Becos COMPIQ MINI ONE User manual

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CIQ‐1COMPIQMINIONEPROCOMPRESSORPEDAL
MANUAL
Lastmodified:April10,2020
SPECIFICATIONS
Inputimpedance:>1MΩ
OutputImpedance:~100Ω
Ratio:1:1toinf:1
SENSEThreshold:Lo:‐40dBu,Hi:usersettablefrom‐40dButo10dBu
Make‐upgain:‐6dBto+20dB
0dBinputreferencelevel:‐20dBu(77.5mV)
Outputnoise:‐95dBV@0dBVgain
THD:0.05%for‐5dBVinputsignallevel@1kHz
Outputfrequencyresponse:‐2dB@40Hz;0dB@100Hz‐22KHz
OptimalPowerVoltage:9‐12VDC±10%CenterNegativeBarrel
DCPowerPlugBarrel:Ø5.1/2.1mm,>12mmlong
PowerConsumption:<25mAh
ProductSize:Lenght:39mm,Depth:92mm,Height:51mm
ProductWeight:163gr.
PackedWeight:~300gr.
ADVICE,WARNING&CAUTIONS
‐Readthismanualandkeepithandy.
‐Donotexceed12VDC(centernegative)whenpoweringthispedal.
‐UseaDCPowerPlugwithabarrelØ5.1/2.1mm,12mmlong.
‐Donotplacethepedal&batteriesindirectsunlight,inextreme
temperatureandhumidityconditions,orindustyenvironment.
‐Donotmakemodificationstothecircuitanddonotinstallthe
pedalinanyotherwayexceptasdescribedinthismanual.
‐Aswestruggletoimproveourselvesandourproducts,wemay
changeproductsspecifications,design,andfeatureswithoutnotice.
Likewise,thismanualmaybechangedormodifiedwithoutnoticeso
weadviseyoutodownloaditfromthewebsitebeforeusingthe
product.
INTRODUCTION
Thank you for choosing the CompIQ MINI ONE Pro Compressor as
youraudiodynamicprocessingtoolforyourinstrument.
CIQ‐1 CompIQ MINI ONE is an all analog studio grade compressor
featuring Ratio, SwitchableSENSEthreshold(onefixedandone
user settable), Make‐up Gain manual controls, Hard Compression
Knee, Dynamic Auto Attack & Release timings with soft curves to
balancethehardknee,andDry/WetMixcontrolforaperfectblend
ofprocessedandcleansignal.AtrueRMS‐leveldetectorconstantly
measures input signal and applies accurate compression through a
transparentsounding,highperformanceBlackmer®VCA.Theexact
amountofcompressionisindicatedbya5‐LEDdisplay.
Thiscompressioncircuitwasdesignedwithguitarandbassinmind,
but make no mistake, it can add warmth and dynamic feeling to
any audio signal, including string instruments, harmonica, brass
instruments,evenvocals‐withanappropriatepreamp.
EFFECTCONTROLS
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1. FOOTSWITCH ‐ When engaged, the switch routes the audio
signal through the circuitry, and Power LED is lit Green. When
pushedagain,thesignalisroutedinTrueBypassfromInputto
Output, leaving the audio untouched. This routing is still
availableevenwhenpedalisnotpowered.
2. RATIO‐Thiscontrolsetshowmuchtheaudiosignalisgoingto
becompressed,afteritpassesabovethesetthreshold.Ithasa
continuousrange starting from1:1 (foroneunit of inputsignal
level you get one unit of signal output level; which means no
compression is applied) and up to Infinite:1. At 9'clock, the
controlcorrespondsto2:1ratio‐amild,musicalandveryuseful
compression, which delicately evens out signal level jumps. At
12'clock it corresponds to 4:1 ratio‐usuallysetwhenmore
compression feel is desirable, like when playing arpegiated
chords. At3'clockitcorrespondsto10:1 ratio‐arather
aggressive compression, which may be desirable when note
sustainisneeded,oracountrystylemusicisplayed.After20dB
amount of compression, the amplitude reduction tends to
behave like Inf:1 ratio, which corresponds to a Limiting effect.
Whenusedaslimiter,useThresholdcontroltosetthelevelafter
whichcompressorwillactlikealimiter,andsetRatioabove10:1.
Keepinmindthatthemorecompressionisapplied,the more
make‐upgain isneeded,which resultsinanormalincreaseof
noise. At Inf:1 ratio, the soundwill be squished quite a lot. At
this ratio, a lot of make‐up gain is needed to compensate the
reduction in volume. However, when high ratios are used in
conjunction with dry/wet mix control, the sound becomes very
pleasant and a lot of its initial dynamic is recovered while still
keepingthepeaksonhold.Thisisaknownstudiotrick,named
parallelcompressionortheNewYorkcompressionstyle.
3. SENSETHRESHOLD‐Thiscontrolsetsthesignallevelafterwhich
compression is applied. Compression is only applied to the
portion of signal that goes above the threshold.TheSENSE
switchhastwopre‐setthresholdlevels.TheLOsetting(switch
down) is fixed at ‐40dBu and is suitable even for weakest
instrument's signal. In this setting, the compressor kicks in
immediately. The HIsettingcanbesetbytheuserwiththe
insidetrimmer, in a rangefrom ‐40dBu andupto+10dBu. This
rangecanbeusedtoaccommodatehigher output instruments.
Bydefault,theHIsettingoftheSENSEswitchwaspresetat‐
30dBu. This is a very powerful control,becauseitallowsthe
compressiontoaffectonlyhigherstrokesofsignal,whileleaving
themeatandboneofaudiountouched.Thisalsotranslatesinto
a greater sound transparency and an increase in output level,
makingsomemake‐upgain(ormixingDry/Wetsignals)
unnecessary, which, in turn, reduces amplification noise at the
output.
