D&R ST1600 User manual

??sT
1600,1
USERMANUAL

ST 16()O
SERlES
INTRODUCT
ION
The D e R ST 1600 series master recordlng consoles
have been des
i
gned to be the mos
t technoIogica| |
y
sophisticated, cost'effective, flexible and englneer-
oriented production recordlng console.
The cost-effective part of the console has been
realised:
(1) By not uslng a very expenslve often troublesome
connector module construction, but using our
welI known 8-channel in/output construction on
one single front panel.
(2) To choose the most advanced american way of console
set up in which channel and group sections are
consoI idatcd Into one Input/0utput channe| .
(31 By not uslng the very cxpenslve telephone goldplated
patchbays, but to construct our ohrn
patchbay.
(4) To use the latest techniques ln lntegrated clrcult
des'lgn. lt allows a rcductl'on ln thc number of
components (so: increas'lng rellablItty and rcduclng
costs, an i'ncreas'ed
sophls'tlcatlon of clrcult deslgn
and an overal I performance whlch ls unl lkely to be
signlflcantly bettered for many years).
STANDARDFEATURES
OF THE CONSOLE
- 0n each channel two parametrlc overlapplng
equa
I I
sers wlth constant A.
- 0verload l'ndlcators wl
th memorydevice on every
channe
| .
- Compact slze and grouplng of functlons to al low a
complete mlx to be madewlthout the need to movs from
the centrel Ine of thc console.
- Hlghly loglcal lay-out and clearly label led
functlons.
- Dellvered ready for I
nstant Instal latlon wl th
hlgh'quallty Amphenol multlway plugs and sockets.
The plugs are supplled ln advance.
- Performance spec
If Icat lon equt I to or better
than those of any other deslgn ln thls price.
COilFIGURATION
The console fol lows amerlcan practice ln whlch
channel and group sectlons are consol ldated Into one
Input/0utput channel . Thls configuratlon has several
I
nherent advantages:
- Tlme spent transferrlng the console between the
varlous modes can be almost cl tmlnated.
- Yhcn cheng
Ing from rGcordlng to ovcrdubbIng, cue
systems remaln avrtlablc wlthout eny lcvcl modlficatlon. (lI

ST 15OO SERIES
- Permanent fader and cue control al lows an easy
setting up to the last remix state without having
to repatch and time consuming resetting of al I the
control s.
- There is much le ss waste of space and functions,
many of which are essential ly dupl icated in the
rrEuropean" conf i
gurat ion.
A great deal of thought and design detai I has gone
into the lay-out, designation of function and
ergonomi
cs of the conso I e.
PHYS
ICAL DESCRI PT
I
ON
The gg!:g!g is extremel y compact, bui l t on bol ted
aluminlum and wood, finished wlth mahagony. lt ls
suppl ied complete with producers table and mounted on
rigid steel legs.
Al I connections are made using mul
tipin Amphenol
connectors; the male connectors are supplled ln advance
for prewi rlng. lnstal latlon ls then a matter of mlnutes.
The dggign has been consol ldated into three basic
modules, the Input/0utput module, the master module
and the patchbay.
48 Volts Phantom powering for capacitor microphones
is standard.
The D s R consoles are butlt to the highest standards,
using high qual lty components, glass flbre prlnted
clrcult boards, selected lntegrated ctrcults and f lrst
qual lty and rel lable swltches
Al I components are mounted dlrectly to the prlnted
circuit boards whlch are mounted to the control comPonents'
so avoldlng al I the trouble associated wfth cheap
plug-in systems.
Al I the lnput/output channel
s are wi red directly to
each other and to the master module. Separate pow'er
suppl ies for the integrated circuits, leds, Phantome
powerlng and reed relays are taklng care of cl lck-free
functioning.
Al I the power suppl ies are of a well-proven design,
wel I smoothed and short ct rcuI
t protected.
(2)

