ATM BETTERMAKER User manual

BETTERMAKER
Mastering Compressor
Operations Manual
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The Bettermaker crew would like to thank all the people that were deeply involved in
the development of our first products, from EQ230P till this day
Thanks to all the Beta-testers that gave us hands-on tips and all people involved in the
conceptual stage We hope we have listened to you carefully so as to produce an ideal
tool in the hands of every engineer
Thank you guys!
I would like to personally thank my development team, the past and the present as
their passion to work and bright minds made all that happen I would not take all my
wild concepts to the point they are now without you guys
Marek
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Important Safety Information
Do not operate this unit in the presence of rain, liquids or condensing moisture
Liquid entering the product enclosure presents the risk of electric shock injury
Practical Safety Precautions
Do not operate the Bettermaker Mastering Compressor underwater, uncovered in the
rain, in a sauna or anyplace near water Always be sure to protect the unit from the
dust, particles, water, beer, groupies, and stage divers
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I. Intro uction
Congratulations on your purchase of the Bettermaker Mastering Compressor -
all analog sound with the flexibility of digital control! Welcome to the family! The
hybrid audio compressor now in your possession is the result of years of research and
development in emerging digital control technologies The final hand-built result is
currently glowing happily in your rack (lucky You) The Mastering Compressor
brings the flexibility, ease of use, and instant recall-ability of software plug-ins to the
realm of High Fidelity analog processing, like no other analog compressor on the
market
The Company
Addicted to Music has begun in 2004 in Warsaw, Poland as a recording and
mixing studio Long before it was a hardware company, we were deeply involved in
the international music and recording scene This is not a company run by scientists
who crunch numbers all day, we are a company run by engineers who live, eat, and
breathe music (like You do) We know good sound, and know first-hand what it takes
on both sides of the glass to capture the perfect take We developed the Mastering
Compressor to go from the perfect take, and make it even better!
Bettermaker Mastering Compressor
was designed to have the greatest flexibility of any analog compressor, while
still allowing absolute recall and repeatability We often found the strengths of
software plug-ins wasn’t their sound, but the ability to quickly audition different
settings This allowed us to make faster, better informed musical choices The ability
to jump back and forth between (sometimes vastly different) settings allowed us to
keep a clear vision of the sonic goal in mind, while quickly making decisions on the
best setting to use However, we recognized the sonic superiority of our analog gear
compared to their digital counterparts In countless shoot-outs, the analog versions
always won Since we’re a company that cares about better sound over processing
speed, our engineers would take the extra time to use a full analog chain because it
simply sounds better We developed the Bettermaker Mastering Compressor to give
us the speed of plug-ins, but the fidelity of analog domain
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In the traditional analog world the time spent in the act of having to set and
reset potentiometers and buttons to audition between settings often skewed our
choices More time was spent tweaking knobs trying to recover an earlier setting than
was spent listening The limited resolution of the mechanical parts often meant only
very coarse adjustments were possible (previously only solvable by very expensive
mechanical switches) A difficult situation to say the least, but the greater fidelity,
openness, and depth of the analog gear was always worth it to our ears
Even after years of advancement in digital algorithms, the older analog
versions always sounded better With these goals in mind, we strove to create a
hybrid compressor that was the best of both worlds: a true analog compressor based
on classic designs, but with the repeatability, fine resolution, and consistency of
digital plug-ins Enter the inspiration for the Bettermaker Mastering Compressor!
We’ve put a large amount of time, effort, money, and listening tests into the
research and development of the analog stages of the Bettermaker Mastering
Compressor We feel that it represents one of the best values, highest fidelity, and
newest methods of working available in audio today We set out to make a product
that broke new ground, a compressor with the highest sonic quality, ease of use, and a
full pallet of sound shaping tools to allow engineers to make the best-sounding
record In the following pages, we’ll share this knowledge, show how the controls
work and interact to provide a complete sound - sculpting system
The Bettermaker Mastering Compressor is a new approach to a well known
VCA compressor design Choosing modern components and design practices over
older traditional methods helped maintain the transient response and low noise-floor
necessary for today’s recording practices Wherever possible we choose over-spec’d
components to ensure trouble free operation and a long product life Where feasible
we increased the gain resolution and frequency range to ensure the greatest flexibility
no matter what source (from tracking to 2-bus and mastering applications) Most
importantly we listened first, changed, tested and then listened again We hope you
enjoy your Bettermaker Mastering Compressor
Now go make some music Better!