4. MAKE‐UP GAIN‐Becausecompressionmeansloweringthe
output signal, some recovery gain is needed, to match output
with input level. The more compression is applied(higher
compressionratio), themorerecoverygainhastobedialedin
tocompensate.Beawareofthefactthatathighercompression
ratios,therecoverycircuitmustre‐amplifyaverylowsignaland
withamplification,morenoiseisintroduced.To overcomethis,
westronglyadviseusingThreshold,settinglowercompression
Ratios.Ultimately,blendinsomedrysignalwiththeMixcontrol.
However,itmakesnosensetoovercompressasignalatlow
thresholdsjusttorecoveritsgainafterward,andincrease
outputnoiseresultedfromamplification.


CIQ‐1COMPIQMINIONEPROCOMPRESSORPEDAL
FORGUITAR&BASS
MANUAL
Lastmodified:April10,2020
Pleasecheckanddownloadlatestmanual!
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Designed&HandMadeinRomania/EU
ThankyouforusingBECOSproducts!
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www.becosfx.com
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5. DRY/WETMIX‐Thiscontrolactslikeanaudiomixer,whereyou
canblendinputcleansignalwiththeoutputcompressedsignal.
Thishelpsrestoresometransientsorsomesquishedfrequencies
which are less perceived by ear, because they are reduced to
lower level, after compression. In the middle, the mix is 50‐50.
Suchasettingwashesoutalotofcompressionfeel,andmake‐
up gain must be dialed in quite a bit, to preserve the dynamic
processingfeeling.Asalways,youcompromisetransparencyfor
abitofnoiseincompression,butthatislessnoticeableinamix,
because dry signal is not amplified. The dry signal alone is a
perfect replication of the input signal. When set to 100% dry,
CompIQMINIONEactslikeabuffer.
6. COMPRESSIONKNEE–ThefixedHardKneecompressiontypeis
strongerandmoreevidentastheratioisincreased.Theearwill
perceiveitsdynamicprocessingeasily.Oncesignalgetsabove
threshold,compressionkicksinwithasharpercorner,andwith
highercompressionratiositmakesthelimitingeffectobvious‐a
desirablesettingforchick'n'pickinorcountryplayingstyle.With
lowerratios,itprovidesagoodandmusicalcompressioneffect.
UsetheMixtrimmertoblendinsomedrysignalforafineeffect
balancing.
7. COMPRESSION DISPLAY‐A5‐LEDdisplaytakesprecise
information from the RMS‐level sensor and compiles a visual
feedbackfortheamountofcompressionappliedtoinputsignal
thatgoesabovethethreshold.Thevisualindicationiscalibrated
for‐20dBu(77.5mV)inputreferencesignallevel,suitabletoa
wide range of electric instrument pickups.Thedisplayisvery
precise, but is also totally related to input audio signal level,
which is highly dynamic by nature and may vary wildly from
calibratedreferencewhenusingdifferentsources.Evenatlowto
mid Ratios, if audio input level is higher, the display can peak
Yellow or Red color. Red color does not indicate anything
wrong!Thismayhappenfrequentlyifyouhavehighinputsignal
levels, lower Threshold and higher Ratio. Use only your ear to
attainthedesiredcompressioneffect!
8. AUTO DYNAMIC TIMING ‐ Any dynamic signal processing
requiresaprecisetimingoftheAttackandReleaseoftheeffect.
CompIQ MINI One uses a responsive Auto Adjusting Timing
Circuit,whichadaptstoplayingdynamics.Shortandpercussive
transientsarehandledwithfastertimings,whilelonger,steady
signals benefit from slower timings. The circuit responds
dynamically to your playing and is very fast in changing these
timings. Attack and Release timings are applied softly, which
makes this kind of processing very musical. A manual set of
Attack and Release would hardly match the quality of auto
timing of this circuit!The Timings are approximately 10‐15ms
for attack time and 200‐220ms for release time. Attack time
meansthetimeittakesforthemaximumcompressiontoreach
thesetamount.Releasetimemeansthetimeittakesforthe
compressiontoreturntonormal(input)audiolevel.
Compressorsareusuallyplacedrightafteraninstrument,firstinthe
signalchain.Thisisanarbitraryconvention.Itsplacementdepends
onwhatyou'retryingtoachieve.Forinstance,ifacompressorisset
lastinthe FXloop of anamplifier, it mayact likea masteringtool.
The combination of Ratio, Threshold, Make‐up Gain and Dry/Wet
MixmanualcontrolsalongwiththeDynamicTiming,makesthistiny
littlepedalamightyweaponofdynamicprocessing.Youwillsimply
notgoingtofindthismanyfeaturesandthisqualityinsuchapedal
formfactor,anywhere.Youmayalsouseitwithvocalsorother
stringed instruments like acoustic guitars, violins, cellos, orbrass
instrumentsliketrumpets.
11. DCPOWERCONNECTOR‐ Use only good filtered power
supplies,withavoltageof9‐12VDC,withcenternegative
polarity.UseaDCPowerPlugØ5.1/2.1mm,withabarrellonger
than12mm.
10. OUTPUT‐Fromhereyouwillsendthecompressedsignaltothe
nexteffectpedal,oranamplifier's input, or to theRETURNFX‐
loopofanamplifier.Outputsignalcanalsoberecordeddirectly
intoaHi‐Zinterfaceinput.Whennotengaged(orpowered),the
pedalisinTrueBypass.
9. INPUT‐ Here you will connect either an instrument directly, or
theoutputofanothereffectorevenamicrophonepreamp,ora
signaltakenfromtheamplifier'sSENDFX‐loop.
LASTWORD
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