DC2476A Digital Mastering Processor
(Discontinued, 2006)
All Digital 24/96 Stereo Mastering Processor, 1U
It is no longer enough to be able to offer 16, or even 20-bit mastering
- if your mastering processor isn't 24 bit/96kHz sample rate capable,
it's obsolete before you even get it out of the box.
The Drawmer DC2476 is designed to be the most flexible, best sounding
all-in-one programmable mastering tool available, yet it costs no more
than competing products with far less impressive credentials. However,
there's more to the DC2476 than technical specifications, impressive
though they are - the Drawmer design team, headed by Ivor Drawmer,
have combined their expertise in tubes and analogue circuitry with
an enlightened approach to digital technology to create a mastering
processor of unequaled musicality that's also exceptionally easy to
use.
What do you need for mastering? A good compressor,
a lightning fast brick wall limiter, a powerful equaliser? The DC2476
offers all these
in addition to an intelligent gain management system - all you have
to do is set the input level correctly and it's impossible to clip
a signal, no matter what processing you apply. On top of that there's
the option to use multi-band compression, expansion or limiting, complete
with variable tube modeling and stereo width adjustment in each band,
and just in case the job needs a bit of "fairy dust" to bring it to
life, there's also Dynamic Spectral Enhancement that can be tuned to
any part of the audio spectrum. Throw in a de-esser, an autofader,
automatic normalization, MIDI control, a PCMCIA card slot and a sophisticated
dithering system, and you start to get the idea of how powerful the
DC2476 really is.
Main Features:
- 24 bit A/D - D/A conversion
- 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2 or 96kHz In/Out sample rate
- Gain Normalisation for maximum loudness
- Three band expansion, compression and limiting
- Five band digital EQ with ±18dB range
- Multi-band tube modeling for musical tone shaping
- De-essing
- Word Clock In/Out, Midi In, Out and Thru
- Three band stereo width control
- Expert factory settings and user memory
- Autofade
- Dynamic Spectral Enhancement
- PCMCIA slot for parameter transfer to other Drawmer DC2476s/DC2486s
- AES/EBU, SPDIF digital input / output connectors
- Balanced XLR analogue input / output connectors
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INTRODUCTION TO THE DRAWMER DC2476A MASTERFLOW
There are two key points to remember about Drawmer MasterFlow:
1) It Sounds Better
2) It is much easier to use, and requires fewer controls to operate
There are 3 main operational controls for audio functions:
1) C/P or Chain/Parameter Button tells cursor whether
to step to the next Processing Block in the MasterFlow Chain ["C"] or to access a
specific Processing Block's Parameters ["P"].
2) Large round "up/down/left/right" "Cursor" control
for stepping sequentially through the MasterFlow Chain or stepping
through the available
Parameters within a Processing Block screen.
3) Rotary knob for adjusting selected functions in
a familiar "analog" way,
such as threshold "up" or "down".
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF BASIC MasterFlow PROCESSING FUNCTION:
Each of the 6 audio "Processing Blocks" in the MasterFlow chain represents
a thorough replication of individual analog devices commonly found
in an ideal signal flow in a mastering studio. All commonly expected "analog" parameters
are available within each Processing Block, such as Threshold, Ratio,
Attack, Release and Gain Make-up for the Compressor Block. Nearly all
Processing Block parameters are adjusted from just a single screen
so all information is visible at one time. Additional screens are included "behind" some
of the master Processing Block screens to offer special control options,
such as filter types for the EQ.
Processing Blocks in the MasterFlow Chain are:
1) Input Stage with frequency sweep display
2) Dynamic EQ (for de-ess) and Compressor, both Full Band
3) 5 band fully parametric "analog modeled" EQ
4) 3 band Downward Expander
5) 3 Band Compressor with "Bootstrap" feature to pull
up rather than push down signal.
