JuicedLink JL-DT454 Preamplifier user manual Rev 1.05
Contents
1. corner nenne unen una naa nun a uaa a uas 27 Page 2 www juicedLink com Dynamic Range Performance mmmmmmmmmmnmennmnnannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 27 AGC Disable scene snenedes scan diewintdeumssut dens HUEREMESEHERRERRRUERE 28 pc 29 Safety Mode Noise smmmmmmmmmmnmmmmmmmnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 30 Metering Setting the Appropriate Gain Trim Levels 32 Headphone Monitoring 1c creer rere e nena unu nu una un unu a ua ua ana 34 Playback Headphone Monitoring 1 e enero nena 34 Notes on Specific Cameras Leer rere nena a nana nana arua aas 35 Canon 5D Mark ll ee erre erreur eren nnn u unu an uan un an auaaR aun ax 35 Firmware Release 2 0 4 Lerner erre rennen ana nna nna an an 35 MagicLantern 3 Party Firmware eee eres erreur eren 36 Canon T2i 7D 1D Mark IV ene rere eren nonna annu nnu nuu nu an 37 Advanced TOPICS nnnnnmmnmennennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 39 Post Production Removing Tone oe eoru enun enun ana 39 Post Production Removing Right Track 40 ADDOnOdD esse uiua d nuu ERE AE a E ERR FRE HE RR RR EORR RESO RR C RED TTD EE RE RE 42 Subscribe to the juicedLink Blog ee er2. o Includes Stereo 3 5mm miniplug cable 1 8 Allen wrench key O OOO O Features and Specifications are subject to change without notice Return to Contents Get notified on User Manual and product updates Page 5 Subscribe at http www juicedlink com blog index htm Switch Panel Descriptions and Photos Photos DT454 XLR Adapter Preamp AGC Disabler TIP L RING R PHONES M 4 3o MA AES Ww back Monitor Operation pra PHONES down all the way vol control using TIP L RING R MO Page 6 Omissions Suggestions Contact Us www juicedLink com NPUT INPUT TIP RING XLR L XLR R e Mic 9 E HI e Line 7 LO A WO Mono Stereo Pan to L Norm HO E 3 2 o g EL E 2 Q j g z 4 Meter HI for AGC DIS or if camera gain can be throttled back nt X CE www juicedLink com Made in USA Return to Contents Get notified on User Manual and product updates Page 7 Subscribe at http www juicedlink com blog index html Front Panel Switches DT454 XLR Adapter Preamp AGC Disabler XLR L XLR R TIP L RING R PHONES NON N aN j Playback Monitor Operation turn PHONES down all the way PHONES LOW OUT BATT MIC LEVEL vol control using TIP L RING R MONO 1 ON OFF switch PWR indicator LED LOW BATT low battery indicator LED 2 TRIM controls for XLR L and XLR R microphone or line input channels 3 TRIM control
3. because of the logarithmic nature of audio pots then you can switch the GAIN to the LO position to get back into the sweet spot of the potentiometer s adjustment range Check out the Metering section for more details for appropriate level settings Return to Contents Page 26 Omissions Suggestions Contact Us www juicedLink com Camcorder Settings Consult the camera User Manual to learn what audio controls are provided It is preferred that cameras have manual override of their Automatic Gain Control AGC with control of the gain Some cameras do not have full control of the gain but provide a High and Low setting Others have no manual override of the AGC at all Low Noise Performance The general principle to improve your signal to noise performance is to throttle back the noisy camera amplifiers and replace that noisy gain with clean gain from the juicedLink low noise preamplifier This results in an improved signal to noise performance while recording fine audio detail such as dialogue Make sure you turn down all of the TRIM potentiometers on the DT454 which do not have a microphone connected to its input Preamps without the impedance of a microphone connected to their input have a high impedance at the preamp input which results in the preamp generating a lot of noise So turn down all of the TRIM potentiometers on the DT454 which do not have a microphone connected to its input If y
4. for TIP L RING R unbalanced inputs a Use LO setting when input is being used as a Playback Monitor MIC LINE switch settings for XLR L XLR R balanced inputs GAIN switch HI LO for XLR L XLR R balanced inputs Phantom PH power switch Generates either 48V or 12V in the power supply circuitry b Phantom voltage is not applied to the XLR input until the PH ON OFF switch is set to ON for the corresponding XLR L XLR R balanced input c Mics which work from 12V phantom power can considerably extend battery life 5 PH ON OFF switch routes the phantom voltage generated by the power supply circuit to the corresponding XLR L XLR R balanced input d Only apply phantom power to condenser mics which require phantom voltage e Never apply phantom power to unbalanced mic sources wireless mics etc or mixing boards 6 MONO combines the right and left inputs and presents the combination to each of the right and left outputs STEREO leaves the right and left inputs separated and only the corresponding input signal is presented to each the of the right and left outputs 7 PAN TO L combines the right and left input channels and presents the combination to the left output channel 8 Meter sensitivity switch f Hl to be used when either you have manual control of the camera gain and have throttled back its noisy gain or if your are using the AGC Disable feature of the DT454 to force the camera gain to throttle back T
5. have different gain lineups and require adjustment of the meter Check to see if your camera is listed in the Notes on Specific Cameras section This list includes Canon 5D Markil Canon T2i 7D 1D Mark IV Page 32 Omissions Suggestions Contact Us www juicedLink com For a camera which has manual control throttling the gain to about 1 3 full gain is a good place to start Different cameras may have a different sweet spot for lowest noise performance with decent dynamic range You will have to conduct some recording tests to experiment Some cameras do not have a meter and only coarse granularity of manual control such as a low medium and high setting Start with your camera s low setting and conduct some tests where your audio signal on the DT454 meter peaks splash into the 3 amber LED but do not hit or infrequently hit the 4 red LED If your camera has a meter then follow these steps to get started 1 Connect a mic to your DT454 and adjust the GAIN and TRIM volume potentiometer settings so that when you speak into your microphone the meter peaks splash to the 3 amber DT454 LED without illuminating the 4 red LED or infrequently doing so 2 Throttle back the camera gain until the peaks splash just past the 12dB full scale meter reading on the camera Now your DT454 and camera meters for the given camera setting are calibrated Make sure you turn down all of
