GX110
ULTRAROC®
User’s Manual
Version 1.1 June 2001
ENGLISH
ULTRAROC GX110
SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS
CAUTION: To reduce the risk of electrical shock, do not remove the cover (or back). No user serviceable parts inside; refer servicing to qualified personnel.
WARNING: To reduce the risk of fire or electrical shock, do not expose this appliance to rain or moisture.
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. Read the manual.
DETAILED SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS:
All the safety and operation instructions should be read before the appliance is operated.
Retain Instructions:
The safety and operating instructions should be retained for future reference.
Heed Warnings:
All warnings on the appliance and in the operating instructions should be adhered to.
Follow instructions:
All operation and user instructions should be followed.
Water and Moisture:
The appliance should not be used near water (e.g. near a bathtub, washbowl, kitchen sink, laundry tub, in a wet basement, or near a swimming pool etc.).
Ventilation:
The appliance should be situated so that its location or position does not interfere with its proper ventilaton. For example, the appliance should not be situated on a bed, sofa rug, or similar surface that may block the ventilation openings: or placed in a built-in installation, such as a bookcase or cabinet that may impede the flow of air through the ventilation openings.
Heat:
The appliance should be situated away from heat sources such as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or other appliances (including amplifiers) that produce heat.
Power Source:
The appliance should be connected to a power supply only of the type described in the operating instructions or as marked on the appliance.
Grounding or Polarization:
Precautions should be taken so that the grounding or polarization means of an appliance is not defeated.
Power-Cord Protection:
Power supply cords should be routed so that they are not likely to be walked on or pinched by items placed upon or against them, paying particular attention to cords and plugs, convenience receptacles and the point where they exit from the appliance.
Cleaning:
The appliance should be cleaned only as recommended by the manufacturer.
Non-use Periods:
The power cord of the appliance should be unplugged from the outlet when left unused for a long period of time.
Object and Liquid Entry:
Care should be taken so that objects do not fall and liquids are not spilled into the enclosure through openings.
Damage Requiring Service:
The appliance should be serviced by qualified service personnel when:
-the power supply cord or the plug has been damaged; or
-Objects have fallen, or liquid has been spilled into the appliance; or
-the appliance has been exposed to rain; or
-the appliance does not appear to operate normally or exhibits a marked change in performance; or
-the appliance has been dropped, or the enclosure damaged.
Servicing:
The user should not attempt to service the appliance beyond that which is described in the Operating Instructions. All other servicing should be referred to qualified service personnel.
2
ULTRAROC GX110
FOREWORD
Dear Customer,
Welcome to the team of ULTRAROC users and thank you very much for expressing your confidence in BEHRINGER products by purchasing the GX110.
It is one of my most pleasant tasks to write this letter to you, because it is the culmination of many months of hard work delivered by our engineering team to reach a very ambitious goal: To present you with a really excellent practice/backstage amp that does not only produce an out-of-the-ordinary sound but also features a revolutionary design concept. Your GX110 combines highest performance with a wealth of first-class effects. The task to design the ULTRAROC certainly meant a great deal of responsibility, which we assumed by focusing on you, the discerning user and musician. It also meant a lot of work and night shifts to accomplish this goal. But it was fun, too. Developing a product usually brings a lot of people together, and what a great feeling it is when everybody who participated in such a project can be proud of what we’ve achieved.
It is our philosophy to share our joy with you, because you are the most important member of the BEHRINGER family. With your highly competent suggestions for new products you’ve greatly contributed 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 favorable price. All of this will enable you to fully unfold your creativity without being hampered by budget constraints.
We are often asked how we can make it possible to produce such high-grade 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 conditions of purchase for components, etc. Isn’t it only fair to pass this benefit back to you? Because we know that your success is our success too!
I would like to thank the following people, whose help on “Project ULTRAROC” has made it all possible:
sThe existing users of BEHRINGER equipment, whose comments and suggestions have made them the most important members of the BEHRINGER design team,
sJan, whose passionate work has made the ULTRAROC a revolutionary Guitar Workstation,
sThorsten who designed this marvelous manual,
sVolker for the fine mechanics,
sand all the others, who have made very personal contributions.
My friends, it’s been worth the trouble!
