Operation Manual
v2
Operation Manual
2
© aud
ient
12/2008
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
The information in this document is subject to change without
notice.
Audient ltd makes no warranty of any kind with respect to
the material in this document and shall not be liable for errors
contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages
related to the use of the material.
No part of this document may be reproduced without prior
written consent from audient ltd.
Operation Manual
3
© aud
ient
12/2008
CONTENTS
Important Safety Information................................................................5
Unpacking..........................................................................................6
Mains Power Supply.............................................................................6
Mechanical Installation........................................................................6
Analogue Interfaces.............................................................................7
Digital Interfaces..................................................................................7
Functions and Controls.........................................................................8
Digital Features....................................................................................9
What is Variphase?..............................................................................10
Specification..................................................................................10
Warranty.........................................................................................11
Operation Manual
4
© aud
ient
12/2008
Thank you for buying this Audient Product.
MiCO is a compact, feature packed dual-channel Mic Pre with built in ultra-high
quality ADCs, making it an ideal front-end for desk-top users. The front-end design is
Audients renowned balanced discrete Class A design which is also used in the ASP008
and the ASP8024 mixing console - guaranteeing outstanding sonic transparency
and detail.
MiCO also features one channel of the unique “HMX” harmonic sculpting technology
from the Audient Black Pre making the creation of vintage style character and
complexity as simple as turning one knob. For recording a single source with twin
mics or mic+DI, the Variphase control on MiCO’s second channel allows precise
phase alignment (or creative mis-alignment) of the two signal paths.
Operation Manual
5
© aud
ient
12/2008
SAFETY INFORMATION
EARTH - This unit can be connected to safety earth via the chasis screw hole on the
rear panel. Alternatively if your MiCO is rack mounted, earth the rack itself.
COVERS - DO NOT remove the covers. Refer servicing to qualified personnel only.
VOLTAGE - Your MiCO external power supply is designed to operate between 96 and
260 Volts.
MOISTURE - DO NOT expose the unit to rain or moisture. If any part of your MiCO
should become so exposed, REMOVE the mains power immediately.
HEAT - ALWAYS site your MiCO away from sources of heat including direct sunlight
and ensure adequate ventilation around the unit.
Operation Manual
6
© aud
ient
12/2008
Unpacking
Your MiCO has been carefully and
meticulously tested and inspected
before despatch.
Please check for any signs of transit
damage. If any signs of mishandling are
found please notify the carrier and your
dealer immediately.
Your MiCO packaging should contain a
MiCO unit, an external PSU, along with
this manual. If the manual is missing you
won’t be reading this, so you’ll be none
the wiser.
Mains Power Supply
MiCO is despatched with an external
PSU which will accept voltages between
100-240V. MiCO itself requires a DC
input voltage between 10-16V to operate
correctly.
Mechanical Installation
Your MiCO’s compact form factor
allows the unit to be slipped into a bag
for location recording, or secured in the
optional 1U 19” rack tray. Up to 2 MiCOs
can be mounted in a 1U rack space.
Operation Manual
7
© aud
ient
12/2008
Analogue interfaces
MiCO has been designed and developed
to enable easy integration with a wide
range of systems.
Inputs and outputs use advanced
electronically balanced topologies and
are fitted with extensive RFI rejection
networks. This means signal integrity
will be maintained from the input stage
through to the output stage.
Pin conventions
Electronically balanced microphone and
line level inputs are provided on 3 pin
XLR Neutrik Combo female connectors
with Pin 2 hot and Pin 3 cold. Pin 1
is permanently connected to MiCO
chassis.
Balanced line inputs are provided on
Neutrik Combo connectors which
accept either 1/4” jack or XLR allowing
Variphase and HMX to be available in
either tracking or mix situation.
A front panel high impedance,
unbalanced DI input is also provided
on channel 1 to allow instruments to
be directly connected to MiCO. This
provides a great way to record bass or
electric guitar by plugging straight in.
Electronically balanced outputs are
available on 3 Pin male XLR connectors.
Digital interfaces
MiCO includes as standard, high quality
analogue to digital convertors supporting
sample rates up to 192kHz (external WC
only). AES/EBU connectivity is provided
on 3 pin XLR, whilst S/PDIF is available on
both Phono and TOSLINK connections.
Internally, MiCO supports sample rates
of 44.1, 48 and 96kHz, with sample rate
selection available on the rear panel
DIP switches. Higher sample rates are
supported when MiCO is slaved to a
master word clock connection via the
BNC Word Clock input.
MiCO is configured to achieve optium
performance on each of the digital
interface formats provided.
To ensure compatibility is not
compromised it is recommended that the
AES output is disconnected when using
the SPDIF or TOSLINK connections.
