User manual TERRATEC PHASE88RACK FW

[. . . ] TERRATEC PRODUCER PHASE 88 Rack FW English Manual Version 0. 1, last revised: Oktober 2004 CE Declaration We: TerraTec Electronic GmbH, Herrenpfad 38, D-41334 Nettetal, Germany hereby declare that the product: TerraTec Producer PHASE 88 Rack FW, to which this declaration refers is in compliance with the following standards or standardizing documents: 1. EN 55020 The following are the stipulated operating and environmental conditions for said compliance: residential, business and commercial environments and small-company environments. This declaration is based on: Test report(s) of the EMC testing laboratory The information in this document is subject to change without notice and shall not be deemed as a warranty by the seller. No warranties, express or implied, are made with regard to the quality, suitability or accuracy of this document. [. . . ] However, you will usually control the volumes from within the audio software application you use. Practical tip: Make full use of the 24-bit support of up-to-date software applications and connected digital peripherals--even if you are planning to "just" release your production on CD. The additional sound quality is audibly worthwhile, both in the sum of the signals and, above all, during digital postproduction. Analog inputs. The sensitivity of the Line inputs of the PHASE 88 Rack FW audio system can be adjusted with the gain controls on the front panel to ensure the optimal utilization of the 24-bit converters. The PHASE 88 Rack system has eight high-quality balanced analog inputs, which can be independently used. The inputs feature sockets for 1/4" jacks, with individual gain controls (20 dB range) on the front panel of the rack module. Unlike software solutions, this electronic form of volume control takes effect before the converter modules, which is also beneficial for the signal-to-noise ratio. The unit is also equipped with individual peak LEDs for each channel to help keep unintentional peaks and distortion in check. An additional status LED indicates whether a signal is available at the individual channels. Two XLR connectors for microphones are located on the front panel. The input levels can be adjusted using the gain controls for channels 7 and 8. High-quality condenser microphones also require 48V phantom power that can be activated for both microphone inputs using the button in the control panel for channel 8. As a result it is not possible to use one PHASE 88 Rack FW (English) 19 microphone with phantom power and one without. The LED next to the button indicates whether power is being applied. Practical tip: While recording, try to achieve as high a recording level as possible to get the greatest benefit from the wide dynamic range of the 24-bit converter. Always remember that a clean take is far more valuable than the best corrective plugin. Intermezzo: a cable and signal primer You may now be asking yourself: Why bother with analog Line-IN and microphone inputs?Why not simply plug the mike into one of the eight jack sockets?And what the heck are "balanced inputs"?Cables obviously have the simple task of getting a signal from point A to point B. And they have to do it with a minimum of interference. However, the quality and nature of a signal can vary widely depending on its source. In the case of microphones, for example, the currents and output voltages are very low, but the output impedance is quite high. [. . . ] Simply save all of your control and fader settings at the click of a button and reload them whenever you need them. And that's not all: you can also use the PHASE 88 Rack FW in stand-alone mode as a high-quality A/D or D/A converter. The values last saved in the Control Panel will be called up automatically whenever the 19" module is powered up without a connection to the computer. Stand-alone operating note: If the output of the digital mixer is not routed to the S/PDIF output, the analog inputs 7 and 8 will always be applied to it (MIC INs to S/PDIF Out). [. . . ]