Joemeek ONEQ User Manual

Place

Stamp

Here

JOEMEEK

D I S T R I B U T E D BY PM I A U D I O G R O U P

1845 W. 169th Street

Gardena, CA 90247

USA

ONE

Q

Joemeek User Guide

v i s i t u s o n t h e w e b a t j o e m e e k . c o m

ONE q manual.indd 4/4/05, 11:06 AM2-3

3

JOEMEEK reborn – the legend grows

The Next Generation of Joemeek studio processors represents a quantum

leap in the history of the Joemeek legend. Long regarded for its “Big Sound”,

the original Joemeek gear was both revered and reviled for its somewhat

“quirky” nature. Now we have taken the best of what made the Joemeek

products sound great, refined it, distilled it, added to it and repackaged it.

Properly and robustly engineered for predictable, controllable performance,

the new range retains the famous Joemeek sound, with its wide, flat frequency

response extending from subsonic to ultrasonic. It also uses genuinely low

noise circuitry, with lots of headroom (immunity to overload). Accurate cali-

bration and metering, together with clear panel labelling, give you complete

confidence in what’s going on. While some equipment pays lip-service to

quality and “professional rules” but fails to deliver, the Next Generation

Joemeek products are founded on good solid electronic and audio engineering,

and withstand direct comparison with the very best names in mixers and

outboard gear.

The Joemeek range provides everything you need to get your performance

onto tape/disc.

About the Designer

The Next Generation of Joemeek has been completely re-engineered by

renowned audio electronics consultant Allan Bradford. With his background

in physics and 30 years experience with the design of instruments, mixers,

processors and amplifiers, Allan’s unique range of expertise ensures that

Joemeek remains at the forefront of music technology.

Joemeek is manufactured and

marketed under the direction of:

PMI AUDIO GROUP

USA: 1845 W. 169th Street

Gardena, CA 90247

toll free: 877-563-6335

fax: [phone]

email: [e-mail]

UK: P.O. Box 358

Torquay, Devon TQ2 5XS

tel: [phone]

email: [e-mail]

Written by Allan Bradford, MSc

3

Contents

oneQ Controls at a Glance...............................................4

Overview............................................................................6

Preamplifier........................................................................6

Insert Point..........................................................................7

Compressor.......................................................................8

Meequalizer.......................................................................10

Enhancer..........................................................................12

De-Esser..........................................................................12

Output Stage.....................................................................12

Digital Interface..................................................................13

Using the oneQ...............................................................14

Getting Connected.............................................................14

Using the Preamp...............................................................14

Using the Compressor.......................................................15

Using the Meequalizer.......................................................15

Using the Enhancer...........................................................15

Using the De-Esser...........................................................16

Using the Output Stage......................................................16

Troubleshooting..............................................................16

Technical Specification...................................................18

ONE q manual.indd 4/4/05, 11:06 AM4-5

5

4

48V PHANTOM POWER switch - feeds 48V power to the microphone XLR

connector. Most condenser microphones require phantom power to operate.

IRON switch - selects transformer coupling of the Mic (XLR) inputs. The LED

lights when active.

PAD switch - selects 20dB attenuation of the Mic (XLR) inputs. The LED lights

when active.

LINE switch - selects the Line and INSTRument (1/4” jack) inputs instead of the

Mic (XLR) input. The LED lights when active.

Ø switch - reverses the phase of all inputs.

MIC input – low impedance microphone input. Parallels the Rear Panel MIC

socket. Use only one of these two sockets at a time.

INSTRument input – high impedance input. Plugging in here overrides anything

plugged into the Line input.

PREAMP GAIN - sets the amount of audio amplification. Too little gain and the

sound will be too quiet; too much and the signal could become distorted.

PEAK LED - lights 6dB below clipping.

HPF - “high-pass filter”. Mainly for use with microphones, this helps remove stage

rumble, handling noise and “pops”. The LED lights when active.

METER - analogue movement shows output signal level (VU), preamp signal

level or the amount of Compressor gain reduction (GR) in dB, depending on the

settings of the Meter switches. The momentary “PRE” switch overrides both “VU”

and “GR” metering.

COMPRESS - sets the level of signal (or “Threshold”) above which the signal

starts to be compressed.

SLOPE - sets the compression ratio applied to signals above threshold.

ATTACK - sets how quickly the compressor responds to peaks above threshold.