Operation Manual
8
© aud
ient
12/2008
Common Features
+48V
Provides phantom power to the
microphone inputs. Avoid switching
on when monitoring the input to avoid
potential damage to speakers.
-20dB
Inserts 20dB of attenuation before the
pre amp, allowing for louder signals
such as snare drums, without clipping.
GAIN
A gain range of 18-66dB is available (-2
to 46dB with -20dB pad in)
40Hz, 80Hz, 120Hz
Switchable 12dB/octave roll off frequency
for the high pass filter. When both
switches are out the filter is bypassed,
when both 40Hz and 80Hz are pressed
the roll off frequency is 120Hz.
REV
Inverts the polarity of the signal.
-36dB, -12dB, -6dB, 0dBFS
LED meters representing input signal
level in relation to 0dB digital full scale.
0dBFS will peak the ADC so is best
avoided!
0dBFS is equivalent to +18dBu.
Channel 1 Features
DIRECT INPUT
For connecting instruments such as an
electric guitar. Inserting a jack overrides
the XLR or Line input.
HMX
Adds harmonically related colouration
to the signal via Audients unique solid
state triode circuitry. With IN depressed
the circuit is active. The HMX level
control allows for the amount of HMX to
be varied, 0 being none, and 10 which is
a lot. If thats not intuitive I don’t know
what is.
Channel 2 Features
VARIPHASE
Provides between 0 and 180o continuously
variable phase shift, by means of an
all pass filter. In combination with the
polarity invert switch this provides
almost 360o phase shift. Perfect for
phase aligning a double mic’ed source.
Operation Manual
9
© aud
ient
12/2008
Digital Features
Rear panel DIP switch
Sample Rate
Switches 1 and 2 are used to set the
sample rate of the convertors, the
table below shows how these can be
selected:
SW1 SW2
44.1kHz Off Off
48kHz On Off
96kHz On On
These should be set when clocking both
internally and externally.
W/CLK
Switch 5 allows for selecting internal
or external (via BNC) clock source. With
the DIP switch up the word clock is
taken from the internal clock. When the
DIP switch is down the Clock source is
taken from the Word Clock input.
TERM
When MiCO is at the end of a Word Clock
chain the 75 ohm load must be inserted
(DIP switch to On).
Front Panel Status LEDs
Internal sample rate is indicated by 2
LEDs, either 44.1kHz, 48kHz or - with
both LEDs illuminated - 96kHz. If MiCO
is locked to an external clock source the
green W/CLK LED will illuminate.
Operation Manual
10
© aud
ient
12/2008
What is Variphase?
Variphase provides a means of shifting the phase of a signal far more accurately
than with a simple polarity invert switch, and without moving the microphone.
Its important to note that Variphase does not delay the signal; instead it uses the
phase response characteristics of analogue filters.
This circuitry provides another tool to use in combination with existing techniques,
such as polarity inversion and careful microphone placement. In some situations
such as a double mic’ed snare drum, Variphase may be more practical than moving
the microphone as this may increase the amount of spill from other drums. In other
situations such as Mic’ing and DI’ing an electric bass, moving the microphone may
be more practical, and Variphase can then be tweaked to optimum position.
Of course variphase doesn’t only have to be used to perfectly phase align
signals, shifting signals in and out of phase can have some interesting results, so
experiment!
Specifications
Analogue
Maximum Input: +10dBu (+30dBu pad in) @ minimum gain
THD+N: <0.009% @ 1kHz with +20dBu ouput
<0.003% @ 1kHz with +4dBu output
Noise: -87dB @ 18dB gain, 22Hz-22kHz, unweighted
EIN: Better than -127dBu @ 66dB gain/ref 150ohm
Frequency response: +/-0.2dB 20Hz - 22kHz @ 60dB gain
Digital
Internal sample rates: 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 96kHz
External sample rates: Any between 32kHz and 192kHz
Bit depth: 24bit
Scaling: 0dBFS = +18dBu
THD: -109dBFS @ 96kHz, A-Weighted
Dimentions: 430mm x 270mm x 80mm
Weight: 2.5kg
Operation Manual
11
© aud
ient
12/2008
Warranty
Your MiCO comes with a manufacturer ’s warranty for one year from the date of
despatch to the end user.
The warranty covers faults due to defective materials used in manufacture and
faulty workmanship only.
During this warranty period Audient will repair or at its discretion replace the faulty
unit provided it is returned carriage paid to an authorised Audient service centre.
We will not provide warranty repair if in our opinion the fault has resulted from
unauthorised modification, misuse, negligence, act of God or accident.
We accept a liability to repair or replace your MiCO as described above. We do not
accept any additional liability. This warranty does not affect any legal rights you
may have against the person who supplied this product – it is additional to those
rights.
Audient ltd, 1 Stable Court, Herriard Park, Herriard, Hampshire, RG25 2PL
Loading...