Tapco SQ2 Introduction

Introduction

Thank you for choosing a TAPCO® Squeez™ dynamics processor

by Mackie®. The TAPCO product line hails back to the days of TAPCO

Corporation, Greg Mackie’s ﬁ rst company. TAPCO revolutionized

the audio industry back in 1969 with the very ﬁ rst 6-channel mixer

speciﬁ cally designed for keyboards and rock ‘N’ roll PA.

In essence, TAPCO redeﬁ ned the price performance ratio and made

high-quality professional audio mixers accessible to virtually anyone.

Today, TAPCO is reborn with the same ideals and is backed by the

world-class engineering and manufacturing horsepower of Mackie. The

TAPCO SQ•2 is the ﬁ rst compressor/limiter/gate processor in the TAPCO

by Mackie® family.

The human ear has an incredible dynamic range (the difference between the softest

and the loudest sounds) and can detect anything from the sound of a butterﬂ y sneeze

(0 dB SPL, the threshold of hearing) to the sound of the space shuttle taking off (140 dB

SPL, very painful without hearing protection). Audio electronics would like to be able to

duplicate this dynamic range, but current technology falls somewhat short.

Audio electronics introduces another limitation to dynamic range: noise. Even the best

designed audio circuits produce noise due to the physics of electrons moving through

conductors and resistors. It’s called thermal noise, and produces that low level hiss you hear

when you turn the volume controls all the way up on a mixer or on your stereo system at

home.

An experienced sound engineer knows that the louder the mix, the less perceptible the

noise ﬂ oor, because the louder sounds mask the noise. However, mixing at loud levels brings

the signal closer to the point of clipping, where the signal can go no larger. Ideally, you

would like to provide 10 to 20 dB of headroom between the nominal operating level and

the clipping point, to provide a cushion for transient peaks (bass drum beats and cymbal

crashes, for example) to get through without clipping. But then the soft passages may

become too quiet and the noise ﬂ oor becomes a factor. Enter dynamic processing.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could have a hand on the faders and be able to quickly

reduce the volume on the bass drum and cymbals every time they approached clipping,

then quickly return them to their normal levels? A compressor does exactly that. Set the

threshold control to the point where you want the signal to stop getting any louder, and

set the ratio control to regulate the amount of attenuation applied to the signal when it

goes above the threshold. When the ratio control is turned all the way up, it becomes a

limiter and the signal stops getting any louder when it reaches the threshold. The attack

and release controls are used to control how fast the compressor kicks in when the signal

crosses the threshold and how fast it stops acting on the signal when it drops below the

threshold. You can experiment with these controls to get the most natural sound, or simply

push in the AUTO button and the SQ•2 automatically adjusts the attack and release

according to the dynamics of the signal.

TAPCO version of Greg

TAPCO van (a.k.a. micro bus)