of the mic signal and additional gain exceeds the circuit’s capabilities; reduce gain via the MIC GAIN control. Set the MIC GAIN control so that the CLIP LED never lights.
The LEVEL LEDs can also be used to check the strength of the input signal. For example, the 286s does not support low level microphones plugged into its 1/4” INPUT jack; in this case, the LEVEL LEDs would not light, because the signal is too low.
PHANTOM POWER Button and LED
When you use phantom powered mics with your 286s, press the PHANTOM POWER button In to activate the 286s phantom power, providing +48VDC to the microphone through its connecting cable. This industry-standard configuration supports virtually all currently-manu- factured phantom power mics. If you do encounter problems, it will typically be with an older mic. Note that some mics may take several seconds to fully power up when phantom power is applied. If you are using mics that do not require phantom power, press the button so that it is in the Out position.
Note: Always plug in a condenser mic with PHANTOM POWER Off and gain levels down.
Then switch the PHANTOM POWER On and adjust the gain as needed.
The yellow PHANTOM POWER LED lights when the PHANTOM POWER button is in.
80 Hz HIGHPASS Button and LED
Press this button In to activate the 286s pre-processing third order filter. The HIGHPASS function filters out frequencies below 80Hz by 18dB/octave before any compression, de-essing, etc., is applied to input signal. This is most effective for reducing hum, rumble, wind and other low frequency problems. The HIGHPASS filter is also before any external processing provided via the rear panel INSERT jack.
The HIGHPASS LED lights when the HIGHPASS button is In.
Bypass
PROCESS BYPASS Button and LED
Press this button In to bypass the 286s Compressor, De-Esser, Enhancer, and Expander/Gate processing circuitry and the OUTPUT GAIN control (as well as any processing provided by external processors via the rear panel INSERT jack). In Bypass mode, the 286s will apply gain and filtering as set with Mic Preamp Section controls. BYPASS is equivalent to setting the Compressor DRIVE, De-Esser THRESHOLD, Enchancer LF and HF DETAIL and Expander/ Gate THRESHOLD controls to OFF, the OUTPUT GAIN control to 0dB (12:00 position), and not connecting any external processing to the rear panel INSERT jack. Bypass is especially useful for making comparisons between processed and unprocessed signals.
The red PROCESS BYPASS LED lights when the PROCESS BYPASS button is pressed In.
Note: The Compressor is Off when the DRIVE is set to OFF.
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