Mel JH-416 CONSOLE

features

....... 2:4 IMPIJI1'-OU'fPUT 'C.APABIU1Y

- OPTI:ONAL 32 INPUT CONFIGUFtAfl'ON

-PENNY AND G:ILIES FADERS

,- OPtiONAL yeA GROUPING AND AUT,OMATION FADER REPLACEMENr M,ODULE

- ILLUMINATED MUTE SW~TCIfl WITIH CHANNEL NUMBER

- FULL 3 RANc'l'E 16 FREQUENCY RECIPROCAL EQUALIZER WITH UP TO U DaOF Mf,O:FI.A.NGE BOO'ST OR cur

~ FlJllL QUAD X-Y PANNIING ONEACHI I!HPUTAND iECHO R.El'I!JRN

- FULL 288 POI NIT IPATCH ',ELD WITH 84 'TIE LINES .~ NO:N-LOADING 20 DB MilKE PAD IN ADDfll'llON TO ElECTR'ONICGAIIN CON1FlOl ACCOMMO,DA.TES THE FULL RANIGE OF PROFESS'IONAL 111101=10'!PHONES (1M DISTOR1U)N LESS THAIN .15% AT ODBM INPUT)

- WIRED iFOR CE'NTRAL P·OWER DISTRISUll:ON 'OF

FET MI'C:FlOPiHONE·S

- SOLID STATE: RELAYDRIVER$

- AlW.AVS WIR:ED FOR 2.4 lAA,CK C:APABIUTY

-, PLUG-IN MODULES, FOR EASY SERVICE

- MOl 20011HIGH VOL1A.GE, HIGH SLEW R.ATE, L,DW

NOI'SE OP AMP' USED' THROUGHOUT

~ EXTREMIELY VERSATILE IECHO AND CUE SYST'EM ' ....... ATTRA'CTIV,E STVUNG

~ TWO 'OTALlY INDEPEND'ENT C:ONSOLE.S; IN ONE HOUSING

- EXllflEME cSWlTCHllNG FLEXIBILITY THROUGH INNOVAl'~IYE :IJESIGN!

- RELIABLE SPLICING B.L,O'C:I(S

- FULl!., + 24 oeM, OUTPUT CAIPABILITYFROM

eVERY AMPL!11FICAl'IION STAGE

-ISOLATED &00 OHM :BALANCED OUTPUTS FROM ALL PROGRAM, ECIH~ CUE:, AN:D MON'IIOR FEEDS

- OPTI!ONAL UGHT METEFI PACKAGE FOiR ACCURATE VISUAL MONITORING WITH INIDIVIDUALLY SEI:.ECT'ABLE BAl..lSnCS

- SEPARATE SPEAKER 'M·ON!.ITOR SOUiRCE AND MODE SEIl.ECTI:ON

~ QUICK ONE BUTTO,N REMI1X ANiD PLAYBACK CAPABIUTY

- FUN'CTIONAL, DES~GN

- .ALL MIKES A'ND LlN,E INIPI!JTS BALANCED AND

FLOATIN'G

two «rscos

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In one

The Mel JH-4U5· Console is in reality two totally separate consoles ;1.ntegrat·9-d into one housing for operational efficiency. The quad mixdown busses, outputs, master fader, echo send, quad panners, cue sends, etc., are entirely Independent, and are not used in the process of recording orIginal tracks. There is an entirely separate glrolJp of combining busses, output amps, sub masters, etc., which are used to route and mix mlcrophone or other input siqnals to the multi-track machine.

What this means is that the Mel JH-416 eonsole always has I't5 quad mlxdown circuits available intact to be used as a monitor mix console while recording and tracking. We believe that this is a far superior method of constructing hi'gh v8'l"satility consoles when you consider the altematlve. That being to

build into a: console a separate monitor mix section which is not used for any true signal processing functions, lacking the versatility. and usually falling short 0] the traditional technical performance specifications you expect in the normal mixing circuits.