ST 16OC SERIES
GENERAL
FEATURES
AND EASE OF USE
Mention has been made earl ier of the ergonomic
aspects of the console design. The guiding principle
has been to examine each of the functions a recording
engineer performs and to design the console to help
as much as poss i b
I
e wl th each of them.
The console has basically three major states,
these are normal ly:
- reco rd
- rep I
ay
/ sync.
- rem
i
x
RECORD
Al I channels are set to accept mlc or I ine level
slgnals. The channel mode select ls set to channel
or group. Ful I equal tsation ls aval lable, stereo
headphones cue and 4 aux sends, al I pF€, mute or
post swi tchabl €.
other channels or directly to the
Rout i
ng to
master is selected by the rotery routing control s.
The multltrack pot feeds. the multltrack machlne
by way of the patchbay, and VU-meters are connected
post patchbay to the mul
titrack inputs.
The solo switch gives the abll ity to I isten to
a selected channel in lsolation wlthout disturblng
cue sends or other maIn channel lnputs.
The mute swltch performs both on the mul
tl track
output and main channel slgnal path so no signal ls
coming out of the channel however the solo switch
can stlll be actlvated.
The channe
I fader sets the Ievel for monItor I
ng
Purposes.
REPLAY
/ SYNC.
The only thing to do is
mode selector to sync of
channel or to switch the i
start already building up
to $wi'tch the channel
the already recorded multltrack
nF,ut selector to remix to
the remix state.
All cues are keeplng the same level neither the
panpot needs a I
terat Ion nor the channeI fader. The
rotary routlng controls are set to the mHster. The
channel can also be set into the sync. mode by means
of a reed relay, whlch ls remote control led ln the
master module, when many channels are to be recgrded
at the same tlme. (3)

ST 16OO SERIES
REM
IX
Al I the i
nput sel ectors are set to remlx and chanhel
mode selectors to channel.
Whenno subgroupl ng Is necessary the rotary rout Ing
control s are selected to l'{aster.
REI{IX + RECORD
A mixing sesslon very often involves overdubs as
wel I el ther before the remix ls started or because
of a sudden change of mlnd by the producer In the
mtddle of a sesslon. ln such a ca3e the console has
to be changed from remlx to record state and back
again
ilost of the already recorded channels are In the
sync. mode on the channe
Is. The s
Ituat Ion I
s a3
follows:
- Connect the artist3 microphone to the mlc Input
of the overdub channel.
- Set the channel modc aelector on channel, and feed
the multltrack machlne 6y way of the multltrack
level control.
- Actlvate the sync. remote swltch of the sync. re?9
relays tn the master module and the arti st as welI
as the englneer can I lltcn to thc new lncomlng
slgnal. (Almost all to-days multltrack' recordcrr
are glvlng the tnput stgnal at the outPut when not
I
n rep
Iay or sync. modc)-.
- As soon as the multltrack machlne starts lt wlll
glve the sync. slgnal untlll the point 9f drop-ln,
it that point the machlnc glves - when lt qoel Into.
record - lts Input slgnal at the output and thc artlst
and englneer can monltor the new recordcd slgnal'-
- When
the record button ls released the taPe slgnal
comes out of thc mon
Itor and cue aga
I
n unt I I I the
next drop- |n Pol
nt.
Another !{ay to do lt I
s es f
ol lows:
- Whenthe mul
tl track machlne only glvcs the replay
or sync. at its outPut termlnals, and not the
Input slgnal.
- Coirnect ifre artlst to a spere channel, glve thc artl3t
h
I
s own cue slgna
I and the eng
lneer hl s moni tor
signal, and route thc new slgnal to thc overdub
chinnei whlch has to be ln the group mode.
- llu
It I
track Ievcl has to be set correct I
y by the
multltrack level control.
(4)