6. it comes to production audio If you are forced to use an AGC Disable technique because your camera does not have manual control then we are of the opinion that even if you choose to use the TONE approach you should abandon the camera s right track and only use the clean left track for recording Then use the PAN TO L switch to route any right channel microphones XLR R or RING R to the clean left recording track See the Post Production Removing Right Track section for more details If you do attempt to use the right track then the 20KHz tone will also be recorded with your audio on the right track Even though this 20KHz tone is inaudible for most people you should take the exira step to remove this tone in post production Your final product may get resampled by a compression algorithm that you don t control YouTube etc and result in an aliased artifact of the tone back in the audio band See the Post Production Removing Tone for more details With either the TONE or NOISE approach you will use the METER in the HI setting The meter sensitivity has been pre calibrated for a typical camera If further calibration is desired then see the Meter section for more details as there may be exceptions Safety Mode Noise The NOISE setting injects a broadband uncorrelated noise signal into the right recording track of the camera This leaves the left track clean for recording ER CRUE SRE Right Track
7. the TIP L and RING R inputs have their gain settings controlled by one switch so both will either be HI or LO When setting up the user will typically start with the GAIN in the HI position If you find that the correct level settings see Meter section require use of the TRIM potentiometers volume control knobs near the full counter clockwise position where small changes in the potentiometer position result in large changes in signal because of the logarithmic nature of audio pots then you can switch the GAIN to the LO position to get back into the sweet spot of the potentiometer s adjustment range Check out the Metering section for more details for appropriate level settings For Playback Monitor settings see the Playback Monitor Section Return to Contents Get notified on User Manual and product updates Page 25 Subscribe at http www juicedlink com blog index htm TRIM Potentiometers DT454 XLR Adapter Preamp AGC Disabler XLR L XLR R TIP L RING R PHONES OUT MIC LEVEL The Block Diagram illustrates where the TRIM potentiometers volume control knobs are located in the system When setting up the user will typically start with the GAIN in the HI position If you find that the correct level settings see Meter section require use of the TRIM potentiometers volume control knobs near the full counter clockwise position where small changes in the potentiometer position result in large changes in signal
8. the mixer that the microphone is plugged into and that voltage gets transmitted up the microphone cable to power the condenser microphone element This is what is known as phantom power INPUT TIP RING XLR R 2 e S U D lt gt D O 2 3 S d 10 ndul IW JO ONIY dI L Page 20 Omissions Suggestions Contact Us www juicedLink com 1 Choose what function the phantom power generator circuit should perform by selecting PH OFF 12V 48V on the selector switch 2 Route the voltage produced by the phantom power generator circuit to the XLR input which requires phantom power with PH ON OFF switch for the corresponding XLR L or XLR R input The DT454 does not provide T Powering General Phantom Power Microphone Tips e f you are in the market for new microphones then consider o Amicrophone that works from phantom power only will be much shorter and lighter since it does not have the added weight length for the battery making it easer to boom or mount to camera when necessary o Consider a microphone that will work down to 12V phantom power This will considerably extend the battery life of the DT454 There are many excellent modern microphones with this capability e f your microphone will work from a battery already then operate the microphone from the battery instead of phantom power This is much more power efficient for the system and will result in longer battery life In som
9. uana 14 Mounting to Tripod error eren eran unen una un rau ua rau aua uR ana 15 Output Connection to Camera Le eene eae n enean una un an 16 Powering cor nounu uuu uan unana una uar nana Rua eee eee 17 Alkaline Battery Life eere error errare enean una an una nar uana an 17 Rechargeable Batteries eser eene nenne nena unu nn una ua 17 Input Connections e rere erue enne nuu u nu una nara uaa na mauu rua ua ana 18 TIP L RING R Unbalanced Input 2e eoe eene enun 18 XLR L XLR R Balanced Input er eroe enean 19 XLR L XLR R with Unbalanced Sources Wireless Etc 19 Phantom POWER coke cuui aw ER RR RED DRM RD RR E ENERO 20 MIC LINE Switches eere rore rere ene n unen unu nnu nan uu urn r na uua 22 MONO STEREO Switch eere eere enne annue nun annua rua ua un ana 23 PAN TO L NORM ec eren eurn enun unu nanuuunr urna usRna uuu arua uas 24 GAIN Settings mmmmmmmmmmnnannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnne 25 TRIM Potentiometers Lee rere aenean enun unu una nara una u uaa ua 26 Camcorder Settings mmmmmmmmmmmnnennannnnnnnnnannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnne 27 Low Noise Performance