We bElilieve that this ability to have the full 'facility of the regular quad" :2T, and mono mixdown clrcults avallable so tihat YOliJcan accurately synthesize what 8! legitimate mix will sound like as you record, while rnuslclans am still in the studio, and creative judgments can be' made, 1.8 critical. 111 some console's the subtle, variations ill crQmbining charaeteristics and technical performance soeclftcatlons in a monitor mix section when compared with the normal miXing clrcults make all the. dlfference in the world in what you heard when recordiing and what you hear when mixing down.

This is only one ot many features which makes the MGI JH-416 possibly the most popular and widely accepted mixing console svsr oHared to the industry.

light meter option

A light meter option with individually sellectable- VU or PPM characteristics offers a unique visual monitoring capability both whil'e

re,eording originall tracks and when mixing down ..

While recording the Mel light meters when set for VU characteristics. give you the ballstics and indications of a tradltlonal VU meter. The difference is that the movement is indicated by a vertical column of 8 ililuminated panels whose color changes with ·'increased modulation. Blue and green for below normal, yel'low indicating normal and red s.ignaling over modulation.

As is the case with no rmal VU meters the Me.1 li:ght meters when displaying VU characteristics cannot properly Indlcate the peak value of signals whose crest factors (peak to Hver,age ratios) are' hlghsr than average. The standard VU characteristics were, originally designed to' indicate levels on mixed programs whose crest factors are' predictable, and not individual Instruments or coherent groups of instruments whos'e peak energy content may be many times normal. Tsmborines, snare drums. and close miked pianos are prime examples of these types of silgnals.

To 'fac'ilitate monitoring olf thesle signals each individual meter has a push button which when depre-ssed changes the balistics to the Europe-an standard PPM characterlstlcs, These balisHes gj;ve very accurate tndlcatlcns

of: the effective peak lenergy levels, which are the Jiimiting factor in magnetic tape recording. The light meters can also be used when rnlxing down to indicate relative levels of inputs after the fader and equalizer" thereby gllviing an indication of their true level relationship in a final mix.

propri_etor~ eqLOllzer ..

Frequency opectrurn control is accomplished by a 16 fr,equency 3 range equalizer whose' sophistication and effectlveness cannot 'full'y be appreciated by a cursory examination ot front panel features and controls.

The mid range boost and cut are truly reciprocalfunctions which teaiure proprietary electronic ctrcultry. This special circuitry automatically changes the "0" ot the active tuned circuit as you change the boost and cut amounts on the equalizer giving you exactly optimum Curves at each and every settinq. This is a. featur@ that has: rarely been seen iin equallzersand to our knowledge is not available in any other console equalizer offered today.

Equalizers traditionelly used in the' re'cording industry usuallly fa" into one of two categories. Both of these involve the Use of active or passive tuned circuits with preset band width or ski-rt characteristics.

The most common type, of equalizer which we will call type .A separates the incoming signal' into two paths ... One ot these is allowed to pass thmugh the equalizer unchanged ... The ather is fed through a bandpass filter with

preset characteristics and added either in phase or out of phase to the unchanged sig~ nal to e'ffect a cut or boost. The falacy of this method is that at small boost amounts (2.db- 4db) the effective band wiidth of the boosted portion of the spectrum 'is so narrow that you must add excessive equalization (6Idb-10db) to obtain the desired amount of presence. This excessive equalizatlon disrupts transient response and creates problems in disk and cassette production which may require the modification ot the dynamic spectrual characteristics, of your finished product in the

-- masterl n9 proc.ess.

The other tradltlonal equalizer design which we will call type B also uses a tuned circuit (or band pass tllter) of: preset oharactensttcs. The difference in this case is how that tuned circult is used, In a type 8, equalizer the tuned

circuit is, always in the signa] path but Its peak action is attenuated either actively or passively, This at small amounts of equallzaticn Igives you a broad boosted spectrum with rather short up and down slopes, and a flat top lacking the peakinq characterlstlcs de'sired, Once, again as betore to get what the ear wants to near excessive equalization with its attendant problems is necessary.

