FMR ARC V1.00 Users Manual

FMR Audio A.R.C.

Owner’s Manual

V1.00

T ABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgement

**CAUTION!** . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Functional Description

A.R.C. Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

A Brief History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

What’s cool about the A.R.C.?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

What sucks about the A.R.C.?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Hooking Up the A.R.C.

Connections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Operating The Controls

Control & Indicator Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Initial Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Taking Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Application Configurations

The A.R.C. as a “boost” pedal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

The A.R.C. as a direct box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

The A.R.C. as a compressor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

The A.R.C. as a studio effect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Closing Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Control Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Appendix A—Understanding and Using the A.R.C.’s Power Out Feature

Purpose of this Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-1

Who Should Read This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-1

The Scope of this Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-1

Power Circuit Details. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-1

Operational Precautions

Voltage Polarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-2

Voltage Range. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-2

Total Current Draw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-2

Ground Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-3

Daisychain Checklist

Preflight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-3

Ground Loop Reduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-4

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-4

A CKNOWLEDGEMENT

If you’re anything like me (just smarter and better looking...but I digress), when I get a new piece of audio
gear I get excited and anxious to star t playing with it to see what it can do for the s ound. I hope that you too
are excited and anxious to plug in your new FMR Audio A.R.C.! Before you jump in, however, I’d like to
take a short moment to say something important: I know that you can choose to spend your money on any
of a myriad of other available products. Whether by chance or coercion, you’ve chosen ours. For this, I’m
grateful and would like to express a sincere...

THANK YOU!

I appreciate you putting your trust and hard-earned cash into one of FMR Audio’s products (or at least
giving us a shot by demoing them)! Even though all of us here at FMR Audio are very proud of our prod­ucts, the point of what we do is to give you the opportunity to make music without excessively draining
your bank account or making you feel that you mu st make excuses for the sonic results! I hope that the
A.R.C. helps you realize, at least in some small way, your artistic vision...

Mark A. McQuilken
Designer & Co-owner

**CAUTION!**

The FMR Audio A.R.C. has the ability to daisychain its power connection. Using this
feature correctly and effectively requires specific technical knowledge and should
not be attempted by the casual user without the advice and direction of properly
skilled personnel! Without the proper knowledge and appropriate action, it’s possible to

damage or destroy other devices, property and/or cause minor personal injury. For
example, without the proper knowledge and appropriate action, it’s possible to:

• Damage or destroy the A.R.C. and other equipment such as power
supplies, pedals, amplifiers and speakers!

• Cause loud, ear-damaging noise!

• Blow mains breakers or fuses!

If you are unsure about or do not understand the fundamentals of electronics and
power distribution, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO POWER OTHER DEVICES VIA THE
A.R.C.

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I NTRODUCTION

This is the FMR Audio A.R.C. QuickStart Guide. The purpose of this document is to:

• Describe the overall features of the FMR Audio A.R.C.

• Describe the basic connection of the A.R.C. to your system.

• Describe the top/rear panel controls and connections.

• Present the A.R.C. specifications.

F UNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION

A.R.C. Overview

The FMR Audio A.R.C.—an acronym for “Articulation, Resonance and Clarity”—is named for its per­ceived effects on the sound of many instruments. The A.R.C. allows you to easily alter how more transient
notes “stand out” against sustained ones (articulation, resonance), while increasing the overall perceived
clarity of the sound. The A.R.C. offers sonic performance, along with a unique combination of other fea­tures, that you will find equally useful in the studio or on the stage. Specifically, the FMR Audio A.R.C.
provides:

1) A boost function that buffers and amplifies instrument signals to a higher level.

2) A compressor that enhances your instrument’s tone and dynamics.

3) A direct box to interface your instrument to live or recording studio equipment.

4) A studio effect that may be used to process audio tracks from your favorite Digital
Audio Workstation (DAW) or recorder.

It does all this with a minimum set of controls and a look that entices you to plug it in and turn the knobs!

A Brief History

The FMR Audio A.R.C. is based upon our very yellow and nicely tonal PBC-6A. With the ‘6A, I found that I
could make guitar tracks‚ especially acoustic guitar tracks‚ sound sweeter‚ fuller‚ and punchier with the
right combination of PBC-6A control settings. A friend pointed out that his guitar ’s sustain was being
enhanced in a “totally natural way”—like the guitar amp was just resonating a little more—without the
suck-and-swell characteristics we experienced with stompbox sustainers or compressors. Although I sus­pect that our ‘6A customers are using it on guitar tracks of all kinds (among other things), the ‘6A is a stu­dio effect with a physical footprint that would be awkward for the performing musician outside of the
studio. In addition, the nine adjustable parameters on the ‘6A just might be overkill in a stompbox applica­tion. What to do, what to do...

