Harman 160A manual OUTPUT GAIN Control, DISPLAY Button and LED, Rear Panel, INPUT BALANCED Jacks

dbx 160A COMPRESSOR / LIMITER

1:1 Unity

	+20	RED
		Above Threshold
(dB)	+15	2:1
LEVEL	+10	20:1
	+5
		4:1
OUTPUT	0	:1
	-5	Rotation Point Threshold
	-10
		GREEN
	-15	Below Threshold

OUTPUT LEVEL (dB)

+20

+15

+10

+5

0

−5

−10

−15

	N
	E
G	RE

	1:1
	2:1
	4:1
	:1
YELLOW	RED
	Above Threshold

OverEasy Range

Below Threshold

-15 -10 -5 0 +5 +10 +15 +20

INPUT LEVEL (dB)

Figure 1: Hard Knee Compression Curve

and threshold LEDs

−15 −10 −5 0 +5 +10 +15 +20

INPUT LEVEL (dB)

Figure 2: OverEasy® Compression Curve

and threshold LEDs

OUTPUT GAIN Control:

Adjust this control to vary the amount of fixed gain (up to +20dB) in the 160A's output amplifier stage. The OUTPUT GAIN control does not interact with the threshold of compression.

DISPLAY Button and LED:

Depress this button to make the upper LED array display the INPUT LEVEL to the 160A. With the button out, the OUTPUT LEVEL is displayed. A pair of LEDs immediately above the DISPLAY button indicates the selected display.

INPUT/OUTPUT LEVEL and GAIN REDUCTION Displays:

The upper row of 19 LEDs displays either the INPUT or OUTPUT LEVEL, as selected with the DISPLAY button. This display is factory set so that 0dB is equivalent to +4dBu input or output level (1.23VRMS), but may be reset with the rear panel METER CALIBRATION trimmer. (See following pages.)

The lower row of 12 LEDs displays up to 40dB of GAIN REDUCTION (although the 160A is actually capable of deliv- ering up to 60dB of gain reduction). Note that fixed gain changes due to the OUTPUT GAIN control are not displayed by the GAIN REDUCTION LEDs but are reflected in the OUTPUT LEVEL display.

	15 WATTS
				A HARMAN INTERNATIONAL
				COMPANY
				SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
100V		50/60Hz		MADE IN USA
120V			60Hz	MODEL 160A
				COMPRESSOR/LIMITER

Rear Panel

MANUFACTURED UNDER ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING U.S. PATENTS 4,234,804 4,316,107 4,329,598 4,331,931 4,377,792 4,403,199 4,409,500 4,425,551 4,434,380 4,454,433 4,471,324 4,473,793 OTHER PATENTS PENDING
	INPUTS		OUTPUTS	XLR:	DETECTOR	METER	STEREO
BAL / UNBAL	XLR		UNBALANCED	PIN 1	INPUT	CALIBRATION	STRAPPING
				PIN 2
	GND		PHONE:
				PIN 3
	LIFT
			TIP	PHONE:
			SLEEVE
				TIP
		BALANCED	BALANCED	RING
	LIFT			SLEEVE			TRS 160A ONLY

INPUT (BALANCED) Jacks:

The Tip/Ring/Sleeve phone jack and XLR-type jack are wired in parallel; either INPUT will accept an audio signal for processing by the 160A. The phone jack accepts a standard TRS 1/4” phone plug for a balanced input source, or a 2-cir- cuit (Tip/Sleeve) 1/4” phone plug for an unbalanced source. The XLR-type jack is wired pin 2 HOT (+), pin 3 COLD (-) and pin 1 GROUND.

OUTPUT (BALANCED) Jack:

The 160A's OUTPUT (BALANCED) jack is driven by a floating active-balanced amplifier that simulates a true trans- former output. This allows for the load at the OUTPUT to be either balanced with respect to ground, or single-ended to ground (unbalanced) with very little difference (less than 0.5dB) in output level. For proper unbalanced operation, the unused pin (either pin 2 or 3) MUST be grounded.

Nominal output signal level is +4dBu into 600Ω, and typical maximum output level is +25dBu into 600Ω. This jack accepts XLR-type connectors, wired pin 2 HOT (+), pin 3 COLD (-), and pin 1 chassis ground.

For applications which require a “true” transformer output, an optional output transformer can be installed. Contact our Customer Service Department at the phone number listed on the back cover for details. If outside the United States, con- tact your dbx distributor.

OUTPUT (UNBAL) Jack:

The 160A has a separate single-ended (unbalanced) output amplifier capable of driving a 600Ω (or greater) load to

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