Radial Engineering PreMax 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]

PreMax

500 Series Preamp and EQ

™

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.

PreMax™ Preamp and EQ

True to the Music

®

Radial Engineering Ltd.

Radial PreMax

500 Series Preamp and EQ

™

®

Table of Contents Page

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

Features .......................................................................................................................3

Making Connections .....................................................................................................4

Getting Started .............................................................................................................5

3 Band EQ ....................................................................................................................6

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

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

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

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

INTRODUCTION

Thank you for purchasing the Radial PreMax, a combination microphone preamp and equalizer
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 PreMax 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-to­noise and use the powerful three band EQ to shape your sound!

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 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 PreMax’s F AQ 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 record with ease and confi dence!

Radial Engineering Ltd.

PreMax™ Preamp and EQ

True to the Music

®

1

OVERVIEW

The PreMax is a combination preamp and three band equalizer jammed into a single wide
500 series module. By housing both processors together we can optimize the signal path,
maximum performance and minimize fuss. This accelerates setup times and eliminates many
of the challenges that make getting an instrument to sound right.

MIC

INSTRUMENT

LINE

OUTPUT

MIC

PREAMP

3-BAND

EQUALIZER

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 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 display signal and peak output levels.

MIC

INPUT

OMNIPORT

LINE

OUTPUT

LED

METER

MID

PEAKING

LOW

SHELVING

HIGH

SHELVING

MIC

PREAMP

ACCUSTATE

GAIN

+48

VOLTS

180°
REV

HI-PASS

FILTER

PREAMP EQUALIZER

When using the PreMax in a Radial 500 series power rack the Omniport is available and
functions as a high-impedance ¼” input for electronic instruments. For more information please
refer to the Omniport description later in this user guide.