Preceptor - It is a two-channel, massive sounding, hand made, designed and produced without any compromise audio compressor/ limiter, in which the gain reduction is made by a transistor in the differential amplifier circuit with Zener diodes stabilization.

Extended information

POWER The common POWER switch. The amber light and panel meters glow when the unit is powered on.

BYPASS The bypass is a hard relay bypass. If the unit loses power, it will default to this hard relay bypass.

Z This switch lets You choose input impedance (Z) between 300Ω and 1200Ω. The input signal is increased by 12dB in the 300Ω mode nicely driving the input transformer.

SIDECHAIN In the INT mode the Preceptor acts as a normal compressor sending main INPUT signal to the gain reduction stage. In the EXT position You can use another audio track (sending it to the EXT SIDECHAIN input on the rear panel) to control the volume of the main INPUT signal. This technique can really improve the quality of your music. There is another trick in the box. If the SIDECHAIN switch is in the EXT position and the EXT SIDECHAIN input does not receive any signal, then the Preceptor turns into a pleasant harmonic distortion generator. The amount of distortion depends on the Z and the INPUT switches settings. The larger the signal, the more distortion is in the processed signal (at extreme settings, it may be up to several % of THD). This is because there is no control signal and the circuit is driven.

LIMIT/COMP In the COMP position the Preceptor operates as a compressor with 2:1 compression ratio. In the limit mode its behavior can be compared to the famous Fairchild 660 limiter.

SPEED This switch allows to choose between three attack and release speed modes: “S” – slow mode, “M”- medium mode, “F”- fast mode.

ATTACK The ATTACK control (11-position gold contact switch) determines how fast the compressor reacts. Depending on the ATTACK control position and the SPEED mode, the attack can be set from 5ms to 600ms.

RELEASE The RELEASE control (11-position gold contact switch) determines the time the compressor needs to get back to the initial value after a level reduction. Depending on the RELEASE control position and the SPEED mode, the attack can be set from 10ms to 10s.

INPUT This is a 21-position gold contact audio taper switch that determines the level of the signal entering the channel, as well as the threshold.

OUTPUT 21-position gold contact switch set for +10dB/-40dB of gain control. Once the desired amount of limiting or compression is achieved with the use of the INPUT control and the Z control, the OUTPUT control can be used to make up any gain lost due to gain reduction. This control is used to set the amount of compressed (WET) signal in the blender stage.

BLEND 11-position gold contact switch allows to mix compressed (WET) and uncompressed (DRY) signals using only one knob. A single move changes mixing ratio by 10%. This technique is known as parallel compression, or as New York compression. This technique usually needs external mixing console, but not when You use our powerful Preceptor.

HPF With this control (5-position gold contact switch) you can remove low frequency information feeding the compressing circuit from 40 Hz, 80 Hz, 120 Hz, 200 Hz, 320 Hz. It can be also turned off by setting OFF position.

LINK/DUAL MONO When set to the up (LINK) position, the two channels of the Preceptor act as a single stereo compressor, with equal gain reduction on both sides, even when there is transient activity only on one channel. You only need to set all the functions on the left and right channel in the same position. It is not a problem having only rotary and toggle switches installed in the unit. In the down (DUAL MONO) position, the Preceptor operates as two separate compressors, with the two channels operating completely independent of one another.

Technical specifications

* Inputs: Balanced XLR
* Outputs: Balanced XLR
* Ext. sidechain inputs: Unbalanced TS
* Signal transformers: Carnhill
* Bypass: hard relay bypass
* Input impedance: 300Ω or 1200Ω switched on the front panel
* Output impedance: < 50&#937;
* Frequency response: 20-22.000Hz
* Maximum input level : + 21 dBu @ sensitivity +4 dBu
* Maximum output level: +23 dBu
* S/N ratio (A-weighted) : better than 85dBu
* Meter: 0 to -20dB gain reduction
* Gain reduction made by: a transistor in the differential amplifier circuit with Zener diodes stabilization
* Dynamic modes: limiter, compressor
* Speed modes: fast, medium, slow
* Attack: 5ms – 600ms
* Release: 10ms – 10s
* External sidechain: YES
* Sidechain filtering : OFF, 40Hz, 80 Hz, 120 Hz, 200 Hz, 320 Hz
* Blender (parallel compression) : yes
* PSU: internal
* Fuses type: 230V : 500mA (slo-blo; 5x20mm) /115V : 1A (slo-blo; 5x20mm)
* Power consumption: 60W
* Dimensions (WxHxD) : 483x133mm (3U) x 245mm
* Weight: 6,4kg