Drawmer MX30 Pro Dual Gated Compressor Limiter

Drawmer MX30 – By using circuit elements from our top-of-the-line Drawmer products and simplifying the control systems where possible, the MX Pro range maintains the sophistication of our other units, despite its lower price tag. This approach allows inexperienced users to enjoy Drawmer’s renowned quality and performance, while benefiting from a more affordable and user-friendly design.

Each channel of the Drawmer MX30-Pro Gated/Comp/Limiter is designed to remove unwanted noise below a pre-set level with a variable Threshold Gate incorporating Drawmer’s ‘Programme Adaptive’ circuitry. Despite its simplicity, the gate’s auto-circuitry continuously optimizes parameters such as Attack, Hold, Ratio, and Release, completely eliminating ‘chatter’ when the signal fluctuates around the threshold. Two LEDs indicate whether the signal is ‘above’ or ‘below’ the threshold, and a push-button switch provides additional control of the release time. This design approach retains all ‘leading edge’ information, making the gate ideal for ‘cleaning up’ vocals or retaining the ‘punch’ on gated drums.

Switching is provided for ‘Fast’ or ‘Slow’ release characteristics. The ‘Fast’ mode can be used for instruments with rapid decay times or for additional tightening of the gating effect. The ‘Slow’ mode is more suitable for vocals and instruments with longer decay times or can be used to smooth over rough fade-outs. A single LED indicates gating action.

The gate is followed by a variable threshold, variable ratio, soft knee compressor with fully automatic attack and release. Large transients are controlled instantly while small signal variations are treated gently, retaining as much ‘life’ as possible without generating unpredictable side effects. The Drawmer MX30 Pro handles all compression levels with ease and displays the amount of compression on a high-resolution gain reduction bargraph meter.

The gain control compensates for the amount of compression and brings the signal to the required output level, as displayed by the output bargraph meter. A variable threshold ‘zero overshoot’ limiter, essential for avoiding distortion when mastering to digital or for speaker protection in a ‘live’ situation, adds the final polish to the signal by keeping control over signal peaks. The limit threshold provides an absolute maximum peak level which no signal can exceed. Fast transients are clipped instantly, while more sustained peaks are dealt with by applying gain reduction, indicated by a single LED.

The gate threshold control sets the level below which gating takes place and may be set anywhere in the range of -70dB to +20dB. A green LED illuminates to show when the signal is above the threshold (gate open) and a red LED illuminates when the signal is below the threshold (gate closed).

The release contour can be set to either fast or slow, depending on the material being processed. An LED indicates when the slow release is engaged. Percussive material with little or no reverb is generally treated using the fast release setting, while material with slow decays or significant reverb will usually respond better to the slow-release setting.

The compressor threshold determines the input level above which gain reduction will be applied and may be set anywhere in the range of -40dB to +20dB. Soft knee compression takes place for signals exceeding the threshold level by up to 10dB, above which conventional ratio compression is applied.

A nine-segment LED bargraph meter continuously monitors the gain reduction applied by the compressor over a range of 0dB to 30dB.

The ratio control sets the final compression ratio that will be applied once the 10dB soft knee region is exceeded. The ratio can be continuously adjusted from 1.2:1 to infinity:1, allowing the possibility of true hard limiting. The higher the ratio setting, the more compression takes place. For example, a ratio of 8:1 means that an 8dB increase in volume at the input will appear as a 1dB increase in volume at the output.

The unit can function as two independent gated/compressor/limiters, or when the stereo link mode is engaged for stereo use, channel 1 becomes the master, automatically duplicating its parameters across to channel 2. In this mode, the same degree of gain reduction is applied to both audio channels to prevent image shifting.

The output gain control allows the output level to be attenuated or amplified by up to 20dB to compensate for level changes caused by compression. This control is located directly before the peak limiter detector, and this should be taken into account when setting the peak limiter threshold.

The peak limit control sets an absolute limit that the output signal will not be permitted to exceed. The limiter has ‘zero response time’ and controls peaks without any audible distortion. For transparent peak protection, the output gain control should be set to ensure that the peak limiter operates only occasionally. Alternatively, the unit can be driven into heavy limiting for creative effects.

An eight-segment LED bargraph level meter monitors the output signal level over a range of -20dB to +15dB. When bypass is selected, this meter reads the input level.

Features

• 2-Channel Dynamics Processor
• “Programme Adaptive” gate with switchable fast/slow release removes low-level noise without affecting your material
• Variable threshold/variable ratio/variable output gain soft knee compressor with fully automatic attack and release
• Soft knee auto compressor continuously adjusts the attack and release times for smooth dynamic processing
• Variable threshold zero response time peak limiter
• Stereo linking
• Gain reduction and input/output bargraph metering
• Simultaneous balanced +4dB XLR and unbalanced -10dB Jack input/output connectors
• Classic Drawmer Build Quality with Rugged Steel Chassis and Aluminium Front Panel.
• Designed and manufactured by Drawmer in the UK.