The multipllclty of frequencies available on the M~,I J11H,-418 equalizer makes it'S 3 band design' the optimum choice for the experienced mixer who deslres maximum creative control. The 16 frequencies are arranged to fall at exact half octave musical lntervals whereas most equalizers have, curves which either are not muslcally related or are arranged at full octave intervals and lack the required varsatlllty ..

As an answer to this problem some designers have added a second mid range section, chosen to overlap frequencies between bands, or offered a graphic type control. This is truly counter productive because if your ear wants to hear a boost or cut which peaks at a specific point it is /necessary on those devices with a limited li1~mber of trequenctee to use the combined effect ,of 2 or 3 bands to approximate that curve, whlich for all practical purposes defeats the flexibility of the 4- band, ,graphiic, or overlap equallzer whose frequency points are either poorly chosen or too few for accurate musical control.

Prec:ision detented switches with highly accurate' metal' film resistors have been chosen as the equalizer control elements. The rotary pot controls, as used in some! equalizers, have many inherent dlsadvantaqes when compared

with the, MGI approach .. On some' rotary pet equalizers thers is no individual in out switch on each band meanirng that ii' you are equallizing in one band and want no equalization froma.nother you must rel.ay on the f:inite accuracy of knob alignment and pot accuracy to be assured that there is, no undesired e,f-, feet, Even when accurately adjusted tor Odbl boost or cut most desIgns have the equalizing circuits still connected whiCh even though ineff'ective response wise can still have: undesirable phase, noise, and distortion characteristics.When switched to the' Odb position the Mel JIH~41'6 equalizer physicalJly and electrically tOltally' removes: the equallzlnq ,elementsfrern the signal path ther,eby assuring the unaltered pas,s,age of unequallzsd pro .. g:ram.

The advent of qluad recordlnq and mixing with its, multiple mlke technique's, reinforces the necessity of being able toexactly match equalizer characterlsfjcs between milicrophones when recording and tracks when mixing. The matchingl is only possible, on a reliable basis wh'en a. detented control with precise electrtcal characteristics is lrnplemented.

The sound of the Mel console is hard tOI characterlza because it iii:s what you want it to be, and under your control. IBut ,at all Urnes it is transparent, open, and effectively free of tnternalty generated charactertstlcs, particularly as far as noise and distortion, which could serlousty fimit your ability to accurately record and faithflJlly reproduce the studio performance, or limit your options in mallipulating, and c'hangi:ng 1'hat performance into product that exhibits the, highest order of creafivity.

proprietar~ amplifier

Tine sound of the Mel JH-416 console can be at~riblJted to many of its design elements including its equalizer. But perhaps the most important slingle, elemen~ is the Mel 2001 amplifier coupled 'With a. gaiin and leve'l structure carefully dlesligned to have the, only re .. strlctlon on dynamic range be the magnetic recording' medium itse~1i.

The .2001 amplifier is a high voltage, high slewrate, low distortion, III OW noise operatlonal amplifier 'Of proprietary design made especially for MOl.

Much has been saiiid about the character of the dlstonton of an op-arnp when drlven into clipping. While an op-arnp exhiibi;ts. abrupt overload characteristics when clipping fgenerating a predictable distribution of odd order harmonics) the name of the game today is to prevent overloadln the <console and have the magnetic recording medium whose overload characteristics are predictable, g,entle'~ and rel'atively pleasant be the only lim'iting factor.

