Setting a MDX2000 limiter/compressor

[djmatthill]

Hi guys

 

for the past few weeks iv posted questions about the commuinty radio station my partner and I are running.

 

The time has come and we are now on air.

 

I need a hand setting my Berinhger mdx2000 compressor unit so it limiting the sound but dosnt sound to apparent when it does.

 

can anyone tell me what sestting they use on their mdx2000 in broadcast or recording situtations.

 

Im hoping Brue might help me out as he runs a community station and the beringher unit seems to be the standard used.

 

can you tell me the actual settings you use , so I can just worr about the "output" knob ,,

 

Could also do with a copy of the manual , I can only seem to find the mdx2200 on beingher downloads , and this has more

features and seems differeant to mine .

 

 

Also one more thing !!!!

Im using a desk with BBC style vu meters ( eg 1,2,3,4,5,6, )

 

can anyone tell me what number I should clip on , ie which number is 0 db as on normal desk.

 

 

cheers

 

Matt

[Bobbsy]

I suspect the MDX2000 is a discontinued model--like yo[u I had a look at the Behringer site and it doesn't seem to be there. Since you say it has fewer parameters than the current model, I won't try to guess from that. However, if you can tell me the parameters you DO have to adjust (and the scale used on the controls since different manufacturers label things differently) I'll see if I can come up with a starting point for you.

 

If you want to do some background reading on the care and feeding of dynamics processors then THIS NOTE is about the best I've found.

 

Regarding the BBC PPM, you must have a decent desk because this is a very useful m[/url]eter for broadcast use. The old cliche/pun is that "Nation shall peak 6 unto nation".

 

Seriously, the really short form is that normally you'd feed calibration tone at PPM4 (i.e. the needle straight up and down) with speech around PPM5 and your limiter set to remove anything above PPM6. (For purists here, I'm talking a broacast/transmitter environment...I know you have rather more headroom in the studio!). At this point I started to go into a bit more background detail but quickly realised there was no way I could do it quickly so instead I found you THIS ARTICLE which is worth reading through as it gives some very useful background on the PPM meter and how to use it.

 

Bob

[djmatthill]

I suspect the MDX2000 is a discontinued model--like yo[u I had a look at the Behringer site and it doesn't seem to be there. Since you say it has fewer parameters than the current model, I won't try to guess from that. However, if you can tell me the parameters you DO have to adjust (and the scale used on the controls since different manufacturers label things differently) I'll see if I can come up with a starting point for you.

 

If you want to do some background reading on the care and feeding of dynamics processors then THIS NOTE is about the best I've found.

 

Regarding the BBC PPM, you must have a decent desk because this is a very useful m[/url]eter for broadcast use. The old cliche/pun is that "Nation shall peak 6 unto nation".

 

Seriously, the really short form is that normally you'd feed calibration tone at PPM4 (i.e. the needle straight up and down) with speech around PPM5 and your limiter set to remove anything above PPM6. (For purists here, I'm talking a broacast/transmitter environment...I know you have rather more headroom in the studio!). At this point I started to go into a bit more background detail but quickly realised there was no way I could do it quickly so instead I found you THIS ARTICLE which is worth reading through as it gives some very useful background on the PPM meter and how to use it.

 

Bob

 

 

 

Hi Bobbsy,

 

On my Compressor iv got ,, EXPANDER GATE , RATIO , ATTACK AND RELEASE , OUTPUT AND PEDAK LIMITER Ccontrols

 

Also how do I produce an TEST TONE my desk aint got that feature ,,

 

 

Matt

[Shez]

I'm not sure that that unit is standard on community stations - the last one I set up, I put in Inovonics processing. Price is slightly higher of course.

 

As you'll already know, it's a condition of the licence that you don't overmodulate the transmitter; the manual for the transmitter will tell you what input level will equate to 100% modulation. What is the peak limiter control on the MDX calibrated in? If in dBu, you should be able to set that to the transmitter's maximum input level (or slightly below - I wouldn't like to count on the front panel labelling being too accurate). If you've got a decent meter, best bet would be to meter the input of he transmitter & adjust that control until you're getting no higher than the maximum permissible level.

