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
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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.
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OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK3 FRONT PANEL
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FRONT PANEL
Graphic 2: Display Elements
DS1-MK3
gambit seri es
di gital de-esser / comp re sso r / limiter
gain / data
copyA - Brecal lstore
snap shots
1 2
over
bypass
menu
sa e
gain makeuprequency
release
slow
release
ast
release
de la y
attack
average
ba nd width
thre shold rati oso t-kne e
max.o
M/S
ch1/ch2 monitor
menu ove r
1 2
gang ed
Graphic 1: Front Panel Elements



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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
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OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK3 INTRODUCTION
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[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
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OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK3 UPDATE
HISTORY
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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
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OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK3 OPERATION
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[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).
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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
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OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK3 OPERATION
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[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
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OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK3 OPERATION
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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
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(*) Peak / RMS: In the DS1-MK3 the peak
measurement is supplemented with an RMS
measurement with variable averaging time. To
a ess the RMS dete tion time onstant tou h
the gain / data ontroller (


 ) whi h opens this
window:
Graphic 10: Gain / Data Knob menu
Hit Key B to assign the gain / data knob to the
RMS dete tion time onstant. The left endstop of
this parameter swit hes the dete tion to peak
mode, as used in all previous DS1 versions.
Graphic 11: Timing 2 window
Release Delay: Normally the release phase
begins immediately after the programme mate-
rial has fallen in level. The release delay deter-
mines how long the DS1-MK3 holds the urrent
level before entering release (see Graphi 9).
The resulting dynami hara teristi is very
smooth and avoids otherwise typi al 'pumping'
effe ts. The ideal setting is programme depend-
ent and experimentation may be ne essary to
a hieve the best ombination of all dynami
parameters.
Non-Linea T ansfe Cu ve
The transfer urve parameter ontrollers are in
area + . This part of the side hain is re-
sponsible for the a tual gain redu tion (  ) al-
ulations. The dete ted signal envelope is om-
pared with the transfer urve, the gain ontrol
signal (see Graphi 5) is then adjusted a ord-
ingly if the envelope overshoots the transfer
urve.
Th eshold: Sets the level whi h the envelope
signal has to rea h before gain redu tion is ap-
plied.
Ratio: Sets the slope of the segment above the
threshold. The ratio an be adjusted for om-
pression or expansion, depending on the re-
quirement. For full band expansion (e.g. to re-
introdu e dynami s into an over- ompressed
signal), one will usually work with the gain
makeup set to maximum. This means that a
0.0dB input will be passed through without gain,
signals below the threshold will be redu ed with
a onstant gain (depending on threshold and
ratio setting, an be read from the display when
tou hing the gain makeup ontroller), and
signals between the threshold and 0.0dBFS get
expanded. For full band expansion, one will
typi ally have quite high thresholds (-1dB ... –
4dB), be ause of the resulting overall gain.
The expander an also be used in frequen y
sele tive mode, for example to repair the effe t
of a misused multi-band ompressor – for this
purpose, the gain makeup an be set higher
than the al ulated maximum setting, to
ompensate for the overall gain that the
expander auses. This an potentially ause
overs (for loud signals in the expanded band), it
is therefore good pra ti e to engage the safety
limiter (see below).
Graphic 12: Transfer Curve Parameters
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Graphic 13: Threshold, Ratio, Softknee
The expande can only amplify gain diffe -
ences. This means that it cannot c eate a
dynamic signal if the e was no initial gain
diffe ence (as is the case in compute gen-
e ated music o with ext emely ha d-
limited mixes).
Soft-knee: Determines how mu h the knee is
rounded. The maximum setting (1.0) hooses a
urve that rea hes from 0dBFS down to twi e
the threshold value. This implies that if soft-
knee is engaged the signal is already affe ted
even if its envelope lies below the threshold.
