TC Electronic Finalizer 96K User manual

USER’S MANUAL
Finalizer PLUS/96K
STUDIO MASTERING PROCESSOR

3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Table of contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
F ont Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Rea Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Signal flow diag am . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Finalize setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
BASIC OPERATION
Recall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Sto e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Main page
Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Inse ts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Digital Radiance Gene ato . . . . . . . 19
Ste eo Adjust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Dynamic EQ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
EQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Exte nal Inse t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
MS Encoding/Decoding . . . . . . . . . 21
Spect al Ste eo Image . . . . . . . . . . 21
No malize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Expande . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Comp esso . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Limite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Dithe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Fade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Tools
Flow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Peak-Hold Mete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Phase Mete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Calib ation Tone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Digital I/O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Wiza d. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Compa e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Reset page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Technical specifications - PLUS . . . . . 43
Technical specifications - 96 . . . . . . . 44
MIDI-implementation cha t . . . . . . . . . . 45
MIDI-Continuous Cont olle s . . . . . . . . 46
Self test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
APPENDIX
Glossa y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Tuto ial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
T ouble shooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Solde ing inst uctions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
P eset list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Optional Maste Fade . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
TC Elect onic, Sindalsvej 34, DK-8240 Risskov - tcdk@tcelect onic.com Rev 1.6 - SW - V 3.50
P od No: 606051713

5
WELCOME
Congratulations on the purchase of your new Finalizer PLUS/96.
e hope that you will have as much pleasure using it, as we had making it.
The Finalizer PLUS/96 is the result of an intense research process combined with the experience and unique creati ity of TCs Research
and De elopment group. The Finalizer PLUS/96 gi es you all the tools you need to put the finishing touch on your mix. With its powerful
Multiband processing, you can touch up the last details of your mix and enhance the energy and le el, in order to make the mix sound
punchier and louder.
Note: To increase readability of this manual the Finalizer PLUS/96 is from this point enerally referred to as the Finalizer.
It is possible to update you Finalizer PLUS to a Finalizer 96.
Please contact your local dealer for further information re ardin procedure and update fee.
Three band Compressor, Limiter, Expander
Lets you optimize the dynamics of your mix independently
in three bands.
Five band parametric EQ
The EQ allows you to touch up the o erall spectral details.
Dynamic EQ/De-esser
Controls a specific frequency in order to remo e unwanted
sibilance.
MS Encoder/Decoder
Con erts a Mid/Side signal to Left/Right or ice ersa.
External Insert
Insert an external de ice e.g. your fa orite tube EQ.
Normalizer including Softclipping
Optimize your gain before you start compressing, the
Softclipper will pre ent occasional o ershoots.
Real time Sample Rate Converter
Change the Sample Rate of the incoming Digital signal
while mastering your mix.
High Quality 24 bit A/D and D/A converters
Ensures optimal Analog to Digital con ersion.
Digital I/Os: AES/EBU, S/PDIF, Tos-link and ADAT
Allows you to interface with irtually any Digital piece of
equipment.
Digital Radiance Generator
Adds the Analog warmth to your signal through second har-
monic distortion.
Spectral Stereo Image
Increase or decrease the stereo feeling of the signal in 3 sepa-
rate adjustable frequency bands. (Finalizer 96 only).
96kHz
Due to the new 100MHz processor it is now possible to process
the entire signal in 96kHz, gi ing you a maximum
frequency response of 48kHz. (Finalizer 96 only).
Main features :

6
FRONT PANEL
INDICATORS
Overload
Indicates inte nal ove load.
In the Tool/Flow menu you
can see exactly whe e the
ove load occu s.
Sample Rate Indicator
48000Hz
44100Hz
32000Hz
If no valid Clock Rate is p e-
sent all th ee LEDs will blink.
MIDI In
MIDI eceive indicato .
Card
Indicates when data is t ans-
fe ed to o f om the ca d.
Workin
Indicates when b ief
calculations take place.
Edited
P eset has been edited.
POWER &
MEMORY CARD
Electronic power switch
»Easy touch«
Tu n on the machine with
a single light touch. To
tu n off the machine you
must p ess and hold
down the POWER key
app ox. 3 seconds until
the display eads
Finalize .
PC-CARD memory card
Copy p esets to/f om a
standa d memo y ca d.
Card types
S-RAM Type 1 PCMCIA
ca ds, with a minimum of
64KB and a maximum of
2MB memo y.
POWER
MIDI IN
48000Hz
OVERLOAD
44100Hz
32000Hz
CARD
WORKING
EDITED
-1 -0.5
-2
-2
0
-1
-1
OUTPUT
L
L
R
R
INPUT
GAIN REDUCTION LIM
EXP
Normalizer LIM
SOFTCLIP
HI
MI
-10-12-14-16-18-20-22-24
-0
-26
-3
-28
-6
-30
-9
-32
-12-18
-36-44-48-60 -40
-24-30-40-60
-8
-24 -20
-24 -20
-16
-16
-6 -5
-12
-12
-4
-8
-8
-10
-10
-3
-6
-6
-2
-4
-4
dB
dB
dB
Output PPM
High esolution mete s
SOFTCLIP LED
Indicates when
the Soft Clippe
is active
INPUT PPM
Range:
-60dBFS to
0dBFS.
COMPRESSOR
GAIN
REDUCTION
METERS
Indicates the
amount of
Compressor gain
reduction.
EXPANDER
INDICATORS
Indicates
when the
Expander is
active.
LIMIT LEDs
Indicates when
the Limiter is
active.

