the twinQ2 manual
Contents
1. The line input doesn t work e Is the source connected to the correct jack input on the rear e Is the LINE switch in LED on e Is the INPUT GAIN control turned up e Is the OUTPUT GAIN control turned up Is something plugged in to the INSTRument jack 4 The compressor doesn t work e Is the Compressor ON switch in LED on ls the COMPRESS control turned up enough e Is the SLOPE control turned up enough e Is there enough signal as set by the INPUT GAIN control to drive the compressor 5 Too little or too much compression e Turn the INPUT GAIN control up or down respectively to adjust the signal level to the compressor 6 The Meequalizer doesn t work e Is the EQ ON switch in LED on e Is INPUT GAIN control turned up ls OUTPUT GAIN control turned up 7 Too much noise ls the INPUT GAIN control too high Try moving the mic closer to the source ls the OUTPUT GAIN control set too high for example when lots of compression is being used e Is there too much EQ boost e Is the noise already present in the input signal Try removing the input 8 Sounds distorted e Is the INPUT GAIN control too high e Is the OUTPUT GAIN control too high Is there too much EQ boost When using the Compressor is the RELEASE control set too low Technical Specification Input impedances Pre amp overall gain Common mode rejection Equivalent input noise Distortion Freq2. switch is operated The Compressor is after the Preamplifier and the Insert Point and before the Meequalizer COMP LINK This is important when the twinQ2 is used for stereo work When two mono compressors are used for stereo differing amounts of gain reduction occur in each channel which causes the stereo image to wander The COMP LINK switch avoids this problem by summing the compressor control paths of both channels and assigning control of slave channel 2 s gain cell to master Channel 1 The COMPRESS ATTACK and RELEASE controls on the Channel 1 then operate both channels and the corresponding controls on Channel 2 are redundant Note however that all other controls still operate independently on both channels and must be set the same for correct stereo balance The LED lights when active Meequalizer The twinQ2 Meequalizer is a highly effective versatile and SdB div Top 12dBY musically rewarding three band equalizer or tone control system Each stage allows boost or cut of up to 15dB around the ATTN frequency in question The EQ switch turns the equalizer on and ral the green LED lights when active 7 E The LF band can be tuned or swept anywhere between 40Hz Y TFN and 650Hz It may help to think of it as like a graphic equalizer only instead of lots of frequency bands you have just one but it can be moved to cover any given frequency band Cutting low frequencies can be used to reduce unwan
3. 4dBu ML 4dBu ML 10dBV om Y ON ON AES EBU SPDIF OPTICAL WORD Al OUTPUT OUTPUT OUTPUT CLOCKIN FREQUENCY L owu J 4dBu OUTPUT INSERT LINE INPUT MIC INPUT U ourur J 4dBu OUTPUT INSERT LINE INPUT MIC INPUT N DIGITAL INTERFACE outputs two channel digital audio in 4dBu 10dBv switch selects the operating level of the 1 4 S PDIF format optical and RCA phono connectors and AES3 jack output either to the professional standard of 4dBu or to XLR connector 10dBv which may be more suitable for hi fi amplifiers and some WORD CLOCK INPUT BNC connector allows the twinQ2 to be computer sound cards synchronized to an external word clock Sample Rate switches select 44 1kHz 48kHz 88 2kHz or 96kHz Channel 2 Analog Input allows an external balanced analogue audio signal to be fed to the otherwise unused digital channel 2 Preamplifier This is the all important front end to the twinQ2 Its job is to accept any type of microphone instrument or other source of audio signal and make it loud enough Microphones need rather a lot of amplification while guitars keyboards and CD players need less Mics need to be connected to low impedance inputs while instruments prefer high impedance inputs To ensure correct impedance matching the inputs are split into an XLR connector for Mics and 1 4 jack Line and INSTRument connectors for everything else A switch on the front panel decides which input connector is active t
4. does it automatically responding far quicker and more accurately than you ever could by hand The compressor is applied in several ways 1 Make Sounds Stand Out Because compressors make loud sounds quieter you can boost the volume of the quiet bits without the loud bits getting even louder That means you can raise the average level of an instrument or vocal in the mix which has the effect of lifting it and bringing it forwards This can actually improve vocals for example bringing them out in front of a mix making them sound denser more even and more confident 2 Crank Up The Volume Raising the average volume of whole mixes means they can be heard in noisy environments such as vehicles and factories Boosting the average level is what makes radio stations sound LOUD and the same technique is used on TV commercials too which is why they always seem annoyingly louder than the movie you were trying to watch 3 Protection Fast response times are generally used to control brief transients In other words if an occasional peak sticks its head above a maximum permitted level the compressor clobbers it this is known as limiting and a compressor designed solely for this purpose is known as a Limiter Limiters are primarily used to protect recorders and monitor systems from overload radio transmitters from overmodulation etc The Joemeek compressor is not primarily intended for this purpose as the Attack is not really fast enough
