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Aphex Compellor

G

gettinby

Guest
Hello Everyone,
I have an Aphex 320A in a live sound rig, but cannot get that "signature" leveling to kick in. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on how I can get this thing to level/act as AGC. Im not worried about controlling my output off my board as much as I would like the box to pick up the tails of songs, etc. I have used these in airchains for a long time, but never in a live sound environment.. Does anyone have any settings advice?

Thanks!
 
I jacked the drive, compress, peaking and limit up. I have the gate threshold set to the highest click for gating before the threshold meets the noise level.

Doesn't sound that bad infront of the 9100A...I'd prefer it to be more punchy, but punchy loudness doesn't fit our format.<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
 
Input 2 o'clock
Comp/Process balance 12 o'clock
Threshold 9 o'clock
Leveleling speed - slow

Look for 6-8db of compression

Then just set your output where you need it
 
Speaking of the Compellor.

We are recently experiencing some frequency response issues on a couple of our air chains. I’m hearing artifacts on the upper midrange and high frequencies. I suspect the Compellor since everything else in the chain is passive and transparent. I can hear the artifacts in our IBOC signal too. These Compellors have been on the air for several years. Are they in need of re-capping and or re-alignment by Aphex? Anyone with similar experience?
 
> Speaking of the Compellor.
>
> We are recently experiencing some frequency response issues
> on a couple of our air chains. I’m hearing artifacts on the
> upper midrange and high frequencies. I suspect the
> Compellor since everything else in the chain is passive and
> transparent. I can hear the artifacts in our IBOC signal
> too. These Compellors have been on the air for several
> years. Are they in need of re-capping and or re-alignment
> by Aphex? Anyone with similar experience?
>

Yes, yes, yes! :)

I had the same problem. Recapping made all the difference in the world. Compellors are usually stuck in a hot rack on top of a big processor, which makes it a good candidate for dried up caps.

Compellors should be very transparent when working right. The only audible artifact you should hear is a bit of "tightening" of the dynamic range if you run it aggressively.<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
 
> Yes, yes, yes! :)
>
> I had the same problem. Recapping made all the difference
> in the world. Compellors are usually stuck in a hot rack on
> top of a big processor, which makes it a good candidate for
> dried up caps.
>
> Compellors should be very transparent when working right.
> The only audible artifact you should hear is a bit of
> "tightening" of the dynamic range if you run it
> aggressively.

Great! I mean, oh no! :)

We don't run our Compellors aggressively. We opted to do most of the processing at the transmitter sites. The Compellors sit in a dry, very cool, almost “clean room” quality rack-room. A couple of the units also have front-panel degradation like dim LEDs and false VU readings. But, I noticed the audio degradation on one of our better sounding FM’s recently. Audio sounds tinny and distorted on the HF, really noticeable on voices. IM has increased too. This station is a CHR format, so this change in tonal quality is death to them.

One box on another station is over 15 years old, this would explain some artifacts I can't get rid of after improvements to the transmission system.

I’m guessing Compellors are easily field serviceable. I have six of these things.
 
"Like dim LEDs and false VU readings"

Our Compellor suffered from the "dim LED syndrome" which prompted me to give Aphex a call. Aphex recommended I send it back for repair. I asked the tech service rep handling my repair authorization if in addition to the LED problem they could give it a "check up" and replace what was necessary to bring it back to original specs. Lo and behold, they ended up replacing several caps and a few other assorted parts. Upon return to the air chain I noticed a difference instantly, it was much more transparent than before it was sent out for repair, I actually had to back the HF down a bit on the Omnia to compensate. Before the recap the HF was slightly dull and muddy

Our Compellor is 10 years old and has always been rack mounted in a climate controlled engineering room.

73
 
> > Yes, yes, yes! :)
> >
> > I had the same problem. Recapping made all the difference
>
> > in the world. Compellors are usually stuck in a hot rack
> on
> > top of a big processor, which makes it a good candidate
> for
> > dried up caps.
> >
> > Compellors should be very transparent when working right.
>
> > The only audible artifact you should hear is a bit of
> > "tightening" of the dynamic range if you run it
> > aggressively.
>
> Great! I mean, oh no! :)
>
> We don't run our Compellors aggressively. We opted to do
> most of the processing at the transmitter sites. The
> Compellors sit in a dry, very cool, almost “clean room”
> quality rack-room. A couple of the units also have
> front-panel degradation like dim LEDs and false VU readings.
> But, I noticed the audio degradation on one of our better
> sounding FM’s recently. Audio sounds tinny and distorted on
> the HF, really noticeable on voices. IM has increased too.
> This station is a CHR format, so this change in tonal
> quality is death to them.
>
> One box on another station is over 15 years old, this would
> explain some artifacts I can't get rid of after improvements
> to the transmission system.
>
> I’m guessing Compellors are easily field serviceable. I have
> six of these things.
>


What sort of HF distortion are you getting? Does it sound like scratching or distortion on sibilant sounds or certain cymbals?

Got a station here that is getting that as well as a constant high pitched whistle or tone that occasionally makes sampling-artifact type IM sounds with certain tones in music. I wondered if it was the Compellor, their Omnia, or a transmitter problem.
 
I yanked my Compellor out of my live rig since I could not, for the life of me, get it to sound right. I just do a good sound check and ride gain.
 
The Compellor was a great processor for its day but there are better products out there now like the Ariane Sequel. The Sequel is like an all digital multiband compellor. Plus it uses gain platforming to maintain better dynamics and less pumping. Look at www.translantech.com


> "Like dim LEDs and false VU readings"
> Our Compellor suffered from the "dim LED syndrome" which
> prompted me to give Aphex a call. Aphex recommended I send
> it back for repair. I asked the tech service rep handling my
> repair authorization if in addition to the LED problem they
> could give it a "check up" and replace what was necessary to
> bring it back to original specs. Lo and behold, they ended
> up replacing several caps and a few other assorted parts.
> Upon return to the air chain I noticed a difference
> instantly, it was much more transparent than before it was
> sent out for repair, I actually had to back the HF down a
> bit on the Omnia to compensate. Before the recap the HF was
> slightly dull and muddy
>
> Our Compellor is 10 years old and has always been rack
> mounted in a climate controlled engineering room.
>
> 73
>
 
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