Lateral/vertical, Operating levels – Universal Audio UAD Plug-Ins ver.7.5 User Manual
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UAD Powered Plug-Ins Manual
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Chapter 14: Fairchild Tube Limiter Collection
Lateral/Vertical
One of the design goals of the Fairchild 670 hardware was to facilitate its use
as a limiter when producing vinyl phonograph masters. The terms lateral
(side-to-side) and vertical (up-and-down) refer to the mechanical modulations
in a vinyl record groove that are transduced into electrical audio signals by
the phonograph stylus and cartridge.
The Fairchild 670 can perform dynamics processing on the lateral (“Lat”) and
vertical (“Vert”) components of stereo signals independently. In other words,
the monophonic (middle) and/or stereo (side) components of a stereo source
signal can be compressed or limited separately from the other component.
Lat/Vert processing facilitates maximum usable levels and efficient use of
available groove space in phonograph mastering, resulting in higher volume
recordings with longer playing times. Of course, the feature can also be used
for creative effects outside of the phonograph environment.
Note:
Lat/Vert processing is an operating mode of Fairchild 670. For addi-
tional details on the modes and how to access them, see
.
Lat/Vert processing is accomplished by first routing the stereo source signal
through a sum/difference (mid/side) matrix which separates the stereo
source into lateral (middle, or center without stereo) and vertical (side, or ste-
reo without mono) signal components. The lateral/vertical components are
then compressed or limited independently. Finally, the mid/side components
are recombined into a normal stereo signal via a second sum/difference ma-
trix.
In the Fairchild 670, the left+right (sum) middle signals are routed to the Lat
channel, and the left–right (difference) side signals are routed to the Vert
channel. The two channels can work independently of each other, or the
sidechain control signals can be optionally linked.
Tip:
Controls related to Lat/Vert processing contain red Lat/Vert text labels.
Operating Levels
The
(HR) control enables adjustment of the internal operating ref-
erence level for Fairchild 670 and Fairchild 660. This feature enables more
sonic range and the ability to fine-tune the non-linear I/O distortion and com-
pression response characteristics to be tailored independently of signal input
levels.
By increasing the Headroom (by rotating the HR control counter-clockwise),
signals at the input can be pushed higher before they compress. For complete
details about this feature, see
.