Behringer ACX1000 User Manual

ACX1000

User’s manual

Version 1.3 June 2006

ULTRACOUSTIC

ULTRACOUSTIC ACX1000

IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

CAUTION: To reduce the risk of electric shock, do not remove the top cover (or the rear section). No user serviceable parts inside; refer servicing to qualified personnel.

WARNING: To reduce the risk of fire or electric shock, do not expose this appliance to rain and moisture. The apparatus shall not be exposed to dripping or splashing and no objects filled with liquids, such as vases, shall be placed on the apparatus.

This symbol, wherever it appears, alerts you to the presence of uninsulated dangerous voltage inside the enclosure—voltage that may be sufficient to constitute a risk of shock.

This symbol, wherever it appears, alerts you to important operating and maintenance instructions in the accompanying literature. Please read the manual.

DETAILED SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS:

1)Read these instructions.

2)Keep these instructions.

3)Heed all warnings.

4)Follow all instructions.

5)Do not use this apparatus near water.

6)Clean only with dry cloth.

7)Do not block any ventilation openings. Install in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

8)Do not install near any heat sources such as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or other apparatus (including amplifiers) that produce heat.

9)Do not defeat the safety purpose of the polarized or grounding-type plug. A polarized plug has two blades with one wider than the other. A grounding type plug has two blades and a third grounding prong. The wide blade or the third prong are provided for your safety. If the provided plug does not fit into your outlet, consult an electrician for replacement of the obsolete outlet.

10)Protect the power cord from being walked on or pinched particularly at plugs, convenience receptacles, and the point where they exit from the apparatus.

11)Only use attachments/accessories specified by the manufacturer.

12)Use only with the cart, stand, tripod, bracket, or table specified by the manufacturer, or sold with the apparatus. When a cart is used, use caution when moving the cart/apparatus combination to avoid injury from tip-over.

13)Unplug this apparatus during lightning storms or when unused for long periods of time.

14)Refer all servicing to qualified service personnel. Servicing is required when the apparatus has been damaged in any way, such as power supply cord or plug is damaged, liquid has been spilled or objects have fallen into the apparatus, the apparatus has been exposed to rain or moisture, does not operate normally, or has been dropped.

15)CAUTION - These service instructions are for use by qualified service personnel only. To reduce the risk of electric shock do not perform any servicing other than that contained in the operation instructions unless you are qualified to do so.

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ULTRACOUSTIC ACX1000

ULTRACOUSTIC
2 x 60-Watt, 2-Channel Stereo Acoustic Instrument
Amplifier with Multi-FX Processor
Powerful 2 x 60-Watt amplifier specifically designed for acoustic instruments and vocals
Dedicated tube emulator adds warmth and presence to instruments and vocals
2 independent channels with separate volume controls, dedicated EQs and each two feedback filters
Instrument channel produces warm and transparent sound for pickup-equipped instruments and features
additional Attack and FX Return controls plus 2 tunable notch filters for feedback suppression
Microphone/Line channel provides microphone inputs with phantom power for both dynamic and condenser
microphones, Enhancer control, FX Return control and 2 tunable notch filters optimized for suppressing
microphone feedback
Active, ultra-musical 3-band EQ per channel
24-bit stereo multi-FX processor with high-resolution 24-bit converters
23 algorithms for authentic effects such as Reverb, Delay, Rotary Speaker, Chorus, Flanger, Stereo
Panning, Tremolo and various effects combinations for instrument and microphone/line channels
99 programs stored in 4 presets that can be recalled via footswitch
Parallel Tuner output for tuner connection
Adjustable stereo Aux input on phone jacks for adding line signals (e.g. CD player, drum computer, etc.),
with Aux level control and Mute switch
Separate insert option for external effects devices available for both channels as well as master section
Footswitch FS114 for effects switching included	ACX1000
MIDI effects selection via program change commands
Master volume control with switchable Phase correction
High-quality components and exceptionally rugged construction ensure long life
Conceived and designed by BEHRINGER Germany

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ULTRACOUSTIC ACX1000

FOREWORD

Dear Customer,

welcome to the team of

BEHRINGER users and thank you very much for expressing your confidence in us by purchasing the ACX1000.

Writing this foreword for you gives me great pleasure, because it represents the culmination of many months of hard work delivered by our engineering team to achieve a very ambitious goal: To present you with an excellent

2-channel acoustic guitar amplifier which features authentic sound quality

and an integrated digital multi-effects device, not to forget the professional design. The task of designing our new ACX1000 certainly meant a great deal of responsibility which we assumed by focusing on you, the discerning user and musician. Meeting your expectations also meant a lot of work and night shifts. But it was fun, too. Developing a product usually brings a lot of people together, and what a great feeling it is when all who participated in such a project can be proud of what they’ve achieved.

It is our philosophy to share our enjoyment with you, because you are the most important member of the BEHRINGER team. With your highly competent suggestions for new products you’ve made a significant contribution to shaping our company and making it successful. In return, we guarantee you uncompromising quality as well as excellent technical and audio properties at an extremely reasonable price. All of this will enable you to give free rein to your creativity without being hampered by budget constraints.

We are often asked how we manage to produce such high-quality devices at such unbelievably low prices. The answer is quite simple: it’s you, our customers! Many satisfied customers mean large sales volumes enabling us to get better purchasing terms for components, etc. Isn’t it only fair to pass this benefit on to you? Because we know that your success is our success too!

I would like to thank all of you who have made the ACX1000 possible. You have all made your own personal contributions, from the developers to the many other employees at this company, and to you, the BEHRINGER user.

My friends, it’s been worth the effort!

