Midas 522 Compressor Limiter

Full Description

Exceptional Dynamic Control

The Midas 522 enforces the importance of dynamics in music and sound. From delicate and intricate vocal lines, to the heaviest of guitar tones, dynamics are the organic life and excitement of any sound. The 522 provides exceptional dynamic processing capabilities, enhancing and controlling both soft and loud peaks, helping to deliver the perfect sonic performance. Compressing the signal assists in creating a sound with significantly more density, creating more impact with harmonic richness. It also allows subtle details to be heard exactly as they should be. The 522 also features a Presence control, enabling you to boost the high-mid audio frequencies, with a central frequency of around 5kHz. This is suitable for a wide array of instruments and sounds, allowing them to cut through dense mixes during compression. The Presence control is variable, and allows you to compress low frequencies with your specified ratio, whilst compressing the high-mid frequencies with a reduced ratio. It creates a much more natural sound, reducing compression is the most sensitive frequency range for our ears.

Manual & Automatic Modes

The 522's default mode works as a peak-sensing compressor, controlling peaks with instant adjustments in gain. This operation mode can often create a more obvious sense of compression, whilst allowing you to adjust the attack and release times to create the perfect compression characteristics for your sound. The 522 is equipped with an Auto switch, which bypasses these attack and release controls. Instead, the compressor will operate in RMS mode, which automatically adjusts the attack and release of the compressor in relation to the average input signal and your threshold and ratio settings. This automatic mode results in a smooth and more relaxed overall compression sound, often regarded as more natural and musical.

Adjustable Knee & Sidechain HPF

With a default soft knee compression response, the 522 creates a more natural sound by blurring the distinction between the signal levels below the threshold, and those that are over the threshold. Signals that occur just above the threshold setting are compressed at reduced ratios, reducing the sound of obvious compression. Signals that rise significantly above the threshold are compressed at the full ratio with a soft knee. However, a Hard switch allows you to swap over to a hard knee response. This mode features a much sharper transition between the signals above and below the threshold, perfect for use as a type of limiter compressor by providing full ratio compression much closer to the threshold setting. A small amount of soft knee is retained to ensure a natural overall sound in this mode.

As well as having a switchable knee response, the 522 also features a switch for engaging a sidechain high-pass filter. This in turn allows you to insert a 200Hz HPF into the compressor's side chain, removing the dominating low frequencies from the overall compression of the signal. This also results in the elimination of undesirable artefacts and pumping effects on the higher frequencies.

Features

• Compact 500 Series premium compressor/limiter with dynamic presence control
• Fully variably dynamic presence feature preserves high mid-range frequencies for a more natural sound during compression
• Dynamic presence control adds 'air' to vocals without introducing noise or pumping effects and reduces the risk of feedback during live performances
• Manual envelope controls with linear peak-sensing compression or easy-to-use Auto mode with RMS compression
• Soft or hard knee compressor response with selection switch
• Sidechain high pass filter with selection switch eliminates undesirable low frequency compression artefacts
• High-performance electronically balanced input stage with high CMRR
• Discrete transistor-driven transformer balanced output stage
• Precision gain reduction and signal level metering
• True hardware bypass selection switch removes all circuitry from the signal path when compression is not required
• Power-up mute relays prevent switch on thumps
• Premium quality components throughout provide crystal-clear audiophile signal path
• Designed and engineered in the UK

Specifications

• Threshold: -50dBu to +25dBu, Knob
• Ratio: 1:1 to Infinity, Knob
• Attack: 0.1ms to 20ms, Knob
• Release: 50ms to 2 Seconds, Knob
• Presence: Minimum to Maximum, Knob
• Makeup Gain: 0dB to +18dB, Knob
• Hard Knee/Soft Knee: Switch
• Sidechain High-Pass Filter: Switch
• Automatic Attack & Release: Switch
• Compressor In: Switch
• Input: Mono, Balanced Line
• Output: Mono, Balanced via Transformer
• Noise at Unity Gain: -95dBu (22Hz to 22kHz)
• CMRR, Unity Gain, 1kHz: -70dB (Typical)
• Input Impedance, 1kHz: 20 k Ohms
• Frequency Response, Unity Gain: 20Hz to 20kHz, +/-0.5dB
• Distortion, Unity Gain, 1kHz:
  • 0dBu: Less than 0.01 percent
  • +10dBu: Less than 0.01 percent
  • +20dBu: Less than 0.5 percent
• Maximum Input Level, 1kHz: +21dBu
• Maximum Output Level, 1kHz: +21dBu
• Output Impedance, 1kHz: 50 Ohms
• Gain Reduction Meter: 10 Segment, 2dB to 20dB in 2dB Steps
• Output Level Meter: 6 Segment, -30dBu to +20dBu in 10dB Steps
• Side Chain High Pass Filter: 200Hz, 12dB/Oct
• Voltage: +16V and -16V
• Power Consumption: 130mA, 4.2W
• Height: 132mm / 5.2''
• Width: 38mm / 1.5''
• Depth: 174mm / 6.9''
• Weight: 0.7kg / 1.5lbs