KORNEFF Audio Talkback Limiter User Manual

KORNEFF Audio Talkback Limiter

Talkback Limiter

In the 1980s, the sound of this Talkback Limiter instantly became a secret weapon in many a producer’s sonic arsenals. First found in the classic SL4000 E series console, the talkback circuit was designed to be a down and dirty, heavy-handed limiter to prevent the return of a studio communications microphone from overloading. Its fixed attack and release values were, accidentally, found to be perfect for obliterating drum mics in the most beautiful way. The original consoles required surgery to access the talkback limiter’s output for recording. Luckily, we’re in the digital age, where you don’t need a console or console surgery! Our Talkback Limiter plug-in model gives you that classic “pump” and “smack” you know and love, with the added ability to pop open the lid and tweak the inner workings of the compressor circuit.  Talkback Limiter 1.1 is an upgrade. It includes a new preset browser system, which is now standard on all Korneff Audio plugins, as well as bug fixes. Additionally, there is a modification to the functionality and gain structure of the Input area of the plugin. We’ve added System/Machine authorization to the iLOK security that protects our plugins. You can now license your plugin via iLOK dongle, iLOK cloud account, and via System/Machine authorization. Minimum System Requirements Quad Core i5 Processor 4GB of RAM Mac OS X 10.14 or Later Windows 7 & Above Supported Plugin Formats Intel Mac 64bit: VST3, AU, AAX Windows 64bit: VST3, AAX

OVERVIEW

The TBL has an expanded set of controls compared to the original hardware unit. However, it is still a stripped-down and minimal sort of plugin. The Front Panel controls adjust the compressor setting; the Back Panel controls allow you to tweak a few aspects of the TBL’s circuitry, and the Aux Panel at the bottom allows you to adjust input and output levels, access the preset browser, lets you A/B compare settings, and access the user manual.

SIMPLIFIED BLOCK DIAGRAM

FRONT PANEL

FRONT PANEL CONTROLS

• PAGE TOGGLE – click on the KORNEFF logo to access the “other side” of the Talkback Limiter for even more controls.
• PRESET BROWSER – click on the piece of tape with the Sharpie Text (where it says Talkback Limiter) to access the preset browser and load and save presets. Additionally, there are step BACK and FORWARD arrows as well as a SAVE button. This lets you quickly browse through presets and save your adjustments.
• POWER INDICATOR – displays the present state of the power rails. All LEDs should be illuminated. If not…. see what it sounds like…
• GAIN REDUCTION METER – shows the amount of compression in the dB scale.
• THRESHOLD – controls the amount of compression. Counterclockwise is less and clockwise is more.
• COMPRESSOR ENABLE – press this to engage the compressor circuit. If the switch is off, the compressor is bypassed and your signal will still go through the analog emulated signal path.
• ANALOG PROCESSING – this feature DOES NOT add pointless hiss to your audio. Who would ever want that??? Turning this switch on enables the frequency curve and distortion characteristics of our analog modeled specimen.
• INPUT SELECT – changes the gain structure feeding into the limiter circuit. More gain = more distortion and mayhem. Switches between PAD (-20dB gain), LINE (OdB gain), and MIC (+30dB gain).
• DRY/WET BLEND – use this to blend the unprocessed (dry) signal with the processed (wet) signal for parallel compression.
• MAKEUP GAIN – used to compensate for the gain reduction caused by the compressor. Makeup gain will only affect the wet signal.

BACK PANEL

BACK PANEL CONTROLS

• PAGE TOGGLE – click on the KORNEFF logo to get back to the front panel.

• DISTORTION TRIM – adjust trimpot for minimum (or MAXIMUM!) distortion as measured on a distortion analyzer. As you turn DIST TRIM in either direction, you’re adding harmonic distortion. At settings under +/- 10dB, the effect is very subtle and it might sound more like you’ve increased the amount of compression – which is what is happening as well. As you get to +/-20dB in either direction, the harmonic distortion becomes very apparent as the signal gets bright and grainy.

• TRANSISTOR BIAS – sets the performance of the FET compressor circuit. It is preset at an optimal point that strikes a balance between low distortion and high output. If you increase BIAS, the gain and compression effect increases, but harmonic distortion will increase, too. Turning it down will lower gain and distortion, but the compression circuit will work unpredictably, which is kinda cool. – sets the performance of the FET compressor circuit. It is preset at an optimal point that strikes a balance between low distortion and high output. If you increase BIAS, the gain and compression effect increases, but harmonic distortion will increase, too. Turning it down will lower gain and distortion, but the compression circuit will work unpredictably, which is kinda cool.

