MindPrint-EnVoice
ENGLISH
1.Layout of the EnVoice
1.1 Input Section
TheEnVoicefeaturesacompleteinputsectionconsistingofalineinputdesignedfor
standardstudiolevels,aninstrumentinput,andamicrophoneinputwithswitchable
phantompowerforcondensermicrophones.Youcanalsoretrofitadigitalinputby
installingtheDI-MODexpansionmodule.
UsetheGaincontroltoadjusttheinputlevel.Theswitchableinput/outputleveldisplay
givesyouavisualreferencewhichwillhelpyoudialinsuitablesettings.Ontheonehand,
youwanttheinputsignaltobeashighaspossible,ontheother,itshouldnotexceed+8
dB.Pleasemakesurethatthetopsegment(red)oftheLEDmeterdoesnotilluminateeven
atsignalpeaks.
Inthesignalpath,theinputstageisimmediatelyfollowedbyabasscutfilter.Itletsyou
choosealimitingfrequencyofeither50or100Hztosuppresslow-frequencyrumble,such
asthetypeproducedbyfootstepsonstageorinthestudio.
1.2 Parametric Equalizer
Theequalizerconsistsofonesemi-parametricbandeachforbassandtrebleaswellas
onefullyparametricbandformids.Allthreebandswereimplementedintheformofbell
filters.Thesefiltersletyouboostorcutfrequenciesby15dB.Everybandcanbeactivated
separately.Whenyouswitchabandon,itscorrespondingStatusLEDlightsup.
Thecenterfrequencyofthelowestequalizerbandisinfinitelyvariablefrom20to300Hz.
Youcan'tchangethebandwidth—commonlycalledQualityorQ-factor—default;
however,whenyoucutthefrequencyband,thefiltersweepissettoalowervalue.In
practice,you'llfindthatthisfeaturewillgiveyouexcellentresults.Whatthismeansis
thatwhenyoutweakthebassforabiggerbottomend,youwillboostabroaderbandof
frequencies.Conversely,whenyouareattemptingtosquelchbackgroundnoisesuchas50-
HzAChum,itwillbesuppressedinaverynarrowband.
TheMidbandgivesyouavariablefrequencybetween100Hzand11kHz,extendingwell
intothebassandhighranges.ThisEQisyouruniversalsound-sculptingtool.Itsvariable
bandwidthletsyoudialinaQ-factorbetween0.15and3totargetcutswithinanarrow
bandorboostfrequenciesonabroaderscale.
TheHibandcoversarangeof1.6to22kHz.Whenyoudialinanythingover20kHz,the
centerfrequencyofthefilterliesoutsideoftherangeofhumanhearing.Itsresponseis
thensimilartothatofshelvingfilter,however,anddoesnotinfluencethemidsas
drastically.TheQ-factororqualityoftheHifrequencybandisadefaultsettingand
remainsthesameregardlesswhetheryouboostorcutfrequencies.
1.3Tube Compressor
Thecompressormanipulatessignalssubtly.Althoughunobtrusive,you'llfinditdelivers
impressivesounds.Poweredbyahigh-qualityTHAT-VCA(VoltageControlledAmplifier)
tunedtointeractwiththetube,itgeneratesuncoloredcompressionaswellasthetypical
overtonestructurethatyouwouldexpectfromapremiumtubedevice.
ThecompressorkicksinatvaluesabovethesettingdeterminedbytheThresholdknob.
AdjustthecompressionratioviatheCompressionknob.Everysignalthatexceedsthe
thresholdvalueisdampenedattheratiothatyoudetermine.Thistypeofattenuationis
generallycalledgainreduction;itsamountisdisplayedina12-segmentLEDladder
locatedabovethecompressorcontrols.
Whenyouusethecompressortoshapesignals,signalslouderthanthethresholdpoint
becomequieterthantheywere,whilesoftersignals,i.e.signalsbelowthethreshold
point,remainunprocessed.Afteryouhavecompressedasignal,youcantweakthelevel
sothatthelouderpartsagainachievetheiroriginallevel.Thevolumeofthesofterparts
willalsobeamplified,makingtheentiretrackseemlouder.Furthermore,thevariation
betweenloudandsoftpartswillbereduced,sothatyouachieveamorebalanced,smooth
soundscape.Vocaltracksareinherentlyextremelydynamic;you'llfind,inmostcases,that
thesewon'tintegrateperfectlyintothemixuntilyouhavecompressedthem.
CompressionCharacteristic
Compressionisimportant,butyouwantittobeinconspicuousratherthanobvious.For
thisreasontheEnVoiceemploys"soft-knee"compession.Withthischaracteristic,the
compressionrateisincreasedcontinuouslyuntilitiswithintherangeofthethreshold
value.Thesignallevelabovethisvalueisthencompressedattheratiothatyou
determined.Whatthismeansisthatevenheavilycompressedsignalsarenot"crushed"
intosubmission,butgently"squeezed"whenthesignalexceedsthethreshold.
Inconventionalcompressors,mostproblemsresultfromsettingthecompressionrates
improperly.Toavoidsuchproblems,theEnVoicehasbeenequippedwithanautomaticrate
controlthatisprogram-dependent.Theattackandreleasetimeschosenbyourengineers
arefastenoughtohandleevenpercussivematerial.Buttheremaybetimeswhenyou
wantthecompressortouseslowerattackandreleaseratessoastoallowtheinitial
characteristicattacktransientsoftheinstrumentstocomethroughunalteredtoachievea
morenaturalsound.InthiscasesimplypresstheSlowbutton,andtheEnVoicewill
automaticallyactivatealengthierattackandrelease.
SoftKneeCharacteristic
PressingtheFilterbuttonactivatesfrequency-dependentcompression,whichisoptimized
forvocals.Withthebuttonpressedin,bass-heavysignalsnolongercausethecompressor
toover-react.Theresult:silky,shimmeringhighsandimprovedtrebleresponse.Forbest
results,experiment,especiallywithacousticinstruments!
The"soul"ofthecompressorisdefinitelythetube,whichhasaconsiderableinfluenceon
itssound.UsetheTubeSatknobtodialinvariablesaturationlevels.Thisknobgivesyou
precisecontrolovertheamountofovertonesthatthetubegenerates,fromfewovertones
atoneextremetoclearlyaudibledistortionattheother,andsubtleincreasespossibleall
alongtheway.Normally,ifyoucompressasignalheavily,itslevelisdecreased,andthe
