WMD Geiger Counter User Manual

Denver, CO

http://wmdevices.com

[e-mail]

303-549-9205

The WMD Geiger Counter

Thank you for purchasing your new WMD Geiger Counter and
welcome to the world of digital destruction.

Geiger Counter Features

High Gain Modern Preamp Dramatic Tone Control

Sample Rate: 260Hz - 58kHz

1-8 Bit Depth/Mask 252 Wave Table Modulator

Hand Wired True Bypass CV Key Input

Epoxy/Powder Coat Finish

Always Saves Settings

Tone Disable for Alt Response

Top Quality Components

Standard 9V Center (-) Power

Gain. Low settings provide clean tones with no distortion at all, while

The Controls

high settings will brickwall your signal for great sustain. Use the Gain
control as a coarse setting for getting the desired tone from the selected
wave table.

Tone. The Geiger Counter’s tone control blends muffled low-mids with
chimey and clear upper mids and highs providing a very large range of
sounds in junction with the Gain. All the way down and the sound is
muffled and grungy with little upper harmonic content. The middle range
is smooth and full bodied. The top range cuts the lows completely for
only upper harmonic content. Use the Tone to fine tune the sound of the
wave table.

Tone Enable/Disable. This switch removes the tone control from the
preamp circuit. The tone control sucks some volume from the gain, and
this allows the pure ultra hot signal to go directly into the Wave Table. If
a very clean tone is desired, set to Disable and adjust the gain to get the
right amount of breakup. For most wave tables, disabling the Tone will
produce completely different sounds by brickwalling to the extremes of
the tables faster.

Sample Rate. Controls the length of the samples your signal is converted
into. Full up and the Geiger Counter samples faster than a CD. Dial it
down a little and you’ll lower the fidelity and frequency response, adding
overtones and difference frequencies. Down a little produces some very
nice chimey clean tones. Down more and higher notes disappear into dif­ference frequencies, all the way down to 280Hz. The sample rate is sort
of like a flange whammy.

The LED by the Sample Rate knob shows the key input and coarse/fine
modes. When green, the Key input is active. When red, the sample rate
is changed in smaller increments (fine mode), allowing for smoother ad­justment for the high range of sample rates. The LED is yellow if the key
input and fine mode are both active. Push the Wave Table knob to change
the modes of the Bit Depth and Sample Rate LEDs.

Bit Depth. This controls the finer details of the signal. All up and your
signal is represented by the full 8 bits. Each step down cuts the resolution
in half, adding quantization error distortion, all the way down to 1 bit
making a nasty square wave from a once clean tone. This produces a lo-fi
gated distortion sound.

The LED by the Bit Depth knob shows the key input and post/pre wave
table modes. When green, the key input is active. The Bit Depth function
is available before (LED red) or after (LED off) the wave table algorythms
for different sounds. Use the bit depth before wave table mode to change
the response of the wave table. The LED is yellow if the key input and pre
wave table modes are both active.

Bits/Mask. This switch controls how the Bit Depth knob works. In Bits
mode, the Bit Depth knob reduces the resolution of the signal. In Mask
mode, the signal is filtered through a number (0 to 255). This mode can be
used to reduce noise and add gain. In pre wave table mode, it can turn off
small ranges of the wave table, creating altered harmonic content from the
tables. Adjust the knob to taste when in Mask mode.

Wave Table. This knob and display select the wave table to run your
signal through. The wave table stage takes your signal and destroys it
with math. This produces some incredible sounds. The wave tables are
organized so that a more extreme version is typically found one up from
the current one. There are 252 wave tables in all, each with different har­monic content.

The display is in HEX, displaying the numbers 0-9 and the letters A-F.
Don’t be alarmed, it actually makes remembering your desired wave table
easier! The wave table is remembered when the pedal is turned off.

© 2008 William Mathewson Devices, All Rights Reserved.

[e-mail] http://wmdevices.com 303-549-9205

The CV Input

The Geiger Counter’s Key Input can be set to affect the Bit Depth, Sample
Rate or both at the same time. Push the Wave Table knob to set the key
input destination (the LEDs by the sample rate and bit depth knobs will
become green when the key input is active on them). Note that if yellow,
the key input is active while the Sample Rate is in fine mode, or the Bit
Depth is set pre wave table.

The Geiger Counter can use any standard expression pedal, LFO or other
CV (control voltage) source. 0-5 volts ONLY.

For interfacing with CV gear that outputs +-2.5 or +-5 volts, like Eurorack
modular gear or Moogerfooger pedals, we have a cable adapter that runs
off of the Geiger Counters CV input power supply (see below) that safely
converts +-2.5 or +-5 volts to the 0-5 voltage levels needed by the Geiger
Counter. These adapters sell for $30 and are built to order to interface
directly with YOUR setup. Please contact us at [e-mail]
to order.

The Geiger Counter supplies 5.6 volts at the ring of the CV jack, ground
on the sleeve and signal input (CV or Expression Pedal Control) on the
tip. Using a cable without a ring will cause this voltage to be shorted to
ground, and while it will not hurt the Geiger Counter, it will reduce bat­tery life.

The Company

William Mathewson Devices is a Denver based company
specializing in versatile audio electronics. Our products
have usable knobs that typically extend beyond the “usable”
range in order to encourage experimentation. We strive for
studio quality sound in our pedals, meaning low noise and
low distortion (only when you don’t want any distortion).
We strive to create pedals with strange features and settings
that inspire creativity through unpredictable behavior.

Additional Notes

Power Adapter - The Geiger Counter uses the Boss style 9

Volt power adapter. These adapters have the positive (+) on
the sleve and the negative (-) on the pin.

Example Settings

Example Settings

All pedals have reverse polarity protection, but please check
the power supply before plugging it in.

Using a power supply is recommended as the Geiger Coun­ter draws 20-30mA. This consumption has been minimized
by design, but is still significant. A 9 volt battery should last
4 to 6 hours and is intended for backup purposes only.

Do not underpower (starve) the Geiger Counter, it will just
make it sound bad.

Warranty - All WMD pedals are guaranteed against defects
for 1 year from date of purchase. If the pedal is deemed de­fective at fault of WMD, it will be repaired or replaced free
of charge (shipping to be paid by buyer). If pedal is deemed
damaged at fault of buyer, regular repair rates will apply.

[e-mail] http://wmdevices.com 303-549-9205