10. Output Amplified Mic Level LEFT 4 Mono Stereo oPantoL o RIGHT AGC DISABLE OFF TONE SAFETY NOISE METERS TELE HI MO TRIM PHONES MONO 1 Return to Contents Page 13 Mounting to Camera DT454 XLR Adapter Preamp AGC Disabler XLR L XLR R TIP L RING R PHONES v Mi FE ack Monitor Operation LOW ira PHONES down all the way BATT vol control using TIPL RING R MON on t OUT MIC LEVEL Use the 1 8 Hex Key included Insert the Hex Key into the bottom of the 4 20 mounting screw and rotate the mounting screw into the 14 20 threads in the base of the camera The Hex Key provides leverage so the 14 20 mounting screw can be secured tightly Return to Contents Page 14 Omissions Suggestions Contact Us www juicedLink com Mounting to Tripod INPUT TIP RING Q XLR L XLR R 2 z Mic H Line gt e Mono Stereo Pan to L Norm I O 1 ON OFF xr a XLR R INPUT O Meter HI for AGC DIS or if camera galaan be throttled back B s Read the instruction manual www juicedLink com Made in USA d s i i d 1d JOWUOWy xoeq ejd 10 O1 v 2 r4 o g z o 3 zi 9 D 2 o D Q Q 3 S Approx size of Manfrotto quick release mounting plate 20 Threads The bottom of the DT454 has 4 20 threads for mounting to the top of a tripod or other device Typ
11. SU CCELink User s Manual DT454 XLR Adapter Preamplifier AGC Disabler Canon Olet X R Adag Pom AGC E mon 2010 juicedLink LLC ENGLISH All Rights Reserved DT454 User Manual Rev1 05 Click on heading to jump to page Contents ise sane ste nanaseceenuensesaauscausacusacessasacusdsuuasussdesedusiedussuaadecesdsuadeaun 2 Read This FWSL uses nxisicicu Ri sai i os E n RD donnes mmueennaninennnn 4 Warnings General e enero r urna n uan nu uaa unr aua uar aua Ra anu ra aua an 4 Generals sss iEveaE eh nono 5 Features Specifications e eere rere eren nean n nun uaa u raa un ana 5 Switch Panel Descriptions and Photos eese 6 119 40 LPS eee 6 Front Panel Switches mmmmmmmmmnmmnnmmnnnennennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnne 8 Side Back Inputs uus icis nw id aiu n Ui m FER RED DR AME E DRM 9 Bottom Switches mmsmmmnmmmnmmnnmnnnnnannnnnennennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnne 10 Included Heise iiiixicwkabri Gu duin E a REO MID RR DAD E RN 12 ACCOSSOFIBS iaisanecsMRaS Ha AREE RR MAREERREERANA NNNSESEMEENNMSRNNMAEERRRRRRRER ERRRENRANAR 12 Block Diagram Basic ee erre eror erra e annua unu nnu hau uana ana 13 Basic Operation cer rer errare nuu aa una nauaa nara raa Rar aua u uaa uan 14 Mounting to Camera errore ene e nuu annua nara unu r nua Ra
12. Tube etc and result in an aliased artifact of the tone back in the audio band 1 Audacity a This technique utilizes the Nyquist plug in for Audacity called Notch i Download and install the plug in here http audacity sourceforge net download nyquistplugins ii You will need to restart Audacity after the plug in is placed in the proper directory b Measure the exact tone frequency in your clip i Use your mouse to select the waveform in the right track li ANALYZE gt PLOT SPECTRUM will bring up a frequency analysis window of your waveform iii Change the number of samples from 512 to 2048 iv Move the cursor over the 20KHz tone and note the frequency c Use Notch to knock down the tone amplitude i Use your mouse to select the waveform in the right track li EFFECT gt NOTCH FILTER brings up the Notch program iii Change the Default Choice to 2 This allows you to enter your own custom notch frequency iv Change the notch frequency to the frequency you noted from the plot of the frequency spectrum above v Set the notch Q to 1 vi Click OK d See that the tone amplitude has been knocked down i Use your mouse to select the waveform in the right track li ANALYZE gt PLOT SPECTRUM will bring up a frequency analysis window of your waveform iii Notice the tone amplitude is now knocked down Return to Contents Get notified on User Manual and product updates Page 39 Subscribe at http www juicedlink com blog index h
13. ated for a typical camera If further calibration is desired then see the Meter section for more details as there may be exceptions Return to Contents Get notified on User Manual and product updates Page 31 Subscribe at http www juicedlink com blog index htm Metering Setting the Appropriate Gain Trim Levels OFF OFF LO CI Mono Stereo m Pan to L Norm JOWUOW YOGAL q 10 07 duj 1oJuoy YORQAL q 10 yndu SIN 10 ONIY diL Whenever your camera has its own meters the camera meters are the final arbiter for the appropriate level settings The meter on the DT454 will be used so that the signal peaks splash into the 3 amber LED but do not hit or infrequently hit the 4 red LED But the correct meter settings for the corresponding situation must be used The bottom of the unit has a METER switch The METER LO position has been calibrated for a typical camera with its AGC in operation When you want to optimize dynamic range instead of noise performance then you will want to take advantage of the camera s AGC See the Dynamic Range Performance section for more details The METER HI position has been calibrated for a typical camera using one of the AGC DISABLE approaches or a camera whose gain has been manually throttled back See the Low Noise Performance and AGC Disable sections for more details There are exceptions to these general rules Different camera platforms
14. clean audio Left Track As such you will NOT be able to use the right track of the camera to record your microphones If you have any microphones plugged into the right input channels XLR R or RING R then you must use the PAN TO L switch to route those signals over to the left output channel Although you sacrifice one recording channel the NOISE approach is a much more stable and repeatable technique for AGC DISABLE Page 30 Omissions Suggestions Contact Us www juicedLink com However another valid approach would be to use the TONE and abandon the right track just the same You may want to test out each approach to see what works best with your system In post you will need to delete the right track of audio containing the disable signal See the Post Production Removing Right Track for more details Special note regarding Canon Cameras 1 The microphone input on the camera does not get activated until the camera begins to RECORD for the first time 2 Until you hit RECORD and activate the microphone input you will hear noise in the DT454 headphones Once you hit RECORD the noise in the headphones goes away and doesn t return until the camera power gets cycled 3 After the camera power gets cycled you will need to hit RECORD again to eliminate the noise in the headphones With either the TONE or NOISE approach you will use the METER in the HI setting The meter sensitivity has been pre calibr
