Joemeek three Q Desktop Channel - Manual (Page 4)

7 6
Ov
ervie
w
The
JOEMEEK
threeQ
is
like
having
one
channel
of
a
professional
record
-
ing
studio
in
a
small
box.
It
takes
a
microphone
or
instrument,
amplifies
it,
compresses
and
equalizes
it
ready
to
be
recorded.
Simple
to
use
yet
extremely
powerful,
the
threeQ
will
bring
out
the
best
in
any
microphone
or
instrument
and
give
the
gloss
of
a
professional
studio
production
to
all
your
performances.
As
well
as
recording
it
will
also
be
found
useful
for
live
work. Think
of
the
threeQ
as
four
separate
items
of
equipment:
•
The
Preamplifier
•
The
JOEMEEK
Optical
Compressor
•
The
Meequalizer
•
The
Fader
Pr
eamplifier
This
is
the
all-important
front
end
to
the
threeQ.
Its
job
is
to
accept
any
type
of
microphone,
instrument
or
other
source
of
audio
signal,
and
make
it
loud
enough;
microphones
often
need
rather
a
lot
of
amplification,
while
guitars,
keyboards
and
CD
players
need
less.
Mics
need
to
be
connected
to
low
impedance
inputs,
while
instruments
prefer
high
impedance
inputs.
To
ensure
correct
impedance
matching,
the
inputs
are
split
into
an
XLR
connector
for
Mics,
and
a
jack
“Line”
connector
for
everything
else.
A
switch
on
the
front
panel
decides
which
input
connector
is
active.
The
LED
under
-
neath
the
switch
lights
to
show
that
the
Line
input
(jack)
is
selected.
In
other
words:
Switch
out
(LED
of
f)
=
“Mic”
Switch
in
(LED
on)
=
“Line”
Both
Mic
and
Line
inputs
are
electronically
balanced.
Note:
although
the
Line
input
is
not
normally
used
for
microphones,
it
can
be
suitable
for
some
high
output
unbalanced
microphones,
such
as
battery
pow
-
ered
Electret
types.
The
Line
Input
(jack)
is
balanced
and
wired
as
follows:
T
ip:
+
(hot)
Ring:
-
(cold)
Sleeve:
ground
The
Mic
Input
(XLR)
is
balanced
and
wired
as
follows:
Pin
2:
+
(hot)
Pin
3:
-
(cold)
Pin
1:
ground
PHANT
OM
POWER
Most
high-quality
studio
mics
are
“Phantom
powered”,
which
is
to
say
they
have
electronics
inside
them,
which
get
their
power
from
the
preamp.
Most
mics
require
a
supply
of
48
V
olts,
so
Phantom
Power
is
often
labelled
“48V”.
There
is
a
switch
on
the
back
of
the
threeQ
(next
to
the
XLR
mic
connector)
to
turn
this
power
on
or
of
f.
A
red
LED
lights
when
this
power
is
on.
When
switching
the
Phantom
Power
on,
quite
a
loud
thump
may
be
produced,
so
it
is
a
good
idea
to
turn
down
the
Output
Gain
(or
to
momentarily
select
the
Line
input),
when
pressing
the
switch.
When
using
dynamic
or
ribbon
mics,
do
not
turn
this
on.
It
probably
won’t
do
any
harm
but
it
certainly
won’t
do
any
good,
so
leave
it
of
f!
Consult
the
microphone
handbook
if
you
are
unsure
what
kind
of
mic
you
have.
There
is
just
one
other
control,
labelled
“Input
Gain”,
which
covers
a
range
of
amplification
from
10dB
to
60dB.
In
many
other
preamps
the
action
of
the
Gain
control
is
rather
uneven,
with
the
40dB
to
60dB
range
being
crammed
into
the
last
1/6th
of
a
turn.
All
Joemeek
preamps
use
a
specially
designed
control
that
ensures
smooth
operation
over
the
whole
range
of
rotation.
The
(0
)
symbol
next
to
the
25dB
mark,
means
unity
gain,
or
0dB,
for
a
signal
in
the
Line
input.
Hence
for
Line
inputs
the
range
of
gain
adjustment
either
side
of
this
mark,
is
+35dB,
-15dB.