6) 3 band Zero Overshoot Brick Wall Limiter
7) 3 Band "analog modeled" Tube Drive
8) Output Stage with 3 band (crossover) summing, and Autofader.
The MasterFlow DC2476 has two major modes of operation: Global and Effects.
Global is where you find overall settings such as Word Length, Sample
Rate and Dither options. Effects is where all the audio processing
resides.
MasterFlow DC2476 Processing Blocks and their adjustable Parameters
Input Block
__________________________________________
Page
1) Sweep: adjust the input frequency sweep meters from 1 second sweep
time to 1 minute
2) Adjust: adjust input level L/R/Both
DQ, SINGLE BAND DYNAMIC EQ + FULL BAND COMPRESSOR BLOCK
___________________________________________
Page:
1) Adjustable Frequency,, Bandwidth, Dynamic gain, Compress (in dB),
Attack, Release, DQ out Gain, Normal and (Key) Filter modes (to hear
only the filter)
EQ, 5 BAND PARAMETRIC EQ BLOCK ___________________________________________
Page:
1) Adjustable Frequency, Bandwidth, and Gain. Displayed along a freq
response chart.
2) Filter Shapes, selectable Band 2, 3 & 4 peak
(bell) or shelf filter
EX, 3BAND DOWNWARD EXPANDER BLOCK
___________________________________________
Page:
1) Adjustable Threshold, Ratio, Attack, Release, (downward) Range
on each of three bands defined by crossover
2) Adjustable 3 way Stereo Crossover, shared with 4 other processing
blocks
COM, 3 BAND COMPRESSOR BLOCK (With Bootstrap feature) ___________________________________________
Page:
1) Adjustable Threshold, Ratio, Attack, Release, Make-up Gain on each
of three bands defined by crossover
2) Adjustable 3 way Stereo Crossover, shared with 4 other processing
blocks
IM, 3 BAND BRICKWALL LIMITER & STEREO WIDTH BLOCK
___________________________________________
Page:
1) Adjustable Release times and Width on each of three bands defined
by crossover
2) Adjustable 3 way Stereo Crossover, shared with 4 other processing
blocks
TUBE, 3 BAND TUBE MODELING BLOCK
___________________________________________
Page:
1) Adjustable "Tube Drive" on each of three bands defined
by crossover
2) Adjustable 3 way Stereo Crossover, shared with 4 other processing
blocks
OP, OUTPUT BLOCK
___________________________________________
Page:
1) 3 band Level adjust, Sum, Autofader initialize
2) Output Auto Fader curves, 1-3
Other Key DC2476 MasterFlow Features
PATCH:
You can select specific combinations of Processing
Blcok settings called "patches". There are 50 Preset from Factory
at this production date, and you can create your own patches up to
a total quantity of
999. The Patch screen is where you can select external PCMCIA Card
Patches (saved from another DC2476 or future MasterFlow units) or Internal
Patches. You can Save patches to a Card, internal RAM, or copy Patches
from RAM to Card.
EFFECTS:
All audio processing functions reside here.
GLOBAL:
5 pages of overall unit settings, unaffected by patch changes.
1) Input source (Analog, AES/EBU, SPDIF)/Clock source (AES, SPDIF,
EXT) and Sample Rate (up to 96Khz)
2) Dither Level 1,2,3 & 4, Dither Shape 1,2,3 & 4,
Word Length 16, 18, 20, 24 Bit
3) Midi Control Patch changes from what MIDI channel
4) Contrast to adjust display screen contrast
5) Upgrade Mode to set the unit for upgrades/downloads via the Internet
and PC.
BYPASS :
Defeats all functions of the 2476 except A to D/D to A conversion.
COMPARE:
Allows an A/B of a patch change.
FX BYPASS:
A specific bypass of one or more individual Processing Blocks.
FX SOLO:
Bypasses all Processing Blocks except the one selected.
HELP! :
A simple "help menu" for each Processing Block with
a short explanation of how to set the Parameters.
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