Aphex XCITER User manual
OWNER’S MANUAL
STUDIO QUALITY TONE ENHANCEMENT
XCITER ®
AURAL EXCITER ® & OPTICAL BIG BOTTOM ®
GUITAR & BASS PEDAL
Connections, Battery, Velcro 3
Controls 7
Tune-Up 9
Tone Enhancement 11
Specifications 13
Limited Warranty 14
Service Information 15
Contents
Xciter ™
Copyright 2011 DWC-Aphex
All Rights Reserved
Owner’s Manual
Page 3
Power
Ground
Grounded(In)
Lifted (Out)
D.I. Balanced
150ΩOutput
Mic Level
Connections, Battery, Velcro
BACK
LEFT SIDE OF PEDAL
FRONT
BACK
RIGHT SIDE OF PEDAL
FRONT
Xciter
Page 4
Input
Connect your instrument here. The power is automatically
switched on or off by inserting or removing the plug from the
input jack.
Output
Connect this output to your amp’s input jack using a good qual-
ity guitar cord. Use the same jack settings on your amplifier as
you would use if plugging the instrument directly into the amp
to get normal volume and tone when you switch the effect off,
and your instrument passes directly through the pedal to your
amp’s input.
D.I. Output
This pedal comes with a high quality balanced D.I. output. Pin 2
of the XLR is hot while pin 3 carries a balancing impedance to set
up a true balanced line. Pin 1 is grounded through the ground-
lift switch. The D.I. output can be connected to the microphone
input of any preamp or sound mixer and runs a level of typically
-50 to -60 dBu depending on your instrument’s volume setting.
The D.I. output should normally be grounded. Don’t lift the
ground unless it actually eliminates hum or buzz.
Owner’s Manual
Page 5
External Power
When external power is used, the internal battery becomes dis-
connected and will not experience a power drain. A wide range of
both a.c. and d.c. supply voltages is acceptable for power (5VAC
to 32 VAC or +/-7VDC to +/-48VDC) and it does not matter
whether the center pin is positive or negative. The power jack fits
a standard 6MM x 2MM power plug as used by most popular
stomp boxes.
Phantom Power
Phantom power applied to the D.I. from a mixer or preamp will
supply power to the pedal. Do NOT operate the ground lift
switch when running on phantom power. It makes a very loud
pop that could damage speakers.
9V Battery
You can use any type of 9V battery. However we recommend
using long life alkalines. You can use rechargables, but the pedal
unit does not supply a charging circuit. You must remove the dis-
charged battery to recharge it with an external charger. You can
expect from 100 to 150 hours of continuous use from a fresh
alkaline battery. Useful life is ended when the battery voltage
drops below 5.5 volts.
To extend battery life, always unplug the input when the unit
is not in use.
Xciter
Page 6
Battery Location and Velcro Area
The battery compartment is located on the bottom of the pedal
and can be opened with a thumbnail, heavy pick or flathead
screwdriver. The battery presses into the compartment directly.
Observe the markings showing correct +/- alignment.
The large indented area is there for the included Velcro strip.
This allows the Velcro to remain in place whether attached to a
pedal board or using the included rubber feet.
Owner’s Manual
Page 7
Controls
Foot Switch
Turns the pedal on or off. When the pedal is off, your instrument
is patched directly through to the output jack. In other words,
it’s a straight bypass. No electronics are in the line at that point.
LED
Glows when the pedal is on and dark when the effect is off. If
the LED does not glow, the battery is dead or no plug has been
inserted into the input jack or there is no external power present.
Xciter
Page 8
Big Bottom®- What It Does
For bass instruments, it dynamically enhances the low end by
deepening and expanding the bass tones according to an interac-
tive process that is not just boost. The effect protects speakers by
extending bass without adding level. For acoustic instruments it
adds a warmer tone that makes the instrument sound rich. For
electric guitars, it adds fullness at the lower end of the scale. It’s
not a synthesizer. It takes what is there and enhances it.
Lo Freq
Sets the frequency for bass enhancement that occurs for all fre-
quencies below this point.
Lo Freq Boost
Mixes in the amount of Big Bottom effect you want.
Aural Exciter® - What It Does
This is the real and original Aural Exciter especially optimized
for musical instruments. It can variously be described as adding
“air”, “bite”, “definition” or clarity to the sound by interactively
creating and manipulating the harmonics of sound waves.
Hi Freq
Sets the frequency treble enhancement that occurs for all fre-
quencies above this point.
Hi Freq Boost
Mixes in the amount of Aural Exciter effect you want.
Owner’s Manual
Page 9
Harmonics
Sets the amount and character of harmonics created by the Aural
Exciter. Printed on the top panel of the Xciter are suggested
starting points for Bass, Electric Guitar and Acoustic Guitar but
the control provides the ability to experiment with any setting, or
between settings, with any instrument.
Tune-Up
The Rule
Trust your ears!
Use the Big Bottom and the Aural Exciter as if they were sepa-
rate enhancers. After that, it is all up to experimentation. Bear in
mind that your amp and speaker play a part in the overall tone
of your instrument, just as your pickups do. What settings are
great for one rig or instrument might not be perfect for another.
Xciter
Page 10
Note: The Xciter pedal can be used either between the instru-
ment and the preamplifier or in your amp’s effects loop.
When using other effects, high gain and/or modeling ampli-
fiers, the Xciter pedal should be used after the other effects
or, ideally, in an insert loop just before the power amplifier.
This will bring your instrument to life along with all the other
effects.
Setting Up the Big Bottom
Turn up the Lo Freq Boost control to at least 12 o’clock so you
can hear the effect. Rotate the Lo Freq control to hear what fre-
quencies are affected. Listen for the sweet spot and readjust the
Boost control until according to your taste.
You will notice that, within a fairly broad range, the Lo Blend
will provide a balance where it does not bloat the sound, but it
does extend and deepen the tone. For bass instruments, this is
where the Big Bottom is doing what no other processor can do:
giving you more effective bass power without overloading your
amplifier.
Setting Up the Aural Exciter
Turn the Hi Freq Boost control up to at least 12 o’clock so you
can hear the effect. Rotate the Hi Freq control to find the sweet
spot, which can be anywhere in the control range depending on
your instrument and what you are looking for. If you just want
air, tune it higher and use more Boost. If you want the tone to be
more present, tune it lower.
Table of contents
Other Aphex Music Pedal manuals