7
FUNCTIONS SECTION
MAIN PAGE
This key gives you access
to edit the enti e signal flow,
f om Input to Output.
TOOLS
P ess this key and gain
access to the following tools:
Flow mete , Peak mete ,
Phase co elation, DIO
(monito s Digital In/Out
signal) and Calib ation.
WIZARD
Use The Wiza d to quickly
find the optimal settings fo
you p og am mate ial.
UTILITY
MIDI, Secu ity, Memo y
management and much
mo e is located he e.
PROGRAM SECTION
RECALL
Recall p esets.
STORE
Sto e and name p esets.
COMPARE
Compa e the sound you
have ight now with eithe a
level compensated bypass
o the o iginal p eset.
BYPASS
Bypass the signal p ocess-
ing.
CONTROL SECTION
OK
Confi m ope ations
and switch individual blocks on/off.
HELP
Get help on selected display func-
tion.
BLOCK < >
Select which block to edit in the
Main page.
MENU up/down
Ve tically o iented menu selecto .
PARAMETER < >
Moves cu so ho izontally fo
selection of pa amete to be modi-
fied.
BAND < >
Select between the th ee bands
on the Com/Lim/Exp pages.
Select which band to modify in the
EQ block.
WIZARD BLOCK ON/OFF
MENU
PARAMETER
BAND
QUICK STORE
ADJUST
BLOCK
HELP
RECALL
MAIN PAGE
STORE
TOOLS
COMPARE
WIZARD
BYPASS
UTILITY
FUNCTIONS PROGRAM CONTROL
-1 -0.5
-2
-2
0
-1
-1
OUTPUT
L
L
R
R
INPUT
GAIN REDUCTION LIM
EXP
Normalizer LIM
SOFTCLIP
HI
MI
-10-12-14-16-18-20-22-24
-0
-26
-3
-28
-6
-30
-9
-32
-12-18
-36-44-48-60 -40
-24-30-40-60
-8
-24 -20
-24 -20
-16
-16
-6 -5
-12
-12
-4
-8
-8
-10
-10
-3
-6
-6
-2
-4
-4
dB
dB
dB
ADJUST wheel
Sets pa amete values and
p eset numbe s.

8
REAR PANEL
The Sync In
This word clock Input ives you the followin functions:
- External reference for A/D or D/A
- External reference for Sample Rate Conversion
- External reference for Di ital Inputs
The Input impedance is 75 ohm. A BNC to RCA Phono converter plu is included with your Finalizer for con-
nection with equipment carryin BNC word clock connectors.
If you are connectin the Finalizer to unbalanced equipment, you must tie pins 1 and 3 to ether in the cable
ends away from the Finalizer.
Please refer to pa e 52 for solderin instructions of the different cable types.
Main
Power
Switch
Power
Input
Balanced
XLR
Inputs
Balanced
XLR
Outputs
Serial
no.
Di ital In/Out
AES/EBU
S/PDIF, ADAT
Tos-link
Wordclock
Sync
Input
MIDI
In, Thru, Out
Pedal/
Fader
Input

9
SIGNAL FLOW
Notes re ardin the si nal flow:
Since the Finalizer is usin 24 A/D-D/A converters, Ditherin is available on Di ital Outputs only.

10
FINALIZER SETUP
Setup with an Analo mixin console and a Di ital
recordin device.
1. Connect the Analog Output of your mixer to the Analog Input of
the Finalizer.
2. Connect the Digital Output of the Finalizer to the Input of your
Digital recording de ice.
3. Connect the Analog Output of the Finalizer to your
monitor system.
Example 1
Example 2
Setup with a Di ital mixin console and a Di ital
recordin device
1. Connect the Digital Output of your mixer to the Digital Input of
the Finalizer.
2. Connect the Digital Output of the Finalizer to the Input of
your Digital recording de ice.
3. Connect the Analog Output of the Finalizer to
your monitor system.
Finalizer Setup
The Finalizer is carefully designed to optimize the o erall le el and enhance the energy and clarity in your mix.
The use of the three band Compressor, Limiter and Expander makes the dynamics section of the Finalizer ery flexible, while
maintaining the fidelity of the original material. The dynamics section, in a combination with a Normalizer and a fi e band
Equalizer, gi es you a ery powerful tool, to finish the last details of your mix.
Because the Finalizer can be used with different applications, we propose a couple of different setups.