Gain makeup  : Moves the whole transfer
urve up or down. In de-essing mode the gain
makeup is usually set between the minimum (-
10dB gain) and "off" (0dB gain) to a tually at-
tenuate the pro essed signal, while in ompres-
sor (full band) mode the transfer urve usually
gets to lie anywhere between "off" and "max",
a ording to the amount of loudness orre tion
one wants to apply.
On e "max." is on, the transfer urve is atta hed
to 0dBFS for maximum possible gain. "max" is
engaged as soon as the urve rea hes 0dBFS by
manipulating any ombination of the above pa-
rameters, or by sele ting "max" from the gain
makeup menu. This mode an be exited by
manually redu ing the gain makeup or by sele t-
ing "off" from the gain makeup menu.
Graphic 14: Gain Makeup display
The applied gain eduction f om the com-
p esso section is displayed in 

 .
Signal Mete s: The meters in  show the level
of the input (horizontally on top of the transfer
urve graph) and output of the ompressor
stage (verti ally to the right of the transfer
urve). Refer to Graphi 16 and 17 to see the
metering points.
Band Selective Mode vs. Full Range Mode
The DS1-MK3 an be used in onjun tion with a
frequen y rossover (band sele tive mode) or
straight (full range mode).
How to change modes: Tou h the entre fre-
quen y or bandwidth ontroller (  ). The soft-
keys be ome sele tion keys for the filter type:
highpass (Key A), bandpass (Key B), lowpass
(Key C) or bypass (Key D). In bypass the full
range mode ( ompressor) is sele ted. Any other
filter type engages the appropriate filter ahead
of the ompressor stage.
Band Selective Mode (Graphi 16): In this
mode, a frequen y rossover is put into the sig-
nal path, splitting it up into two or three bands,
depending on the filter type setting. One of the
bands is ompressed, the other is delayed by
the same amount used as „delay“ in the om-
pressor stage. This mode is ompletely trans-
parent if no gain redu tion is applied.
Graphic 15: Band Filter menu
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OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK3 OPERATION
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Note, the input and output meters on the trans-
fer graph (
 ) are onne ted after the rossover
and before the adder.
Full Range Mode (Graphi 17): In this mode
the ompressor input meter is at the input of the
DS1-MK3. The rossover ontrollers and the
monitor key have no fun tion.
Graphic 16: Band Selective Mode
Graphic 1 : Full Range Mode
Cross-
over
ilter-
type
In-
put
Out-
put
band-
width
centre
requency
Delay
Comp.
band
pass
monitor
output
meter
input
meter
band
stop
peak / over
hold
Safety
Limiter
+
X
Gain
X
Gain
X
Output
Gain
In-
put Comp.
output
meter
input
meter
peak / over
hold
Out-
put
Safety
Limiter
X
Gain
X
Gain
X
Output
Gain
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OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK3 OPERATION
 Weiss Engineering Ltd., Florastr. 42, CH-8610 Uster Page 14
[phone]  [phone]  http://www.weiss. h  weiss@weiss. h
Pa allel Comp esso
The DS1-MK3 an be used in parallel ompres-
sion mode, where the ompressed signal is add-
ed to the straight signal.
How to activate pa allel comp ession: Tou h
the gain / data ontroller (
 ). In the menu that
appears, mark the he kbox with softkey A.
When using parallel ompression, the DS1-MK3
is able to run in frequen y sele tive or in full
band mode.
Graphic 18: Parallel Full Range Compression
Graphic 19: Parallel Compression on/off (Key A)
Pa allel full band comp ession: As an be
seen in (Graphi 18), the input signal and the
ompressed signal are summed. The gain
makeup value an be used to ontrol the
amount of ompressed signal. The pre-limiter
gain an be used to s ale the mix before limit-
ing.
Pa allel band selective comp ession
(Graphi 20): To add even more subtle om-
pression, the ompressed signal an be filtered
before ompression. Using the monitor fun tion,
one an listen to the filtered signal for optimal
rossover setup.
Why pa allel comp ession?
