Universal Audio SHADOW HILLS MASTERING COMPRESSOR User Manual
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FOR AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY
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SHADOW HILLS MASTERING COMPRESSOR
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The Mastering Compressor!
p. 2
OVERVIEW
The!Shadow!Hills!Mastering!Compressor!Plugin!is!a!faithful!1:1!model!of!the!corresponding!
hardware!version,!offering!all!its!non?linear!behavior!an d !an alo g !sou n d !qu a lity!in !th e!d igita l!
domain.!As!is!standard!in!all!equipment!deployed!by!Shadow!Hills,!the!Mastering!Compressor!
boasts!discrete!op?amp!technology,!custom?designed!transformers,!and!a!signal!path!devoid!
of!any!IC's.!The!unit!houses!two!linkable!channels!of!two!separate!compressors,!which!can!be!
operated!independently,!or!in!a!chain.!The!first!compressor!in!the!circuit!is!the!Optical!
Section.!Utilizing!electroluminescent!optical!attenuator,!the!circuit!provides!gain!reduction!
with!a!very!musical!two?stage!recovery.!The!second!compressor!in!the!circuit!is!the!Discrete!
Section,!which!is!powered!by!our!discrete!voltage?controlled!amplifier!in!a!feed?forward!
mode.!By!the!versatility!of!its!features!and!the!precision!of!its!controls,!the!Discrete!Section!
capably!finishes!the!job!started!by!the!Optical!Section.!However,!the!coup!de!grace!lies!in!the!
final!processing!stage!of!the !Sh a d ow!Hills!Mastering!Com p re sso r.!E ac h !ch an n e l!is!eq u ip pe d !
with!three!distinctive!output!transformers,!which!can!be!toggled!via!the!Transformer!Select!
Switch,!effectively!changing!the!frequency!response!and!distortion!characteristics!of!the!
entire!unit.!
HARDWIRE BYPASS
The!operation!of!the!Shadow!Hills!Mastering!Compressor!is!controlled!by!a!series!of!toggle!
switches.!When!flipped!to!“IN”,!the!“Hardwire!Bypass”!switch!engages!the!line!amp!and!
output!transformer!circuitry.!When!flipped!to!“OUT”,!the!inputs!are!directly!connected!to!the!
outputs!with!no!processing.!The!Optical,!Discrete,!and!Side!Chain!switches!function!in!an!
identical!manner!–!“IN”!engages!the!corresponding!circuit,!and!“OUT”!bypasses!it.!In!order!for!
the!compressors!to!operate,!the!hardwire !byp ass!m u st!be!“IN ”,!howe ver!the!hard wire!byp ass!
can!be!engaged!with!the!compressors!“OUT”.!This!allows!audio!to!be!colored!by!our!discrete!
op?amp!and!custom!transformer!technology!at!unity!gain,!even!when!no!compression!is!
desired,!turning!the!Mastering!Compressor!into!an!effective!tone!shaping!tool.!
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STEREO OPERATION
The!Shadow!Hills!Mastering!Compressor!can!operate!in!Dual!Mono!or!Stereo.!While!in!Dual!
Mono,!each!side!has!independent!operation!and!all!of!the!controls!on!both!sides!are!active.!In!
Stereo,!the!left?hand!controls!operate!all!of!the!Mastering!Compressor’s!features!with!the!
right?hand!controls!not!having!any!effect!and!the!green!light!bulbs!reflecting!the!left?hand!
settings.!The!only!exception!is!the!Meter!Select!Switch,!which!remains!independent!on!both!
channels.!This!facilitates!viewing!a!combination!of!gain!reduction!and!output,!or!the!two!
different!stages!of!compression!simultaneously!while!in!Stereo.!!
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The Mastering Compressor!
p. 3
METERING AND THE MAGIC EYE
The!Shadow!Hills!Mastering!Compressor!is!equipped!with!two!VU!meters!for!proper!visual!
analysis!of!audio!processing.!Each!VU!meter!has!the!capability!of!displaying!optical!gain!
reduction,!discrete!gain!reduction,!and!output!level,!as!determined!by!the!position!of!the!
“Meter!Select”!switch.!When!used!on!m on o!sign als,!the!tw o!VU!meters!can!be!used!to!display!
the!gain!reduction!of!both!compressors!sim u ltane ou sly.!The!sa m e!go es!for!lin k ed !Stereo!
mode.!It!is!only!in!Dual!Mono!mode!that!the!VU!meters!show!gain!reduction!independently!for!
both!channels.!The!internal!reference!level!corresponding!to!0!VU!can!be!set!in!the!“About”!
dialog,!which!is!brought!up!by!clicking!on!any!of!the!two!meters.!
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The!green,!glowing!Magic!Eye!tube!at!the!bottom!of!the!unit!is!the!final!component !in!the!
metering!system.!When!both!VU!Meters!are!in!“Output”!mode,!the!Magic!Eye!displays!a!mono!
signal!in!its!top!quadrant.!
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TRANSFORMER SWITCHING MATRIX
You!have!remarkable!control!over!the!tone!and!vibe!of!your!music!thanks!to!three!switchable!
output!transformers.!This!matrix!switches!the!selected!transformers!in!and!out!of!the!circuit.!
The!various!material!compositions,!size!and!methods!of!winding!impart!different!frequency!
and!distortion!characteristics!as!well!as!the!transient!limiting!caused!by!the!magnetics.!The!
ability!to!switch!between!the!different!transformer!selections,!equates!to!being!able!to!switch!
in!the!final!gain!stages!from!different!vintage!con so le s!a n d!p ro v id in g!re markable!flexibility.!
Besides!its!obvious!use!on!the!stereo!master!buss!and!stereo!subgroups,!we!highly!
recommend!to!use!the!mono!version!of!the!Mastering!Com pre ssor!Plu gin!on!individual!tracks,!
adding!coloration!to!vocals,!electric!bass!or!guitar.!
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