Electro-Harmonix Oceans 12 Installation manual

OCEANS 12

Multifunction Dual Stereo Reverb

Congratulations on your purchase of the Oceans 12, our dual stereo reverb tourde-force. Dive into uncharted sonic depths with its myriad features: two simultaneous, independent, stereo reverb engines, series and parallel control for the dual reverbs, 24 presets, external expression and footswitch input, and more. Plus, with an array of new controls like Tide for stereo image alteration, Lo-fi for diffusion reduction, infinite attenuation, send level for FX LOOPs, and split reverbs, your customization options are nearly limitless. The Oceans 12 is the reverb pedal to end all reverbs!

WARNING: Your Oceans 12 comes equipped with an Electro-Harmonix 9.6DC-200BI power supply. The Oceans 12 requires 150mA at 9VDC with a center negative plug. Use of the wrong adapter or a plug with the wrong polarity may damage your Oceans 12 and void the warranty. Do not exceed 10.5VDC on the power plug. Power supplies rated for less than 150mA will cause the Oceans 12 to act unreliably.

- FEATURES -

• Two simultaneous, independent, stereo reverb engines

• Series or parallel dual reverb configurations

• 12 Reverb Types per engine yield a multitude of reverb effects

• Multiple modes available for each Reverb Type, including new modes exclusive

to the Oceans 12

• Easy pushbutton access to extra features like reverb tails, momentary effect

mode, and alternate knob functions

• 24 presets may be saved and recalled: one preset for each Reverb Type of

each reverb engine

• Two-in-one expression/external-footswitch jack: control any combination of

the Oceans 12’s knobs with an external expression pedal, or connect an external 1-, 2- or 3-button footswitch for augmented pedal control

• Infinite hold, 1-second global pre-delay, tap tempo for Echo reverb

• Additional send/return signal routing option for mono setups

• High quality buffered analog bypass and soft switching

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Notes and Specifications 3

Reverb Types and Descriptions 3

Quick Start Guide 4

Summary Chart 10

Controls and LEDs 7

Dual Reverb Select Button and LEDs 7 Control Knobs 8 Reverb Type Knob, Preset LED, and Mini Knobs 12 Illuminated Buttons 13 Send/Return FX Loop 15 Mode Button and LEDs 17 Footswitches and LEDs 18

Connections 20

Reverb Type and Mini Knob Details 22

Dual Reverb 28

External Footswitch Functionality 30

Expression Pedal Use and Setup 31

Tap Tempo on the Oceans 12 34

Preset Use and Setup 36

Restoring Factory Settings 38

Warranty Information and Compliance 39

NOTES AND SPECIFICATIONS

• Audio input impedance for mono left input: 1M

• Audio input impedance for stereo left input: 2M

• Audio input impedance for right input: 2M

• Audio output impedance for each output: 550

• Current draw: 150mA

• Maximum input signal level: +11 dBu

• Bypass: high quality analog buffered bypass when TAILS mode

is disabled. DSP bypass when TAILS is enabled.

REVERB TYPES AND DESCRIPTIONS

REVERB

TYPE

DESCRIPTION

ROOM

Warm and versatile reverb algorithms modeled after a lively room and a spacious performance hall.

SPRING

Vintage 1962 Fender® 6G15 reverb unit emulation and

the classic spring algorithm from the EHX Holy Grail.

PLATE

Two emulations of a smooth, bright metal plate reverb commonly found in high-end recording studios during the 1960’s and 70’s.

REVERSE

A rendition of the reverse reverb trick commonly performed in studios, as well as true reversed echoes.

ECHO

Simple digital delay which feeds into a plate reverb.

TREM

A classic, periodic volume envelope applied to both the dry and wet mix of a hall reverb.

MOD

A lush combination of various modulations for creamy rich reverb tails.

DYNA

A dynamic trio of experimental reverb algorithms: swell, gate, and duck.

AUTO-INF

Auto infinite reverb, with optional chorus or flange, that listens to your playing and crossfades to a new reverb wash upon detection of newly-struck notes and chords.

SHIMMER

Two configurations of a rich octave-shifted wash of harmony in a reverberant cloud.

POLY

Two configurable bidirectional pitch-shifts that add startling dimensionality to the reverb tail.

RESONANT

Reverb excited by tunable resonators, and configurable self-oscillating filters on the reverb tail.

