Overstayer 8755DS User manual
MODULAR CHANNEL
STEREO MODEL 8755DS
MODULAR CHANNEL
STEREO MODEL 8755DM
REFERENCE
v2.1
GETTING STARTED
REGISTER YOUR PRODUCT AT:
HTTP://OVERSTAYERAUDIO.COM/REGISTER
If you have any problems or questions, please contact us:
(US) 323.628.7067
MADE IN LOS ANGELES, CA USA
Copyright © 2018, Overstayer Recording Equipment, Inc..
All rights reserved. All features and specifications are subject to change without notice.
MODULAR CHANNEL 8755DS/8755DM
SAFETY AND INSTALLATION
Installation
1. Please unplug the adaptor from AC power and verify the adaptor specifications match
the voltage and current requirements of the equipment before attaching the DC
adaptor plug.
2. Keep the linkage between the adaptor and its power cord secured tightly, and verify the
DC plug is fully inserted into the jack on the equipment.
3. Protect the power cord from being trodden on, pinched, crushed or squashed.
4. Use only an approved power cord, and do not defeat the safety grounding pin which
must be connected to earth at all times. Do not use a ground lift.
5. An approved power cord should meet or exceed the specifications of Part # SVT,
3G×18AWG or Part # H03VV-F, 3G×0.75mm2.
6. Maintain proper ventilation for the unit in use to prevent it from overheating. Do not
install near any heat source or device that produces heat.
7. When not in use, disconnect the equipment from power supply, and power supply
from the wall to avoid damage by voltage peaks or lightning strike. Disconnect the
power source during any electrical storms.
Warning / Caution !!
1. Risk of electrical shock. All failures should be examined by a qualified technician.
Please do not remove the case of the adaptor under any circumstances!
2. Risk of fire or electrical shock. The openings should be protected from foreign objects
and/or dripping liquids.
3. Using the wrong DC plug or forcing a DC plug into an electronic device may damage the
device or cause a malfunction.
4. Adaptors should be placed on a reliable surface. A drop or fall could cause damage.
5. Do not use or install in places with high moisture or near water.
6. Do not use or install in places with high ambient temperature or near fire source.
7. Disconnect the unit from the AC power before cleaning. Do not use any liquid or
aerosol.
Please contact your local qualified recyclers when you want to dispose of this product.
Copyright © 2018, Overstayer Recording Equipment, Inc..
All rights reserved. All features and specifications are subject to change without notice.
SIGNAL FLOW
The 8755D is a stereo channel with filters, eq, compression, and harmonics stages throughout,
with sophisticated routing and a series/parallel mixer matrix. High quality components and
circuitry are used throughout. Though the unit can get extreme, the design aesthetic is that of
a console in that it is capable of handling and maintaining the fidelity of a full mix through the
unit.
The Modular Channel, and analog gear in general have a bit of chaos in them, which is why we
love them and build them! Being a stereo unit, we trim for better than 1dB matching through a
wide range of settings, but deviations are inevitable in certain circumstances (high filter
resonance for instance). Generally these are more apparent visually on a meter than audibly.
The Modular Channel is as much an instrument as a classic channel. It has several gain stages
that are collectively capable of massive amounts of gain. High and low frequency instability
and noise are possible especially at high gain settings, so be aware to keep headphone and
speaker levels in check at all times.
Features
●Stereo signal path
●Balanced line inputs and outputs, high impedance unbalanced instrument inputs
●Wide ranging high and low pass filters that resonate to full oscillation
●EQ featuring high and low shelves with 3 frequencies each and a fully sweepable
proportional Q mid range band
●VCA compressor with peak and RMS detectors, 3 position attack and release controls,
BEHAVIOR control, sidechain high pass filter, and external sidechain input
●Independent harmonics stages, engage-able in any combination
Copyright © 2018, Overstayer Recording Equipment, Inc..
All rights reserved. All features and specifications are subject to change without notice.
●Mixer matrix with DRY/EQ, COMPRESSOR, and full wet path SATURATED faders with
mute switches allow for series and parallel routing and composited mixing
FRONT PANEL
INPUT SECTION
GAIN LEFT/GAIN RIGHT controls - Independent controls set the gain of the discrete input
amp before the stereo INPUT control. These controls are active on instrument, mic, Line 2 and
line-to-pre inputs. They are not active on the Line 1 input.
POL LEFT/POL RIGHT switches - Sets the polarity of the microphone and line 2 input signals.
Default/unchanged position is down. Engaging will invert the polarity of the signal.
INST/PRE/LINE switch (8755DS version) - Selects the input signal. Selecting PRE, the LINE
input signal is fed through the preamps. This allows the balanced line input to be controlled
(and driven) with the GAIN controls at the front of the signal path.
INST/MIC/LINE 1 switch (8755DM version) - Selects the input signal, INST and MIC signals
are fed through the preamps, so the GAIN controls are active.
