Studio Technologies 230 2008 User Manual

Page 32

Issue 7, October 2008

Model 230 User Guide

Page 32

Studio Technologies, Inc.

Headphone Output Level Controls
Two rotary controls (“pots”) are located

on the Model 230’s front panel and are

associated with the headphone output.

The way the controls function depends on

the selected conﬁguration. One conﬁgura-

tion parameter sets the controls to operate

in a level/level or a level/balance mode.

Another parameter allows the left/right

assignment of the controls to be reversed.

A third parameter selects whether the

headphone output channels will maintain

a minimum output level or can be fully

muted. In most cases the headphone

output will be conﬁgured for stereo, rather

than monaural, operation. The following

paragraphs will describe how the controls

will function in that scenario.
Level/Level Mode
When set to the level/level mode, the

two controls operate independently. Each

control sets the output level of one chan-

nel of the stereo headphone output. If con-

ﬁgured to the normal mode, the control on

the left side is used to adjust the level of

the headphone output’s left channel. The

control on the right is used to adjust the

level of the right channel. If conﬁgured

to the reverse left/right mode, the control

on the left side adjusts the headphone

output’s right channel. The control on the

right adjusts the left channel. When in the

level/level mode, and the minimum output

level is set for –40 dB, turning each con-

trol to its fully counterclockwise position

will place its respective output level 40 dB

below its maximum. This setting ensures

that talent will never be fully “isolated”

from potentially important cue signals. If

present on one of the Model 230’s inputs

and assigned to the headphone channels,

some audio signal will always be present

on the headphone output. If set to the full

mute mode, turning each control to its

fully counterclockwise position will cause

its respective output to fully mute.
Each level control has a mechanical

step (detent) that is located at the halfway

(50%) position of its rotation range. This is

intended to serve as an aid to Model 230

users. In an ideal installation, setting the

controls to their detent position will result

in a comfortable headphone output level.

The user, in response to a changing op-

erating environment, can then move the

level controls to get more or less level as

desired. The detent position will always

remain as a useful reference point. To

achieve this condition the audio level on

the connected IFB circuit, or line inputs,

will have to be calibrated as required. This

is somewhat counter to the usual mental-

ity of just providing the user with whatever

level comes up by default. Spending a few

extra minutes “trimming” the audio levels

can result in much happier, and more pro-

ductive, talent. As previously mentioned,

a level trim potentiometer is associated

with each line input. If the line inputs are

utilized as cue sources, adjusting the trim

pots may be helpful in achieving the

desired adjustment range of the level

controls. Refer to the Technical Notes

section of this user guide for details.
Level/Balance Mode
When set to the level/balance mode, the

two controls operate together to adjust

the desired headphone output level. The

control on the left adjusts the overall level

of both the left and right channels. The

balance control, located on the right,

adjusts the relative left/right level balance.

In this mode the controls operate in a

manner reminiscent of a consumer audio

ampliﬁer or receiver. If set to the normal

mode, rotating the balance control in the