sr 1600 sERlEs
- The remote sync. switch has to be actlvated, and the
sync. s
i
gna
I comes on the cue and the mon
i tor ing I
n
the overdub channel.
- As soon as the machlne goes into the record state
It wlll record the new slgnal until the record
button is released and the sync. slg.nal comes again
on the cue and mon
i toring unt i I the next drop- In
polnt.
This way of making overdubs has the advantage
that the artlst can monltor himself whlle the multl-
track machine is in the sYnc. mode.
When thls set-up ls used with a multitrack machlne
that always glves lts lnput rlgnal at the output when
not In the replay/ sfnc. mode, a r i se of 3 dB In cue
level ls lnevltable Eecause the machlne also glves
the nelt to be recorded lnput slgnal in thc cue system.
The only way to overcome this ls to change the
muIt i track mach
Ine or to turn the Ieve
I of the cuc
down on the sPare channel at the momentof drop-in.
@:At I the other channe
I
s have been comp
I
ete I
y unaffected
there ls no danger of chang€3, mlstakes or the feel Ing
that the remlx has been altered ln some
way.
SUBGROUP
I
NG
0n occasion it
one or two busses
a g
roup .
To do thls the D 6 R console has the
of patchfree audio subgrouPing. uni
que f ac I I I tY
Whenthe rotary rout lng control s are 3et to group
the channel Is freed from thc master stereo busses,
and can be routed to any of the 16 grouP amplifiers
situated ln the flrst l6 channels In stereo or mono.
The fader on each channel that has been routed to
in this Dray
becomes
a subgroup fader when the channel
mode selector is set ln the group state and the rotary/
routing controls to master. Whcn lt ls desl rable to
subgroip this subgroup agaln tt ls only necessary to
f rec ttrt outputs -gain f rom.the stereomaster busses and
to process the slgnal further
It is also possible to use the grouP ampllflcrs
completely tsoiated from the channel on whlch i t ls
located, tire output of the ErouP amps are connected to
the patchbay ag well, Whenthls 9ro,uP
outPut ls patched
is desirahle to subgroup inPuts onto
to process the sound further as
(5)

sr 1600 sERtEs
into the I ine amp of a spare channel or patched
directly to the multitrack inputs, you can group
any number of channels anywhere in the console.
This allows enormous flexlbllity of controll
The main features of the desk and its advantages
should by now be clear.
0n the next pages the individual modules are
described ln detail. Their lay-outs make them largely
self explanatory as can be seen from the i I lustratlons
but there are a number of poi nts that deserve expans lon.
INPUTSECT
ION
A contlnuously verlrblc mlc galn control ls provlded
to al low exact sterco fadcr I lne-up cltmlnatlng
logarlthmtc crrors. A conttnuous I lnc galn control
al lows the matchlng of non strndard Input dcvlccs
and resculng of mlgrccordcd multltracks.
The lnput to the channel ls control led by a rteppcd
swl
tch allowlng connecti'on to a mlcrophone, I lne devlce
o
r tape/ sync. retu rn .
The mlc preampl
lfier wil I accept slgnals of 0 dBm
with no pad in the clrcult and del lver them at +22 dBm
wi th less than 0,1 t til distortion typlcal. A swltchable
20 dB pad is provlded. for aEnormally hlgh inputs a3 well
as a phase reverse switch.
The preampl lfler noise figure, measured wlth a
standard 200 ohm tnput load, is -127,5 dB (measured
true RllS 20 Hz - 20,000 Flz).
The nomina
I output I
eve
I is -5 dBm. The hcadroom of
the preampl
lfler ls 28 dB above -6 dBm; more than
enough fn thls crltlcal stage.
(6)