5. or cut is available at the selected frequency LF FREQ sets the frequency at which the LF control operates anywhere from 40Hz to 650Hz MID controls the Higher Middle frequencies in the audio spectrum 15dB of boost or cut is available at the selected frequency MID FREQ sets the frequency at which the HM control operates anywhere from 300Hz to 5kHz HF controls the volume of the High Frequencies or Treble in the audio spectrum 15dB of boost or cut is available at the selected frequency 6kHz switch sets the frequency at which the HF control operates in for 6kHz out for 12KHz EQ ON switch turns the Meequalizer on OUTPUT GAIN the volume control or Fader for the output of the twinQ2 PEAK FSD LED lights 6dB below clipping FSD means Full Scale Digital and this LED also warns you if the Digital Interface is about to be overloaded EXT CLK LED illuminates when the twinQ2 s digital output is successfully locked to an external word clock Rear Panel at a Glance POWER ONLY AC VOLTAGE 115 230 V FREQUENCY 50 60 Hz POWER 30 VA AUTION ENSURE CORRECT RATINGS EN60065 WHEN REPLACING FUSES meek com FUSE RATINGS eee EE Gee ee DESIGNED IN THE UK FOR PMI AUDIO ARE CORRECT BEFORE CONNECTING MAINS POWER 230V T500mA THIS APPARATUS MUST BE EARTHED BY THE POWER CORD 115V TIA NO USER SERVICEABLE PARTS CHANNEL 2 REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED PERSONNEL DIGITAL INTERFACE MADE IN CHINA
6. the compression ratio varies with the amount of compression applied Suppose the SLOPE control is set to 5 1 For signals only just exceeding threshold the ratio is little more than 1 1 As the compressor is driven harder the ratio rises to 5 1 at least up to a point It is a feature of the Joemeek compressor that the compression ratio actually reduces again during large transients and adjusted correctly this helps to retain brightness that is often lost with other types of compressor This is why vintage optical compressors often sound more lively than their modern counterparts Controls COMPRESS sets the level of signal the Threshold above which the signal starts to be compressed Turning the compression control clockwise lowers the compression threshold and drives the compressor harder SLOPE sets the average compression ratio applied to signals above threshold Lower settings anti clockwise have less effect Turning the control clockwise increases the ratio and makes the effects of compression more dramatic At maximum 10 1 the Joemeek compressor effectively becomes a limiter ATTACK sets how quickly the compressor reacts to peaks above threshold Turn this control anticlockwise for a quick response Slower clockwise allows the fast leading edge of percussive sounds to pass uncompressed for a moment before the compressor reacts to control the gain This example of changing the envelope of a sound exaggerates
7. the percussive nature of drums and other instruments Settings around mid position are used where the compression needs to be less obvious Vocals for example require Attack times around 10msec for natural sounding results Faster attack times anti clockwise in conjunction with large amounts of compression result in extreme pumping effects RELEASE sets how long the compressor goes on squashing the sound for once the signal has dropped below threshold If it stopped instantly there would be very noticeable modulation or pumping of the sound So we may want it to stop compressing less abruptly and that is what the Release control is for Generally the longer the Release time the less obvious is the compression Of course some pumping might actually be desirable as a special effect and that is another way in which the envelope of a sound can be modified The twinQ2 Release is variable from 100msec up to 3 seconds giving a wide variety of effects How the compressor behaves actually changes with programme content and volume So experiment with the controls with different kinds of material to discover the range and depth of effects that can be achieved The COMP in out switch allows comparison between compressed and uncompressed sound blue LED lights when active Remember that the MAKE UP GAIN is there to restore the level of the signal after compression Correctly adjusted there will be no change in volume as the Compressor ON
8. to satisfy radio station requirements although it is generally good enough to protect recorders and monitors where the effect of transients is less critical Normally you should not hear a limiter operating but if it is driven hard constantly it can render a mix somewhat flat and lifeless 4 Accommodation The dynamic range of the human ear is phenomenal extending from the threshold of hearing eg a pin dropping onto soft carpet to threshold of pain eg standing next to a jet aircraft some 120dBA in all By contrast vinyl cassette tape and radio broadcasts all have a dynamic range of about half that Since the advent of the CD the dynamic range of the medium is far less of an issue and compressors are used more to give a certain feel to a production AM and FM radio however is still very much compressed to fit its restricted dynamic range 5 Modification A compressor can change the dynamics or envelope of the track and itis here that the Joemeek Compressor excels Compressor Cont d Types of Compressor Most compressors work in essentially the same way a volume controlling element or gain cell is inserted into the audio signal path The level of the signal at any given moment is measured and that information is used to control the gain cell So if the signal gets bigger the volume is turned down Various types of gain cell in common use include FETs valves tubes light dependent resistors photoelectric d
