Tomo Audiolabs LISA User Manual

Welcome!

Dear Valued Customer, Thank you for choosing TOMO Audiolabs’ LISA! This state of the art professional studio equalizer boasts exceptional sonic

possibilities and uncompromisingly high standards. Assembled from the highest quality discrete components, LISA’s parts are

handpicked specifically for each of their applications. Only ELMA switches, Mundorf capacitors and our very own hand-wound transformers are used to build each LISA. Additionally, we do not embed potentiometers into our audio circuitry. We here at TOMO Audiolabs do this so that each new LISA owner is guaranteed the highest sonic quality available today!

Numerous listening sessions with our development team and various audio professionals certified the hope our extensive research and measurements instilled in us… LISA sounds extraordinary!! Proving that LISA is not only a masterpiece by technical measures.

Although LISA was designed with the needs of a working audio professional in mind, its sonic range can help you realize your own audiophile visions as well. If we had intended for this product to be loved solely by working studio pros we might have named it the TAL-100 but with all music lovers in mind…we named it LISA.

As a new owner of this marvelous product, we invite you to discover all of the creative possibilities LISA offers. Be sure to experiment with this wonderful tool and you will unlock sonic possibilities you never knew existed!!

This user manual will give you the necessary information to start incorporating LISA in to your daily use. Once you are comfortable with LISA’, we are confident you will begin applying it in ways that exceed the basic use of other, regular, equalizers.

We wish you endless luck and creativity! - TOMO Audiolabs

Table of contents

Welcome!.......................................................................................................................3

Table of contents........................................................................................................... 4

Safety advice and installation notes..............................................................................5

Safety advice.............................................................................................................6

Installation.................................................................................................................7

Rack installation........................................................................................................7

Overview........................................................................................................................8

Overview................................................................................................................... 9

Notes on this manual................................................................................................ 9

Functions.....................................................................................................................10

Input section............................................................................................................11

Band 1 – LO BOOST.............................................................................................. 13

Band 2 to 5 – LO, LO MID, HI MID, HI....................................................................15

Band 6 – HI BOOST................................................................................................17

Output section.........................................................................................................18

Applications................................................................................................................. 20

Gain staging............................................................................................................21

Applications.............................................................................................................24

Full reset..................................................................................................................24

Classic equalizer.....................................................................................................25

Simple compression................................................................................................26

Simple expansion....................................................................................................28

Multiband compressor-simulation...........................................................................30

Ducking................................................................................................................... 31

Stereo-link...............................................................................................................33

M/S-technique.........................................................................................................34

M/S-processing.......................................................................................................35

Appendix......................................................................................................................36

Specifications..........................................................................................................37

Warranty..................................................................................................................38

LISA - Recallsheet.......................................................................................................39

Block diagram..............................................................................................................40

Index............................................................................................................................41

Safety advice and installation notes

Safety advice

Please read this safety information carefully before proceeding!

Warning! Risk of an electric shock!

• Do not open LISA! The device contains no user-serviceable parts. Refer all service to qualified personnel.

• Before powering on, verify the local voltage matches the voltage specified on the power supply unit.

• Do not power unit with damaged power cable.

• Never disconnect or interrupt the ground connection.

• Replace the fuse with the same value and type only.

• Protect the device from all types of liquids, drinks, rain and

moisture.

• Do not use in environments with high humidity. Use in a humid environment will risk damage and/or the short-circuiting of LISA!

Caution! Risk of damage and short-circuit!

• Place the device on an even and stable surface or mount it with all 6 screws to a 19” standard rack.

• Use in well ventilated area. When rack mounted, leave a gap of at least ½U above and below.

• Do not place the device near any heat sources like radiators or power amplifiers.

• Do not cover air vents.

• Do not place in direct sun light.

• To avoid condensation damage, leave the unit unconnected for

a longer period after having moved from a cold to warm environment.

• Do not connect power amplifier outputs to the inputs of the device.

• Do not apply phantom power to the outputs of the unit.

• Read the notes on balanced and unbalanced connections on

page 7.

• Please read this manual carefully before proceeding!

This device complies with the EU rights and laws on electronic devices. CE conformity has been certified.

Safety advice and installation notes

Installation

LISA features the following connections: Input channel 1, female XLR, balanced

Input channel 2, female XLR, balanced

Output channel 1, male XLR, unbalanced Output channel 2, male XLR, unbalanced

All inputs and outputs are transformer coupled and can therefore be used with unbalanced cabling. Please refer to the following scheme:

p Caution: Using unbalanced connections causes 6 dB level loss.

