Drawmer ADX 100 User manual

USER’S GUIDE
ADX 100
Frequency Conscious Gating, Compression,
Limiting, and Expansion
™
®
Plug-in for Mackie Digital Mixers
TM
™

2
Drawmer ADX-100
Iconography
“Mackie” and the “Running Man” figure are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Mackie Designs Inc. All other brand
names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of
their respective holders, and are hereby acknowledged.
Part No. 820-253-00 Rev. A 03/2001
© 2001 Mackie Designs Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This icon identifies a description of how to
perform an action with the mouse.
This icon identifies a description of how to
perform an action from the console.
This icon will lead you to some further
explanations of features and practical tips.
This icon marks information which is very
important, so please make sure you have a read.

3
User’s Guide
Note: Any future revisions of this guide will be available for
viewing and downloading from our website: www.mackie.com.
Contents
Iconography ----------------------------------------------------------------- 2
Introduction---------------------------------------------------------
About Drawmer Advanced Dynamics ----------------------------------
About the D8B UFX Card -------------------------------------------------
About the Drawmer ADX-100 Plug-in -----------------------------------5
Let’s Get Started ---------------------------------------------------6
Requirements --------------------------------------------------------------- 6
Authorizing the Plug-in --------------------------------------------------- 6
Unlock Procedure ---------------------------------------------------------- 7
Configuring the Plug-in --------------------------------------------------- 8
Using the ADX-100 plug-in-------------------------------------- 10
Front Panel Overview ---------------------------------------------------- 10
Global Controls ------------------------------------------------------------ 11
Noise Gate -------------------------------------------------------------------13
Expander -------------------------------------------------------------------- 17
Compressor/Limiter ----------------------------------------------------- 19
Saving, Loading and Resetting a Preset ------------------------------ 22
Automation and Snapshot Control --------------------------- 25
Dynamic Real Time ------------------------------------------------------- 25
Dynamic Off-line --------------------------------------------------------- 25
FX Routing --------------------------------------------------------- 26
The Plug-in Configuration Window ----------------------------------- 26
Stereo Plug-in Routing--------------------------------------------------- 27
Inserting a Plug-in into a Channel ------------------------------------- 28
Using an Aux Send with a Plug-in -------------------------------------- 29
Send the Input Signal to the Aux Bus --------------------------------- 29
Pre-Fader and Post-Fader Auxiliary Sends --------------------------- 30
The FX Return Channel ---------------------------------------------------31

Drawmer ADX-100
Introduction
Thank you for purchasing the Drawmer ADX-100 plug-in. It is
one of the exciting new family of 24-bit plug-ins for the D8B,
specifically designed for the new Mackie Universal Effects (UFX)
card.
The ADX-100 plug-in utilizes 24-bit digital processing power to
create a multitude of classic Drawmer dynamic effects for the
D8B, the first mixing console in the world to incorporate
Drawmer dynamics.
About Drawmer Advanced Dynamics
The name Drawmer is synonymous with professional signal
processing in recording studio, broadcast, and live sound
reinforcement environments. The company, which is based in
Yorkshire, England was founded by Ivor Drawmer in 1981. With
twenty years of experience designing dynamics processors, Ivor
Drawmer's products are world renowned among mastering
engineers and anyone with an appetite for high-quality noise
gates and compressors.
About the D8B UFX Card
The UFX card provides robust processing power for computation-
heavy plug-ins. The UFX card is a 4-in/4-out architecture, which
means it can support four mono, two mono and one stereo, or
two stereo sends simultaneously. Up to four UFX cards can be
installed in the D8B, allowing up to sixteen simultaneous single-
channel effects, eight stereo plug-ins, or combinations thereof.
Note: It is recommended that you increase the D8B’s memory if you install
more than one UFX card. Memory upgrade instructions are supplied with each
card.

5
User’s Guide
About the Drawmer ADX-100 Plug-in
The ADX-100 includes Drawmer’s industry-standard frequency
conscious gating, expander, and compressor/limiter. Use the
plug-in during tracking and it may very likely be the only effect
you will use regularly between the microphone and the recording
medium. This advanced dynamics processor will particularly
appeal to engineers recording highly dynamic instruments such
as a real drum kit. The ADX-100 is a stereo in/stereo out plug-
in. Gate triggering can utilize either mono or stereo outputs. The
ADX-100 can be easily inserted before the D8B’s master outs for
stereo program mastering.
The ADX-100 plug-in will make the D8B an even more powerful
modern music production tool.

