User manual DBX 266XL COMPRESSOR / GATE

[. . . ] 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 third prong are provided for your safety. [. . . ] BYPASS Switch Press this switch in to bypass the front panel controls, effectively canceling the function and processing effect of the 266XL's compression, gating and gain settings. The input signal is still present at the 266XL's Output, but is now unaltered by the 266XL's controls. BYPASS is especially useful for making comparisons between processed and unprocessed signals. Note that with stereo operation (STEREO COUPLE switch pressed in), the Channel 1 BYPASS switch controls both channels. The BYPASS switch lights red when BYPASS mode is active. gAIN REDUCTION (dB) Meter This meter displays the amount of signal attenuated from the input signal by the 266XL's Compressor or Expander/Gate. When the Compressor and Expander/Gate are both active, the meter displays the maximum amount of gain reduction for whichever function is greater - Compressor or Expander/Gate. oUTPUT GAIN (dB) Control This control sets the overall gain of the 266XL , from -20dB to +20dB. The OUTPUT GAIN control is especially useful to compensate for the RMS level decrease which results from the 266XL's dynamic processing effects. after you adjust the 266XL's controls for the desired amount of compression , set the OUTPUT GAIN to add the same amount of gain that is shown on the GAIN REDUCTION meters. For example, if the average amount of gain reduction shown on the meters is 10dB, then setting the OUTPUT GAIN control to +10dB will compensate for the 10dB average level reduction at the output. Note: the 266XL's Compressor and Expander/Gate control settings are interactive and can affect gain, so watch your playback levels. Note: Setting the Compressor RATIO to 1:1 will turn the Compressor off, regardless of the setting of the Compressor THRESHOLD control and BELOW/OVEREASY/ABOVE LED status. Setting the Compressor THRESHOLD control to +20dB will prevent all but the highest level peaks from being compressed. The amber THRESHOLD LED turns on when the signal is in the OverEasy region. When the switch is out, the 266XL operates as a hard-knee compressor, and the amber LED does not light. Compressor THRESHOLD Control and LEDs (BELOW/OVEREASY/ABOVE) Adjust this control to set the threshold of compression from - 40dB to +20dB. In hardknee mode, the threshold of compression is defined as the point above which the output level no longer changes on a 1:1 basis with changes in the input level. In OverEasy mode the threshold of compression is defined as the middle of the OverEasy threshold region, that is, "half-way" into compression. The three THRESHOLD LEDs indicate the relationship of the input signal level to the threshold of compression. The green LED lights when the signal is BELOW threshold, the red LED lights when the signal is above threshold, and the yellow LED lights when the OVEREASY switch is depressed and the input signal is in the OVEREASY range. The 266XL's OverEasy compression permits extremely smooth, natural sounding compression, without artifacts, due to the gradual change of compression around the threshold. [. . . ] There are no user-serviceable parts inside. The 266XL can be used with any line-level device. some common examples include mixing consoles , electronic musical instruments , patch bays , and signal processors. For all connections, refer to the following steps: Turn Off all equipment before making any connections. [. . . ]