The use of unbalanced cables will diminish the full dynamic range of the unit. Therefore, we strongly recommend the use of balanced cabling to achieve noise cancelation.

LISA can be driven with very high audio levels. Not all equipment can handle high db levels and will distort or deteriorate signal quality. Significantly low levels can also degrade audio quality by adding noise. Information regarding optimal operation levels can be found in the gain staging chapter on page 21. Make sure to set up the units in your processing chain accordingly.

Rack installation

LISA can be mounted into any standard rack frame. But you´ll need to install the provided rack ears first. Use all six screws and tighten them firmly!

12 2 1

3 3

Input Output

Balanced Unbalanced Balanced Unbalanced

1 = GND 2 = hot (+) 3 = cold (-)

Overview

LISA is a dynamic equalizer with a unique design philosophy, making it different from any other equalizer you may be familiar with already.

The signal runs through top-notch input amplifier stages equipped with hand-wound high quality transformers. The signal is then split into six parallel channels that feed the six independent equalizer bands. After each signal is processed independently, all six channels are then summed up and amplified. The output stage is also transformer coupled and gives the user the ability to mix the processed signal with the unprocessed or dry signal.

Our parallel topology allows parallel processing (two bands at nearly the same frequency) without the issues of interacting frequency curves. This keeps the processed signal very transparent, consistent and controllable. The results stay predictable, helping you to work very quickly and with an experienced touch.

Traditionally designed dynamic equalizers utilize a dynamic processor that is arranged before or after the filter circuit. Part of what makes the design of LISA’s dynamic processor so unique is that it is built into the filter circuit. This allows the user to listen to only the processed signal without any of the dry signal.

Notes on this manual

This manual will help you become comfortable with LISA and all of its features so you may begin working with it quickly and confidently.

Throughout this manual, the following symbols are used to catch you attention:

i This symbol refers to a note. Notes help you to understand technical

background informations and interesting applications.

p This symbols warns of mal-operation. It should help you avoid problems that

degrade audio quality or may even damage the unit or other units of your processing chain (e.g. loudspeakers).

Functions

Input section

Activates a MID/SIDE-stereo-mode. In this mode channel 1 processes the MID signal and channel 2 the SIDE signal.

Note: The MID/SIDE-mode works as a codec. It is not possible to feed LISA a previously M/S encoded signal and use it as a decoder or the other way around. However, you can work with previously encoded material and decode it in a third unit afterwards. Therefore, use normal stereo operation… not M/S-mode! Additional information on M/S-mode can be found on page 34.

INPUT GAIN

Controls the amount of input amplification or attenuation on the channel. The maximum amplification is +6 dB, maximum attenuation is -6 dB.

LO CUT / Hz

Controls the cutoff frequency of the low-cut filter. Note: When increasing the cutoff frequency, the filter slope becomes less steep.

At 20 Hz it reads about -18 dB, which corresponds to a third order filter. At 180 Hz it reads about -6 dB, which is a first order filter.

Functions

LO CUT ON

Activates the low-cut filter in the channel.

LINK

The LINK-switch connects the detector circuits of both channels. This also works in M/S-mode.

Note: A comprehensive description of this function can be found on page 33.

Attention: When the LINK-function is engaged, the different settings of the

threshold-, ratio- and timing-controls of both channels remain independent. The LINK-function does not connect setting controls!

Functions

Band 1 – LO BOOST

FILTER BAND ON

Activates the filter band.

GAIN (Band 1)

Controls the amount of level boost in the LO BOOST-band. Note: Settings between 0 and 6 are stepped in 0.5 dB steps. Above 6 dB the

steps are getting broader. You can find a stepping list in the table shown below, applicable with 100% dry signal only:

0,5 - 6 0.5 dB per step 12 steps 6,5 - 9 0.6 dB per step 6 steps 9,5 - 10 1 dB per step 2 steps 10,5 1.2 dB per step 1 step 11 - 11,5 1.5 dB per step 2 steps

FREQUENCY / Hz

Controls the filter frequency. Note: This is the frequency for which the output of the circuit deviates 3 dB from

the passband value. The actual attenuation can start before this point.

+ 30 hidden pages

Tomo Audiolabs LISA User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual