MANLEY LABS MASTERING STEREO VARIABLE MU® LIMITER COMPRESSOR

THE MASTERING VERSION The Mastering Version of our Variable Mu® Limiter Compressor incorporating detented and logable steps built with 1% metal film resistors on sealed gold-contact Grayhill switches is available. NO, we will not mod a "normal" unit to the Mastering Version. The Mastering Version of the Variable Mu Limiter Compressor uses expensive Greyhill rotary switches with gold contacts where conductive plastic pots were used. The steps are determined with a large number of 1% precision metal film 1/2 watt resistors.

The best conductive plastic pots only have 10% or 20% tolerance. The ten fold improvement in precision helps a great deal in left-right matching. There is a subtle audible improvement with stepped switches as well. Audiophile HI-FI often uses that technique to wring the last drop of performance out of a preamplifier. And I bet you wanted stepped switches mostly for resets. The INPUT LEVEL is a five position switch with a generic optimum setting of “0” in the 12:00 position.

Each step in either direction is 2 dB. For reference, Unity Gain is "0". The OUTPUT Attenuators are in half dB steps. Reference Unity is -11.5 or fully counter-clockwise. You might think of these as "gain makeup". They are marked technically, in that “0” or fully clockwise has zero attenuation in the circuit. The tube circuit actually has 15.5 dB of gain. The Input attenuator at "0" removes 4 dB and the Output attenuator removes the last 11.5 producing "unity". With a little compression the "gain make-up" available with the Output Attenuator is very handy.

The Threshold is in half dB steps calibrated to LIMIT mode. In Compress the steps are approximately 1/4 dB. There are 24 steps so LIMIT gets a 12 dB range and Compress has a 6 dB range of adjustment. In some cases it is common to use the Input Attenuator to find a good starting point. Some Mastering engineers find using the combination of Input, Output and Threshold to achieve a little different "drive". Another good reason for stepped gains.

The Attack Time has been slightly extended in both directions compared to a regular Variable Mu and divided into 11 steps. The Recovery 5 position switch is exactly the same as a regular Variable Mu. The switches specifically are like this: Input: -4 to +4 in 2 dB steps Output: -11 to 0 in 1/2 dB steps (24 detents) Threshold: -11 to +1 in 1/2 dB steps LIMIT(24 detents) and 24 x 1/4 dB steps in COMPRESS Attack: 11 positions CW (fast) 15mS, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90mS (slow) CCW Release: 5 positions CW (fast) 200mS, 400mS, 600mS, 4S, 8 Seconds (slow) CCW CUSTOM MODIFICATIONS HIGH PASS SIDE CHAIN

This modification comes stock on all Manley Variable Mu Limiter Compressors since 12/2009, on both regular and mastering versions. This mod adds two switches to the front panel, one for each channel, so that when engaged, the side chain will not respond to frequencies lower than 100Hz. (We standardly use 100Hz as the -3dB point. Other frequencies can be custom ordered.) This HP SC Mod can be used with music with heavy bass lines or bass-heavy mixes where you don't want the bass driving the whole action of the compressor. The filter is a very gentle 6db per octave 1 pole filter, and will typically be down 1-3db at 100 Hz, and down 4-6db at 50Hz.

As you decrease the frequency the amount of limiting will decrease also. At the extreme LF (<20Hz) there should be very little gain reduction going on. The whole intent of the filter is to keep very LF stuff (like a heavy kick drum) from activating the compression/limiting so that the overall level doesn't duck with every drumbeat. We can add the High Pass Side Chain option stock boards for an extra $350 NET (or $200 as a kit) to older Manley Variable Mu limiters. THE T-BAR MODIFICATION Backstory: The newer Variable Mu units use 5670 tubes instead of the 6386.

By now the availability of the original USA GE 6386 is poor; we don't have any left at all, and what we do have are not usable due to noise, microphonics, bad side-to-side match, etc. So does the 5670 sound different? Well, up to about 6db of limiting it's about the same. After that point, the 5670 version tends to sound more "squashed" than the original 6386 version. Some like it better, some don't - depends on what you're trying to do.

To solve all these problems, Paul came up with a really good solution: the T-Bar Mod. This uses a pair of 6BA6 pentodes wired as single triodes to replace each dual triode 5670 (or 6386). The 6BA6 T-Bar Mod is the preferred system to use in the Manley Variable Mu® for reasons of ability to perfectly match each phase-halve section and each stereo set, ability to select for lo-noise and lo-microphonic sets for a low cost, and because the action of the 6BA6's so closely resemble the smooth 6386 limiting curves. We can add the T-bar mod to your Variable Mu unit for $500 NET (or $300 as a kit). MID/SIDE (a.k.a. Vertical/Lateral, or Sum/Difference) This modification opens the door to stereo encoding and decoding as well as exciting image enhancement processing capabilities. For instance, setting to compress only the in-phase information allows the augmentation of the stereo image as the out-of-phase content is left untouched.

Or, conversely, if you need a "more-mono" mix for broadcast, or vinyl-cutting for instance, you can set it to kill off more of the out-of-phase info which leaves more in-phase material in the final result. Read more about the MS Mod on page 12 of the Owner's Manual. Total mod cost for the M-S option is $800 NET added to the base cost. In order to add both M-S and the HP SC mods, we move the power switch to the rear panel and install both channels' HP SC switch to the center hole where the power switch was. The M-S switches then flank this switch.

SPECIFICATIONS

*MANLEY input & output transformers with nickel laminations in mu-metal cases with flat frequency response from 20Hz-25KHz *BALANCED INPUTS & OUTPUTS (600 Ohms) *Fully differential ALL-TUBE circuitry using one each 5670, 5751 (or 12AX7), 7044 (or 5687), & 12AL5 per channel *Independently regulated B+ and Heater supplies *Hard-wire BYPASS switch *Stepped switch INPUT attenuator as of 10/2011. (older units use Silent dual-ganged potentiometer) *RECOVERY 5 steps: 0.2s, 0.4s, 0.6s, 4sec., 8sec. *Variable ATTACK: 25msec-70msec *Continuously variable THRESHOLD *LIMIT (4:1 to 20:1) or COMPRESS (1.5 to 1) *HP SC: High Pass Side Chain Filter -3dB @ 100Hz *Large ILLUMINATED Sifam METERS (older units before serial number MSLC61642 shipped before 12/2003 use: 26V 1.2W FESTOON LAMPS; Manley's Part Number: VAR016B) Order spare bulbs using our parts order form. (newest units after serial number MSLC61642 shipped after 12/2003 use white LED lighting) STEREO LINK SWITCH Several units can be linked for Surround (custom order ) *Maximum gain: 35dB *Max. output: +30dBu (26Vrms) 26dB Headroom *<0.1% THD @ 1KHz Noise floor: -85dB typical *Power Consumption (120/240VAC): 80 watts *Unit is factory set for 100V, 120V or 220-240VAC operation for original destination country's mains voltage. *Operating Mains Voltage changeable with power transformer changeover switch and fuse value change. *Mains Fuse Value for 100~120VAC operation: replace with 1.25A as of 10/2011 *Mains Fuse Value for 220~240VAC operation: replace with 0.6A (600mA) as of 10/2011 *Mains Fuse Type: MDA or MDL SLO-BLO Time delay 1 1/4" x 1/4" *Mains Voltage Frequency: 50~60Hz *Dimensions: 19” x 3 1/2” x 10” (chassis occupies 2u) Power transformer protrudes 3.5" out the back of the chassis. *Shipping Weight: 23 lbs.