The high voltage swing capeblllties (in excess of 40 volts or + 24 dbrn) and low notse characterlstlos orf the 2001 op-amp have made' possible a. gain structure that at all points in the console" Internally and at the exler'naJ 'interfiaces have! a minimum 01" e db head room

above tne absolute saturation oftod'ay's high loutput tapes,

Whill'esome consoles today stili have + 18r dbm output most have +24 dbm c:a.pabHities. But this can be misleadi'ng if: this output capability does not exist in each and every empllfingl stage, from mike pre-amp on. Many consoles and mIxing devices today are using garden varie·ty opamps (7091 LM301, 741, 748, N5556) operatinq from bi-polar 15 lor 18 volt supplies which cannot deliver this + 24 dbm headroom capablllty except with discrete translator current stag'e:s and step-up transformers ...

Today's tapes are capable of maglnetllzing lsvels of around 900 nanowebers or about 14 db above, lhe1S5 nanoweber leva:1 normally used. If the tape machine is aligned' so that a. + 4 dbm signal from the console results rn 185 nanowsber I·evells on the tape as is standard practice then it is re,adily apparent that saturation ("4 db above + 4 dbm) of the tape if it were a linear relationship would require the fLlII + 18 dbm cap,ability of the sysllem. In practice the relationship is not linear. The waveform compression characteristics of today's magnetic tape require mora than that + 18 dbrn level to achieve full saturation .. Therefore we feel that the +24 dbm capablllt:res found in each and every amplifying st~ge o~ the JH-416 console are not a luxury but an absolute necessity to make certain that the dynamic rang'e of the magnetic medium is fully exploited.

input module

Each input/output module contains all circuitry, sWlitchiing and control for a microphone iinput as well as a multi-track feed, A thre,e way swItching function controlled from an external buss provides slmultaneous sIgnal routing in all input/output modules.

In the first signal routing condition the microphone signal is routed through an extremely low noise, preamplifer with balanced transformer input. Its gain is variable over a ranpe of 24db to, 50db through use of a front panel trim pot. The preamp out passes through the patch bay to a cenducuve plastic fader which feeds the equalizer. A swttchable 20 db nonterminating pad allows line level inputs.

Following the equalizer is a solo button, a diirect button, and sixteen assignment buttons. The solo button routes the selected signal to the control room monitor without disturbing program circuits. It can be free,ly used at any' lime even during recording.

The direct button feeds the summing amplifier on the same module with it to provide feeds for tracks #'17-#24. Alternately the mother board may be programmed to aillow the 16 assignment buttons on module #17- #24 to feed any 16 of the 24 possible tracks.

The track summing amplifiers have sub-master controls associated with their feedback looks to provide emergency attenuation during recording when many mikes are mixed together and the mix must be 'held while attenuation of the group is necessary.

In addltion to being fe:d by way of the, patch bay to the! master recorder lnput, the track: feed is routed to a rotary 'fader which is called the monitor pot. Its output f'eeds a booster. These two components synthe:slze the functions ,a,f the main fader and the equalizer for the track feed and the tape return while recording live mikes through the normal clrcults, This allows ,8 mix to be set up, while recording using all the other normal mixing circuits. The booster out, feeds the quad pan pot, two independent echo send pots, and two cue send pets.

The second signal routing condttlon is liden-

tical to the first wilth one exception. The tape return signal is routed to the monitor pot thereby r,eplacingl the track feed. This aillows, the multi-track master to be played through the same mix circuits, that rnonltor the track. feeds duringi recording'.

AddJtio,nally the module contains a button which defeats buss command and places it ill condition one (live track monitor) for tracking purposes. A red light indicates this condltion to prevent accidental defeat of status programming.

The third signal routing condition routes the tape return by way of the patch bay through the main fader to the equalizer booster .. , The status relay feeds 'th'9 quad pan, cue sends and echo, sends from the output of the equallzsr in this condition. This is the status used for mlxdowns,

All described circultry is contained in B'BCh and eve'ry module. This makes each virtually a mlnlature single in, s!ingle out console which can be assembled in multiples to creataa console of a magnitud€l of versatility that is ssldorn achieved even in custom consoles costing many times as much.

1-16 Seperate push on push off switches for recording buss assiqnment,

DIR Direct: Ass'ignment Button.