6
Drawmer ADX-100
Requirements
• One or more Mackie UFX cards
• Mackie Real Time OS 3.0 Software
• Plug-in Software
We will assume you have successfully installed a Mackie UFX
card and Mackie Real Time OS 3.0 software upgrade. If you have
encountered problems with the installation of hardware or
software please see their associated user guides or contact
Mackie support (www.mackie.com).
Authorizing the Plug-in
If you have D8B v 3.0 b206 or greater, the plug-in is already
installed on the D8B hard drive, however an authorized unlock
code must be entered to unlock the plug-in for normal operation.
1234-5167-89D1
Let’s Get Started
An Unlocked
plug-in
D8B SETUP screen’s
LICENSING window
D8B Electronic Serial Number (ESN)
AUTHORIZE
LICENSING

7
User’s Guide
Unlock Procedure
1. Locate your D8B’s Electronic Serial Number (ESN). This
is displayed at the bottom of the Licensing window
which is accessed from the Setup screen. The 12-digit
ESN is made from numbers 0–9 and letters A–F. It is
unique to the D8B processor, and is not the serial
number label on the rear of the control surface or CPU
chassis.
2. You will also need your plug-in’s serial number which is
printed on the floppy disk label.
3. To obtain the unlock code, have the ESN and plug-in
serial number ready. Then you have two options:
• Log on to the Mackie plug-in authorization web page:
(http://www.mackie.com/d8bauthorize.htm)
or
• Telephone Mackie Tech Support at 800-258-6883.
4. When you have obtained an unlock code, open the D8B
Setup window, and click Licensing.
5. With your plug-in highlighted in the Licensing window,
click Authorize, and enter your unlock code in the
UNLOCK CODE box. Click Enter, and enjoy your newly
expanded console.

8
Drawmer ADX-100
Configuring the Plug-in
After booting the D8B, you must assign the plug-in to a UFX
card. See “FX Routing” on page 26 for more details.
Assign the Plug-in to a UFX card
1. Click the Plugins menu and select
Plugins, (or Ctrl+P on the
keyboard).
2. In the Plugin
Configuration window,
locate the card slot
that contains the UFX
card you wish to assign
to.
3. In the MODE column,
click the Mono/Stereo
toggle button and set it
to STEREO.
4. In the PLUGIN column,
select Drawmer Dynamics from the drop-down menu.
Note: A plug-in can also be loaded from the Setup section on the console.

9
User’s Guide
Removing the Plug-in
1. Select none from the associated Plugin
drop-down assignment menu.
2. Click OK in the Alert dialog box.
Note: A plug-in can also be deleted
from the Setup section on the console.
Assign an Input Source to the plug-in
• Click the plug-in’s INPUT menu button to select an input
source. In the example below, we have chosen the Aux 5
Bus as the input to the plug-in installed in slot 5.
When a plug-in is fed from
an aux bus, its output
appears on the FX Return
channels (faders in the
EFFECTS bank). The return
channel is determined by the
slot number and whether the
effect output is mono or
stereo. For example, a
reverb with a mono input
and stereo output that is
installed in Slot 5 has its
outputs on FX 5 and FX 6.
Note: The default state for
all FX channels is MUTE.
You won’t hear the effect
until you unmute its FX
return channel(s).
A plug-in can also receive its input from a channel pre- or post-
DSP insert or the main stereo left and right Bus insert. When a
plug-in is inserted “in line” in this manner, its output is routed
directly back into the channel. See “FX Routing” on page 26 for
more details, especially in regards to stereo routing.

10
Drawmer ADX-100
Using the ADX-100 plug-in
Front Panel Overview
The ADX-100 has four main sections:
Global Controls (see page 11)
Noise Gate (see page 13)
Expander (see page 17)
Compressor/Limiter (see page 19)
Global Controls
Noise Gate Compressor/
Limiter
Expander
Toggle Display