AC112
VINTAGER
User’s Manual
Version 1.3 July 2004
ENGLISH
VINTAGER AC112
IMPORTANTSAFETYINSTRUCTIONS
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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VINTAGER AC112
FOREWORD
Dear Customer,
Welcome to the team of VINTAGER users and thank you very much for expressing your confidence in BEHRINGER products by purchasing the AC112.
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 out-of-the-ordinary vintage guitar workstation.
What remains indispensable on the stage is the musical expression a good amplifier must reproduce with full detail. For this reason, we did not simply install a triode stage in a solid-state amplifier, but implemented the proven UTC circuitry from our studio processors. Thus, we achieved a particularly musical compression effect, open sound and gradual shift to the upper harmonics spectrum, which could be produced before by pure-tube amplifiers only. So, your playing dynamics and personal sound will not be confined in the amplifier but will be reproduced and inspired even further. In particular, we made sure that the AC112 will give you lots of fun with its intuitive user interface, so that you can focus entirely on playing your guitar.
The task to design the VINTAGER 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 VINTAGER” 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 VINTAGER a revolutionary vintage guitar workstation,
sThorsten who designed this marvelous manual,
sVolker and C.W. 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
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VINTAGER AC112
VINTAGER
Ultra-flexible 60 Watt Guitar Workstation with Digital Multi-Effects Processor
sPowerful 60 Watt RMS Guitar Workstation with a hand-selected 12AX7 vacuumAC112tube
sAuthentic vintage design with ULTRATUBE circuitry for classic tube sound
sOriginal heavy duty 12" JENSEN® / BUGERA™ guitar speaker
sTwo independent channels with separate volume controls, EQ and effects
sCLEAN channel delivers clean and slightly distorted sounds with smooth tube compression
sOVERDRIVE channel offers a broad range, from modern crunch to high-gain sounds
sEach channel has its classic 3-band EQ with excellent sound characteristics
s24-bit stereo multi-effects processor with ultra-high resolution 24-bit AD/DA converters
s31 original VIRTUALIZER/MODULIZER presets with world-class effects such as Reverb, Delay, Phaser, Chorus, Flanger, Pitch Shifter, Speaker Simulator, Rotary Speaker, Magic Drive, Compressor, Expander, Wah, Tube Emulator and various effect combinations
s99 outstanding and easy-to-edit user presets
sQuasi-analog operation: three FX parameters per preset can be edited with dedicated controls
sAdjustable AUX input for playback or other line-level signals (e.g. CD player, drum computer, etc.)
sFrequency-corrected stereo line output for recording and live applications
sInsert facility for external effects devices (stomp boxes, wah-wah pedals, etc.)
sChannel select and effect bypass footswitch FS112 included
sComplete MIDI implementation for channel and effect selection as well as real time control
sMaster volume control and frequency-corrected stereo headphones output
sExtremely rugged construction ensures long life, even under the most demanding conditions
sRobust power supply ensures excellent transient response
sConceived and designed by BEHRINGER Germany. Made in China
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VINTAGER AC112
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................... |
6 |
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1.1 |
Design concept ............................................................................................................................... |
7 |
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1.1.1 |
ULTRATUBE technology ....................................................................................................... |
7 |
1.2 |
Before you begin ............................................................................................................................. |
7 |
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1.3 |
Control elements ............................................................................................................................. |
8 |
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1.3.1 |
Front panel ........................................................................................................................... |
8 |
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1.3.2 |
Rear panel .......................................................................................................................... |
10 |
2. |
WIRING EXAMPLES ............................................................................................................. |
11 |
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2.1 |
Standard setup consisting of guitar, footswitch and external effects device ..................................... |
11 |
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2.2 |
Expanded setup with MIDI foot controller, playback source and mixing console ............................ |
12 |
3. |
EFFECTS PROCESSOR...................................................................................................... |
13 |
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3.1 |
Description of effects..................................................................................................................... |
13 |
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3.2 |
Controlling the VINTAGER via MIDI ............................................................................................... |
22 |
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3.2.1 Store Enable mode ............................................................................................................. |
23 |
4. |
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND by Neville Marten (Guitarist Magazine) ......................... |
23 |