Read this quote from Bob Katz from the Master-
ing 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 [i.e. parallel] ompression,
so that (for example) high frequen y inner de-
tails at low levels are enhan ed. ”
This last paragraph refers to parallel band sele -
tive ompression ( rossover in highpass mode).
Graphic 20: Parallel band selective compression
In-
put Comp.
output
meter
input
meter
peak / over
hold
Out-
put
Safety
Limiter
+
Pre-Limiter
Gain
Output
Gain
xx
In-
put Comp.
output
meter
input
meter
peak / over
hold
Out-
put
Safety
Limiter
+
Output
Gain
Cross-
over
band
pass
Pre-Limiter
Gain
x x
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OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK3 OPERATION
 Weiss Engineering Ltd., Florastr. 42, CH-8610 Uster Page 15
[phone]  [phone]  http://www.weiss. h  weiss@weiss. h
Sta ting point fo pa allel comp ession:
Set the threshold for -50 dBFS, ratio to 2.5:1,
atta k to the fastest (mi rose onds), release to
mid, around 250-300 ms (adjust to taste if you
hear breathing or pumping). The makeup gain
governs the amount of ompression.
Graphic 21: effect of parallel compression
Graphi 21 shows the effe t of Parallel Compres-
sion on the transfer urve (upper graph). Lower
levels are raised while higher levels are not
mu h affe ted.
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OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK3 OPERATION
 Weiss Engineering Ltd., Florastr. 42, CH-8610 Uster Page 16
[phone]  [phone]  http://www.weiss. h  weiss@weiss. h
Ganged /Unganged
The DS1-MK3 allows for independent parameter
settings in hannels 1 and 2 (  ). If the ganged
key is lit, both hannels operate with the same
parameter set.
If the ganged key is not lit, the two hannels an
operate with different parameters. The CH1/CH2
/ M/S key assigns the knobs and the display to
the appropriate hannel, i.e. key not lit assigns
CH1 or M and key lit assigns CH2 or S.
In ganged mode the CH1/CH2 M/S key an be
used as a A/B key in that either CH1 settings are
applied to both hannels or the CH2 settings are
applied to both hannels.
The opy menu ( opy key) allows to opy CH1
into CH2 parameters or vi e versa in order to
have the same parameters in the two hannels
to start with.
M/S Mode,
Sidechain Link
The DS1-MK3 an be swit hed to M/S (Mid /
Side) mode. To do that press the menu key, the
following menu opens up:
Graphic 22: M/S Mode and Sidechain Link
Key A sele ts M/S Mode on / off (box he ked
means M/S mode engaged) while Key B sele ts
the side hain link on / off (box he ked means
side hain linked). In M/S mode it usually is pref-
erable to set the hannels unganged and the
side hain unlinked.
Graphi 23 shows the blo k digram of the DS1-
MK3 when in M/S mode. Note the positions of
the M/S en oder and de oder. With the “Gain”
ontrols it is possible to hange the balan e be-
tween M and S, while the “Output Gain” ontrols
are arranged after the M/S to L/R onversion.
The “Compressor” blo k an again work in full
band mode or in band sele tive mode, inde-
pendently in the two hannels. I.e. it is possible
to pro ess e.g. the S signal in full band mode
and have the M signal pro essed in band sele -
tive mode for de-essing.
The parallel ompression again works around the
“Compressor” blo k. Parallel ompression an be
swit hed on independently in the two hannels.
M/S En oder
Input
L
L
L
M
R
R
R
Sinput
meter
output meter,
Monito
peak/over
hold
Gain
Output
Gain
Compressor
Safety
Limiter
M/S de oder
Output
Graphic 23: Block diagram in M/S mode
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OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK3 OPERATION
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[phone]  [phone]  http://www.weiss. h  weiss@weiss. h
Monito Key
In band sele tive mode pressing the “monitor”
key allows you to listen dire tly to the pro-
essed band, ideal for zooming in on offending
material and listening to the effe t of the om-
pressor stage.
See Graphi 23 above for the Monito output
position.