 

Re: test tones - use some software like Audacity (free) to generate tones & burn them to a CD. Or buy Alan Parson's soundcheck 2 CD - it's still the most useful CD I own after many years. On the PPM, 4 should equate to 0dBu desk output. There are 4dB between each number, so 5 is +4dBu, 6 is +8dBu. As Bobbsy says, it's normal to not run the desk higher than PPM6.

[djmatthill]

I'm not sure that that unit is standard on community stations - the last one I set up, I put in Inovonics processing. Price is slightly higher of course.

 

As you'll already know, it's a condition of the licence that you don't overmodulate the transmitter; the manual for the transmitter will tell you what input level will equate to 100% modulation. What is the peak limiter control on the MDX calibrated in? If in dBu, you should be able to set that to the transmitter's maximum input level (or slightly below - I wouldn't like to count on the front panel labelling being too accurate). If you've got a decent meter, best bet would be to meter the input of he transmitter & adjust that control until you're getting no higher than the maximum permissible level.

 

Re: test tones - use some software like Audacity (free) to generate tones & burn them to a CD. Or buy Alan Parson's soundcheck 2 CD - it's still the most useful CD I own after many years. On the PPM, 4 should equate to 0dBu desk output. There are 4dB between each number, so 5 is +4dBu, 6 is +8dBu. As Bobbsy says, it's normal to not run the desk higher than PPM6.

 

 

Right Iv created a test tone in Auacity as described above ,,,,

 

Iv not calibrated a desk and limiter before , would you mind talking me through the procedures of calibrating my limiter nd desk using this test tone cd iv burnt.

 

 

Also I could do with help setting my limiter tooo.

 

Please keep it very simple for me :unsure: ...

 

Matt

 

PS we are running a no profit christian radio station in Warrington in Cheshire , So if any of you are in this area and would fancy popping in and helping me do this ,,, tea , coffee and cakes included ,,,, B-)

[bruce]

I need a hand setting my Berinhger mdx2000 compressor unit so it limiting the sound but dosnt sound to apparent when it does.

 

The Behringer boxes are often used for low-budget situations - in particular RSL and hospital radio. You can apparently get decent results fom them, if set up correctly.

 

I've never actually used one - we've got one sitting on the shelf, but since we bought an Optimod, we never actually unpacked the Behringer.

 

There are no "correct" settings - it varies, depending on the type of sound you want, and also the type of music you play. Acoustic needs different settings from speech, which again is different from rock and pop.

 

So you need to compromise. Tuning one of these things involves making lots of small changes, and listening to lots of genres of music.

 

 

Some comments on another forum, from hospital radio people, suggest that the following may be a good starting point on a Behringer 2600:

Expander / Gate = -10 Slow Release

dB Threshold -20, Interactive ON, SC Filter ON, Ratio 2.5

Attack 50MSec, Release 0.5 Sec, Auto

Output +10dB

Enhancer, Process, 4

 

 

Another poster says:

 

For reference, my favoured settings have the threshold set to -15dB, ratio 4:1, attack 0.3ms, release 3s, with 10dB gain (plus a slow expander to pull down the noise floor below -30dB, some enhancer, and limiter set to just below 0dB). The net result is that less of the dynamic range is compressed, but the louder material is compressed more, so it's acting more like a limiter than a compressor. The slower release helps reduce "pumping" on music with a heavy beat.

[djmatthill]

Cheers Bruce ,,

 

Has anyone got any advice on how to set up the Limiter with test tone ......

 

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

 

Can anyone advise me how to calibrate my compressor / limiter with the test tone (iv generated using audacity) plzzzz

:)

[bruce]

One other thing - when you're trying to "tune" the compressor, make sure you are listening to the output at the end of the audio chain, not at the compressor output - ie on a FM radio, or via your internet stream, or whatever!