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5. |
INSTALLATION ..................................................................................................................... |
24 |
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5.1 |
Mains connection .......................................................................................................................... |
24 |
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5.2 |
Audio connections ........................................................................................................................ |
24 |
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5.3 |
MIDI connection ............................................................................................................................ |
25 |
6. |
APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................. |
25 |
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6.1 |
Preset list ..................................................................................................................................... |
25 |
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6.2 |
MIDI implementation ..................................................................................................................... |
28 |
7. |
SPECIFICATIONS ................................................................................................................. |
29 |
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8. |
WARRANTY ........................................................................................................................... |
30 |
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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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VINTAGER AC112
1. INTRODUCTION
Thank you very much for expressing your confidence in BEHRINGER products by purchasing the VINTAGER AC112. With the VINTAGER, you have acquired a modern guitar workstation that sets new standards in guitar amp engineering. When developing the AC112, 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 a 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,conventionalguitarampsareoftennotfullydesignedanddeveloped.Moreover,manymanufacturers of traditional-style guitar amps are somewhat afraid of using state-of-the-art technology. The VINTAGER, 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 AC112 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 VINTAGER 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 VINTAGER shall be a 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.
sULTRATUBE circuitry for the 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.
sIntuitive 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 VINTAGER and its functions. Please read the manual carefully and keep it for future reference.
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1. INTRODUCTION |
VINTAGER AC112
1.1Design 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 VINTAGER 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 VINTAGER 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 VINTAGER, with its generously dimensioned power supply, ensures that your AC112 will never fail on the stage – even when the going gets tough. The enclosure is made of high-grade and non-polluting E1-MDF wood, which consists of multiple tongued/glued layers and is absolutely free of formaldehyde.
1.1.1 ULTRATUBE technology
The tube circuitry employed in the VINTAGER has evolved from our ULTRATUBE circuit that is used in our studio-quality tube devices. By overdriving the tube stage, this circuit produces additional upper harmonics and a gradual compression effect. Thanks to this compression your guitar sounds are improved in sustain and definition and make themselves heard. While processing the guitar signal the UTC processor (Ultra Tube Circuitry) largely eliminates the noise and hum typically encountered in conventional tube circuits and creates the actual tube effect without raising the noise floor. The specifically selected tube used in the VINTAGER is of the ECC83/12AX7 type and will give you a very special sound experience over many years to come.
1.2Before you begin
Your BEHRINGER VINTAGER 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.
+If the unit needs to be shipped, please always use the original packaging to avoid damage.
+Never let unsupervised children play with the VMX100 or with its packaging.
+Please dispose of all packaging materials in an environmentally-friendly fashion.
Be sure that there is enough space around the unit for cooling and please do not place the VINTAGER on high temperature devices such as radiators etc. to avoid overheating.
+Before you connect your VINTAGER to the mains, please make sure that your local voltage matches the voltage required by the unit!
The mains connection of the VINTAGER is made by using the enclosed mains cable and a standard IEC receptacle. It meets all of the international safety certification requirements.
1. INTRODUCTION |
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VINTAGER AC112
+Please make sure that all your equipment is grounded at all times. For your own protection, you should never tamper with the grounding of the cable or the unit itself. The unit shall always be connected to a mains socket outlet with a protective earthing connection.
The MIDI connection (IN) is made over standardized DIN plug-in connectors. An optocoupler has been used for isolated data communications.
You will find additional information in chapter 5 “INSTALLATION”.
1.3 Control elements
Fig. 1.1: The front panel of the VINTAGER
The BEHRINGER VINTAGER AC112 features 15 controls, five push-buttons and one 2-digit, 7-segment LED display on its front panel. Additionally, there are two 1/4" jacks for input and headphones.
1.3.1 Front panel
Fig. 1.2: The front panel control elements
1The CLEAN channel’s VOLUME control sets the volume for the clean channel.
2The BASS control in the EQ section allows you to boost or cut the bass frequencies in the CLEAN channel.