The
PEAK
LED
lights
6dB
below
clipping,
so
occasional
brief
flashes
are
OK
but
if
it’
s
on
all
the
time
you
need
to
back
the
Input
Gain
of
f!
TECHNICAL
STUFF
V
ery
low
noise
-
does
it
matter?
Y
es
and
no,
it
all
depends
what
you
are
doing
-
what
really
matters
is
“signal-to-noise
ratio”.
All
electronics
produce
a
certain
amount
of
background
noise
-
it’
s
in
the
nature
of
things.
Providing
there
is
only
a
relatively
small
amount
of
noise,
the
signal
will
cover
it
up,
or
“mask”
it.
So
providing
the
signal
is
much
bigger
than
the
noise,
you
won’t
be
aware
of
the
noise.
So
in
other
words
the
“signal-to-noise
ratio”
needs
to
be
a
big
number
,
ideally
such
as
80dB
or
90dB.
So
how
do
you
achieve
that
in
practice?
The
trick
is
to
keep
the
microphone
as
close
to
the
sound
source
as
possible
without
overloading
it,
so
as
to
get
as
much
signal
out
of
it
as
possible.
Then
you
set
the
Gain
control
to
give
only
as
much
gain
as
is
needed
to
get
a
decent
level
into
the
recorder
.
Of
course
when
there
is
no
signal
going
on,
you
may
hear
the
background
no
is
e
of
t
he
e
le
ct
ro
ni
cs
.
In
t
ha
t
ca
se
,
gi
ve
n
th
e
am
ou
nt
o
f
ga
in
in
t
he
s
tu
di
o
m
o
n
ito
ri
n
g
s
ys
te
m
,
th
is
n
o
is
e
“
flo
o
r”
s
h
o
u
ld
i
d
e
a
lly
b
e
i
n
t
h
e
r
e
g
io
n
o
f
-8
0
d
B
u
or
lower
,
in
order
for
it
not
to
be
noticed.
The
threeQ
microphone
preamplifier
uses
state-of-the-art
electronics
and
has
an
equivalent
input
noise
of
around
-128dBu
(with
150ohm
in
pu
t l
oa
d)
. D
es
pi
te
a
ll
th
e
hy
pe
rb
ol
ae
a
nd
o
bf
us
ca
tio
n,
th
e
th
eo
re
tic
al
best
possible
performance
for
silicon-based
electronics
is
about
-132dBu.
So
the
preamplifier
design
used
in
the
threeQ
and
all
other
NextGen
Joemeek
products
approaches
this
limit.
To
improve
significantly
on
this
would
require
highly
specialised
electronics
and
probably
a
vat
of
liquid
Nitrogen
to
cool
it!
The
maximum
gain
available
from
the
preamp
is
60dB,
in
which
case
the
noise
floor
will
be
-68dBu.
This
is
actually
quite
noisy
-
if
you
record
that
noise
onto
a
digital
recorder
and
play
it
back
you
can
definitely
hear
it.
In
practice
of
course,
you
do
not
record
and
play
back
“silence”
and
the
rest
of
the
mix
will
probably
be
more
than
70dB
louder
than
this
noise
and
will
mask
it
completely
.
Even
so
it
is
generally
a
good
idea
not
to
use
gains
greater
than
40dB
or
50dB
and
indeed,
it
should
rarely
be
necessary
to
do
so.
Insert
Point
This
is
simply
an
unbalanced
“Send
and
Return”
jack
on
the
rear
panel.
It
allows
you
to
patch
any
other
pieces
of
equipment
into
the
signal
path,
such
as
an
ef
fects
processor
or
noise
gate.
To
use
it
you
will
need
a
“Y”
lead
wired
as
follows:
T
ip:
send
Ring:
return
Sleeve:
ground
When
no
jack
is
inserted,
the
socket
is
internally
linked,
or
“normalled”,
so
that
the
signal
flows
uninterrupted.
Note
that
the
Insert
Point
is
after
the
Preamp
but
before
the
Compressor
and
EQ.
three q manual.indd 3/9/04, 4:19 PM 8-9