9. tothe operating level of 4dBu so ifthe meterreads 0 then you will have 4dBu coming out of the XLR In the case of the 1 4 jack output socket if you have selected 4dBu using the Rear Panel switch and the meter reads 0 then you will have 4dBu coming out of the jack socket If you have selected 10dBv using the Rear Panel switch and the meter reads 0 then you will have 10dBv coming out of the output jack In Gain Reduction mode GR switch in the Meter changes to read 0 dB when no signal is present Whenever the compressor reduces the gain of a signal the meter then moves backwards to show the amount of gain reduction taking place at any moment Note that unlike many other products in the twinQ2 this reading is a true measurement of gain reduction derived by comparing the input and output of the PhotoOptical gain cell The third mode PRE allows the output of the preamp to be metered directly rather like the PFL button on a mixing console This is useful for adjusting the gain of the Preamp The PRE switch overrides both VU and GR metering Compressor The hardest device to understand yet one of the most useful the PhotoOptical Compressor is what gives Joemeek products their unique character Its job is to make quiet sounds louder and loud sounds quieter or in other words to reduce the dynamic range of the programme material It s a bit like manually riding the volume control except the compressor
10. MEEQUALIZER 7 OUTPUT MEEQUALIZER 7 OUTPUT PEAK PEAK o one PE FSD S Ta CA q e eee yo al lt a gt E DUAL STUDIO sj A al ya g sl 9 9 20 4 PAD o sj kii sj ye g sl j CHANNEL N n p ak a 18 4K N M 50 18 N gi St O o O me O of A oa ar Dato he LF FREQ LE MID FREQ MID a l MID FREQ MID HF 12kH2 sk ON RON O kHz a PREAMP OPTICAL COMPRESSOR PREAMP p OPTICAL COMPRESSOR A A a w as ve 4 a 30 40 PEAK 10 21 slot os 12 GR x 40 PEAK 10 2 sos 1 46 12 GR AAA aa a aaa ae a bs i 4 Ta T i E h y 2 a sia COMP 4 7 METER so y 50 e w AY S 4044 Ss 0 00 0 O O ols 8 INSTR GAIN compress SLOPE ATTACK RELEASE MAKEUP INSTR GAIN O compress SLOPE ATTACK RELEASE MAKEUP 0 HPF GAIN ON PRE GR CLK LINK HPF GAIN ON PRE GR S 10 03 0 o nO Dual Studio Channel User Guide joemeek com Designed in England and assembled in China to strict Joemeek specifications Joemeek is manufactured under the direction of and distributed exclusively by PMI AUDIO GROUP USA 1845 W 169th Street Gardena CA 90247 toll free 877 563 6335 fax 310 323 0900 UK Unit 4 Minerva Court Woodland Industrial Estate Torquay TQ2 7BD tel 44 0 1803 612700 fax 44 0 1803 612009 email info joemeek com www joemeek com Written by Allan Bradford MSc ce MA JOEMEEK is a registered trademark of PMI Audio Group Import
11. all this apparatus in a confined space such as a book case or similar unit Install only in racks designed for the purpose and in accordance with manufacturers instructions 8 Do not install near any heat sources such as radiators heat registers stoves or other apparatus including amplifiers that produce heat 9 Do not defeat the safety purpose of the polarized or grounding type plug A polarized plug has two blades with one wider than the other A grounding type plug has two blades and a third grounding prong The wide blade or the third prong are provided for your safety If the provided plug does not fit into your outlet consult an electrician for replacement of the obsolete outlet 10 Protect the power cord from being walked on or pinched particularly at plugs convenience receptacles and the point where they exit from the apparatus 11 Only use attachments and accessories specified by the manufacturer JAM om lt 12 Use only with a cart stand tripod bracket or table specified by the manufacturer or sold with the apparatus When a cart is used use caution when moving the cart apparatus combination to avoid injury from tip over 13 Unplug this apparatus during lightning storms or when unused for long periods of time 14 Refer all servicing to qualified service personnel Servicing is required when the apparatus has been damaged in any way such as power supply cord or plug is damaged liquid
12. ant Safety Information CAUTION RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT OPEN CAUTION TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT REMOVE COVER NO USER SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL The lightning flash with arrowhead symbol within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the presence of uninsulated dangerous voltage within the product s enclosure that may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of electric shock to persons The exclamation point within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the presence of important operating and maintenance servicing instructions in the literature accompanying the appliance WARNING TO AVOID FIRE OR ELECTRIC SHOCK HAZARD DO NOT EXPOSE THIS APPARATUS TO WATER RAIN OR MOISTURE NOTE This apparatus does not exceed the Class A Class B whichever is applicable limits for radio noise emissions from digital apparatus as set out in the radio interference regulations of the Canadian Department of Communications ATTENTION Le pr sent appareil num rique n met pas de bruits radio lectriques d passant las limites applicables aux appareils num riques de class A de class B selon le cas prescrites dans le r glement sur le brouillage radio lectrique dict par les ministere des communications du Canada These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference
13. ernatively the twinQ2 may be set to the frequency of an external master word clock generated for example by the studio s recorder or DAW When connected to the BNC socket provided a suitable external word clock will be detected automatically and will override the twinQ2 s internal word clock The front panel LED labeled EXT CLK illuminates when the twinQ2 is successfully locked to an external word clock To avoid distortion care should be taken not to overdrive the input to the Digital Interface The red LED next to the Output Gain control is labeled PEAK FSD which stands for Full Scale Digital Occasional flashes are OK but if it is on all the time turn something down Using the twinQ2 GETTING CONNECTED The figure shows the twinQ2 being used instead of a mixing desk in arecording setup O O MICROPHONE MONITOR AMP EN MULTI FX PROCESSOR twinQ2 DUAL STUDIO CHANNEL Deedee yor me EK CE 1 CHANNEL 1 e Q 4dBu M o tea a gt lt 6 gt C AS UNE INPUT MIC INPUT our J acu output ING PI MIC INPUT TO FRONT PANEL d JACK y e The insert point is being used to divert the preamplified signal through an external effects processor RECORDER e Amicrophone is connected to the Mic Input e Aguitar is connected to the Instrument Input e The XLR Output is connected to the recorder input e The recorder output is connected to the Line Input for playback Prev
14. gations under the RoHS directive and insists that its factories use only components that are certified ROHS compliant as well as lead free solder In a very few cases the necessary components may not yet be available to the world market but we work continuously to eliminate any such exceptions at the earliest opportunity Our printed Circuit Boards PCB s and all soldered joints have been lead free since 2005 Statement of WEEE Policy PMI Audio Group manufactures many complete electronic products which are covered by the European Union s Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment directive 2002 96 EC WEEE This directive seeks to ensure that waste electric and electronic equipment is disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner at the end of its life cycle PMI Audio Group takes seriously its obligations under this directive to take back WEEE affected products and from 13th August 2005 will mark all such products with the crossed out wheeled bin symbol Business to Business products PMI Audio Group will cost neutrally take back WEEE affected electric and electronic equipment in this category from 1st January 2006 PMI Audio Group will work with disposal and recycling partners working within the EU The waste electric and electronic equipment can then be turned over to a disposal and recycling companies in the countries concerned Business to Customer products emerging electric and electronic equipment will be dis
15. has been spilled or objects have fallen into the apparatus the apparatus has been exposed to rain or moisture does not operate normally or has been dropped 15 Apparatus designed with Class l construction must be connected to a mains socket outlet with a protective earthing connection the third grounding prong 16 This apparatus may be equipped with a single pole rocker style AC mains power switch If so this switch is located on the front panel and should remain readily accessible to the user 17 The manufacturer reserves the right to change the technical specification of the product without prior notice Statement of ROHS Compliance PMI Audio Group manufactures complete electronic products which are covered by the European Union s Removal of Hazardous Substances directive 2002 95 EC ROHS This directive seeks to eliminate toxic substances from the manufacturing process such that when equipment is disposed of at the end of its life cycle the materials it contains do not contaminate the environment and pose health risks Banned substances are lead mercury cadmium hexavalent chromium polybrominated biphenyls PBB and poly brominated diphenyl ethers PBDE Lead is used together with tin in solder connections to reduce the melting point of solder Lead free solder requires higher soldering temperatures which in turn places greater thermal stress on components OMPLIANT Ph PMI Audio Group takes seriously its obli
16. he XLRs or the 1 4 jacks The LED next to the switch lights to show that the Line inputs jacks are selected LINE switch out LED off Mic LINE switch in LED on Line or Instr The Mic input is transformer balanced and the Line input is electronically balanced Note although the Line input is not normally used for microphones it can also be suitable for some high output unbalanced microphones such as battery powered Electret types The front and rear panel Mic inputs XLR are balanced and wired as follows Pin 2 hot Pin 3 cold Pin 1 ground The Line input jack is balanced and wired as follows Tip hot Ring cold Sleeve ground The front panel Instrument jack is balanced and wired as follows Tip hot Sleeve ground NB use a mono jack plug Note that if something is plugged into the Instrument input anything plugged into the rear panel Line input will be cut off Phantom power Most high quality studio mics are Phantom Powered which is to say they have electronics inside them which get their power from the preamp Most mics require a supply of 48 volts so Phantom Power is often labelled 48V The 48V switch turns this power on and a red LED lights when active When switching the Phantom Power on quite a loud thump may be produced so it is a good idea to turn down the Output Gain or to momentarily select the Line input when pressing the 48V switch When using dy