Introduction Page 1 of 13

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We spent many hours head-scratchin’ and prototypin’ to find the right f ea tures. We wore out our fingers and
face muscles pickin’ and grinnin’ to achieve just the right sound. After many long months (and apostro-

phes), the result is the FMR Audio A.R.C....and this manual. With only three controls (plus bypass), it pro-

vides PBC-6A tonality in a more convenient, easy-to-use format, with features more appropriate to
support both live and studio instrumentalists.

What’s cool about the A.R.C.?

This is the part of the manual where I trade-in my design hat for my recordist’s hat by telling you what I
think are the cool aspects of our products...in this case, the A.R.C.:

• 4-in-1 Useful Effects — The A.R.C. provides a really nice sounding, high-

impedance (1M ...to avoid tone suckage) BOOST pedal followed by a special,
tone-extracting and tone-enhancing COMPRESSOR. Pro-level power permits
both the A.R.C.’s usage as a DIRECT BOX for impedance-matching as well as the
ability to drive the relatively low-impedance inputs of recording/live mixing
boards. The pro-level power also allows the pedal to be used as wide dynamic
range STUDIO EFFECT.

• Subtle & Sweet Compression — For many players, pedal-based compressors

are too over-the-top because they exhibit a suck-and-swell type compression. This
works well for some special effects, but d iscourages one of the major us es of com­pressors/dynamic processors: to help balance the tone, pres ence and performance
of an instrument, particularly when it must compete or blend with other sounds.
The A.R.C. works well with electrified acoustic instruments in a live setting—
where the subtleties of the instr uments tend to get lost—by allowing the player to
electronically balance articulation, resonance and clarity of the instrument. If you
love the sound of your instrument in an intimate, solo setting, then you’ll appreci­ate how the A.R.C. helps you achieve that experience in both live and studio per­formance settings!

• Fidelity — Although the A.R.C. is an effect, the audio electronics are designed so

that the statically measured output signal very closely resembles the input sig­nal—a paraphrased definition of fidelity. Each A.R.C. is hand-trimmed for mini­mum distortion, typically to less than 0.005% Total Harmonic Distortion plus
Noise (THD+N).

• Dynamic Range — The A.R.C.’s 110dB dynamic range exceeds the dynamic

range of many recording studio devices, not to mention the smaller dynamic
ranges of the myriad of available stompbox effects. The additional dynamic range
of the A.R.C. means more of your instrument can be heard with less noise and
clipping.

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• Studio Effect Power — Many guitar effects operate with a limited dynamic

range determined by the use of a plain 9V power supply. Such a low voltage lim­its the technological choices for the analog electronics, forcing reliance on noisy
and distorted out-of-date devices. The A.R.C. uses the incoming 9V to create a

30V internal supply ( )! This permits the use of state-of-the-art devices to
achieve low-noise, wide dynamic range performance.

• Many Power Supply Choices — We specify the A.R.C. to work with the indus-

try-standard BOSS PS-120 type power supply. This center-negative, 2.1mm barrel
connector, DC power supply is used by many effect pedals and is quite easily
found on-line or in local guitar shops. The A.R.C., however, goes one better: it will
run from voltages ranging from 9 to 12V, either AC, or DC of either polarity!

• All Analog Signal Path — From the input to output connectors, your instru-

ment’s sound is not converted to digital and back to analog. It comes into the
A.R.C. as analog and stays analog all the way to the output jack! The result is a
richer, higher-fidelity effect. The A.R.C.’s main signal path is all analog and is
only assisted by digital/software processes in the power supply and sidechain
circuits.

• Hard-wired Bypass with a Twist — Many effects pedal users insist that their

pedals have a hard-wired bypass (i.e., “true bypass”). The A.R.C. provides this as
well, but with a twist: in the rare case of a pedal or power supply malfunction, the
A.R.C. will default to a BYPASS condition no matter what the position of the
bypass switch! The idea is to keep things rockin‚ even und er the r are case of a fail ­ure.

• Daisy-chained Power Jacks — To help keep things neat, there are two power

jacks on the A.R.C. that allow power to be fed into the A.R.C., out of the A.R.C.,
and into another effect (see “Control Descriptions” starting on page 11).

• Minimum Controls, Maximum Effect — There are only three controls on the

A.R.C.: preamp gain (INPUT), amplifier output level (AMP), and the drive con­trol (DRIVE). Yet, by using combinations of the INPUT and the DRIVE controls,
you can achieve many unique tones. The AMP control allows you to reduce the
differences between the processed and the unprocessed levels.

• Cool Blue Light-Emitting Diode (LED) — This blindingly-blue light displays the

amount of processing being done to the audio. The brighter the glow, the more
processing. But, does it really matter? It just looks sooooo cool...

Functional Description Page 3 of 13