• LOW PASS FILTER – the original circuit used a low pass filter set at 7kHz as a dresser for talkback sibilance. On the Korneff TBL, the rolloff is preset at 15kHz, and you can turn it up or down from there. The lower you set it, the more lo-fi the effect is.

• GUI ZOOM – to resize the GUI, simply click this dropdown and select your desired size.
  OVERSAMPLING – increases the internal sample rate of the plug-in at a multiple of the host’s sample rate. This reduces aliasing (distortion) at the expense of higher CPU usage.

• SYSTEM INFO – displays the host sample rate and plug-in version number.

UTILITY PANEL

• LIGHTBULB – brings up the tooltips, and the BOOK opens the user manual, which you are currently reading.
• A/B COMPARISON – The comparison tools are very cool. A and B are two independent snapshots of the plugin’s settings. Click A and make a few adjustments to the plugin’s controls. Click B and make some different adjustments. Click back on A and you’ll see all the adjustments you made for A. Click back on B and you’ll see all the adjustments you made on B. The >> key copies whatever setting you to have in A over to B.
• UNDO/REDO – UNDO, to the left, reverses all the damage mankind has done to the planet. REDO, to the right, restores all the damage mankind has done to the planet, starting with the latest control you tweaked on the plugin. There are unlimited levels of Undo, so feel free to go back to the Cretaceous Period.
• INPUT and OUTPUT TRIM – let you gain stage the TBL correctly. On some of our plugins, cranking up the INPUT trim can result in cool saturation and distortion.

INFO ( i within a circle) – Click this to see release information about the plugin and to access online resources.

USAGE GUIDE

This section should start out with something like, “Congratulations on purchasing our most popular Flame Thrower! Be careful lighting cigarettes with it or using it near your face… or in the house.” Our Talkback Limiter is one of the most extreme compressor/limiters available. It is incredibly punchy and is capable of adding huge amounts of distortion and gain to a signal. In some cases, like getting classic gated reverb-type drum sounds, or obviously crushed guitar and bass sounds, the total lack of subtlety of this little monster is a gift. However, our Talkback Limiter can do a lot more than simply torch tracks, Flame throwers are fun (take our word for it) but a match is usually more useful. For extreme settings, most of the time what you’ll do is click this thing on and flip the LINE/MIC switch to MIC and you’re done. You’ll quickly find out that the THRESHOLD control does almost nothing because the signal is just about completely over the threshold and the GAIN REDUCTION METER is basically pinned to the right and doesn’t move from there until you press stop on your DAW’s transport. DISTORTION TRIM will add some grit and round off the transients. Use the LOW PASS FILTER to roll off high end “chiff” that can hash up the upper frequencies of your recording and cause your ears to bleed. We use the Talkback Limiter for a lot more than just blowing things up, however, and the key to getting great sounds out of it in a more nuanced fashion is to get friendly with the DRY/WET BLEND control. The Talkback Limiter has a super high ratio, and a fixed attack and release, and you will ALWAYS hear it. To minimize the TBL’s sonic footprint, and its sonic footprint is basically a huge steel-toed army boot, back off the WET/DRY. A lot. A good way to approach this is to start with DRY/WET full up, flip between LINE and MIC to see which you like better, get the overtones and distortion you want using the Other Side DISTORTION TRIM and TRANSISTOR BIAS, and then back down on the DRY/WET until the track sits where you want in the mix. You’ll find that often you have the DRY/WET barely cracked – like a dot or two above the word “DRY.” Our Talkback Limiter can add transient punch to almost anything you run through it, so it works great for bringing out bass parts and articulating guitar parts that aren’t well defined in the mix.It is super useful across reverb returns to add an otherworldly ambiance to keyboards or vocals. On a vocal, a light touch with it (and with the DRY/WET set way down) can give a voice a very close, right in your ear sort of feeling – try it on a whispery vocal and see. And, of course, if you put a gate after it in your signal chain and run drums through it, you’ll have a time machine back to the 80s. SO… enjoy your new Flame-Thrower Talkback Limiter! Make great music and make lovely recordings!

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