15. dphone amplifier for playback monitoring set the DT454 with the following configuration e TIP L RING R GAIN set to LO e Turn down the PHONES volume control all of the way e Use the TIP L RING R TRIM volume control knobs as the volume control for the headphones Plug the camera s AVout into the DT454 TIP L RING R input The AVout jack has 4 contacts so you can t use a standard 3 contact stereo miniplug cable Custom cables can be made Alternatively many cameras come with an AVout to RCA cable You can use an inexpensive Stereo 3 5mm Male to 2x RCA Female Y Cable see Hosa part numbers YRA 167 and YRA 154 If the NOISE AGC Disable approach was used then simply do not plug in the right red channel since this will be abandoned anyhow Return to Contents Page 34 Omissions Suggestions Contact Us www juicedLink com Canon 5D Mark Il Firmware Release 2 0 4 With firmware release 2 0 4 Canon has provided manual control for audio It also provides for a meter But the meter is only visible during setup not during recording This is a welcome addition We hope to see firmware updates from all DSLR manufacturers for all cameras to add audio features For lowest noise performance while recording fine audio detail you will want to manually throttle back the camera gain and replace that noisy gain with clean gain from the juicedLink low noise preamplifier Follow the directions from Canon for how to navigate t
16. e cases there are differences in the mic performance between phantom power and battery power But these differences are negligible and mostly have to do with the maximum SPL handling capability of the microphone which is not a very important parameter for general use e Check out more information about battery life in the Powering section Return to Contents Get notified on User Manual and product updates Page 21 Subscribe at http www juicedlink com blog index htm MIC LINE Switches INPUT TIP RING Pan to L Norm p O o m wu iV lt 4 i x O m d 10 yndu SIW 10 ONIY diL The LINE position inserts a 40dB attenuator before the preamps in the XLR L and XLR R signal chains For typical microphone use the MIC position is selected Return to Contents Page 22 Omissions Suggestions Contact Us www juicedLink com MONO STEREO Switch INPUT TIP RING Mic eine SU 0e HI mi to L Norm O o a iV lt o i x O o m d 10 indu SW 10 ONIY diL As illustrated by the Block Diagram the STERO switch position keeps the right and left signal channels independent from each other and presents them to the corresponding right and left output connections of the OUT minijack The MONO switch position combines the right and left signals and presents the combination to both the right and left output connections of the OUT mi
17. e eere enun 42 Care and Maintenance cer rere er rne e nan an uan an anra aua a nux 42 Warranty Service and Returns eere rena e nena nna nas 42 Compliance cusannuauaER Man RRESKRRRURERERANSREKN ERR EENNRENRMHRSERHRRNENE ERAN NEM 42 DT454 XLR Adapter Preamplifier AGC Disabler Page 3 Before operating the unit please read this manual thoroughly Any future revisions will be posted on the website and available for download Get notified on new revisions of this User Manual product updates new product releases and tutorial videos Subscribe to the blog www juicedlink com blog index html Notes regarding documentation in this manual are as follows References to markings labels on the unit are denoted in underline bold For example HPF Warnings will be preceded with WARNING Warnings General WARNING Failure to read and observe notes and warnings may result in personal injury and or possible damage to this device and your other equipment This device as well as any device with a headphone amplifier is capable of driving the signal at levels that can be damaging to hearing Always operate the headphone volume at the lowest practical level Do not wear the headphones over your ears in any of the following circumstances While plugging the headphones into the headphone driving device While plugging the mixer into the headphone driving device While
18. has facilities for individual control of 4 audio inputs TIP L RING R Unbalanced Input For details regarding Playback Monitoring see the Playback Monitoring section The TIP L RING R is an unbalanced stereo minijack input with individual TRIM controls for each enabling two separate microphones to be controlled and used Unless otherwise reconfigured by the PAN TO L or MONO switches TIP L is routed to the left output channel and RING R is routed to the right output channel This is illustrated in the Block Diagram section Multi channel wireless microphone systems with separate microphones on the miniplug ring tip output will interface directly into the TIP L RING R minijack input Unbalanced mics such as the Rode VideoMic Stereo VideoMic also interface directly into the TIP L RING R minijack input There may be occasions when you want to connect two mics which have their own mono miniplugs This is easily accomplished with a Stereo 3 5mm Male to 2x Mono 3 5mm Female Y Cable see Hosa part number YMM 261 There may be occasions when you want to connect consumer type devices with RCA unbalanced outputs This can easily be accomplished with a Stereo 3 5mm Male to 2x RCA Female Y Cable see Hosa part numbers YRA 167 and YRA 154 Page 18 Omissions Suggestions Contact Us www juicedLink com XLR L XLR R Balanced Input Unless otherwise reconfigured by the PAN TO L or MONO switches XLR L is routed to the left ou
