DAS AI Electronik specs

[JoPo]

I'm looking for DAS AI specs. Nothing on DAS site, hitfoundry or scopeportal and http://www.aielectronik.fr/ seems to be down.

I don't know if someone has something on it exept DAS people, of course... In the Z plugin release announcement, there is not much : http://forums.planetz.com/viewtopic.php ... ik#p216637

I use this device very often, I like it a lot, so I'd like to know all the details...Especialy the relation between ratio & threshold which seems to be special.

Maybe a Hitfoundry article sometime..?

Thanks..

[dante]

Ok but you'll have to help !

[JoPo]

No problem for me to help ! You'll just have to take care of my english..

I think we could try to get some info from DAS, I believe Sonolive could help. Do you want me to pm him ?

[dante]

Wait a bit until I have had a play with it so I can a make a list of questions.

[JoPo]

Sure ! Did you notice that without touching the threshold, the compressor starts to reduce level when you rise only the ratio knob. (for your question list) That's why I'd like further details.

I don't know if you noticed this also : when you clik anywhere in the VU, a led display meter appears under the device and shows the reduce level with much accuracy.

[dante]

Well I've never used it, so I will get it and try all these things and study original. Best to research thoroughly first before asking questions.

But yeah that clicking on meter thing sounds like a good feature

And you're right, info seems to be pretty thin on the ground, I don't think www.aielectronik.fr is there.

[JoPo]

Well I've never used it, so I will get it and try all these things and study original

Don't tell me you gonna buy it just to write an article !?!?

[dante]

Not 'just' to review it, also to use it.

How do you think articles get written ?

I think there is only one or maybe two devices reviewed in ScopeRise that I don't actually own, you know, like Solaris HW ver !!

Maybe one or two others, but its rare. All reviews are written from gear I actually use and likewise I rarely use demos. You can rest assured, that apart from the rare (non scope device) articles entirely or mostly contribute by someone else - like Sunmachine with Copperlan and Studio One - BC Modular developments etc and - lol - rare oddity like niceboy with his feedback techniq - the vast majority of actual Scope plug reviews are reviewed from personal experience and research.

Reasons:
1) This provides a certain level of integrity in the reviews, that I actually paid for something not a freebie.
2) Education. This is how Ive been learning about audio production. If you get something for free, theres insufficient motivation to learn to use it properly - I find.
3) If its worth reviewing, its worth buying and vice versa.

[JoPo]

But if I had not ask for its specs, you would not have bought it, don't you ?

Anyway, I believe you won't regret it. I like it a lot but I'm not a huge reference... I feel good with this device : it always works as I wish.

[dante]

Probably not, but in another article, Eric declares it one he is particularly proud of and also AI Electronik fully supported it and we're proud of it.

So from those endorsements I know it will be good, and it's probably one I have overlooked

[dante]

Got a good two hour turnaround on key ! Thanks Garyb (or whomever).

Had a brief play with it tonight. Chucked it in place of Brickmaster on a track I was working on just for a test, works well.

But I need a lot of time on it to suss it out. Since AI electronics no website presence and therefor no hardware version manual. I think Eric made this one, not Olive, so Eric is the best (maybe only) source of info.

But I will have to play with it in detail to work out the right questions, to do with the lamp etc.

Meanwhile I'll draft up something we can play with in regards overall format.

This one is a challenge but we will get there.

[JoPo]

Please take the time you need ! We are not in a hurry !

I really believe that to get the keys in 2 hours is a great, no a HUGE, an ENORMOUSsissme step forward. I remember having waited one week !
Excellent.

As I said : turn up the ratio without touching the threshold, it should start to reduce gain. I'd like to understand exactly this behavior. Anyway, I alway get nice result with it.