MIC-20/MIC/LINE 2 switch (8755DM version) - This switch only has effect when ‘MIC’ is
selected on the input toggle
Up - MIC input, -20dB pad engaged
Mid - MIC input, no pad
Copyright © 2018, Overstayer Recording Equipment, Inc..
All rights reserved. All features and specifications are subject to change without notice.
Down - LINE 2 input feeds the transformers (LINE IN 2 L, LINE IN 2 R on rear panel). This
allows a balanced line input to be controlled (and driven) with the GAIN controls at the front of
the signal path.
PHANT switch - Engages phantom power to the mic inputs.
Note: Phantom power can damage certain microphones, and should only be used with
microphones that require it, so please consult your microphone manufacturer’s
literature before engaging phantom power. Phantom power is only engaged at the MIC
IN jacks. Please turn ON phantom power after all connections have been made, and
please turn OFF phantom power power and wait a second before any connections are
removed.
8755DM Input Switching
Three switches are in play when selecting an input, the INST/MIC/LINE 1 switch, the
MIC-20/MIC/LINE 2 switch, and the ‘floating switch’ underneath bandwidth control. For MIC
and LINE 2 inputs to work, the floating switch has to be in the LEFT/OFF position.
LINE IN 1 : LINE IN 1 is active, MIC IN feeds PREAMP
OUT. The MIC-20/MIC/LINE 2 switch determines what
signal feeds PREAMP OUT unless INST is selected,
which only allows INST to feed PREAMP OUT.
As shown, MIC feeds PREAMP OUT.
MIC IN : MIC IN is active, MIC in feeds preamp out.
Useful for capturing a dry signal from the preamp, as
well as the processed signal from the main LINE OUT.
MIC IN -20 : MIC IN is active with a -20dB pad before
the transformer. MIC IN -20 feeds PREAMP OUT.
LINE 2 IN : LINE 2 is active and fed into the mic
preamp input transformer, LINE 2 feeds PREAMP OUT.
INSTRUMENT IN : INST IN is active, INSTRUMENT IN
feeds PREAMP OUT.
Copyright © 2018, Overstayer Recording Equipment, Inc..
All rights reserved. All features and specifications are subject to change without notice.
LINE 1 TO PREAMP: LINE 1 is active, but routed through the mic preamp, post-transformer.
LINE 1 signal is available on PREAMP OUT.
INPUT control - Sets the level of the input signal. 5 is unity.
FILT switch - Engages the filter circuit into the main/SAT signal path.
EQ switch - Engages the equalizer circuit into the main/SAT signal path.
COMP switch - Engages the compressor circuit into the main/SAT signal path.
FILTERS
HPF PEAK control - Resonance control for the high pass filter, will self oscillate at settings >8.
HIGH PASS Hz control - Sets the frequency of the high pass filter.
LPF PEAK control - Resonance control for the low pass filter, will self oscillate at settings >8.
LOW PASS KHz control - Sets the frequency of the low pass filter.
FLOATING switch (8755DM version) - This switch only has effect when ‘MIC’ is selected
on the input toggle. Routes the balanced line input through the preamplifiers directly (not
through the transformers). This also allows a balanced line input to be controlled (and driven)
with the GAIN controls at the front of the signal path. Due to the design, the bypass signal
has to come from after the preamplifiers, so if the GAIN controls are high, when
entering bypass mode the levels can be extremely high.
CURVE switch - Curve shapes the distortion response of the unit, the default mode being on
(toggle right, LED on). This allows the power of the lower fundamentals to be maintained, but
there are instances where more distortion is desired in the low end, in which case CURVE off
may be more suitable.
Copyright © 2018, Overstayer Recording Equipment, Inc..
All rights reserved. All features and specifications are subject to change without notice.
EQUALIZER
INSERT switch - Engages the external insert send and return, which is after the compressor
and before the DRIVE. The send is always active, and return is enabled with the switch. If no
signal is present at the return XLR with the INSERT switch engaged, the SAT feed will
have no output and appear muted.
300Hz/150Hz/50Hz switch - Sets the frequency of the low shelf.
BASS dB control - Sets the amplitude of the low shelf.
PRESENCE KHz control
PRESENCE dB control- Sets the amplitude of the middle band.
15KHz/10KHz/5KHz switch - Sets the frequency of the high shelf.
TREBLE dB control- Sets the amplitude of the high shelf.
ENGAGE switch - Master bypass switch for the entire unit. Note that when the source signal is
mic or instrument, the bypass signal is taken from the preamp outputs. When the preamps
are set to a high gain, there is a potential for the bypass signal to be very loud.
Copyright © 2018, Overstayer Recording Equipment, Inc..
All rights reserved. All features and specifications are subject to change without notice.