19. he firmware menus Set the AGC Disable switch to the OFF position To get started with a setup for low noise performance follow these steps 1 Connect a mic to your DT454 and adjust the GAIN and TRIM volume potentiometer settings so that when you speak into your microphone the meter peaks splash to the 3 amber DT454 LED without illuminating the 4 red LED or infrequently doing so 2 Throttle back the camera gain until the peaks splash just past the 12dB full scale meter reading on the camera This is usually around clicks 3 6 above the lowest off setting At this setting the camera and DT454 meters are calibrated This provides for reasonably good low noise performance However the lowest noise performance will be achieved with the lowest gain setting on the 5D 1 click above the lowest off setting This may be just a little outside the factory calibration for the DT454 METER HI setting You can run the DT454 meter a little hot Or you can try and get the DT454 calibration a little bit closer to the 5D 1 click setting 1 Set the 5D gain on the 1 click above off setting 2 Connect a mic to your DT454 and adjust the GAIN and TRIM volume potentiometer settings so that when you speak into your microphone the meter on the 5D peaks splash up to the 12dB full scale point Get notified on User Manual and product updates Page 35 Subscribe at http www juicedlink com blog index htm 3 Use a small screwdriver in the
20. his setting is most commonly used for typical operation g LO setting when camera AGC is running with no efforts to throttle it back 9 AGC DISABLE feature of the DT454 to improve signal to noise performance on cameras which do not have manual control h TONE injects a 20kHz tone into the camera s right track to spoof its i Safety Mode NOISE AGC Disable approach injects a broadband noise signal into the camera s right track to spoof its AGC algorithm into throttling back its noisy gain 10 4 20 thread for mounting DT454 on top of a tripod etc 11 Hex key receptacle USE HEX KEY included HERE TO TURN 4 20 SCREW INTO CAMERA FOR MOUNTING TO BOTTOM OF CAMERA D Return to Contents Get notified on User Manual and product updates Page 11 Subscribe at http www juicedlink com blog index htm Included Items 1 Stereo minijack cable Use to connect mic output of DT454 to the mic input on the camera 2 Hex key USE HEX KEY TO TURN 4 20 SCREW INTO CAMERA FOR MOUNTING TO BOTTOM OF CAMERA Return to Contents Accessories TBD Return to Contents Page 12 Omissions Suggestions Contact Us www juicedLink com Block Diagram Basic PHANTOM 12 48V LEFT RIGHT TRIM oH LO o PHANTOM 12 48V Minijack Mic Playback Monitor Input HI Mer y Li Get notified on User Manual and product updates Subscribe at http www juicedlink com blog index html Minijack
21. hole that is next to the HI setting switch and rotate the potentiometer counterclockwise to get the calibration closer The meter has a limited calibration range but you should be able to get the correlation fairly close MagicLantern 3 Party Firmware MagicLantern is 3 party firmware that was written by a genius for the 5D platform It is not from Canon so you need to do your due diligence to understand the risks of what you are getting yourself into It has very useful tools and has a lot of users you can converse with the users on the typical video production message boards but as it is not from Canon it is not a solution for everybody However MagicLantern provides for even more control than the Canon firmware does It has meters that are always visible so those will be the final arbiter for level settings It allows you to control the camera s analog gain the Canon firmware throttles back the digital gain so you can achieve even lower signal to noise performance with a 5D running MagicLantern being fed by juicedLink low noise preamplifiers Since the DT454 has even more available gain than the juicedLink CX family of preamps the 5D analog gain can be set to OdB gain for even lower noise performance than was even achievable before That said most people will find that the performance with the Canon 2 0 4 firmware is more than sufficient for quality audio performance Page 36 Omissions Suggestions Contact Us www juicedL
22. ically users will mount their equipment to a quick release plate first The switch locations of the DT454 were designed such that the most frequently used switches Gain Phantom Power and Panning are most readily available to the user The illustration shows what portion of the DT454 base is occupied by a typical quick release mounting plate Manfrotto 357 The plate limits access only to items rarely used Sometimes these are only used once at setup with your equipment Return to Contents Get notified on User Manual and product updates Page 15 Subscribe at http www juicedlink com blog index htm Output Connection to Camera To camera 3 5mm minijack mic input DT454 XLR Adapter Preamp AGC Disabler XLR L XLR R TIP L RING R PHONES ae 1 oP ee Sy Playback Monitor Operation OW OUT turn PHONES down all the way PHONES pd MIC LEVEL vol control using TIP L RING R MONO Use the included 3 5mm stereo miniplug cable and plug one end into the DT454 OUT jack Then plug the other end into the camera s 3 5mm minijack microphone input Note some cameras may use 2 5mm plugs instead of 3 5mm plugs Inexpensive adapters are available to make the required connection Return to Contents Page 16 Omissions Suggestions Contact Us www juicedLink com Powering Place a fresh 9V alkaline battery into the DT454 battery tray using the correct orientation Flip the PWR switch to ON The PWR i