RELEASE - sets the time taken for the signal to return to its normal size after

compression. In general, the longer the time, the less obvious the compression.

MAKE UP GAIN - restores the level of the signal after compression.

POST EQ switch – places the Compressor after the Meequalizer in the signal

path. (When this switch is out the Compressor is before the Meequalizer in the

signal path). The LED lights when active.

COMP LINK – for stereo work, the master oneQ’s “Compress”, “Attack” and

“Release” control both master and slave oneQ (the corresponding slave oneQ’s

controls are redundant). This avoids stereo image shifts. All other controls still

operate independently on both master and slave and must be set the same for

correct stereo balance.

Compressor ON switch - turns the compressor on. The LED lights when active.

LF - controls the volume of Low Frequencies or “Bass” in the audio spectrum.

15dB of boost or cut is available at the selected frequency.

120Hz switch - sets the frequency at which the HF control operates, in for

120Hz, out for 80Hz. The LED lights when in.

LM - controls the Lower Middle frequencies in the audio spectrum. 15dB of

boost or cut is available at the selected frequency.

LM FREQ - sets the frequency at which the LM control operates, anywhere

from 200Hz to 2kHz.

HM - controls the Higher Middle frequencies in the audio spectrum. 15dB of

boost or cut is available at the selected frequency.

HM FREQ - sets the frequency at which the HM control operates, anywhere

from 1kHz to 6kHz.

HF - controls the volume of the High Frequencies or “Treble” in the audio

spectrum. 15dB of boost or cut is available at the selected frequency.

7kHz switch - sets the frequency at which the HF control operates, in for

7kHz, out for 14KHz. The LED lights when in.

EQ ON switch - turns the equalizer on. The LED lights when active.

Enhancer EFFECT – sets the amount of enhancement.

Enhancer RANGE – sets the frequency above which enhancement is applied.

Enhancer Q – adds a resonant peak at the frequency set by the RANGE

control.

Enhancer ON switch - turns the Enhancer on. The LED lights when active.

De-Esser TUNE – sets frequency at which gain reduction takes place.

De-Esser LISTEN switch – assists with tuning into the “Ess” sound by

listening to the output of the side chain filter. The LED lights when active.

DE-ESS – sets the threshold above which gain reduction is applied to the “Ess”

sound. The red “De_Ess” LED lights when gain reduction is taking place.

De-Esser ON switch - turns the Enhancer on. The LED lights when active.

OUTPUT GAIN - the volume control or “Fader” for the output of the oneQ.

PEAK FSD LED - lights 6dB below clipping. “FSD” means “Full Scale Digital”

and this LED also warns you if the Digital Interface is about to be overloaded.

‘EXT CLK’ LED - illuminates when the oneQ’s digital output is successfully

locked to an external word clock.

+4dBu/-10dBv switch - selects the operating level of the 1/4” jack output,

either to the professional +4dBu level, or to the -10dBv semi-pro level.

oneQ Controls at a Glance

ONE q manual.indd 4/4/05, 11:06 AM6-7

7

6

Overview

The JOEMEEK oneQ is like having one channel of a professional recording

studio in one box. It takes microphones or instruments, amplifies them,

compresses and equalizes them ready to be recorded. Simple to use yet

extremely powerful, the oneQ will bring out the best in any microphone or

instrument and give the gloss of a professional studio production to all your

performances. As well as recording it will also be found useful for live work.

Think of each channel of the oneQ as six separate items of equipment:

• The Preamplifier

• The JOEMEEK Optical Compressor

• The Meequalizer

• The Enhancer

• The De-Esser

• The Fader

Preamplifier

This is the all-important front end to the oneQ. Its job is to accept any type

of microphone, instrument or other source of audio signal, and make it

loud enough. Microphones often need rather a lot of amplification, while

guitars, keyboards and CD players need less. Mics need to be connected

to low impedance inputs, while instruments prefer high impedance inputs.

To ensure correct impedance matching, the inputs are split into an XLR

connector for Mics, and 1/4” jack “Line” and “INSTRument” connectors for

everything else. A switch on the front panel decides which input connector is

active, the XLR or the 1/4” jacks. The LED next to the switch lights to show

that the Line inputs (jacks) are selected. In other words:-

Switch out (LED off) = “Mic”

Switch in (LED on) = “Line” or “Instr”

Both Mic and Line inputs are electronically balanced. Note: although

the Line input is not normally used for microphones, it can also be

suitable for some high output unbalanced microphones, such as

battery powered Electret types.