17. igital potentiometers and voltage controlled amplifiers better known as VCAs The twinQ2 Compressor is a unique recreation of the sort of photoelectric compressor used by record producer Joe Meek in the 1960 s Using modern components for consistency and reliability it nonetheless reproduces faithfully the same punchy sound that was so characteristic of the pop records of that time Compression Ratio What OK it s simpler than it sounds If the input gets 10dB louder but the output only increases by 5dB then the compression ratio is 2 to 1 If the input goes up 10dB but the output only goes up 1dB then the compression ratio is 10 to 1 In a theoretically ideal compressor this ratio is the same for any size of signal above the threshold but for that to be true the gain cell and its control circuitry must be perfectly linear over a very wide range In practice only compressors based on VCAs and digital potentiometers are likely to behave in this way Some compressors have a control to set the ratio anywhere between 1 1 ie no compression and 20 1 which would be regarded as a brick wall limiter In the twinQ2 the Slope or Compression Ratio is variable from 1 1 ie no compression to 10 1 Slopes around 3 1 are gentle for vocals while higher slopes are hard for drums and guitars However that s not all there is to it Variable Ratio In the Joemeek optical compressor the compression threshold is not clearly defined and
18. in a commercial residential installation respectively This equipment generates uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual may cause harmful interference to radio communications There is no guarantee that interference will not occurin a particular installation If this equipment does cause interference to radio or television equipment reception which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by any combination of the following measures 1 Relocate or reorient the receiving antenna 2 Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver 3 Plug the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected 4 Consult your dealer or experienced radio television technician for additional assistance CAUTION Changes or modifications to this equipment not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user s authority to operate this equipment Important Safety Instructions 1 Read these instructions 2 Keep these instructions 3 Heed all warnings 4 Follow all instructions 5 Do not use this apparatus near water Do not expose to drips or splashes Do not place any objects filled with liquids such as vases on the apparatus 6 Clean only with dry cloth 7 Do not block any ventilation openings Do not inst
19. iously recorded tracks may also be replayed via the Line Input to permit compression and equalization POWER SUPPLY Connect the twinQ2 power cord to the AC connector on the rear panel and switch on the mains supply NB ensure that the twinQ2 is set to the correct mains voltage for your region either 115V or 230V Orientate the fuse holder mains voltage selector draw so that the required voltage appears at the top If in doubt consult a competent engineer Using the Preamp Turn the INPUT GAIN control to minimum and connect the input source If you are using a condenser microphone remember to press the 48V Phantom Power switch Set the OUTPUT GAIN to OdB Turn up the INPUT GAIN until the microphone sound registers on the VU Meter adjusting it so that the meter reads between 0 and 3 on sound peaks When the red LED labeled PEAK lights the twinQ2 is within 6dB of clipping Occasional flashes are OK but if it is on all the time turn the INPUT GAIN down Remember you can check the preamp gain atany time by pressing the METER PRE switch Using the Compressor Start with the Compressor and Meequalizer off and adjust INPUT GAIN and OUTPUT GAIN so that the VU Meter reads around OdB Now switch the meter to read gain reduction using the GR switch Set COMPRESSION and ATTACK fully anti clockwise with SLOPE and RELEASE at mid position Press the Compressor ON switch and turn up the COMPRESSION contr
20. latter could affect the COMPRESS setting though Keep an eye on the VU Meter when adjusting the EQ When the red LED labeled PEAK FSD lights the twinQ2 is within 6dB of clipping Occasional flashes are OK but if it is on all the time turn something down The way to use the MID control is to apply quite a lot of boost then sweep the frequency until you tune in to the sound you are interested in Once you find it adjust the amount of boost or cut to give the desired effect Experiment with combinations of settings of EQ and try to picture how the audio signal is being affected Use the EQ ON switch to make comparisons between EQ d and non EQ d signals Using the Output Stage Final adjustments to the output level can be made with the OUTPUT GAIN control again keeping an eye on the VU meter and PEAK FSD LED Note how this control can also be used to fade out the signal completely Troubleshooting 1 No Power no lights work e Is the power supply plugged in both ends e ls the mains power on ls the mains voltage set correctly for your region e Has the mains fuse blown 2 The microphone doesn t work e Is it connected to the XLR input on the front or rear panel Ifa condenser microphone is the phantom power switched on e Is the LINE switch out LED off ls the INPUT GAIN control turned up e Is the OUTPUT GAIN control turned up Is something plugged in to the INSTRument jack 3