23. in see the Low Noise Performance section However some cameras do not have manual control The DT454 AGC Disable feature forces the camera s AGC to throttle back its noisy gain by sending a signal either NOISE or TONE into the camera s right channel as illustrated by the Block Diagram to improve signal to noise performance The camera senses the presence of a strong signal in the right track and the camera s AGC function then throttles back its noisy gain Page 28 Omissions Suggestions Contact Us www juicedLink com Even with the AGC Disable technique there are limitations in usability and performance The technique greatly improves signal to noise performance taking what was unusable audio and providing you with something that you can work with But it generally will not provide as high quality signal to noise performance compared to a camera which already has manual controls Additionally there is a good chance that you will have to abandon one of your recording tracks the camera s right channel where the AGC Disable signal is routed If you have not yet selected a camera we recommend that you consider one which already has manual control of its audio Tone The TONE setting injects a 20KHz tone into the right recording track of the camera This frequency is selected since it is beyond the audible range for most people and is an attempt to continue to use the camera s right track for recording This may
24. ink com Canon T2i 7D 1D Mark IV Different camera platforms with varying gain lineups and firmware implementations vary in terms of their required input signal level to optimize signal to noise while also having sufficient margin to headroom distortion The factory HI and LO meter settings try to balance the needs across platforms But the may not be optimal for every camera This section will describe some simple steps to get the DT454 meter more precisely calibrated to the gain needs of your camera while using the AGC Disable feature of the DT454 We will use the known output signal level of the AGC Disable s noise signal for calibration So we will take the output of the DT454 with the noise signal and feed that back to the DT454 input Then you will adjust a potentiometer to a pre determined position and signal level Then you will use a small screwdriver to adjust one of the meter potentiometers so the meter is calibrated to that signal level Follow these steps 1 Start with all of the front panel potentiometers volume controls for XLR L XLR R etc turned all of the way down counterclockwise 2 Take the stereo minijack cable and connect one end to the DT 454 OUT jack and the other end to the DT454 TIP RING INPUT jack 3 Set the AGC Disable switch to the NOISE setting 4 Set the GAIN for the RING TIP INPUT to the LO setting on the bottom of the DT454 5 On the front panel turn the RING R potentiometer v
25. ndicator LED will illuminate When the battery starts to get so low that you should change it then the LOW BATT indicator LED will illuminate This indicator is calibrated for alkaline type batteries Note it is possible for a battery to be so dead that it doesn t have enough juice to power the LOW BATT indicator circuitry or LED but it can still illuminate the PWR LED With such a nearly completely dead battery the unit will not operate even though the LED indicators may lead you to believe that it should Alkaline Battery Life Battery life varies and depends on numerous factors Use of phantom power takes up battery resources especially at 48V See the Phantom Power section for tips on optimizing power efficiency Here are some estimates for typical continuous usage from a fresh 9V alkaline battery No Phantom 7hrs With one 2mA mic 12V 5hrs With one 2mA mic 48V 2hrs Rechargeable Batteries The iPowerUS 9V Lithium Polymer is a good choice for a rechargeable battery http www ipowerus com Products DC9V500 DC9V500 htm These are nice because of their high capacity and fast recharge time The higher capacity also extends battery life Here is an estimate for typical continuous usage from a fresh battery of this type With one 2mA mic 48V 5hrs Return to Contents Get notified on User Manual and product updates Page 17 Subscribe at http www juicedlink com blog index htm Input Connections The DT454
26. nijack This can save a small step in post production when using a single mono mic Note the MONO switch position will result in a loss of some gain because of the loading effect The DT454 has sufficient maximum gain to make up for this loss in most circumstances Return to Contents Get notified on User Manual and product updates Page 23 Subscribe at http www juicedlink com blog index htm PAN TO L NORM INPUT TIP RING XLR L XLR R E 1 4 Mic line y zu Mono Stereo LCI Pan to L Norm JOYUOW YORGAL q 10 O1 d 10 yndu OW 10 ONIY dL As illustrated by the Block Diagram the PAN TO L switch position routes the right channel over to the left channel So PAN TO L is used to route XLR R and RING R to the left channel for recording This is utilized when you are using right channel mics XLR R or RING R and plan on abandoning the track containing the TONE or NOISE AGC Disable signal track right Note when using the NOISE AGC Disable signal you must abandon the right recording track See more details in the AGC Disable section Return to Contents Page 24 Omissions Suggestions Contact Us www juicedLink com GAIN Settings TIP RING med O e V D lt o QD E O A q e Q JO jndu IW 10 ONIY dl L The Block Diagram illustrates where the low noise preamplifiers are located in the system Note that the two low noise preamps for
27. olume control to the eleven o clock position 7 Just above the LO lettering on the bottom of the DT454 locate small hole in the aluminum enclosure Behind this hole is a potentiometer that calibrates the meter sensitivity for the LO setting 8 Using a small screwdriver 1 16 adjust the LO METER potentiometer so the 3 LED is illuminated Get notified on User Manual and product updates Page 37 Subscribe at http www juicedlink com blog index htm 9 While recording use the LO meter setting and adjust to keep the peaks below the red LED Remember when using an AGC Disable technique and abandoning the camera s right recording track recommended if you are using a microphone plugged into a right channel input then you will need to use the PAN to L switch setting The AGC Disable technique yields very good results and is a vast improvement beyond the camera s standard noisy performance However you should know that it will not be quite as good as a camera which already has manual gain control On our website you will find videos demonstrating the performance improvement of the AGC Disable technique Page 38 Omissions Suggestions Contact Us www juicedLink com Post Production Removing Tone Even though this 20KHz tone is inaudible for most people you should take the extra step to remove this tone in post production Your final product may get resampled by a compression algorithm that you don t control You