The Monitor output works as follows:
DS1-MK3 in ganged mode:
The stereo signal is fed forward to the output. If
the band sele tive mode is sele ted, only the
a tive band is fed to the output.
DS1-MK3 in unganged mode:
The urrently sele ted hannel (CH1 or CH2 or M
or S) is fed to both L and R outputs. This allows
for instan e to listen to the S signal only in order
to adust the ompressor optimally.
If monito is active, the output peak hold
and the ove detection un on the monito
signal, not on the main output.
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OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK3 OPERATION
 Weiss Engineering Ltd., Florastr. 42, CH-8610 Uster Page 18
[phone]  [phone]  http://www.weiss. h  weiss@weiss. h
Facto y P esets
The DS1-MK3 has easily a essible fa tory pre-
sets for a qui k setup whi h an then be refined
and adapted to the programme being pro essed.
These fa tory presets are grouped a ording to
their reators:
The first few fa tory presets we reated at Weiss
Engineering, then a whole bun h of presets re-
ated by Bob Katz follow. Bob’s presets ome
with a detailed on-s reen des ription. Note that
most of Bob’s presets need a treshold and/or a
ratio dialed in in order to work.
We invite users of the DS1-MK3 to supply their
favourite presets for adding them to the list.
To a ess the fa tory presets press the “menu”
key then “snapshots” and then the “presets”
key.
Graphic 24: Snapshots menu
Graphic 25a: Example of a factory preset menu
The appropriate preset # is sele ted with the
Gain / Data rotary en oder. Pressing the “Apply”
key loads the preset without leaving the preset
menu. All rotary en oder ontrols are a tive in
the ba kground, thus a preset an be loaded via
the “Apply” key and then modified with the rota-
ry en oders to he k whether the preset fits the
requirements.
Pressing the “Preset #” key loads the preset and
exits the Fa tory Preset menu.
Graphic 26b: Another example of a factory pre-
set menu
Dithe
The DS1-MK3 is able to apply POW-R type dither
algorithms to avoid distortion when re-
quantizing from 24bit to 16bit or 20bit output
word length (see TECHNICAL DATA for dither
spe ifi ations).
To toggle dither on/off, press key D twi e. To
see dither status refer to the status display (  ,
see Status Display p. 7).
Wo d Length
To set output word length, press key D and se-
le t the appropriate wordlength.
Setup
Press key D then hose the setup menu. This
leads to the menu where the type of POW-R
dither an be hosen (see TECHNICAL DATA for
dither spe ifi ations). Also sele table is:
Auto-Blacking
If auto-bla king is a tivated by marking the “0
IN  0 OUT“ option, dither will be turned off if
the input signal is zero As soon as the input
signal hanges, dither will be turned on again.
This ensures that pauses between programmes
are still digital zero, even if dither is a tivated.
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OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GAMBIT DE-ESSER/COMPRESSOR DS1-MK3 OPERATION
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[phone]  [phone]  http://www.weiss. h  weiss@weiss. h
Snapshots
Snapshots are opies of the DS1-MK3 parameter
settings. This allows re alling omplete setups
in luding all parameters and ontrols settings.
Snapshots an be re alled from the front panel
or by remote ontrol (e.g. MIDI Program
Change).
Snapshot a ess keys are in  . To see work-
spa e status refer to the status display (  , see
Status Display p. 7).
A-B Compa ison
You an ompare two settings by using the two
workspa es “A” and “B”. To toggle between the
two press the “A-B” key. Restore a snapshot or
simply adjust parameters in one workspa e,
then swit h to the other to ompare.
To opy workspa e “A” to “B” or vi e versa,
press the “ opy” key and sele t an option
(Graphi 25).
Graphic 2 : Copy menu
The a tive workspa e is shown in the status
display.
Recall Snapshots
To re all a snapshot press the “re all” key. No-
ti e that the snapshot will be opied into the
a tive workspa e. If you do not want to lose
these settings, swit h to the other workspa e by
pressing the “A-B” key.
