FET-A78
Peak Limiter

⦁ With the FET-78, ratios up to 8:1 achieve a moderate form of gain reduction where the dynamic range is controlled without obvious alteration. The average signal level is incrased and the softer passages become louder.

⦁ Ratios from 12:1 to 20:1 push the FET-78 into limiting. The dynamic range is significantly reduced and high-level peaks are minimized. The output signal cannot exceed a preset level due to practical considerations.

⦁ The relationship of the average input level and the threshold determines the amount of gain reduction and how much of the signal envelope is affected by the limiter action.

⦁ The 1178 allows raising the signal level without introducing distortion.

⦁ Adjusting the input gain so that the average signal level is consistently above the threshold means the entire signal will be compressed.

⦁ While mixing or mastering, start with the Attack knob set to noon and experiment with different settings to find the best one for your material.

⦁ Choose a fast attack time for material with fast transients and high frequencies with large peak-to-peak amplitudes. This way, potential overshoots and overload problems are kept minimal.

⦁ Limiting with a fast attack time will alter the musical quality of some instruments with a characteristically sharp percussive attack.

⦁ Slow attack times let the initial transients of instruments with fast amplitude changes pass through unaffected. This maintains the punch of percussive-sounding instruments like drums, bass, piano, and guitar at the cost of some amplitude control.

⦁ A good starting point for both individual instruments and mixing or mastering purposes is half-rotation (setting the knob to noon).

⦁ The best practice for adjusting Release Time is to strive for a quick response of the FET-A78 to dynamic changes of the signal while avoiding unwanted “pumping” and “breathing” effects.

⦁ With very short release times, the FET-A78 will return the gain reduction to 0 dB every time the signal drops below the threshold. This can happen between cycles of individual notes and beats — the gain comes up each time, along with the softer passages or the background noise.

⦁ Warning — extremely short release times may introduce harmonic distortion if the gain reduction changes between cycles.

⦁ Very long release times maintain the initial gain reduction caused by large amplitudes, but the dynamic range of the following passages gets strongly affected. If the gain reduction continues through a soft program section, this section may be made inaudible because of the gain reduction. Furthermore, short dynamic changes will be ignored due to the continuous gain reduction.

Using the FET-A78 on full mixes as a limiter

⦁ When using the FET-A78 as a limiter, its effect is made most apparent on full mixes. As always, it is important to dial in the appropriate Attack and Release times for optimal results.

⦁ For live recordings, use a slower attack time to maintain a high average level.

⦁ For material with relatively little low frequency content, use a fast release time to increase the short interval average level. The highest apparent average level may be achieved with the shortest release time before overt “pumping” occurs.

⦁ For material with above average low frequency content, the release time should be increased until no low frequency distortion is apparent. Another option is slightly reducing the amount of limiting in favor of slightly faster release time — obtaining a higher average level as a result.

⦁ Adjusting the Attack time also affects the amount of sibilance. Be careful with extremely slow attack times, they may result in full gain being applied to the sibilants and reduced gain to the vowels, ending up with exaggerated sibilants as a result.

⦁ You are encouraged to experiment until you find appropriate settings that work for your material.