2
0 dB
24VDC
GND