21. nQ2 and all other Joemeek products approaches this limit To improve significantly on this would require highly specialised electronics and probably a vat of liquid Nitrogen to cool it The maximum gain available from the preamp is 60dB in which case the noise floor will be 67dBu This is actually quite noisy if you record that noise onto a digital recorder and play it back you will definitely hear it In practice of course you do not record and play back silence and the rest of the mix will probably be more than 70dB louder than this noise and will mask it completely Even so itis generally a good idea not to use gains greater than 40dB or 50dB and indeed it should rarely be necessary to do so This is simply an unbalanced Send and Return jack on the rear panel It allows you to patch any other pieces of equipment into the signal path such as an effects processor or noise gate To use it you will need a Y lead wired as follows Tip send Ring return Sleeve ground When no jack is inserted the socket is internally linked or normalled so that the signal flows uninterrupted Note that the Insert Point is after the Preamp in the signal path but before the Compressor and Meequalizer The analogue meter displays one of three things depending on the setting of the VU Meter switches In VU mode PRE switch out the Meter shows the signal level at the XLR Output after the OUTPUT GAIN fader Note that this is relative
22. namic or older ribbon mics do not turn Phantom Power on It probably won t do any harm but it certainly won t do any good so leave it off Consult the microphone handbook if you are unsure what kind of mic you have The main control labelled INPUT GAIN covers a range of microphone amplification from 18dB to 60dB In many other preamps the action of the Gain control is rather uneven with the 40dB to 60dB range being crammed into the last 1 6th of a turn All Joemeek preamps use a specially designed control that ensures smooth operation over the whole range of rotation with extra sensitivity in the crucial 25dB to 45 dB range Microphone inputs up to 4dBu can be accommodated without distortion 24dBu by using the PAD switch The symbol next to the 35dB mark means unity gain or OdB for a signal in the Line input For Line inputs the range of gain adjustment either side of this mark is 22dB 19dB For the INSTRument input the gain range is OdB to 40dB The microphone input transformer is permanently assigned to the Mic Input The IRON switch optionally sends the Line input through the transformer to add some colouration to Line sources The PEAK LED lights 16dBu which is 6dB below clipping so occasional brief flashes are OK but if it s on all the time you need to back off the Input Gain HPF means high pass filter Mainly for use with microphones this helps remove stage rumble handling noise and po
23. nly for use with microphones this helps remove stage rumble handling noise and pops METER analogue movement shows output signal level VU preamp signal level orthe amount of Compressor gain reduction GR in dB depending on the settings of the Meter switches The PRE switch overrides both VU and GR metering COMPRESS sets the level of signal or Threshold above which the signal starts to be compressed SLOPE sets the compression ratio applied to signals above threshold ATTACK sets how quickly the compressor responds to peaks above threshold RELEASE sets the time taken for the signal to return to its normal size after compression In general the longer the time the less obvious the compression al PAD e xX MEEQUALIZER r E E 4 A A 9 20 Jo DUAL STUDIO CHANNEL pedja r METERA GAIN compress HPF PRE GR SLOPE ATTACK RELEASE MAKE UP GAIN restores the level of the compression signal after COMP LINK for stereo work the master twinQ2 s Compress Attack and Release control both master and slave twinQ2 the corresponding controls on the slave twinQ2 are redundant This avoids stereo image shifts All other controls still operate independently on both master and slave and must be set the same for correct stereo balance Compressor ON switch turns the compressor on LF controls the volume of Low Frequencies or Bass in the audio spectrum 15dB of boost
24. o ground pin 3 of the cable connector To run the 1 4 jack output unbalanced just plug in a mono jack plug Either way this increases the gain of the signal by 6dB so there is no drop in level compared with balanced gear All outputs on all Joemeek Q2 series products are properly balanced which is to say there is a signal on both pins In this way the maximum possible common mode rejection of interference can be achieved at the receiving end Digital Interface The Joemeek Digital Audio Interface provides high quality digital audio outputs plus the ability to synchronize to an external word clock The digital audio outputs are compatible with most digital recorders as well as Digital Audio Workstations and mixers S PDIF format is available from the optical and RCA Phono connectors while the transformer coupled XLR connector provides a balanced AES3 compatible output Highly stable onboard master clocks give low jitter hi fi results Internal sample rates of 44 1kHz 48kHz 88 2kHz or 96kHz are selected by means of rear panel switches 44 1kHz is the standard used for audio CD s while 48kHz and 96kHz are widely used in recording studios In general the higher the sample rate the better the audio fidelity but the more disk space is required for the recording For example recording at 96kHz requires twice as much storage as 48kHz Consult the manual of your recorder or DAW as to what sample rates it will accommodate Alt