Thank you very much,
Uli Behringer
3
ULTRAROC GX110
ULTRAROC®
Ultra-flexible 30-Watt Guitar Workstation with digital multi-effects processor
sPowerful 30-Watt RMS Guitar Workstation with authentic VIRTUBE® tube /:simulation
sOriginal 35-Watt vintage 10" JENSEN guitar speaker model JCH10/35
sTwo independent channels with separate volume controls and effects
sCLEAN channel delivers clean and slightly distorted tube-type sounds
sOVERDRIVE channel offers a broad range of modern crunch to high-gain sounds
sClassical 3-band EQ with excellent sound characteristics
s24-bit stereo multi-effects processor with extremely high-resolution 24-bit AD/DA converters
s31 original VIRTUALIZER® and MODULIZER® presets with outstanding effects such as Reverb, Delay, Phaser, Chorus, Flanger, Pitch Shifter, Speaker Simulation, Rotary Speaker, Magic Drive, Compressor, Expander, Wah-Wah, Tube Emulator and various effect combinations
s99 easy-to-edit user presets
sAdditional 8 Ohm speaker output (built-in speaker is muted automatically)
sAdjustable AUX input for playback or other line-level signals (e.g. CD player, drum computer)
sFrequency-corrected line output for recording and live applications
sInsert facility for external effects devices (stomp boxes, wah-wah pedals, etc.)
sGX110 comes with footswitch FS112 for channel selection and effect bypass
sComplete MIDI implementation for channel and effect selection as well as real time control
sMaster volume control and frequency-corrected stereo headphones output
sFX MIX parameter can be stored in each preset
sExtremely rugged construction ensures long life even under the most demanding conditions
sRobust power supply ensures excellent transient response
sManufactured under ISO9000 certified management system
4
ULTRAROC GX110
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................... |
6 |
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1.1 |
The design concept ......................................................................................................................... |
7 |
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1.1.1 |
VIRTUBE technology ............................................................................................................ |
7 |
|
1.1.2 |
JENSEN loudspeaker ........................................................................................................... |
7 |
1.2 |
Before you begin ............................................................................................................................. |
7 |
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1.3 |
Control elements ............................................................................................................................. |
8 |
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1.3.1 |
The front panel ...................................................................................................................... |
8 |
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1.3.2 |
The rear panel ....................................................................................................................... |
9 |
2. |
WIRING EXAMPLES ............................................................................................................. |
11 |
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|
2.1 |
Standard setup consisting of guitar, footswitch and external effects device ..................................... |
11 |
|
2.2 |
Expanded setup with MIDI foot controller, playback source and mixing console ............................. |
11 |
3. |
EFFECTS PROCESSOR ...................................................................................................... |
12 |
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|
3.1 |
Description of effects..................................................................................................................... |
12 |
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3.2 |
Controlling the ULTRAROC via MIDI .............................................................................................. |
15 |
4. |
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND by Neville Marten (Guitarist Magazine) ......................... |
16 |
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5. |
INSTALLATION ..................................................................................................................... |
17 |
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5.1 |
Mains connection .......................................................................................................................... |
17 |
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5.2 |
Audio connections ........................................................................................................................ |
17 |
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5.2.1 Loudspeaker connector ....................................................................................................... |
18 |
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5.3 |
MIDI connection ............................................................................................................................ |
19 |
6. |
APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................. |
20 |
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6.1 |
Preset list ..................................................................................................................................... |
20 |
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6.2 |
MIDI-Implementation ..................................................................................................................... |
21 |
7. |
SPECIFICATIONS ................................................................................................................. |
22 |
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8. |
WARRANTY ........................................................................................................................... |
23 |
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CAUTION!
+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 level.
5
ULTRAROC GX110
1. INTRODUCTION
Thank you very much for expressing your confidence in BEHRINGER products by purchasing the ULTRAROC GX110. With the ULTRAROC, you have acquired a modern Guitar Workstation that sets new standards in practice amp engineering. When developing the GX110, our top objective was to reproduce the authentic sound of classical guitar amps as perfectly as we could and combine it with latest DSP technology – while focusing on an user interface that can be operated 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, fully-featured products and exemplary service – even years after purchase – as well as sensationally low prices, which allow any ambitious music lovers 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 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 Guitar Workstation that offers you a complete set of functions, but can still be operated intuitively and quickly – no matter what kind of style you play.
