Straight wire” setup – Rane DC 24 Users Guide [RaneNote 130] User Manual

Page 5

DC 24 Users Guide-5

DC 24 APPLICATIONS

STARTING OUT

Sometimes it's neccessary to start from scratch. The panel

above shows where the controls should be for no processing.
Then you can adjust each section one at a time.

TWO CHANNEL COMPRESSOR/LIMITER

In this case, the audio path on channel 1 is completely

separate from channel 2, allowing you to use it as a stereo
unit or for doing two completely different processes to two
completely different signals. For stereo use, the front panel
has a “Dual/Slave” mode switch that allows you to slave
channel 2 to channel 1. This assures that both signals are
affected identically. In this application, the crossover is
disengaged (this button is located in the middle of the rear
panel.) The “Separate/Combine” switch on the rear panel
should be in the “Separate” mode. Set the rear panel “-10/+4”
switches accordingly, depending on whether you are running
your system at -10 dBV or +4 dBu levels.

CROSSOVER WITH BUILT-IN LIMITING

Let’s say that you want to run a bi-amped system and

process the low end a little differently than the high end. This
is a handy way of saving your woofers from over-excursion.
In this application the crossover is engaged and set at the
recommended crossover point for your speakers, let’s just say
1.2k for the sake of example. In this instance the Separate/
Combine switch on the far left of the rear panel is set on
Separate. Your input would connect to the Channel 1 input
jack. This gives you a separate output on Channel 1 (signals
below 1.2k, the “lows”) and everything from 1.2k and above
on Channel 2 (the “highs”). This setup allows you to better
contain the low end without unnecessarily limiting the high
end. A crossover and a processor all in one rack space!

GUITAR

John Albani (Canadian Musician Magazine)- “By now,

I’m sure that you have heard that a low stage volume is
essential to your sound man getting a better house mix. Well,
here are a few suggestions on how to achieve a lower volume
without sounding like you’re playing out of a transistor radio.

“Marshalls and other 4 x 12 cabinets give a great ‘chunky’

sound, but it is also accompanied by an annoying ‘woofing’
on the lower end. This stereo compressor has the unique
feature of becoming a two-way crossover with independent
low end and high end compressors. With this I was able to
achieve what was previously only possible with the dynamics
section of the SSL console that was used for my guitar sounds
on the Lee Aaron “Bodyrock” album. Take the preamp output

of the loop into the DC 24 Channel 1 Input. The Channel 2
Output should return to the main amp input of the effects loop
or the power amp (via your effects). Set the switches to Dual /
Crossover / Combine. Now you can set a crossover point on
the front panel (try around 400 Hz) and compress the bottom
end at a 10:1 ratio. While chugging on a chord where you
notice a lot of woofing, set the gain reduction with the
Threshold control to read 6 dB. When you hit an open chord,
there should be no gain reduction. If there is, back off on the
Threshold, not on the Ratio. Now compress the top end
between a 1.5:1 to 2:1 ratio, with 3 dB gain reduction when
an open chord is hit, to give your sound a lot more attack.
Also, no matter where you play on the neck, the bottom end
of the sound will be even, without woofing, giving your
overall tone punch and clarity.

“Warning: Do not over compress the top end or the pick

attack will be slurred. If you want to hear more attack, turn up
the top end Level of the DC 24 after setting the above-
mentioned compression for the top end.

“Right now you are 99% on your way to retaining your

sound or bettering it, without blasting everyone to
Palookaville, or deafening your sound man.

“On stage you must work within the tonal range of your

instrument. I hear guitarists with huge sounds that are great
until the bass player fires up. He can’t hear because the
bottom from the 4 x 12s is blurring out his bottom end. So
you end up in a volume war, which puts you out of the front
mix. Try this: Once you have the sound you like, back off on
the bottom Level control of the DC 24. Your bass player is
already operating in that tonal range and you won’t miss the
sub lows when he’s playing with you anyway.”

BASS

Now for you bass guitar players out there...How many

times have you been yanked out of the mix by your
soundman because you’re overdriving the system? You’d
love to be able to keep the high-end attack without booming
on the low end. Well, try this. Set the switches to Crossover
in, Separate/Combine to Combine, and Dual Mode on the
front panel. Now, plug into Channel 1 from your preamp
output, and come out of Channel 2 into your amp. What you
have done is split your mono signal, with a crossover point,
then you’ve run it through separate processors and combined
the signal back together on the Output of Channel 2.

Where does the unit go in the signal chain? Well, that

depends on how you want it to function. If it’s a comp/limiter
for the input signal, it would go after the bass (if the bass has
a line-level output) and before the preamp. If it’s to function
as a limiter to protect the speakers in the bass rig, it would go
after the preamp and before the power amp. Another method

“Straight Wire” Setup

DC 24

THRESHOLD

RATIO

THRESHOLD

RATIO

SIG

LEVEL

BYPASS

MODE

FREQUENCY

POWER

GATE

COMPRESSOR

CH 1 OUTPUT

LIMITER

CROSSOVER

GAIN

REDUCTION

THRESHOLD

RATIO

THRESHOLD

RATIO

SIG

LEVEL

BYPASS

GATE

COMPRESSOR

CH 2 OUTPUT

LIMITER

GAIN

REDUCTION

LOW

EXPANDER

(:1)

SLAVE

DUAL

DYNAMIC

CONTROLLER

-50

-40

-30

-20

-10

1.1

1.2

1.4 1.6 2

-6

-40

-30

-20

+12

-12

-6

HIGH

EXPANDER

(:1)

200

100

150
125

400

800

1.2k

+20

-20

-6

+20

-20

-6

+12

-12

-10

-48

-50

-40

-30

-20

-10

(:1)

1.1

1.2

1.4 1.6 2

-40

-30

-20

-10

-48

DUAL

CROSSOVER ENGAGE OUT
(REAR PANEL)

SEPARATE