25. ol until the compressor GR meter starts to read 3dB or 5dB on audio peaks You should now be able to hear the compressor working as the volume diminishes Use the MAKE UP GAIN control to restore the signal to its previous uncompressed level Alter the SLOPE control and listen to how the severity of the gain reduction changes Try changing the ATTACK control and listen for percussive sounds getting louder Reducing the Attack and Release times should emphasise this even more and the compressor should startto pump audibly The overall result of compression depends on the combined settings of the COMPRESS SLOPE ATTACK and RELEASE controls Experiment with different combinations to discover what best suits the material you wish to compress Watch the GR meter and don t overdo things it s possible to apply 20dB of gain reduction before you realise it Use the Compressor ON switch to make comparisons between compressed and uncompressed signals Using the Meequalizer Always start with the Meequalizer boost cut controls LF MID and HF set to 0 the control knobs set vertically in their centre notches This setting is also known as flat You need to be careful about too much boost or lift since boosting takes the twinQ2 closer to overload The twinQ2 has generous overload margins but when a lot of boost is used it may be necessary to compensate by reducing the OUTPUT GAIN or the INPUT GAIN controls the
26. posed of by local authorities collection systems Dual Use products this equipment will be disposed of by local authorities collection systems Controls at a Glance neeesser 6 amp 7 OVGIrVICW ici ead eee 5 Preamm plitietis lt 5 iaa alto feuet ended 8 Insert Poltica as aaa 9 Met del eo dd 9 COMPresS Olinda a Eliana 9 MeequaliZer ooooocooocooccocccccconccocccocccononnnnnccnnnncnnnnnnnos 11 Q tp t Sta Jgs verticales 12 Digital Interface 12 Using the twinQ2 eeren 13 Getting Connected eeesseesesrseesseseesrrriririrrnrrrnnenea 13 Using the Preamp 2 0 se esteeedeeeteeedeedeeecntiaees 13 Using the COMpresSOT oococncncocicnnccccoconcncnncanonnnn nono 13 Using the MeequaliZer cece eeeeeeeeeeentetennaees 13 Using the Output Stage ee eea 14 Troubleshooting ooooooooccccccocionccccocccccnnnccnnncnnnnnns 14 Technical Specificati0M oooooooooooninnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 15 The JOEMEEK twinQ2 is like having one channel of a professional recording studio in one box It takes microphones or instruments amplifies them compresses and equalises them ready to be recorded Simple to use yet extremely powerful the twinQ2 will bring out the best in any microphone or instrument and give the gloss of a professional studio production to all your performances It can also be very useful for live work Think of the twinQ2 as five separate items of equipment e Preamplifier JOEMEEK Optical Com
27. pressor e Meequalizer EQ e Fader e Ato D Converter twice JOEMEEK the Legend Continues Joemeek studio processors represent a quantum leap in the history of the Joemeek legend Long regarded for its Big Sound the original Joemeek gear was both revered and reviled for its somewhat quirky nature So we took the best of what made the old Joemeek products sound great refined it distilled it added to it and repackaged it Properly and robustly engineered for predictable controllable performance the latest generation retains the famous Joemeek sound with its wide flat frequency response extending from subsonic to ultrasonic It also uses genuinely low noise circuitry with lots of headroom immunity to overload Accurate calibration and metering together with clear panel labeling give you complete confidence in what s going on Joemeek products are founded on good solid electronic and audio engineering and withstand direct comparison with the very best names in mixers and outboard gear The Joemeek range provides everything you need to get your performance into your recording device Now the latest JOEMEEK Q2 series features an entirely new world class Preamp using a top quality Cinemag microphone transformer In addition low noise Burr Brown OPA2134 audio amplifiers are used throughout the signal path headroom is increased and power consumption is reduced Since 2003 the Joemeek product range has been designed by
28. ps The LED lights when active Technical stuff Very low noise does it matter Yes and no it all depends what you are doing what really matters is signal to noise ratio All electronics produce a certain amount of background noise it s in the nature of things Providing there is only a relatively small amount of noise the signal will cover it up or mask it So providing the signal is much bigger than the noise you won t be aware of the noise In other words the signal to noise ratio needs to be a big number ideally such as 80dB or 90dB So how do you achieve that in practice The trick is to keep the microphone as close to the sound source as possible without overloading it so as to get as much signal out of it as possible Then you set the Gain control to give only as much gain as is needed to get a decent level into the recorder Of course when there is no signal going on you may hear the background noise of the electronics In that case given the amount of gain in a typical studio monitoring system this noise floor should ideally be in the region of 80dBu or lower in order for it not to be noticed The twinQ2 microphone preamplifier uses state of the art electronics and has an equivalent input noise of around 127dBu with a 1500hm input load Despite all the hyperbolae and obfuscation the theoretical best possible performance with silicon based electronics is about 131dBu So the preamplifier used in the twi
