P10 attack time

[koenraadvds]

Hi Ted,

Yesterday, i played with my brand new P10. Great piece of equipment! While playing with the compressor however, one question came to mind and that is the max attack & min release time? Attack slowest is only 5 ms… In future designes it should be great to have slower attack up to at least 15 ms. That is what you need for instruments like piano… and release time is minimum 200 ms. For example hard snare drum compression, you’ll need release times < 50 ms. On the other hand, i did tests with the different modes and release potmeter fully ccw, and to me it seems as if the release time IS shorter than what is on the frontpanel (the 200ms)? The 4 modes, on the frontpanel there is only mode 1 to 4. What are the simulations you tried to achieve? 1VCA, 2==1176 3=LA2 4=optical? So, since i am an electronic engineer myself, i would like to ask you if is there any way to easely change some components (or add a small circuit somewhere) on the board to achieve for example an offset so that the attack time default is what it is now (0.5ms -> 5ms) and by toggling a switch it becomes another range (e.g. 5ms -> 20ms)?

Regards and thanks again for such a gread channelstrip!

Koen

[Ted Fletcher]

Koen, thanks for your posting….. The attack and release times of the P10 are very definately ‘nominal’ (!) They vary hugely depending on the transient nature of the the signal. I’m sending you the circuit diagrams so that you can see the compound attack and release components….. the most important one being C26 (100nF) which sets the attack time depending on the slope of the transient detected, the setting of the attack control and the residual charge in the main capacitor underneath it.
When I designed the P10 I had intended to be accurate about attacks and releases, but in practice in the studio the variation is huge, and the right way is to listen!
Of course, piano is notoriously difficult to compress successfully, and again it depends on the touch of the player, and the type of music.
I will send the circuit diagrams by regular email.

[koenraadvds]

Ted,

Thanks for the fast reply! This is the most fantastic reply i’ve ever got. right to the point, the schematics. Nice design. If i do some tweaking which is really usefull, i’ll let you know so we can share with others.

Thanks again,

Koen

[koenraadvds]

Ted,

While studying the schematics you’ve send me, there is a 1uf cap with (P110) description just below the SW7 “type select” switch of the compressor. That part of the schematic is not so clear to me. Is that for the “range” switch on the P110 single channel ? And is there a cut on the SW7 center connection then?

rgrds,

Koen

[Ted Fletcher]

I have a red face on this one! There is a mistake on the circuit diagram…. I’m fixing it!

[koenraadvds]

Ok thanks Ted. Can you let me know the fix? thanks!

[Ted Fletcher]

I have emailed the cct detail.
BTW, I’m happy to let users see circuit details of any of the older gear (and even the newer stuff) as long as it is for a legitimate reason.

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