QUICK START GUIDE

PLUGGING IN THE OCEANS 12

1. Connect the supplied EHX9.6DC AC Adapter into the 9V jack at the

top of the Oceans 12. Plug the AC Adapter into an AC outlet.

2. Connect your guitar or other instrument into the L/MONO IN jack

using a standard 1/4” instrument cable. Connect the L/MONO OUT jack to your amp with another standard 1/4” instrument cable.

3. For stereo operation, connect R/SEND OUT to another amp.

DIALING IN A STANDARD REVERB EFFECT

1. Ensure none of the buttons at the top left of the Oceans 12, like TAILS,

are lit. If any of the buttons are lit or blinking, press the button once to disable it.

2. Ensure that REVERB A is selected by confirming that its SELECT LED

is lit. This LED is located in the center of the unit, in the section labeled SELECT. If the SELECT LED of REVERB B is lit, press the small white SELECT button to toggle reverb selection back to REVERB A.

3. Turn on REVERB A by pressing its footswitch located on the bottom

left of the Oceans 12. The white bypass LED should turn on.

4. Rotate the REVERB TYPE knob clockwise to the ROOM setting for a

standard reverb, if not already selected.

5. Set the two smaller knobs to the right of the REVERB TYPE knob to

their middle positions.

6. Set the decay time with the TIME knob, the tone with the TONE knob,

the predelay time with the PREDELAY knob, and the reverb volume with the FX LVL knob.

CHOOSING A REVERB TYPE

1. Rotate the REVERB TYPE knob in either direction until the desired

REVERB TYPE LED is lit.

2. Check the table on the Oceans 12 below the mini knobs to see the

corresponding parameters that can be adjusted for the chosen Reverb Type. Turn the mini knobs to experiment with different reverb effects.

USING DUAL REVERB

1. At any given time on the Oceans 12, only one of the reverb engines

is selected for editing. The SELECT LED indicates which reverb engine this is. In general, reverb-editing controls affect only the selected reverb engine.

2. The default selected reverb engine should be Reverb A, and

accordingly you should see the green LED labeled “A” lit.

3. If Reverb A isn’t already on, turn it on by pressing the left footswitch.

Once it’s on, the white LED in the center moon graphic will be lit.

4. Next, tap the right footswitch corresponding to Reverb Engine B. This

turns on Reverb B, and its blue SELECT LED as well as its corresponding white Reverb Type LED will light. Because Reverb B is now the most recently engaged reverb engine, the Oceans 12 makes Reverb B the currently-selected engine and blinks its blue LED to indicate this.

5. Now the reverb effects of both Reverb A and Reverb B are applied, in

parallel by default, to your playing. Edits to the knobs and buttons will affect Reverb B.

6. To change your selection back to Reverb A, you can press the MODE

button. Doing so will switch the selection back to Reverb A, and its green LED will blink to indicate this.

7. To bypass/engage either of the reverb engines, simply tap their

respective footswitches.

8. See page 28 for detail on dual reverb operation and control.

DUAL REVERB CONFIGURATIONS

1. When dual reverbs are engaged, you can choose which configuration

– parallel or series – in which to arrange them.

2. To edit this, press the button labeled FUNCTION towards the top of

the Oceans 12. It should blink, along with both of the SELECT LEDs, to indicate that the controls of the Oceans 12 are now performing their alternate functions, whose graphic labels are colored teal.

3. The alternate functions of the two mini knobs in the REVERB TYPE

table are labeled at the bottom of the table: SRS/PRL and A→B. Briefly, the left mini knob controls series v. parallel configuration, while the right mini knob controls series order and parallel mix of the two reverbs.

4. See page 28 for more details on dual configurations.

USING AN EXPRESSION PEDAL

1. Connect your expression pedal to the EXP/FSW jack.

2. While the EXP MODE button is off, the expression pedal acts like a

volume control for your dry signal before it enters the Oceans 12.

3. While the EXP MODE button is enabled, the expression pedal sweeps

all parameters that are assigned to it for the current Reverb Type of the selected dual reverb.

4. You may assign any knobs you like to be swept by the expression

pedal. Additionally, each knob may have a custom range and direction. See page 31 of the manual to learn how to create an Expression Setting for each Reverb Type of both dual reverb selections.

SAVING A PRESET

1. Once you have created a sound that you would like to save, press and

hold the REVERB TYPE knob.

2. After half a second, the PRESET LED will begin blinking rapidly.

Continue holding down the REVERB TYPE knob.