28. our camera does not have manual controls then see the AGC Disable section for more details Dynamic Range Performance When you are in an unpredictable signal level environment say a birthday party where kids could suddenly scream then it is best to utilize the AGC in the camera to provide you with the widest dynamic range of overload protection Fortunately in such environments like a birthday party the ambient noise level is high enough where you do not need to push your equipment to achieve its best available signal to noise performance anyway Use the camera s automatic AGC setting and set the METER to the LO position See the Metering section for more details as there may be exceptions Return to Contents Get notified on User Manual and product updates Page 27 Subscribe at http www juicedlink com blog index htm AGC Disable OFF OFF LO 1 Viono Stereo Imm Pan to L Norm JOWUOW xoeqKeld 10 OT OFF Tone Noise AGC Disable U 2 G S J DU Cc ge O A oO W x j O m gt For cameras which do not have any manual override of their AGC Automatic Gain Control the DT454 offers 2 methods to defeat the AGC Signal to noise is improved when noisy camera amplifiers are throttled back and the noisy camera gain is replaced by clean gain in the juicedLink low noise preamplifiers This is easily accomplished with cameras having manual control of audio ga
29. s for TIP L and RING R microphone or playback monitor input channels 4 Left L and Right R channel signal level meters 5 Output OUT at an amplified mic level which connects to the microphone input of your camera through a stereo minijack cable included 6 Headphone PHONES minijack output and volume control Return to Contents Page 8 Omissions Suggestions Contact Us www juicedLink com Side Back Inputs 1 Camera mounting screw 1 4 20 a USE HEX KEY included and insert into the bottom of the screw to rotate the screw into the camera threads to mount to camera 2 9V battery tray 3 Audio Inputs XLR L left and XLR R right balanced mic or line inputs unbalanced capable 4 Audio Inputs TIP L left and RING R right unbalanced mic inputs or playback monitor inputs Return to Contents Get notified on User Manual and product updates Page 9 Subscribe at http www juicedlink com blog index html Bottom Switches INPUT INPUT TIP RING XLR L Q XLR L XLR R s 2 4 Mic Line B Mono Stereo 5 Pan to L Norm ON JOJUOW yoegq eld JO 07 AGC Disable U 2 do Q S o j U c gs z v 2 o w x 3 d o gt o amp DIS or if camera gain can be throttled back B Read the instruction manual www juicedLink com Made in USA Page 10 Omissions Suggestions Contact Us www juicedLink com 1 GAIN switch HI LO
30. sructions a Delete the right track i Drag clip into timeline and select it with your mouse Page 40 Omissions Suggestions Contact Us www juicedLink com ii MODIFY gt LINK to unlink the audio from the video iii MODIFY gt STEREO PAIR to unline the right and left audio tracks iv Use mouse to select and delete the right track b Pan the left track to center i Select double click the remaining left A1 track ii Pan should currently read 1 iii Click the slider and move it towards the center so it reads 0 v Enjoy your clean audio Return to Contents Get notified on User Manual and product updates Page 41 Subscribe at http www juicedlink com blog index htm Subscribe to the juicedLink Blog Get notified on new revisions of this User Manual product updates new product releases and tutorial videos Subscribe to the blog www juicedlink com blog index html Return to Contents Care and Maintenance There is no specific maintenance regimen recommended Return to Contents Warranty Service and Returns The design of the juicedLink family of ultra portable mixers is uncompromising in quality and performance and utilizes top grade professional components We are proud of our product and are committed to servicing you to make your customer experience positive The Policies page on the juicedLink com website describes the details of the conditions for returns limited one year warranty and ins
31. the TRIM potentiometers on the DT454 which do not have a microphone connected to its input Preamps without the impedance of a microphone connected to their input have a high impedance at the preamp input which results in the preamp generating a lot of noise So turn down all of the TRIM potentiometers on the DT454 which do not have a microphone connected to its input If itis desirable to adjust the meter sensitivity there are adjustment potentiometers behind the holes in the bottom of the enclosure next to the HI and LO markings which provide a limited adjustment range Return to Contents Get notified on User Manual and product updates Page 33 Subscribe at http www juicedlink com blog index htm Headphone Monitoring As illustrated by the Block Diagram the headphones output a mono signal combining both the right and left channels into each of the headphone earcups At high gain the small consumer grade headphone amp can produce a lot of noise Fortunately for most circumstances where the camera gain has been throttled back either manually or by the AGC Disable feature the signal level is relatively high so the headphone gain can be turned down where the headphone amp noise is relatively low Return to Contents Playback Headphone Monitoring As illustrated by the Block Diagram the headphones output a mono signal combining both the right and left channels into each of the headphone earcups To use the hea