ST 16OO
SERIES
EQUAL
ISER
The module incorporates a highly sophisticated
2 band parametri c equal i ser as wel I as the standard
high and low frequency controls of pr.oven design.
The high frequencY control gives a continuously
variable boost or cul of 18 dB at 15 Khz (other
frequencies optional) with a shelving curve.
The mi
d hi gh Parametr
ic equa
I i
ser has a range
of 300 to 10,600 hz and the mtd-low equal lser 80 hz
to 1600 hz.
These two sweeP equa
I i
the mid band in the tone
Continuously variable frequency se'lection and
boost or cut of 18 dB provides proper equal i sation
for a
Imost anY desI
red effec t .
The low f requency control gives a cont
variable boost or cut of 18 dB at 50 hz w
shelving curve (other f requencies optiona
The equal isation can range from t!e most gentle
to the aimost equivalent of notch f ilters. lt can
even he used to provlde flanging effects lndependentl:y
on every channel of the console.
An equal iser on
/of f sw'ltch i s pr:ovi ded to bypass
the equal iser clrcuit. The equal isgr ls ofan unity gain
design, del lverlng the best posstEle noi se and headroom
performance.
Headroom above nominal level is 28 dB and nolse
is below -100 dB tY'Plcal.
CHANNEL
STATUS
The channel mode sel ectorq harethree 'states:
(l) Channel
Ti.TFT; sta te the whoI
e channe
I ac
ts as a norma
l'
channe
I .
(z) Svnc.
ln this state
shritch is only
signal outPut
(3) Group
n this state
n circuit to
s coming
from
sers are f ul ly overlaPPing
controle stage.
nuous
I
y
th a
).
every'th i ng s
i tua ted EeI
ow th i s
ln clrcuit to Process the sYnc.
of the multitrack machi'ne.
everything situated below is onlY
process the si'gnal further which
the output of the group amplif iers. (7')

sr 1600sERtEs
CUES
There are six Cue sends, allowing up to four
separate foldback mixes or four echo sends at once.
Stereo cue Is a permanent stereo headphones feed
with panning.
Al I cues are swi tchable pre or post wi th a mute
state in the mlddle.
ROUTING
Whenthe two rotary rout Ing swltches are I
n the
master posltion the slgnal, coming from the pan-pot
goes dl rectly to the master stereo busses.
t{hen I
t ls necessary to subgroup the s
Ignal
It ls only necessary to swttch the routlng controls
to the des i red subgroup.
The Pan-pot pans the slgnal between any odd
numbered and any even numbered busses choosen by
the rout i ng switches.
Both routing swltches have a mute state.
I,1
ULTITRACKS
The ilultitrack level pot feeds the multitrack
machlne wl th a signal comtng from the channel mode
selector. lt is wired to the patchbay and post-patchbay
. it ls connected to the corresponding multitrack
Input on the multipo.le and VU meter.
l,lhen.it is necessary to repatch the multitrack lnput
to another channel or group output the correspond ing
VU meter goes with it.
For ease of use the muIt i track VU meter onI
y reads
the lnput stgnal and not the output signal comlng
from the multitrack because thls level doesnrt need
control again. l,lostly it is correctly recorded and
it only is confusing.
(8)

SOLO
f. MUTE
The solo switch gives the abi lity ro listen
on wi thout
a selected channel in isolati
sturbing any signal processing.
most functlons are immediately
the illustrations. The f iner points
below.
to
di The mute swi tch performs on both the mul
ti track
output and channel fader, so no signal is further
processed only the solo swi tch can sti I I be
activated.
OVERLOAD
The overload indicator is of an digital design
The un
i t incorporates a short term peittrot a
faci I i ty, so that even very fast peaks actuate It
Because of these features one can be perfectly
confident that there is no posstbl I i ty of an
overload at any point in the module.
CHANNEL
FADER
The channel fader is a 100 mm carbon track
aud
iolog instrument with a nlce feel tn hand
when it ls moved along tts precisely lndicated
dB scale.
I'IASTERPANEL
0nce aga
in
aPparent from
are exp I
a
I
ned
l.{as
ter Cue Aux g
roup sends
These controls take care of overall level
gdjustment of the stereo headphones cue and the
4 aux sends.
The solo swl tch enab
Ies aud
lo and vI
suaI
control of the slgnal. The four aux master controls
have the I r own VU meter i ng.
The Program sw.itch assoctated wi th the Cue
master control s enables the enqlneer to interrupt
the normal cue mlx and to replace it with the
stereo mix. Thts ls useful when a separare cue mix
is not needed. lt is .rlso very practical to glve the
mus
icians the complete control room monitor mix after
recordlng or dubbing. So the timespent runnirrg from
studio to control room is avolded wlth thls fiature.
(g)