WEISS GAMBIT DS1-MK3 User manual

digital audio
weiss engineering ltd.
Florastrasse 42, 8610 Uster, Switzerland
 [phone]  [phone]
 http://www.weiss. h / http://www.weiss-highend. om
GAMBIT
DS1-MK3
OPERATING MANUAL
Software Version: 0S: 3.1, DSP: 3.0
Release Date: O tober, 2008

digital audio
weiss engineering ltd.
Florastrasse 42, 8610 Uster, Switzerland
 [phone]  [phone]
 http://www.weiss. h / http://www.weiss-highend. om
Authors: Andor Bariska, Daniel Weiss, Weiss Engineering LTD.
Weiss Engineering LTD. reserves the right to make hanges to produ t spe ifi-
ation or do umentation without prior noti e. Updated manuals and datasheets
are available at our website for downloading. Weiss Engineering LTD. makes no
warranty, representation or guarantee regarding the suitability of its produ ts
for any parti ular purpose, nor does part of this manual, and spe ifi ally dis-
alims any and all liability, in luding without limitation onsequential or in i-
dental damages.
All rights reserved. No part of this publi ation may be reprodu ed or transmit-
ted in any form or by any means, ele troni or me hani al in luding photo opy-
ing, s anning or any information storage or retrieval system without the ex-
press prior written onsent of the publisher.
© Copyright Weiss Engineering LTD., 2008.

OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK3 FRONT PANEL
 Weiss Engineering Ltd., Florastr. 42, CH-8610 Uster Page 3
 [phone]  [phone]  http://www.weiss. h  weiss@weiss. h
FRONT PANEL
Graphic 2: Display Elements
DS1-MK3
gambit seri es
di gi tal de-ess er / comp re sso r / limiter
gain / data
copyA - Breca l lstore
snap shots
1 2
over
bypass
menu
sa e
gain makeuprequency
release
slow
release
ast
release
de la y
atta ck
average
ba nd width
thre shold rati oso t-kne e
max.o
M/S
ch1/ch2 moni tor
menu ove r
1 2
gang ed
Graphic 1: Front Panel Elements




OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK3 FRONT PANEL
 Weiss Engineering Ltd., Florastr. 42, CH-8610 Uster Page 4
[phone]  [phone]  http://www.weiss. h  weiss@weiss. h
F ont Panel G oups
The front panel of the DS1-MK3 offers several ontrol and display features.
Cont ol
Refer to Graphi 1: Front Panel Elements
 - Menu- and softkeys p. 7
 - Snapshot keys p. 19
 - ganged / hannel sele t keys p. 16
 - Gain / Data ontroller p. 8
 - Crossover ontrollers p. 12
 - Envelope follower ontrollers p. 10
+ - Non-linear transfer urve ontrollers p. 11
Display
Refer to Graphi 2: Display Elements
 - Gain value p. 8
 - Crossover setting (frequen y sele tive mode only) p. 12
 - Non-linear transfer urve and signal metering p. 11
 - Status display p. 7
 - Peak limiter gain redu tion meter p. 8
 - Envelope follower settings p. 10
 - Compressor gain redu tion meters p. 10

OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK3 INTRODUCTION
 Weiss Engineering Ltd., Florastr. 42, CH-8610 Uster Page 5
[phone]  [phone]  http://www.weiss. h  weiss@weiss. h
INTRODUCTION
Cong atulations on pu chasing the Weiss DS1-MK3 De-Esse / Comp esso !
This two hannel digital De-esser / Compressor
features linear-phase rossover filters overing
the whole audio band. Thus the DS1-MK3 is not
just a De-esser but an also be used as band
sele tive or full band Compressor / Limiter. The
ontrols for the two hannels an be ganged or
unganged (useful for M/S ompression). Similar-
ly, side hain linking an be turned off.
Internal pro essing is either 88.2kHz (with 44.1
and 88.2kHz input) or 96kHz (with 48 or 96kHz
input) in DeEsser and in Compressor mode.
Double-pre ision up- and down-sampling units
within the DS1-MK3 result in negligible distor-
tion and high transparen y for absolutely lean
sound.
The non-linear segment an be adjusted from
1000:1 to 1:5, allowing every kind of dynami
pro essing, from limiting to upward expansion
(for over- ompressed signals). Put ba k a little
dynami s into that ultra-finalized mix!
An additional safety-limiter takes are of any
overs that are generated in DeEsser as well as in
Compressor mode.
This and the ability to remote ontrol para-
meters and snapshots makes the DS1-MK3 the
perfe t tool for the re ording and mastering
engineer!
P ocessing
∗24bit digital input, internal 40bit floating-
point arithmeti , dithered output for 16bit,
20bit or 24bit wordlengths.
∗Transparent phase-linear rossover for
frequen y sele tive ompression
∗All parameters are immediately a essible
with instant feedba k through LEDs and
the LC display.
Display
∗Standardised peak meters for ompressor-
stage in- and output with peak hold
∗Gain redu tion meter with peak hold for
ompressor and for safety-limiter ea h.
∗Logarithmi graph of the transfer fun tion
of the de-esser/ ompressor al ulated in
real time
∗Status display showing sampling frequen-
y, hannel status data handling, urrent
workspa e and snapshot number and a
resetable peak-hold and over-hold per
hannel
∗Parameter display (a tivated by tou hing
the knobs) showing all timing, level and
gain parameters
∗Signal status LEDs, showing OVERs, range
of envelope signal and the status of the
release time omparator
Snapshots
∗3 x 128 non-volatile snapshots where all
parameters are stored
∗A-B workspa es for qui k omparison be-
tween two settings
Remote Cont ol
∗Supports MIDI, RS-232 and RS-422 proto-
ols
∗Standard MIDI Continuous Controllers for
parameter remote ontrol (in luding over-
all gain)
∗Snapshot automatization with MIDI Pro-
gram Change Commands
∗ MIDI Dump of Snapshots

OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK3 UPDATE
HISTORY
 Weiss Engineering Ltd., Florastr. 42, CH-8610 Uster Page 6
[phone]  [phone]  http://www.weiss. h  weiss@weiss. h
UPDATE HISTORY
Update f om DS1 to DS1-
MK2 v1.0 o v1.1
The main differen e between these two versions
is the ability of the DS1-MK2 to a ept 88.2 /
96kHz input signals. Contrary to the DS1, where
double sampling pro essing was only used in
ompressor mode, the DS1-MK2 now uses inter-
nal up- and downsampling stages and all pro-
essing is at 88.2 / 96 kHz.
There is a ompletely new feature available in
the DS1-MK2, the upward expander. This is the
logi al extension of the ompressor. Just turn
the ratio ontroller ounter lo k wise to experi-
en e this new sound. New s ale range on p. 26.
The DeEsser se tion has been enhan ed with a
new rossover, whi h overs the whole audio
bandwidth (the DS1 used 271 Hz as lowest ut-
off frequen y, the DS1-MK2 an now be tuned
down to 41 Hz). New s ale range on p. 25.
And for those who like it hot, there is a new
peak limiter se tion added in series to the om-
pressor / de-esser, whi h uts down spikes
above 0.0dBFS. Read about its operation on p.8.
Update f om DS1-MK2
v1.0 o v1.1 to DS1-MK2
v1.3
The main new enhan ement is the parallel om-
pressor option. To read about operating and
options of the parallel ompressor, turn to p. 14.
This way of using a ompressor was motivated
by Bob Katz, here is what he says about it on
the Mastering Webboard:
“You want a pat h that ompresses without
stomping on the atta ks at all, preserves transi-
ents but gives you great inner detail? ...
You have one ontrol, one ontrol only, and that
is the output level of the ompressor [gain
makeup], the ‘side hain’. You an bring out in-
ner details without losing breathing, and hardly
affe ting the upper dynami s at all. Works great.
Not just great, absolutely fantasti ally. Fattens
bass instruments without ausing breathing or
pumping. You name it, it works very well.
Variations: Use it like the Dolby Spe tral En-
han er, by split band [parallel] ompression, so
that (for example) high frequen y inner details
at low levels are enhan ed. ”
The other hange in ar hite ture is the addition
of a se ond gain before the safety limiter, re-
ferred to as pre-limiter gain. The old overall gain
is also still available. Read on p. 8.
Also, the s ales of the gain, gain makeup and
ratio parameters has been modified to suit us-
tomer feedba k. New values on p. 26.
Update f om DS1-MK2
v1.3 to DS1-MK2 v2.0
In the v2.0 version POW-R dithering apabilities
have been added. The dithering menu now has a
"setup" entry whi h gives you a ess to the
three POW-R algorithms.
Update f om DS1-MK2
v2.0 to DS1-MK2 v2.1
New Feature: Safety Limiter is now also of auto
release type. No hanges to the user interfa e.
Update f om DS1-MK2
v2.x to DS1-MK3 (v3.0)
After several years of the DS1’s use in mastering
and re ording studios world wide we have gath-
ered and implemented a list of most wanted
features suggested by our ustomers.
These in lude:
-Ganged or unganged ontrol, i.e. independent
parameters in L/R or M/S possible
-M/S or L/R pro essing
-Swit hable side hain link
-Continuously variable signal sensing from Peak
to 800ms RMS

OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK3 OPERATION
 Weiss Engineering Ltd., Florastr. 42, CH-8610 Uster Page 7
[phone]  [phone]  http://www.weiss. h  weiss@weiss. h
OPERATION
The following explanations assume that the de-esse /comp esso is in powe -up mode, i.e. no
menu is active. If a menu is active, p ess the “menu” key epeatedly until the status display
appea s.
Status Display
Status DisplayStatus Display
Status Display
Graphic 3: Status Display
The status display onsists of four groups dis-
playing audio signal properties and information
about the urrent state of the DS1-MK3.
Channel Status G oup (Key A)
Situated adja ent to key A, displays the follow-
ing information:
∗sampling frequen y in kHz: “44.1”, “48”,
“88.2” or “96”.
∗pre-emphasis: “E” appears if pre-
emphasis is set (empty if not used)
∗input → output hannel status data for-
mat: “C” for onsumer and “P” for pro-
fessional
To hange the output hannel status data for-
mat, press key A and sele t format type or loop
through.
Peak G oup (Key B)
Situated adja ent to key B, this group ontains a
peak-hold and an over-hold for ea h hannel. To
reset these values press key B twi e.
Peak-Hold
The numeri peak value is measured relative to
0dBFS (digital full s ale).
Use this value to set the optimum gain for a
spe ifi session. Reset it for every session by
pressing key B twi e.
Over-Hold
Whenever an over is en ountered, the boxes to
the side of the peak-hold values are marked.
The fun tions of the over-LED’s and the over-
hold both depend on the NUMBER OF
CONSECUTIVE OVER-SAMPLES setting. To adjust
this setting, press key B on e. Use the gain/
data ontroller (  ) to hange the value, then
press “menu” to return to the status display.
This setting defines the number of onse utive
over-samples needed for an over-indi ation. To
indi ate every over-sample, enter 1. If another
value is entered, you are still able to dete t a
single over-sample with the peak-hold fun tion.
Ove -samples a e defined as exceeding the
intege ange. A full scale signal (0dBFS)
will not be t eated as ove .
Remote G oup (Key C)
Situated adja ent to key C, displays remote
ontrol proto ol (“MIDI”, “RS 232” or “RS 422”),
hannel (“1” - “16”) and status (on/ off, dis-
played with he k box).
For setup see hapter Remote Control (p.21).

OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK3 OPERATION
 Weiss Engineering Ltd., Florastr. 42, CH-8610 Uster Page 8
[phone]  [phone]  http://www.weiss. h  weiss@weiss. h
Snapshot Display (Key D)
Bottom line in the status display. Refer to this
for information on urrent workspa e and snap-
shot. There are two workspa es (“A” and “B”) for
qui k omparison of two de-esser/ ompressor
settings. A workspa e an be stored to a snap-
shot for later use.
The number of the last re alled snapshot will be
displayed. If you hange any value after the
re all, the “=” will hange to “≠” to symbolise
that the workspa e is not equal to the displayed
snapshot anymore.
For snapshot handling see hapter Snapshots
(p.19).
Dithe Icon (Key D)
The dither i on is situated right next to key D
(see Graphi 3). If dither is off, the i on ontains
the number “24“, the word length of the output
signal in bits. Turning dither on will produ e
arrows above and below the new word length
number (“16“ or “20“). Additionally, if auto-
bla king is enabled, the bottom right orner of
the i on is inverted.
For details on dither refer to hapter Dither (p.
18).
Gain / Output Gain
There are two gains, one pre safety-limiter and
one post safety-limiter, as depi ted in Graphi 4.
Graphic 4: Output section
When tou hing the gain ontroller (  ), the
required gain an be sele ted from a menu. To
hange the output gain, press softkey D. If an
arrow appears inside the output gain window,
the Output Gain an be adjusted. Press the D
key again to ontrol the pre-limiter gain whi h is
shown in the upper left orner of the display.
Both gains are bypassed when Bypass is a tive.
The value shown in  is the setting of the pre-
limiter gain.
The post-limiter output gain should be used to
set the maximum output level only (usually
0.0dB).
Safety Limite
This feature is a tivated by pressing the “safe”
key. When the “safe” key is lit, the limiter is on.
Safety limiter a tivity an be monitored with the
se ond gain redu tion meter below the “GAIN”
window (  ).
If the “safe” key is lit, overs will be limited by
this fast peak limiter. The parameters of the
limiter are fixed and annot be adjusted.
However, the pre-limiter gain an be used to
drive the safety limiter.
Too much p e-limite gain will esult in dis-
to tion!
Out-
put
Safety
Limiter
from previous
processing
Gain
Output
Gain
X X

OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK3 OPERATION
 Weiss Engineering Ltd., Florastr. 42, CH-8610 Uster Page 9
[phone]  [phone]  http://www.weiss. h  weiss@weiss. h
Comp esso Pa amete s
Following is a detailed des ription of all parameters that an be adjusted in the ompressor stage. Guide-
lines are given for settings (see also the fa tory presets), but optimal settings are usually programme
dependent, so experimenting and listening is inevitable for satisfying results.
Graphi 5 shows s hemati and parameters of the DS1-MK3 ompressor stage:
Delay
A typi al ompressor/limiter ir uit measures
the audio signal and then generates the gain
redu tion ontrol signal. At the time the ontrol
signal hanges the gain, the programme materi-
al is already there, so the gain hange o urs
too late. The result is overshoot and possible
subsequent distortion.
The DS1-MK3 uses a different method to gener-
ate the gain ontrol signal: The audio passing
through the main hain is delayed by a fixed
amount of time, determined by the „overall de-
lay“. By bran hing the signal out of the delay
line, the side hain „sees“ the signal before it
rea hes the output, thus allowing look-ahead
ompared to the main hain. The resulting or-
re ted output signal has no overshoots, no lead-
ing edge distortion or other side effe ts due to
timing lags in the side hain.
The preview (the time the signal rea hes the
side hain ahead of the multiplier) annot, of
ourse, ex eed the overall delay.
The overall delay is the sum of the maximum
overall delay („Delay“ box in Graphi 5) and the
delay required for other signal pro essing (line-
ar-phase filtering for up- and downsamplers).
Any snapshot value of the preview delay whi h
ex eeds this maximum, is lipped to the maxi-
mum, be ause the overall delay is not stored in
the snapshots and therefore the preview delay in
any snapshot an ex eed the urrently sele ted
overall delay.
Setting ove all delay: The overall delay is
adjusted by pressing the „menu“ key (  ) then
sele ting the „system“ and then the „overall
delay“ option. Use the gain / data ontroller
(  ) to hange the delay value. Maximum on-
sequential preview time and delay in frames is
also displayed. Please note that during delay
Delay
overall
delay
preview
Envelope
Detection
atta k
release
delay
release
fast
average RMS
release
slow
Non-Linea
T ansfe Cu ve
soft-knee
threshold
ratio
gain
makeup
x
Sidechain
Mainchain
In-
put
Out-
put
audio signal
gain ontrol
signal
Graphic 5: Compressor schematic

OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK3 OPERATION
 Weiss Engineering Ltd., Florastr. 42, CH-8610 Uster Page 10
[phone]  [phone]  http://www.weiss. h  weiss@weiss. h
hange, audio is muted to avoid audio signal
uts.
Graphic 6: System menu
Graphic : Overall Delay display
Setting p eview: Tou h either the „atta k“ or
„release delay“ ontroller (  ) to a tivate the
timing 1 window, then use the gain / data on-
troller (  ) to adjust preview time.
Graphic 8: Timing 1 window
Envelope Followe
The envelope follower parameter ontrollers are
in area  . The purpose of the envelope follower
is to ause gradual gain hanges, thus eliminat-
ing distortion. The urrent values are shown in
 .
Attack and P eview: The longer the atta k
time, the more will the leading edge of fast tran-
sients pass by the gain redu tion ir uit unal-
tered (as in Graphi 9 during atta k phase).
Very fast atta k time settings su h as 20µs, i.e.
one sample period, do at h every transient, but
may distort low frequen ies. To utilise longer
atta k times and still at h fast transients, use
preview.
Release and Ave age: The input signal is mon-
itored with two different methods: peak ampli-
tude (*) and RMS value. The peak amplitude is
the programme portion we don't per eive as
very loud, however whi h an easily ause over-
loads. The RMS value of the programme materi-
al we per eive as loudness. Its variations on-
tribute most to the dynami range of the audio.
The side hain pro essor ompares the two
measurements it obtained from the peaks and
the RMS. The ratio between the two determines
whi h time onstant would be the appropriate
release, e.g. after short duration peak the faster
release will be applied during the release phase.
The time period over whi h the RMS value of the
programme material is averaged is set by the
"average" parameter. The effe t of the average
parameter an best be studied on the gain re-
du tion meter (  ). Fast "average" settings will
ause most of the gain redu tion meter to move
very fast (depending on the "release fast" set-
ting) , slower settings will just have the top part
of the gain redu tion move fast, with the bottom
part depending on the "release slow" setting.
Graphic 9: Envelope Parameters