29. qualizer is after the Preamplifier the Insert Point and the Compressor Technical stuff Each section of the Meequalizer has a peaking or bell shaped frequency response which will be found to be musically more satisfying than conventional shelving equalizers The use of bell curves at LF and HF also avoids boosting subsonics and ultrasonics which can have adverse effects on other studio equipment such as recorders monitor amplifiers and speakers The Q value of the peaking filters is 0 9 or 1 6 octaves Zero phase distortion ensures the best possible audio coherence Output Stage OUTPUT GAIN This output volume control provides up to 10dB of gain and also goes right down to nothing so acting as a fader to fade asound out completely CONNECTORS Two outputs are provided jack and XLR so you can simultaneously feed say a recorder and a monitor amplifier The switch adjacent to the 1 4 jack selects the output operating level to either 4dBu suits most professional studio equipment or 10dBv suits semi pro or hi fi equipment The XLR output is always 4dBu Check with the handbook for whatever you are feeding to find out which level is required The XLR output is balanced and wired as follows Pin 2 hot Pin 3 cold Pin 1 ground The jack output is balanced and wired as follows Tip hot Ring cold Sleeve ground Balanced or Unbalanced To run the XLR output unbalanced it will be necessary t
30. renowned audio electronics engineer Allan Bradford With his background in physics and over 30 years experience with the design of instruments mixers processors and amplifiers Allan s unique range of expertise ensures that Joemeek remains at the forefront of music technology Controls at a Glance MEEQUALIZER OUTPUT ro wi JS al we 1k 2 Y a x esol 50 LINE 0 a LF FREQ IRON O IRON O UNE O 0 DY ry a s a gt Y INSTR GAIN compress SLOPE ATTACK HPF PAS COMP a e 00 0 EXT N MAKEUP 0 INSTR GAIN ON PRE GR CLK LINK N 100 OS 3 o RELEASE 48V PHANTOM POWER switch feeds 48 volts to the microphone XLR connectors to power condenser microphones PAD switch selects 20dB attenuation of the Mic XLR inputs LINE switch selects the Line and INSTRument 1 4 jack inputs and deselects the Mic XLR input IRON switch selects transformer coupling of the Line 1 4 jack inputs switch reverses the phase of all inputs MIC input low impedance microphone input Parallels the Rear Panel MIC socket Use only one of these two sockets ata time INSTRument input high impedance input Plugging in here overrides anything plugged into the Line or Mic inputs PREAMP GAIN sets the amount of audio amplification Too little gain and the sound will be too quiet too much and the signal could become distorted PEAK LED lights 6dB below clipping HPF high pass filter Mai
31. ted low frequency noise such as hum or rumble Boosting can bring out the warmth and body of bass lines and especially around 80Hz kick drums i i i Start 10H Stop 100kH Higher up cutting can reduce boominess or other annoying Tete op 2 resonances while boosting can bring outthe body and warmth of LF and HF frequency response avocal orthe harmonics of bass instruments The MID band can be tuned or swept anywhere between 300Hz and 5kHz Cutting higher MID frequencies can reduce sibilance or other annoying resonances Boosting can bring out the harmonics of instruments or make vocals more distinct Increasing or reducing the presence of an instrument or vocal in this way can appear to move the sound forwards or backwards in amix 5dB div_ Top 12dBW The HF or treble section is centred at either 6kHz or 12kHz Boosting the 12kHz band gives a sense of air or sparkle to vocals instruments and mixes without boosting harsh upper mid frequencies Alternatively with bass instruments cutting this band will reduce HF noise such as hiss and crackle The 6kHz setting is very effective at controlling sibilance and reducing harshness or indeed creating it for example by boosting the harmonics of electric guitars Mid frequency response at 300Hz and 5kHz Start 10Hz Stop 100kHz The EQ ON switch allows comparison between equalized and unequalized sound LED lights when the Meequalizer is active The Mee
32. uency response Maximum input before clipping Headroom before clipping Pad High Pass Filter Compressor threshold Compressor ratio Compressor attack time Compressor release time EQ Boost and Cut EQ Q LF Frequency MID Frequency HF Frequency Nominal output levels Output impedance Output Level switch Noise Floor VU Meter Power supply Power consumption Mechanical Weight Digital Interface Resolution Dynamic range Noise Floor Distortion 20Hz 20kHz Crosstalk Mic 1 2kohm Line 20kohm Instrument 2 2Mohm 18dB to 60dB variable 70dB 127 5dBu unweighted 0 001 below Compressor threshold 15Hz to 70kHz 3dB Mic 24dBu Line 45dBu 24dBu 20dB attenuation 12dB per octave cut below 80Hz 6dBu to 22dBu variable 1 1 to 10 1 variable 1 msec to 100 msec adaptive 0 1 sec to 3 sec adaptive 15dB bell response 0 9 1 6 octaves 40Hz to 650Hz variable 300Hz to 5kHz variable 6kHz 12kHz switchable 4dBu 10dBv 100 ohm 12dB attenuation 85dBu typical with 40dB mic gain Analogue movement 115V 230V ac mains 50 60Hz 30W 482W x 88H x 220D overall 3 kilos 24 bit oversampled delta sigma typically 95dB A weighted typically 92dB A weighted referenced to OdBFS 18dBu So for a 4dBu signal the SNR is 78dB 0 01 OdBu at 96kHz sample rate 0 02 OdBu at 48kHz sample rate 0 02 1dBFS at all sample rates typically 67dB 20Hz 20kHz 20kHz band
33. width sampled at 96kHz 2 4x Master clock frequency sample rate 256x at 96kHz
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