Graphic 28: Recall menu
Using the gain/ data ontroller (  ) enter the
number of the snapshot you want to re all. The
graph of the snapshot will be displayed. Howev-
er, the audio signal is not affe ted if the “Pre-
view” option is marked. On e you have found
the snapshot, press key D to restore it.
If the “P eview” option is not ma ked, the
snapshots will be ecalled as soon as you
ente a new numbe .
Press the “re all” key to return to the status
display.
“Recall #
##
# 0”
Snapshot 0 an be used for a qui k reset.
Sto e Snapshots
To store the urrent workspa e to a snapshot,
press the “store” key. With the gain/ data on-
troller (  ) enter the snapshot number where
you want to store the workspa e, then press key
D. Snapshots an be prevented from a idental
erasure by marking the “Safe” option.
A setting an be stored to multiple snapshots.
Press “To Range” in the “store” menu.
Graphic 29: Store To Range menu
Press the adja ent keys to sele t “Start” and
“End” snapshot number, use the “gain/ data”
en oder to enter a value (Graphi 27). Pressing
“Exe ute” will store the setting from the dis-
played workspa e (“A” or “B”) to all snapshots
between the Start and End value. A “Safe” snap-
shot will not be overwritten.
Backup Snapshots
All 128 snapshots an be transferred to another
internal non-volatile memory area for later ref-
eren e. There is enough memory for two om-
plete snapshot sets to be ba ked up.
Press the “menu” key (  ) then hoose the
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“Snapshots” and then the “Ba kup” option to
arrive at the ba kup display (Graphi 28).
Graphic 30: Backup display
Sele t “Create #1” to save the urrent snapshots
to bank 1. Sele t “Restore #1” to overwrite the
urrent snapshots with bank 1 (ditto for bank 2).
A backup will ove w ite “safe” snapshots.
Reset all Snapshots
To reinstall the fa tory snapshots press the
“menu” key then “snapshots” and then the “Re-
set all” option. This will reset the urrent snap-
shots. The snapshots that have been ba ked up
are preserved.
Graphic 31: Snapshots menu
Dump Snapshots
The settings of all 128 snapshots an be dumped
to a remote ontrol port to be stored externally.
Please make sure that you have onne ted eve-
rything orre tly and that the proper remote
ontrol port is a tivated (see hapter Remote
Control for setup).
When dumping to a MIDI-sequen er, make sure
that the sequen er is not sending or re eiving
data other than the snapshot dump.
Ce tain sequence s a e not capable of han-
dling the amount of data output by the
DS1-MK3 and might c ash du ing o afte
the dump p ocess.
To initiate a dump, press the “menu” key then
hoose the “Snapshot” and then the “Dump”
option. Start the re ording pro ess on the se-
quen er, then press “Transmit”. This releases
the dump to the sequen er.
Loading Snapshots
To load a snapshot dump from sequen er, simp-
ly play the dump sequen e. The DS1-MK3 will
automati ally swit h into re eive mode and dis-
play statisti s about the snapshots it’s re eiving.
If the transmission was OK, the program swit h-
es ba k to normal mode. Upon error, you have
to manually swit h ba k to normal mode.
Snapshots made with the MK2 version an be
reloaded into the MK3 unit as well.
When playing back the dump sequence,
always use the same speed as when the
sequence was eco ded.
Graphic 32: Dumping Snapshots
Mete Resolution
The transfer graph and the ompressor peak
meters (  ) work with different resolutions to
a ommodate signals with a wide dynami
range.
The resolution for the peak meters and transfer
graph an be set in fixed steps of -20dB, -40dB
and -80dB, or alternatively, to auto. In auto
mode, the display swit hes to the next step as
soon as the transfer graph falls below the ur-
rent window. The peak meters resolution is al-
ways the same as the transfer graph’s.
The same prin iple applies to the gain redu tion
meters of the ompressor (  ) and the safety
limiter (  ).
To adjust gain redu tion or peak meter resolu-
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