CHANNEL SUb-master for each track with click down catlbrated normal posltlon.

MIKE TRIM Microphone pre-amp gain control changes gain electrically in pre-amp.

20 DB MIKE PAD Resistive mike pad in front of transformer to prevent overload from line levels.

CUE Two independent cue send pots may be used as additional echo send when mixing.

!ECHO Two independent echo send pots. ECHO Transfers send #1 to mike clrcult faeilitatin9 wet recording. In re-mix acts as pre post switch,

O-DUB Button defeats mix-down or monitor position to- permit live buss monitoring on selected tracks. There is a Irght to warn when button is depressed.

SOLO Effects monitor only and d lsplays selected source, on two front speakers" Does not effect normal recording.

MUTE Mutes feed to monitor without effecting channel outputs.

FRONT REAR PAN POT

LEFT RIGHT PAN POT

MONITOR POT Is used in rnonttor modes to control buss & tape mixes not used in mixdown mode.

EQ HF ± 10 DB (7.5 or 10 KHZ) Reciprocal in 2db steps (dstented)

Ear MID 0-14 D8 Boos or CVlin 2_db Detented steps

EO' MID Fre:q.-12 Frequencies 'in equal half active steps, from 150 HZ to 7 KHZ (detented)

LO Freq.-+ 10 08 reciprocal in 2db steps

(detented)

Hi'gh Freq. Select 7.5 or 10 KNZ Mid Select Cut or boost

Low Freq. Select 60 or l!OO HZ EQ in Out EQ Bypass

IFADER MUTE Turns fader on or off. Push on-push off switch (lllurnated),

orn-push orff switch (lllurntnated).

FADER High quality conductive plastiic fader with two stage iIIIumination.

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The master module containsthe summilng amplifiers for the cue sends. the echo sends, and the quad mixing busses. Output arnpl iifiers are provided for the quad mix, two track mix, and the mono mix as well as boosters for the echo return. A four channel conductive pla.stic fader ls used as a mixdown and monitor mix master fader. FOlUr sophisticated echo return channels are provided as well as submasters for the cue and echo sends.

SUBMASTIERS are provided for both cue feeds as well as the two echo sends.

FOUR ECHO RETURNS allow extreme flexibility in any mixdown or man ltor mode,

SOLO routes return to monitor along with any other selected source without disturbing program circuits. May be freely pushed at any t.ime.

Left-right and fmnt-back QUAD PAN POTS offer extremely flex.ible positioning for sophisticated rnlxlnq.

LEVEL sets gail" ofecho return channel for opt.imizing chamber drive and balancing return levels,

COMP automatically sets up a reduced separation quad and 2 track stereo mixing situation preferred by many mixers. Reduces compatability problems between the, different formats. (Quad, 2 track, rnono.) Has no effect unless depressed.

MASTER fades all miixdown feeds simultaneously without affecting the multitrack master feeds.

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While designed as an echo return moduie for the tracks and ClIIe, this may be used as a higlh level input for many purpeses. It consists of a rotary fader feeding a solo button, two cue buttons, and sixteen asslqnment buttons. Access IS from the patch bay.

In addition the return module contains the talk-back, slate and communicate functions"

1&l6 push to lock-push to release button switches provide echo retu rn routing for wet recording.

CUE buttons can return echo to the cue bussed alone, a sometimes de~ sirable teatnre ..

SOLO tor this echo return disturbs only the monitor and not program, May be fr,eely pushed at any time.

OSC switches route oscillator to all recording busses (tracks) simultaneously and/or all mixdown feeds (Mix).

SLATE switches provide for slating the recording busses (Tracks) and/or mixdown feeds (Mix).

SLATE controls level of both slate feeds.

COMM controls level of cornmunlcate (talk back to headphones.)

TALK BACK sets level of all talk back functions.

COMM button provides for talk back to headphone system only.

TALK BACK button routes talk back into studio speakers, headphones" and all slating functions selected,