Thank you very much,

Uli Behringer

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION .........................................................	5
1.1 The design concept ........................................................	5
1.1.1 Tube emulator ......................................................	5
1.2 Before you begin ............................................................	6
1.3 Online registration ...........................................................	6
2. CONTROL ELEMENTS ...............................................	7
2.1 Front panel ......................................................................	7
2.2 Rear panel .......................................................................	9
3.EFFECTSTABLE .......................................................	10
3.1 MIDI control ....................................................................	10
4. INSTALLATION .........................................................	11
4.1 Mains connection ..........................................................	11
4.2 Audio connections ........................................................	11
4.3 MIDI connection .............................................................	11
4.4 MIDI implementation .......................................................	12
5. SPECIFICATIONS .....................................................	13
6. WARRANTY ..............................................................	14
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
COMPLIANCE INFORMATION .....................................	15

WARNING!

It should be pointed out, that extreme output volumes may damage your ears and/or your headphones. Turn down all LEVEL controls before you switch on the unit. Always pay attention to an appropriate volume.

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ULTRACOUSTIC ACX1000

1. INTRODUCTION

Thank you very much for expressing your confidence in BEHRINGER products by purchasing the ULTRACOUSTIC

ACX1000. With the ULTRACOUSTIC, you have acquired a state- of-the-art 2-channel amplifier that can be operated easily and quickly, and enables you to create out-of-the-ordinary sounds for a variety of applications.

When developing the ACX1000, our top objective was to reproduce the pure and detail-rich sound of acoustic instruments and to help you work out the characteristic properties of your instrument. For this reason the instrument channel includes a number of controls tailored specifically to meet the requirements of acoustic instruments. What’s more, your ULTRACOUSTIC has a second microphone/instrument channel with about the same control elements plus an enhancer circuit that gives, for example, vocals increased presence and liveliness. A very special feature is the ULTRACOUSTIC’s digital multi-effects processor with its wealth of studio-compatible effects. The tube emulator gives audio signals in both channels unmistakable tube quality and adds that much sought-after effect of warmth and transparency. When working in the studio or on stage, you will find the numerous connection options on your ACX1000 very helpful. And despite its extremely flexible design, your ULTRACOUSTIC can be operated easily and intuitively.

BEHRINGER is an audio engineering company that has been successfully developing products for studio and live applications for many years now. Our range of products includes microphones and a variety of 19" devices (compressors, enhancers, gates, tube processors, headphone amps, digital effects devices, DI boxes etc.) as well as various monitoring and P.A. speakers plus professional live and recording consoles.

The name of BEHRINGER stands for no-compromise quality, fullyfeatured products and exemplary service—even years after purchase—as well as sensationally low prices, which allow any ambitious music lover to make their musical dreams come true.

We also set great store by flexibility, which has become a particularly important factor in the music business over the past few years. Modern guitarists and musicians need to offer a broad range of sounds, but should still be able to play in different kinds of applications at short notice: home recording, studio, live concerts. For this reason, it has always been our prime concern to give you a maximum of functions that can still be operated intuitively and quickly—no matter what kind of style you play.

As technology advances, you’ve got to keep track of latest technological breakthroughs to avoid falling by the wayside. We too have continuously improved the ULTRACOUSTIC and included many of your valuable suggestions. We have spared neither expense nor effort to test different types of circuitry and speakers until the results have given us complete satisfaction.

After all, we really want to give you fully designed and developed products that meet your expectations in every respect. The

ULTRACOUSTIC shall be a useful tool for years to come, which is why we’ve equipped the effects modules of our entire guitar amplifier series with EPROMS that can be updated. In this way, we can keep working on new algorithms and considering your ideas and suggestions. The resulting software updates will be made available for free on the Internet, so as to ensure that your amp will never be outdated.

We’ve packed our entire experience into this latest-generation acoustic guitar amp. Many people contributed to this project of intense development: studio musicians, collectors of vintage guitar amps, music and guitar lovers alike. All of them helped us develop an amplifier that gives you the best of all worlds:

Sophisticated analog technology with a “feel factor” only analog technology can provide.

Latest DSP technology to give you a broad range of modern studio-compatible effect sounds.

Rugged and solid construction which even withstands the roughest handling.

Intuitive operation, so that you can focus your mind on what is most important to you: your music!

This manual first describes the terminology used, so that you can fully understand the ULTRACOUSTIC and its functions. Please read the manual carefully and keep it for future reference.

1.1 The design concept

The philosophy behind BEHRINGER products guarantees a no-compromise circuit design and employs the best choice of components. The operational amplifiers used in the

ULTRACOUSTIC are exceptional: they boast extreme linearity and very low distortion characteristics. To complement this design, the choice of components include low-tolerance resistors and capacitors, high-quality potentiometers and several other stringently selected elements.

The ULTRACOUSTIC uses SMD technology (Surface Mounted Device). These subminiature components adapted from aerospace technology allow for an extreme packing density to further improve the overall reliability.

The super-robust steel enclosure of your ULTRACOUSTIC, with its generously proportioned high-capacity power supply and temperature-controlled active fan, makes sure that your ACX1000 keeps on working even when the going gets tough.

The cabinet is made of high-grade, non-polluting E1-MDF boards, which are grooved, multi-glued and free of formaldehyde.

1.1.1 Tube emulator

A special FET circuit in your ULTRACOUSTIC emulates the positive characteristics of a tube exciter, producing additional harmonics and a subtle compression effect which gives your guitar sounds the power to make themselves heard and adds sustain and definition. Acoustic guitars, in particular, with their wide dynamic range, need to produce a homogeneous sound image in all registers. The FET circuit makes sure that even the high registers have sufficient sustain and won’t get drowned. While the WARMTH control allows you to add the tube sound effect as desired.

By using solid-state components we succeeded in eliminating tube-specific interference noise to a great extent; the actual tube effect is thus achieved without additional noise or hum.

1. INTRODUCTION

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