3. After two seconds of holding down the REVERB TYPE knob, the

PRESET LED will stop blinking and light up solid. You can now release the REVERB TYPE knob.

4. Your preset is saved in the currently selected Reverb Type. You may

save one preset for each of the 12 Reverb Types of Reverb A, and one preset for each of the 12 Reverb Types of Reverb B.

RECALLING A PRESET

1. Turn the REVERB TYPE knob to the Reverb Type you want to recall.

2. Press and release the REVERB TYPE knob. The preset sound loads and

the PRESET LED lights solid.

3. If you turn a knob or change a button setting, the PRESET LED will

blink rapidly to indicate a preset is loaded but the setting has been altered.

CONTROLS AND LEDS

- DUAL REVERB SELECT BUTTON AND LEDS -

On the Oceans 12, one of the reverb engines is always currently selected, regardless of whether single or dual reverbs are engaged. All of the LEDs on the Oceans 12 – the Reverb Type LED, the mode

button LEDs, the preset LED, the illuminated buttons, and the bypass LED -- always reflect the status of the currently selected reverb engine. The SELECT button allows you to toggle this selection between Reverb A and Reverb B. When you do, you’ll see that the LEDs update to the status of the newly-selected reverb engine. You can also use an external footswitch to toggle between selected reverbs; see page 30 for more details on external footswitches.

If dual reverbs are engaged, the Oceans 12 will slowly blink one of the SELECT LEDs to indicate which of the reverb engines is the current selection. The Reverb Type LED of the corresponding reverb engine will also blink synchronously. The SELECT button still toggles the reverb engine selection; pressing it will blink the SELECT LED of the other reverb engine to indicate that it, now, is currently selected.

Additionally, for convenience, the selection of the current engine will always default to the last-engaged one. In other words, whenever you turn on a reverb engine with its footswitch, it immediately becomes the current selection.

See page 28 for more details and instructions on Dual Reverb operation.

- CONTROL KNOBS -

The four knobs on the left side of the Oceans 12 control the main parameters of the reverb effects. These knobs have different functions depending on the status of the illuminated FUNCTION button (see the section about Illuminated Buttons on page 13 for details on FUNCTION). The top row of white labels specifies the reverb-specific functions of the knobs, which are active when the FUNCTION button is off. The bottom row of teal labels specifies the alternate functions of the knobs, which are active when the FUNCTION button is blinking.

Reverb parameters

FX LVL – Wet/dry control that sets the balance between your dry signal

and the reverb effects produced by the Oceans 12. When this knob is at the minimum position, the output is only your dry signal. As the knob is turned up, the reverb output increases in volume. As the knob is turned

past 2 o’clock, the dry signal decreases in volume. When the knob is at

the maximum position, the output is reverb only.

PREDELAY – For all Reverb Types except ECHO, SHIMMER, and RESONANT, the PREDELAY knob sets the pre-delay time for the reverb block. Pre-delay allows the musician to put a time delay between playing a note and hearing the onset of reverb for that note. The total range of pre-delay is from 0 to 1 seconds. As you turn the knob clockwise, the pre-delay time will increase. See the Summary Chart on page 10 to see what Reverb Types have different settings for this knob.

TIME – In all Reverb Types except REVERSE and DYNA, the TIME knob controls the decay time of the Oceans 12 reverb. As this knob is turned clockwise, the reverb time gets longer and longer, reaching infinite in all modes except SPRING, ECHO, and DYNA when the knob is as far as it will go. See the Summary Chart on page 10 to see what Reverb Types have different settings for this knob.

TONE – In all Reverb Types, TONE controls the tone or EQ of the reverb

signal, so it’s omitted from the columns of the Summary Chart on the

following page. As this knob is turned clockwise, the sound of the reverb gets brighter. As you turn TONE counter-clockwise, the sound of the reverb gets darker.

Alternate FUNCTION parameters

INF LVL – Works as an attenuation control for the infinite/sustain

reverb sound. The default setting is fully clockwise, which corresponds to no attenuation, or full infinite/sustain volume. The infinitely sustained reverb volume decreases as the knob is turned counter-clockwise, reaching zero at fully counter-clockwise.

SEND LVL – Controls the signal level of the FX SEND when the Oceans 12 is in SEND/RETURN FX LOOP mode with a mono setup. See page 15 for details on operating the SEND/RETURN FX LOOP. This is a global parameter whose value is independent of reverb engine.