32. tm Post Production Removing Right Track The NOISE setting injects a broadband uncorrelated noise signal into the right recording track of the camera This leaves the left track clean for recording ner CRUE sme Right Track clean audio Left Track As such you will NOT be able to use the right track of the camera to record your microphones You may have also determined that you wish to use the TONE AGC Defeat signal and abandon the right recording track just the same In post you will need to delete the right track of audio containing the disable signal 2 Sony Vegas a Right click on the audio track b Select Channels c Select Left Only for the final mix 3 Final Cut Express a Delete the right track i Modify Link to unlink the audio from video li Modify gt Stereo Pair to unlink the right and left audio tracks iii Use mouse and select the right track iv Delete the right track b Copy the left track to the right track position i Make sure the Auto Toggle icon the icon to the right of the lock audio track icon for the right track is the only Auto Toggle icon activated ii Use mouse to select the left track iii Copy iv Paste Since the right track is the only track with the Auto Toggle icon activated it will paste into this track v You may need to select the right edge of the pasted audio track and expand stretch the track to fill the rest of the timeline 4 Final Cut Express Alternate In
33. tput channel and XLR R is routed to the right output channel This is illustrated in the Block Diagram section Balanced sources such as XLR balanced microphones or line level signals from a balanced sound board can be plugged directly into XLR L and XLR R See the sections on Phantom Power and MIC LINE switches for more details XLR L XLR R with Unbalanced Sources Wireless Etc XLR L and XLR R are capable of interfacing with unbalanced sources However the proper XLR connector must be used This XLR connector must connect pin 1 with pin 3 which effectively grounds the balanced cold signal where the balanced hot signal remains for connection with the unbalanced source Without this special connector which connects pin1 to pin3 the signal will not be processed by the DT454 balanced receiver and the result is that there will be no output signal for this input WARNING Do not apply phantom power to any of these connectors which connect pin1 to pin3 You will be shorting out the phantom voltage and can potentially damage your equipment Here are some examples of connectors which connect pin 1 to pin 3 Rode VXLR Get notified on User Manual and product updates Page 19 Subscribe at http www juicedlink com blog index htm Hosa GXM133 Ans Return to Contents Phantom Power Condenser microphones require a voltage to operate Some will take their own battery Others require that a voltage is generated by
34. tructions for obtaining service for your product Return to Contents Compliance This device falls under the classification of FCC part 15 subpart B section 15 103 Please refer to the FCC part 15 manual for details on conditions of operation This device has also been tested to meet CE certification standards Return to Contents Page 42 Omissions Suggestions Contact Us www juicedLink com
35. turning on or off the mixer While turning on or off the phantom power While plugging a device into the input of the mixer This device its enclosure and the connections to cable shields that plug into this device are conductive Avoid electrocution and observe caution with cable runs near areas where high voltages and or currents may exist Page 4 Omissions Suggestions Contact Us www juicedLink com Features Specifications e General Features o 4 microphone channels 2 XLR 2 unbalanced o Meters 4 segment LED each right left 2 sensitivity settings high low adjustable for calibration valuable for new 5D firmware where meters are not visible during recording o 2 AGC Disable choices Tone Safety mode broadband noise o 30dB low noise max gain single ended stereo This is even more available max gain than the CX family of preamps This is additional gain is very valuable with the new Canon 5D 2 0 4 firmware release as well as MagicLantern users Headphone amplifier Playback Monitor 48V phantom plus 12V phantom power saving mode Low noise preamp see THAT1512 datasheet for details on XLR preamp Power Single 9V Alkaline or Li polymer battery not included See Powering Section for more details o Mechanical Black Anodized Aluminum enclosure for EMI protection and rugged use Mounts to bottom of camera and top of tripod Case Dimensions 4 5 x 3 2 x 1 5 Weight 10 ounces no battery
36. work OK on some cameras and may not work at all on other cameras Continued use of the right recording track depends on the camera s Nyquist Anti Aliasing Low Pass Filter to be working extremely effectively Otherwise the inaudible 20KHz tone can produce aliased artifacts in the audio band You will need to run tests to validate the effectiveness of this approach with your equipment Evaluation of these tests must be done with the clip pulled into your computer or with playback monitoring since the headphone monitoring takes place before the recording device If the evaluation of recorded audio is not to your satisfaction then you will either abandon the right recording track while using the TONE or use the Safety Mode NOISE approach In either case if you are using right channel microphones XLR R or RING R then you will use the PAN TO L switch to route those mics to the clean recording channel left If you are going attempt to use the right recording track then you should test this out before each shot Some AGC algorithms which not only change their gain settings but also play around with filter roll off frequency settings This not only effects aliasing which can produce in band tone effects but also creates audible pops and clicks as the parameters get adjusted by the firmware Get notified on User Manual and product updates Page 29 Subscribe at http www juicedlink com blog index htm We are risk averse when
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