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II. Important safety information
Before you turn the unit on
Before turning the unit on for the first time, remember to set it to correct AC
voltage (115V or 230V) depending on your location Always use quality AC power
cord with safety (earth) pin and ensure that the power outlet in the wall has the earth
connection too It is important for safety reasons but also helps to keep the unit’s
noise levels low
Safety Warnings
Do not operate this unit in the presence of rain, liquids or condensing moisture
Liquid entering the product enclosure presents the risk of electric shock injury
Do not operate the Bettermaker Mastering Compressor in any place near water
Always be sure to protect the unit from dust, particles, water, beer, groupies, and
stage divers
For normal operation it is not necessary to access the interior of the Mastering
Compressor The only user serviceable part is the AC fuse located in the compartment
below the AC mains socket
Always remove the AC power cord from the socket before attempting to
change the fuse (0 63A slow-blow fuse)
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III. Construction of the Mastering Compressor
The sound of the Compressor is of course based on the quality of its analog
audio path But all the control and user interactions are performed in the digital
domain This allows us to incorporate options and possibilities not found in any
standard analog compressors:
Save and recall presets from on-board memory (400 slots available)
Instant reset of all parameters
Rapid, precise and repeatable adjustments
Precisely linked stereo operation with the ease of a single control
DAW automation and recall of all available parameters
Front panel an LCD touchscreen
The front panel of the Mastering Compressor is build around big LCD
touchscreen, that allows you to control almost all functions available in the device
Apart from that, you can also monitor input/output levels, amount of gain reduction
applied by the compressor or store and recall presets using on-screen QWERTY
keyboard
On both sides of the LCD screen you will find five knobs placed on endless
rotary encoders These knobs are labeled Threshold, P1, P2, P3/P4 and P5/Reset
While the purpose of Threshold knob is self-explanatory the assignment of P1 to P5
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knobs may vary, depending on the currently selected screen P3/P4 and P5/Reset
knobs also have push-button functionality All knobs are velocity-sensitive for fine
increment/decrements when turned slowly
The ENGAGE button allows you to turn the audio processing on (the button is
lit) or bypass the unit (relay based true bypass). When you turn the Mastering
Compressor off completely (hold MA NS switch for 3 seconds) it will still pass
unprocessed audio.
Analog section
Great care and thought went into the development and implementation of the
analog section of the Bettermaker Mastering Compressor High quality capacitors and
low noise op-amps are used in the analog path Relays were used, whenever creating
the shortest path for the audio signal was necessary
The analog section consist of high quality input/output buffers capable of
passing thru high level audio signals, multiple active filters, coloring section based on
VCA and Zener diodes, M/S matrix, VCA Compressor (famous THAT chips) with
different characteristics, sidechain circuit with external hardware insert and precise
gain stage for fine adjustments
All these modules are controlled by the digital section of the Mastering
Compressor, so no mechanical switches or knobs are required to adjust any of the
parameters
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Internal signal path
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Incoming signal first runs thru High Pass Filter (HPF) that allows you to cut
off unnecessary frequencies prior to further processing It’s all analog HPF with
24dB/octave slope You can choose the cut-off frequency from 15/20/25/30 Hz or
disable HPF completely Then the signal enters the M/S matrix circuit From that
point you either work with stereo (dual mono) or M/S signal that runs thru VCA
(Voltage Controlled Amplifier) Compressed signal is mixed with dry signal (for
parallel compression) At this point you can apply some gentle Zener diode based
saturation to your mix Lastly signal goes thru output gain stage and the M/S matrix
that converts it back to L-R stereo For better understanding please check the signal
path diagram above
The sidechain signal that triggers the compressor can be sourced either before
or after VCA – this is known as feed-forward and feed-back VCA Group of analog
filters (HPF, parametric filter and LPF) allows you to shape the signal before it goes
to peak/RMS detector The sidechain also features hardware insert point – you can
either use external EQ (if the internal is not sufficient enough) or any other audio
processor You can also use the insert to input external sidechain signal that will
trigger the compression (ducking effect)
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