LO-FI – Controls the degree of reduction of diffuse ion and echo density in the reverb tails. As the diffusion and echo density decrease, certain qualities of the reverb tail, such as fullness and smoothness, start to diminish, allowing for creative low-fidelity manipulation of your favorite reverbs. When the knob is turned fully counter-clockwise, LO-FI turns off. As the knob is turned clockwise, LOFI turns on, and the corresponding LED labeled LF next to the MODE button lights up. The degree of the LO-FI effect is increased as the knob is turned clockwise.

TIDE – Controls the amount of TIDE effect applied to the reverb output. When stereo outputs are used on the Oceans 12, TIDE subtly modulates the pan of the stereo output to gradually evolve the sound stage. When the knob is turned fully counter-clockwise, TIDE turns off. As the knob is turned clockwise, TIDE turns on, and the corresponding blue LED labeled TIDE next to the MODE button lights up. The frequency of the modulated pan is slowly increased as the knob is turned clockwise.

Reverb Type

MODE

Descriptions

MODE Effect

PREDELAY

TIME

ROOM

Space type

1. Room

---

2. Hall

SPRING

Algorithm

select

1. 6G15

---

2. Holy Grail

PLATE

Plate type

1. Original

---

2. Dark Plate

REVERSE

Algorithm

select

1. Swoosh

---

Swoosh time

2. Rev. echo

Reverse time

ECHO

Echo rhythm

1. 1/4

N/A

Reverb

blend

2. Dotted 1/8

3. 1/8

TREM

LFO shape

1. Triangle

---

2. Square

3. Sine

MOD

Modulation

type

1. Chorus

---

2. Flerb

3. Chorus + Flerb

DYNA

Algorithm

select

1. Swell

---

2. Gate

Hold time

3. Duck

---

AUTO-INF

Reverb base

1. Hall

---

2. Chorus

3. Flerb

SHIM

Algorithm

select

1. Original

---

2. Delay

Shimmer

delays

POLY

Parameter

control

1. Interval edit

---

2. Mix edit

RESONANT

Algorithm

select

1. Chimes

Chime delays

2. Filtered

---

Mini Knob 1

Mini Knob 2

Infinite Sustain?

Tap tempo?

Predel. feedback

Mod. depth

Yes

Spring length

Preamp drive

Yes

Predel. feedback

Plate size

Yes

Predel. feedback

Mod. depth

Yes

Echo feedback

Echo delay

Yes

LFO rate

LFO depth

Yes

Mod rate

Depth

Yes

Rate

Feedback

Blend

---

Swell time

---

Yes

Release time

Threshold

Release time

Threshold

Crossfade time

between washes

Trigger sensitivity

Mod rate

Mod depth

Yes

Shift interval #1

Shift interval #2

Yes

Dry/shifted mix

Shift #1/#2 mix

Gain

Tuning

Yes

Q factor

Center frequency

- REVERB TYPE KNOB, PRESET LED, AND MINI KNOBS -

REVERB TYPE Knob

This knob is a rotary encoder that selects which of the Oceans 12’s Reverb Types is active. The list ranges from ROOM at the top to RESONANT at the bottom. You can choose which Reverb Type is selected for each reverb engine.

One preset can be saved for each Reverb Type using the REVERB TYPE knob. For details on preset operation, see page 36. The PRESET LED provides a visual indication for the current preset state:

PRESET LED Off: You are in What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG). All current knob positions represent the effect being generated.

PRESET LED On: The preset is loaded for the currently selected Reverb Type.

PRESET LED Blinking: There are two situations where the PRESET LED blinks: 1) while saving a preset or 2) changing a knob or button setting after loading a preset. If you load a preset and then move a knob, the new knob position takes over for only that particular parameter and the PRESET LED blinks. If you return the recently moved knob to the position that is saved in the preset, the PRESET LED lights solid again.

Miniature Parameter Knobs

To the right of the REVERB TYPE knob are two mini knobs whose functions change depending on the selected Reverb Type, mode, and status of the illuminated FUNCTION button. On the face of the Oceans 12, below the mini knobs, there is a table listing the available mini knob functions for each Reverb Type. Detailed descriptions of mini knob functions start on page 22 of this manual. When the FUNCTION button is blinking, the mini knobs control the teal-highlighted parameters at the bottom of the Reverb Type table.

+ 28 hidden pages