EarthQuaker Devices The Warden OPERATION MANUAL

The Warden

™

Hey boss, thanks for taking a visit from The
Warden™! The Warden is an optical compressor
with a feature set usually reserved for studio
grade units. Built with high grade components
and internally powered by 18v, The Warden
has loads of gain and sustain on tap. With
complete control over attack, release, sustain
and ratio, The Warden will allow everything
from a heavy squash with fast attack and
release to “barely there” subtle compression.
Optical compression has a reputation for having
more character than a VCA or FET based
compression and The Warden is no exception.

Controls

Tone- This pedal was designed to slightly color
your tone, the coloration can be dialed-in to your
taste. Counter clockwise is treble cut, clockwise

is treble boost. The tone is nearly at around 11

O’Clock.

Level- This controls the overall output and is
affected by the sustain and ratio settings. There

is no specic unity setting, adjust to taste when
you nd your perfect compression setting.

Sustain- This is the heart of The Warden. It
controls how hot the signal is, which changes
the dynamics of the compression. The Warden
is a feedback style compressor, the hotter the
signal, the more active the compression. Very little
sustain= very little compression, less active attack
and release and a cooler signal, Max sustain=
heavy compression, longer sustain, hotter signal
and more lively attack and release.

Release- This controls how long it takes the
signal to raise back up to the level determined by
the sustain & ratio settings. All the way counter
clockwise is a fast release and the release time
slows as you turn it clockwise.

Switching

This device is true bypass and uses electronic
relay based switching. Audio will not pass without
power.

Power

The Warden can be powered by a standard 9-volt
DC power supply with a 2.1mm negative center

barrel. We always recommend pedal-specic,

transformer-isolated wall-wart power supplies
or multiple isolated-output supplies. Pedals will
make extra noise if there is ripple or unclean
power. Switching-type power supplies, daisy

chains and non-pedal specic power supplies
do not lter dirty power as well and let through

unwanted noise. Do not run at higher voltages!

Current Draw: 45mA
Input impedance: 1M
Output impedance: <1K

Questions? Comments? Concerns?

Send an email to info@earthquakerdevices.
com and we’ll help you out.

This device is guaranteed for life (or at least the
life of EarthQuaker Devices).

Ratio- This determines how much the gain
reduction affects the signal. All the way up is full
compression and the compression is reduced
as you turn this counter clockwise which allows
more of the boosted, less compressed, signal to

come through. There are no dened ratios here.

Attack- This controls how quickly the compressor
reacts and starts leveling the signal. All the way
counter clockwise is a fast, nearly immediate
reaction. Turning the attack clockwise slows the
reaction time.

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