Copyright 2019 - RC Audio Systems Limited
Unit 9 Luccombe Business Centre, Milton Abbas, Blandford Forum, Dorset DT11 OBD
Page 6 of 9
Leveliza
The Leveliza circuit is controlled by a separate ad ustment knob in a round recess.
If the ad ustment is turned fully clockwise then the Leveliza circuit is switched "off" and becomes
inactive.
From this "off" position if the ad ustment is turned anticlockwise the Leveliza circuit is switched on
and the position of the ad ustment determines the operating threshold of the Leveliza.
When active the Leveliza "listens" to the music/audio continuously to ascertain the average
perceived loudness of the signal, and if the loudness exceeds the preset threshold the Leveliza slowly
rides the gain in order to try to maintain the average perceived loudness at around the preset
threshold. It is not a compressor or limiter and won't affect the dynamic range of the audio, it ust
very slowly ad usts the gain if require to try to restrict the maximum average perceived loudness to
around the preset threshold.
As the Leveliza activates it illuminates the blue "gain reduction" indicator LED on the back of the
General to show that it is actively reducing the gain.
When we use the Generals I usually turn a test track/signal up through them until they are slightly
louder than the maximum I wish to permit for the application. Then, with this signal playing I slowly
turn the Leveliza control from the off position until the blue LED starts to illuminate and hence the
gain ust begins to reduce. I can then turn off the test signal and know that whatever happens later
on the Generals will not perform any louder than they did when I set them up.
Limitiza
This is a unique circuit included in the Generals to solve a problem associated with most active
speakers.
The Problem:- Most active speakers have limiters built in for their protection, and indeed so do the
Generals. However, the person engineering the sound or performing on the active speakers often
has no indication locally of when the active speakers are being overdriven. The result is that,
particularly late in a night when levels are being pushed, the active speakers are often significantly
overdriven hard into their limiters, which results in poor sound quality, audibly reduced dynamic
range, audible "pumping" of the sound, spectral imbalance and possibly even reduced reliability.
The Solution:- The unique "Limitiza" circuit in the Generals continuously monitors the activity of the
limiters. It ignores slight or "soft" limiting, but if it detects any of the limiters are consistently
limiting significantly or "hard" then it gently eases back the overall system gain until the limiting
action is only soft. When an active speaker is slightly or "soft" limiting it means it is running as loud
as it can without significantly compromising it's sound in any way. The Limitiza means that you can
try to "overdrive" the Generals as much as you like, but they will ust maintain this ultimate 100%
output level without compromise in sound quality or losing dynamic range.
The Limitiza is fully automatic and shares the blue "gain reduction" LED with the Leveliza. As the
Limitiza actively starts reducing the system gain it illuminates the blue LED.