[dante]

Yes I tried that. Its possible the ratio is working to the default threshold. But to understand that we have to get back to fundamentals first, the clues are all there in the terminology :

1) Opto : Pertaining to a light source and a light detector (photo-electric).
2) Hybrid : Possibly meaning that maybe the Opto light and detector are combined in a discreet package, or combined with a FET (Field Effect Transistor) to improve response times.
3) RMS : Works on average amplitude rather than spikes.

The advantage of an Opto compressor is the character it can impart, as opposed to a purely linear 'lets not compress anything until we hit the threshold' type compressor. At a guess, since an opto compressor has non-linear characteristics, then you will get some compression before threshold is reached (to be confirmed).

Happy for compressor experts to interject at this point to wrap this in a bit more clarity.

This article is for August, so no rush yet, but 'soon'.

[garyb]

yes. this is the reason that one really needs to understand real gear, to know what the models are doing.
exactly Dante, the different settings mimic the character of different types of famous compressors. it's not really important which is which. what's important is how the machine limits the dynamic range of a source. you can hear this.

generally, when using a compressor, you adjust the threshold until you are getting the proper limiting of peaks(whatever helps the sound sit in it's proper place in the mix) and then adjust the makeup gain so that the average peak level is similar to the level with the compressor bypassed. if the sound becomes grainy or too loud at almost any volume, the raise the threshold and adjust the makeup gain. if parts of the sound are easily buried, lower the threshold, so that you get more compression and again, adjust the makeup gain.

all compressors are basically the same.

there are special fx that can be done as well. you can make the music pump, by adding extra gain or less gain, you can use another source to activate the detector that controls the compressor's action, for ducking and to sync bass and drums(sidechain), but mainly, it's a device to control the dynamics of a live recording. they exist so consumer playback devices, which don't handle a wide range of dynamics, can playback very quiet passages without having the loud passages be way too loud or vice-versa, that's why the makeup gain control should return the overall peak level back to where it started. in this way, the quieter sounds will be much closer to the volume of the louder sounds. after this, it's just how you season the cooking.

[dante]

Yes - seasoning the cooking, good info and Ill pinch some of it for the article.

JoPo, when loading the DAS Default preset, the threshold is set at 12 o'clock (no numbers). So that implies a default threshold to me, to which the Ratio will latch to.

For example, if I turn the threshold to maximum anti-clockwise (7 oclock) the ratio knob has no effect. Whereas setting it to 5 o'clock (minimum) the ratio has an effect across its entire value range.

Clicking on the analog VU brings up a meter at the bottom, which shows either the same as the VU, or Gain Reduction (depending on the Vu/G.R. toggle(s)).

This - to me, is a DAS bonus function, which wasn't on the original, well, Im guessing

[JoPo]

Yes, the AI comp has not linear characteristics, for sure. At least the relation between ratio & threshold.

I don't know why I like it so much.. Maybe because of the displays accuracy : it's like with food : the colour of what you eat acts on the taste in your brain ...

What ? There is no meters appearing at the bottom when hiting vu meters in the hardware one ??

[dante]

Ok, I have a theory.

Gary described a process of flattening the peaks (lowering threshold) and then adding makeup gain. These two processes together have a single net effect - that of raising the troughs.

But, what if you could raise the trough with one knob instead of two?

I think that is what the ratio knob does - with the threshold at its default position, defining not an upper threshold, but a lower one by which the gain fills the trough up with.

Hence, with the threshold fully anti clockwised, the ratio has no effect. This would be the opposite on a normal compressor, where the fully clockwise position would be the no-effect setting (eg a maximum threshold that's too high for the signal to exceed).

Does this make sense,or am I dreaming ?

[garyb]

normally, the ratio control is to determine how much the compressor's action affects the signal. if the ratio is low, the effect is subtle and large transients don't get affected much. high ratios(over 10 to 1) are essentially "limiting" where the compressors action is more like a wall for peaks, rather than "pressure" on the peaks.

[dante]

Normally yes, but I'm wondering if this compressor is more oriented to 'raising the floor' rather than 'lowering the ceiling'.

[dante]

What do you think JoPo ???