3With the MID control you can boost/cut the midrange frequencies in the CLEAN channel.
4The TREBLE control adjusts the CLEAN channel’s upper frequency range.
+Please note that with all three EQ controls in the CLEAN channel set fully to the left, there will be no signal sent to the speaker, which is due to the classical and extremely efficient EQ circuit used in the VINTAGER.
5INPUT is the VINTAGER’s 1/4" jack input for your guitar. Use a commercial 1/4" jack mono cable (no DIY, better ask your specialized dealer), with good mechanical and electrical shielding, so as to avoid unpleasant surprises during rehearsals or concerts.
6Press the OVERDRIVE button to select the CLEAN or OVERDRIVE channel. When OVERDRIVE is on, the corresponding LED lights up.
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1. INTRODUCTION |
VINTAGER AC112
7The GAIN control determines the degree of distortion in the OVERDRIVE channel.
8The VOLUME control sets the volume for the OVERDRIVE channel.
+Use both VOLUME controls to optimize the volume ratio of the two channels, so that no volume differences can be heard when switching from one channel to the other. This setting is also effective on the level-dependent digital effects!
9The BASS control in the EQ section allows you to boost/cut the bass frequencies in the OVERDRIVE channel.
10With the MID control you can boost/cut the midrange frequencies in the OVERDRIVE channel.
11The TREBLE control adjusts the OVERDRIVE channel’s upper frequency range.
12The DISPLAY reads either the program number of the selected preset or the value of the parameter selected with the PARAMETER, EFFECT A or EFFECT B controls.
13With the UP button you can increment the program number of the built-in effects module. Keep the button pressed to scroll through the programs.
14The DOWN button allows you to decrement the program number.
15The STATUS LED’s inform you about the type of parameter you can edit with the PARAMETER control (an exception being the MIDI LED).
sMIDI: This LED lights up when you press both UP and DOWN buttons for about two seconds. Subsequently, you can use these buttons to set up a MIDI channel for MIDI data reception (1 through 16, “ON” = Omni and “OF” = off, or “ON” = Omni and 1 through 16 plus one decimal point each = Store Enable mode, see chapter 3.2.1). Press the ENTER button to confirm your selection. The MIDI LED flashes as soon as MIDI data is being received.
+The Store Enable mode (see chapter 3.2.1) allows you to store presets directly via MIDI. Please note that by sending MIDI control #18 values, any changes made to the currently active preset will be permanently stored.
+Whenever the multi-functional MIDI LED flashes and the unit is not in edit mode, this indicates that the DSP module’s output level is close to distortion. In this case, you should turn down the VOLUME control a bit.
sTIME: This LED lights up when you select a time-domain effect parameter (e.g. reverb or delay time).
sSPEED: This LED lights up for all modulation effects and indicates the LFO speed (low-frequency oscillator) or the speed parameter of compress/expander.
sSENS: This LED informs you that you can adjust the sensitivity of effects such as Auto-Wah, Expander, Compressor.
sPITCH: This LED lights up when you edit the pitch shifter, and shows the detune factor, either in semi-tones or cents.
sEQ: This LED lights up when you edit the parameters of a filter-based effect.
To the right of the status LED’s you can find a chart that lists the various effect types as well as their initial program numbers. Use this list to quickly locate, edit and store the effect of your choice. The built-in effects module features 31 different effect groups and includes a total of 99 effect variations.
16 Use the ENTER button to confirm your program selection.
+When the MIDI functions are inactive, one effect can be stored for each of the two channels on your VINTAGER, which allows for instance, to select a DELAY effect for the OVERDRIVE channel and assign a REVERB/CHORUS effect to the CLEAN channel. The corresponding program numbers will be stored with the channels and can be recalled using the footswitch or the front panel buttons. When MIDI is on, this assignment feature will be disabled, so that in this mode both channels and effects can be selected separately.
17The PARAMETER control allows you to edit an effect-specific parameter. Once selected with the PARAMETER control, its value is displayed and the corresponding LED lights up (see 
).
1. INTRODUCTION |
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