Harman 286 user manual Lispy Vocals, Shrillness or Excessive Brightness

286s

Problems, Possible Causes, Solutions Section 4

that the red (-) THRESHOLD LED (located to the right of the EXPANSION RATIO control) does not light until the required signal is finished.

Lispy Vocals

With higher settings of the De-Esser THRESHOLD or Expander/Gate THRESHOLD controls, a vocal performance can be marred by resultant lisps (i.e., where s and z sounds are heard as th sounds). Lisps can usually be corrected by reducing the De-Esser THRESHOLD, or the Expander/Gate THRESHOLD, or both.

Shrillness or Excessive Brightness

If high frequency energy in the audio is producing shrillness or excessive brightness, try reducing the HF DETAIL or increasing the De-Esser THRESHOLD (if the audio is a single track), as appropriate.

Low Rumble or Excessive Low Frequencies

Although the HIGHPASS button works effectively to reduce hum, rumble, wind noise, etc., at the input, LF DETAIL can restore low frequency power to objectionable levels if used too liberally. This is especially true if the rear panel INSERT is used; this places a unit (e.g., an equalizer) directly between the Mic Preamp Section and Processing Section of the 286s - hum or other undesirable low frequencies “inserted” by the device cannot be corrected by the HIGHPASS button. In most cases, make sure the LF DETAIL is used conservatively.

No Gain Reduction Shown When Compression is DRIVE Control is Active

Increase MIC GAIN or Compressor DRIVE.

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