COMPRESSOR
BEHAVIOR control - Magnifies the compression envelope in a unique fashion. BEHAVIOR
control manipulates the hardness and envelope of the compression and can take the sound
from virtually all ambience to all transients. As this control interacts with the other
compression controls, it creates a large array of envelope shaping and sonic possibilities
depending on the selected ratio and attack/release settings. Start with this control at ‘0’ and
ease it up to get a feel for what it does. It can create very extreme compression at high
settings, as it skews not only ratio but timing (fast can get very fast, etc.)
THRESHOLD control - Sets the level at which compression occurs.
RMS switch - engages the RMS sidechain, which computes timing based on the input signal
and does not use the ATTACK and RELEASE controls (they are disabled).
ATTACK switch - 3 position control sets the speed at which compression takes effect.
RELEASE switch - 3 position control sets the speed at which compression releases.
MAKEUP control - Sets the makeup gain of the compressor, unity point at ‘5’. Increasing
beyond 5, especially with BEHAVIOR turned up, can produced extremely high gains - which
is intentional as the ‘clean’ vca actually distorts beautifully.
SC FILTER switch - Engages a high pass filter on the sidechain signal, allowing the low end
through more as the detector sees less low end.
FLOATING SWITCH RIGHT/CEILING switch - This switch has been assigned to engage a final
output ceiling, a special type of limiting after the FEED faders and before the final output
control. This can be used (or abused) to pull together the composite fader signals, but it’s
action can be very limiting to the point where there are no dynamics, and high distortion. This
Copyright © 2018, Overstayer Recording Equipment, Inc..
All rights reserved. All features and specifications are subject to change without notice.
should be used sparingly at first to get a feel for how it works, and if accidentally left on could
potentially create unwanted artifacts.
The fixed ceiling correlates to the following positions on the OUTPUT control with
converters calibrated to -18dBFS.
‘6’ 7dB headroom
‘7’ 4dB headroom
‘8’ 0.1dB headroom
SC POST/SC PRE switch - 3 position, selects the source of the compressor’s sidechain, either
pre-filter, or post-eq. The middle position engages the external sidechain input (¼” jack on the
rear panel). If nothing is plugged in to the external input, this effectively bypasses the
compression.
HARMONICS/SATURATION
DRIVE control - In conjunction with the harmonic amplifier switches, controls the amount of
harmonics and saturation, 5 is unity. The harmonics stages can be used in any combination,
and DRIVE is always active, even if no stages are engaged. The stages are arranged from
highest headroom to lowest headroom, so they can each impart character when used
together.
MAS 3/MAS 2 switch - 3 positions, engages MAS circuitry with either stronger 2nd harmonic
or stronger 3rd harmonic.
SAT switch - Engages a rich saturation stage.
HEX switch - Engages a stage that goes deep into distortion.
FEED MIXER
EQ FEED/DRY FEED switch - Sets the source of the DRY/EQ FEED to either the pre-filter signal
(dry) or the post-EQ signal.
DRY/EQ FEED control - Sets the level of the dry or eq signal, depending on the status of the
EQ FEED/DRY FEED switch.
DRY/EQ FEED switch - Mute control for the DRY/EQ FEED.
COMP FEED control - Sets the level of the compressor feed, which is always fed from the
output of the compressor, regardless of whether the compressor circuit is engaged into the
main path (with the COMP switch).
COMP FEED switch - Mute control for the COMP FEED.
SAT FEED control - Sets the level of the saturated feed, which is the full signal path through
the DRIVE and harmonics/saturation stages.
SAT FEED switch - Mute control for the SAT FEED.
Front Panel Trimmer (Access above HEX) - Adjusts the RIGHT channel output level. Reset
with -30 dBFS 1kHz tone to LINE 1 IN, INPUT 10, OUTPUT 10, DRY FEED (only) 10.
Copyright © 2018, Overstayer Recording Equipment, Inc..
All rights reserved. All features and specifications are subject to change without notice.
REAR PANEL
MIC IN L/R (8755DM only) - Transformer coupled microphone input
LINE IN 2 L/R (8755DM only) - Balanced line input that feeds the input transformers
INST IN L/R - High impedance unbalanced TS inputs that feed directly into the preamps
PREAMP OUT L/R - Direct output of the preamps
LINE IN 1 L/R - Balanced line input
SEND L/R - Insert send, post COMPRESSOR
RETURN L/R - Insert return, pre DRIVE
OUT L/R - Balanced line output, leave pin 3 floating when driving unbalanced loads
EXT SC IN - External sidechain feed for the compressor
DC POWER
Please contact us at [email protected] with any questions.
http://overstayeraudio.com
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Copyright © 2018, OVERSTAYER RECORDING EQUIPMENT, INC.
Overstayer Recording Equipment, Inc. reserves the right to modify or change any of the features
or specifications of its products without notice or obligation.
Copyright © 2018, Overstayer Recording Equipment, Inc..
All rights reserved. All features and specifications are subject to change without notice.
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