The front and rear panel Mic inputs (XLR) are balanced and wired as

follows:

Pin 2: + (hot)

Pin 3: - (cold)

Pin 1: ground

The Line input (jack) is balanced and wired as follows:

Tip: + (hot)

Ring: - (cold)

Sleeve: ground

The front panel Instrument input (jack) is balanced and wired as follows:

Tip: + (hot)

Sleeve: ground (NB: use a mono jack plug).

Note that if something is plugged into the Instrument input, anything

plugged into the rear panel Line input will be cut off.

Phantom power

Most high-quality studio mics are “Phantom powered”, which is to

say they have electronics inside them, which get their power from the

preamp. Most mics require a supply of 48 Volts, so Phantom Power is

often labelled “48V”. The “48V” switch turns this power on or off and

a red LED lights when active. When switching the Phantom Power

on, quite a loud thump may be produced, so it is a good idea to turn

down the Output Gain (or to momentarily select the Line input), when

pressing the switch.

When using dynamic or ribbon mics, do not turn Phantom Power on. It

probably won’t do any harm but it certainly won’t do any good, so leave it

off! Consult the microphone handbook if you are unsure what kind of mic

you have.

The main control, labelled “Input Gain”, covers a range of amplification

from 10dB to 60dB. In many other preamps the action of the Gain control

is rather uneven, with the 40dB to 60dB range being crammed into the last

1/6th of a turn. All Joemeek preamps use a specially designed control that

ensures smooth operation over the whole range of rotation. The (0) symbol

next to the 25dB mark, means unity gain, or 0dB, for a signal in the Line

input. Hence for Line inputs the range of gain adjustment either side of this

mark, is +35dB, -15dB.

The PEAK LED lights 6dB below clipping, so occasional brief flashes are

OK but if it’s on all the time you need to back the Input Gain off!

HPF means “high-pass filter”. Mainly for use with microphones, this helps

remove stage rumble, handling noise and “pops”. The LED lights when

active.

Technical stuff

Very low noise - does it matter? Yes and no, it all depends what you are

doing - what really matters is “signal-to-noise ratio”. All electronics produce

a certain amount of background noise - it’s in the nature of things. Providing

there is only a relatively small amount of noise, the signal will cover it up, or

“mask” it. So providing the signal is much bigger than the noise, you won’t

be aware of the noise. In other words the “signal-to-noise ratio” needs to be

a big number, ideally such as 80dB or 90dB.

So how do you achieve that in practice? The trick is to keep the microphone

as close to the sound source as possible without overloading it, so as to get

as much signal out of it as possible. Then you set the Gain control to give

only as much gain as is needed to get a decent level into the recorder.

Of course when there is no signal going on, you may hear the

background noise of the electronics. In that case, given the amount

of gain in a typical studio monitoring system, this noise “floor” should

ideally be in the region of -80dBu or lower, in order for it not to be

noticed.

The oneQ microphone preamplifier uses state-of-the-art electronics

and has an equivalent input noise of around -128dBu (with 150ohm

input load). Despite all the hyperbolae and obfuscation, the theoretical best

possible performance for silicon-based electronics is about -132dBu.

So the preamplifier design used in the oneQ and all other NextGen

Joemeek products approaches this limit. To improve significantly on

this would require highly specialised electronics and probably a vat of

liquid Nitrogen to cool it!

The maximum gain available from the preamp is 60dB, in which case

the noise floor will be -68dBu. This is actually quite noisy - if you record

that noise onto a digital recorder and play it back you can definitely

hear it. In practice of course, you do not record and play back “silence”

and the rest of the mix will probably be more than 70dB louder than

this noise and will mask it completely. Even so it is generally a good

idea not to use gains greater than 40dB or 50dB and indeed, it should

rarely be necessary to do so.

Insert Point

This is simply an unbalanced “Send and Return” jack on the rear panel.

It allows you to patch any other pieces of equipment into the signal

path, such as an effects processor or noise gate. To use it you will need

a “Y” lead wired as follows:

Tip: send

Ring: return

Sleeve: ground

ONE q manual.indd 4/4/05, 11:06 AM8-9