Unfortunately, conventional guitar amps are often not fully designed and developed. Moreover, many manufacturers of traditional-style guitar amps are somewhat afraid of using state-of-the-art technology. The ULTRAROC, on the other hand, is a pioneering guitar amp that has considerably more functions than any conventional 2-channel amp with a built-in spring reverb. Still, you can use the GX110 so that it mimics an excellently sounding 2-channel combo amp with an – admittedly – good spring reverb (except for that “shatter” sound when the amp gets knocked over). However, we recommend that you make yourself familiar with the ULTRAROC in full detail, so that you know what each of the many functions does and be able to fully exploit the numerous effects and control options provided.
As technology advances, you’ve got to keep track of latest technological breakthroughs to avoid falling by the wayside. We, too, have continuously improved this amp 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 gave us complete satisfaction. After all, we really want to give you fully designed and developed products that meet your expectations in every respect. The ULTRAROC shall be an useful tool for years to come, which is why we’ve equipped the effects modules of our Guitar Workstation 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 of guitar amps. Many people contributed to this project of intense development: studio musicians, collectors of vintage guitar amps, music and guitar lovers alike. We even invited guitar amp tuning experts to help us develop an amplifier that gives you the best of all worlds:
sSophisticated analog technology with a “feel factor” only analog technology can provide.
sThe perfect emulation of tube-specific nuances to make up for the drawbacks encountered in tube designs (noise, hum, etc.)
sLatest DSP technology to give you a broad range of modern high-gain and vintage-type effect sounds.
sRugged and solid construction which even withstands roughest handling.
I 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 ULTRAROC and its functions. Please read the manual carefully and keep it for future reference.
6 |
1. INTRODUCTION |
ULTRAROC GX110
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 ULTRAROC are exceptional: they boast extreme linearity and very low distortion characteristics. To complement this design, the choice of components includes low-tolerance resistors and capacitors, high-quality potentiometers and several other stringently selected elements.
The ULTRAROC 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-plate enclosure of your ULTRAROC, with its generously dimensioned power supply, ensures that your GX110 will never fail on the stage – even when the going gets tough. The enclosure is made of high-grade and non-polluting MDF wood, which consists of multiple tongued layers.
1.1.1 VIRTUBE technology
Tube preamps usually have three to five triode stages in series producing various degrees of distortion, dynamic compression and frequency response modification. In addition to the characteristic curve, along which the signal is distorted, also the order of filters and distortion stages play a vital role. While clean and slightly distorted sounds may be a pleasure to hear when the signal has lots of bass prior to the distortion stage, this configuration would lead to a muddy, fuzz-like sound when hi-gain settings are used. For this reason, tube amps have passive, and usually simple filters switched between the individual amplifier stages. These filters determine which frequencies contribute to the distorted sound.
After the distortion stages, too, filter circuits are used to provide a perfect blend of output signal and generated harmonics. Our VIRTUBE circuits have been optimized to mimic this sophisticated interaction with solid-state components. EQ and filters between the single stages are the same as those used in classical tube amps. The non-linear characteristic curves are simulated by means of specific diode types. The result is an amplifier that gives you sounds with a very pronounced tube character.
1.1.2 JENSEN loudspeaker
Since Peter Jensen produced the first loudspeakers in 1923 JENSEN reshaped the communications industry. As the demand for new electric guitar and bass amplifiers increased, so did the need for JENSEN speakers in the 50’s and 60’s. JENSEN represented the worldwide industry standard for speaker products and their sound was in fact the sound of Rock ´n´ Roll. Still these vintage speakers are highly valued by top musicians and collectors around the world. Famous american and british brands choose JENSENs for their top-of-the- line products. There is no doubt about the tremendous impact the loudspeaker has on the sound of electric guitar amplifiers. Consequently, JENSEN has put into production those legendary speakers again that contributed so much to the history of modern music, using the most sophisticated and modern facilities Europe has to offer. You will find them in top-of-of-the-line guitar amps.
1.2 Before you begin
Your BEHRINGER ULTRAROC was carefully packed in the factory and the packaging is designed to protect the unit from rough handling. Nevertheless, we recommend that you carefully examine the packaging and its contents for any signs of physical damage, which may have occurred during transit.
+If the unit is damaged, please do not return it to BEHRINGER, but notify your dealer and the shipping company immediately, otherwise claims for damage or replacement may not be granted. Shipping claims must be made by the consignee.
Be sure that there is enough space around the unit for cooling and please do not place the ULTRAROC on high temperature devices such as radiators etc. to avoid overheating.
+Before you connect your ULTRAROC to the mains, please make sure that your local voltage matches the voltage required by the unit!
1. INTRODUCTION |
7 |
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