Radial Engineering PreComp 500 series User Manual

True to the Music

www.radialeng.com

®

True to the Music

®

User Guide

www.radialeng.com

Radial Engineering Ltd.
1588 Kebet Way, Port Coquitlam
British Columbia, Canada, V3C 5M5
tel: [phone] • fax: [phone]
email: [e-mail]

PreComp

500 Series Preamp and Compressor

™

WARNING NOTICE TO USER!

Although preventative safety measures have been designed into Radial 500 series
products we strictly advise against hot-swapping modules or plugging and
unplugging them when the Workhorse or other 500 series racks are powered on.
Hot swapping can cause connection sparks at the card-edge connector that could
send damaging transients to other equipment. This also reduces the life span of the
contacts. Damage due to hot swapping is not covered under warranty. There are no
user serviceable parts inside.

PreComp™ Preamp and VCA Compressor

True to the Music

®

Radial Engineering Ltd.

Radial PreComp

500 Series Preamp and

VCA Compressor Channel Strip

™

®

Table of Contents Page

Overview.......................................................................................................................1

Features .......................................................................................................................2

Making Connections .....................................................................................................3

Getting Started .............................................................................................................4

Using the preamp functions ..........................................................................................4

Using the compressor functions ...................................................................................5

Ominiport ......................................................................................................................7

Specifi cations ...............................................................................................................8

Block Diagram ..............................................................................................................8

Radial Limited Warranty ................................................................................Back Cover

INTRODUCTION

Thank you for purchasing the Radial PreComp, a combination microphone preamp and
compressor designed to fi t the more advanced Radial 500 series power racks and earlier
designs made by others. We invested a ton of effort during the development stage to make
the PreComp quick to set up and easy to use so that you can enjoy superb results each and
every time you put it to work. Plug in your favorite microphone, set the Accustate gain control
for maximum signal-to-noise and then engage the compressor for the most effective dynamic
control you have ever encountered!

There are lots of little extras that are built into these fabulous devices. This is where reading
the manual is essential. Please take a few minutes to read through so that you can take full
advantage of the feature set and maximize the performance.

If afterwards you have a question that is not covered herein, please take a minute to consult the
PreComp’s FAQ section on the Radial website. This is where we post questions and answers
from users along with updates. If you still have a question, feel free to send us an email at
[e-mail] and we will do our best to answer in short order.

Now get ready to start working faster and smarter than ever before.

Radial Engineering Ltd.

PreComp™ Preamp and VCA Compressor

True to the Music

®

1

OVERVIEW

As the name implies, the PreComp is a combination preamp and compressor jammed into a
single wide 500 series module. By housing both processors together we can optimize each
gain stage so that it works with minimal fuss. This accelerates setup times and eliminates
many of the challenges that make getting compression to sound right.

PRE OUT COMP IN

MIC

INPUT

LINE

OUTPUT

MIC

PREAMP

VCA

COMPRESSOR

OMNIPORT

I/O

The Preamp

The design begins with a state-of-the-art microphone preamp coupled with Radial’s unique
Accustate gain control. Unlike traditional preamps that only achieve their optimal signal-to-noise
when pushed to maximum, Accustate employs a dual wafer potentiometer that simultaneously
sets the input sensitivity and preamp gain so that the signal-to-noise ratio remains constant at
all levels. This is particularly important when recording in the digital domain where even the
slightest bit of noise can be audible.

NOISE FLOOR

MINIMUM GAIN - NARROW SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO

MAXIMUM GAIN - WIDE SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO

Traditional preamp gain Accustate preamp gain

The preamp is equipped with +48V phantom power for condenser microphones and active
direct boxes, a 180° polarity reverse to help phase align two mics when recording an instrument
in stereo and a handy high-pass fi lter that eliminates low frequency rumble to help clean up
your tracks. Visual monitoring is provided by two LEDs that show below or above threshold and
a third that lets you know when clipping.

MIC

INPUT

LINE

OUTPUT

OUTPUT

GAIN

MIC

PREAMP

ACCUSTATE

GAIN

VCA

COMPRESSOR

+48

VOLTS

180°
REV

HI-PASS

FILTER

PREAMP COMPRESSOR

The Compressor

The preamp section feeds a full-featured VCA compressor with adjustable threshold,
compression ratio and gain make-up controls. The advanced feed-forward compression
algorithm reads the incoming program material and automatically transitions from soft-knee to
hard-knee as the signal rises above the threshold. A simple slow-fast switch makes it easy to
set the compressor’s response to suit vocals, instruments or percussion.

When using the PreComp in a Radial 500 series power rack the Omniport™ is available and
functions as a signal insert and access point. Using a standard ¼” TRS insert cable you can
access the preamp and compressor sections independently or insert another processor, such
as an equalizer in between. For more information please refer to the Omniport descriptions
later in this user guide.