hi tim,
thanks for your thoughts on this..

the reason i use a transformer is because the output of the console's send is
too hot (or too dynamic), it distorts the input of the a119. also, the sends are
balanced and the 'reamp' box is designed to do just this, take a hot line-level
signal (often as much as +20db), unbalance it and present it to instrument
amps or guitar pedals at the same impedence as a guitar output or synth
output.

i think tomorrow i'll try some light compression in front of the a119 to see if i
can smooth it out and attenuate it enough to get things to work in a more
pleasing manner w/o the step-down transformer..

thanks again,
-psm


--- In Doepfer_a100@yahoogroups.com , "Tim Stinchcombe" <timothy@t...>
wrote:

> Hi psm,
> I'm now going to (very likely) display my lack of knowledge when it
> comes to audio engineering terms. (Well they do make life very hard
> by surrounding the whole arena with an aura of mystical terms
> like 'dBm', 'dBV', 'dBv', 'dBu', 'VU' and 'line level' etc., and you
> never, never, ever see these things defined with the appropriate
> mathematical formula given - you have to be 'in the know' (nudge-
> nudge, wink-wink). I have a book which _attempts_ to explain, but as
> always, shies away from giving all the maths - if anyone knows of a
> good web resource, to save me working it out from scratch, then I'd
> love to know it!). Here goes:
>
> > symmetrical early on due to noise and started using a high quality
> impedence
> > transformer (reamp box) in front of the assym input instead, so the
> +4db signal
> > from the console gets knocked down to instrument level. that helps
> alot.
>
> Why do you need to step the signal down at all Just how big actually
> is it If by '+4db' you mean '4dBm', then this equates to a couple of
> volts at most, which you could safely stick straight into the 119
> asymmetric input, and thus save having to turn the gain up so much
>
> > also, seems that by the time i amplify the signal enough to get a
> healthy
> > envelope signal from the a119 the audio on output is really dull.
> maybe
> > there's an adjustment for making the envelope follower more
> sensitive..( )
>
> Yes, its called the gain control! It seems to me that making the
> signal big enough to drive the envelope circuitry is its main
> purpose! The envelope is developed by precision full-wave rectifying
> the signal, then low pass filtering - by the sound of it, what you
> would ideally want is a second gain stage in front of this so that
> the signal is bumped up high enough for the envelope stage
> independently of the audio out.
>
> Tim