ATM BETTERMAKER User manual
BETTERMAKER
Bus Compressor
Operations Manual
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The Bettermaker crew would like to thank all the people that were deeply involved in
the development of our first products, from EQ230P till this day
Thanks to all the Beta-testers that gave us hands-on tips and all people involved in the
conceptual stage We hope we have listened to you carefully so as to produce an ideal
tool in the hands of every engineer
Thank you guys!
I would like to personally thank my development team, the past and the present as
their passion to work and bright minds made all that happen I would not take all my
wild concepts to the point they are now without you guys
Marek
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I. Introduction
Congratulations on your purchase of the Bettermaker Bus Compressor - all
analog sound with the flexibility of digital control! Welcome to the family! The
hybrid audio compressor now in your possession is the result of years of research and
development in emerging digital control technologies The final hand-built result is
currently glowing happily in your rack (lucky You) The Bus Compressor brings the
flexibility, ease of use, and instant recall-ability of software plug-ins to the realm of
High Fidelity analog processing, like no other analog compressor on the market
The Company
Addicted to Music has begun in 2004 in Warsaw, Poland as a recording and
mixing studio Long before it was a hardware company, we were deeply involved in
the international music and recording scene This is not a company run by scientists
who crunch numbers all day, we are a company run by engineers who live, eat, and
breathe music (like You do) We know good sound, and know first-hand what it takes
on both sides of the glass to capture the perfect take We developed the Bus
Compressor to go from the perfect take, and make it even better!
Bettermaker Bus Compressor
was designed to have the greatest flexibility of any analog compressor, while
still allowing absolute recall and repeatability We often found the strengths of
software plug-ins wasn’t their sound, but the ability to quickly audition different
settings This allowed us to make faster, better informed musical choices The ability
to jump back and forth between (sometimes vastly different) settings allowed us to
keep a clear vision of the sonic goal in mind, while quickly making decisions on the
best setting to use However, we recognized the sonic superiority of our analog gear
compared to their digital counterparts In countless shoot-outs, the analog versions
always won Since we’re a company that cares about better sound over processing
speed, our engineers would take the extra time to use a full analog chain because it
simply sounds better We developed the Bettermaker Bus Compressor to give us the
speed of plug-ins, but the fidelity of analog domain
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In the traditional analog world the time spent in the act of having to set and
reset potentiometers and buttons to audition between settings often skewed our
choices More time was spent tweaking knobs trying to recover an earlier setting than
was spent listening The limited resolution of the mechanical parts often meant only
very coarse adjustments were possible (previously only solvable by very expensive
mechanical switches) A difficult situation to say the least, but the greater fidelity,
openness, and depth of the analog gear was always worth it to our ears
Even after years of advancement in digital algorithms, the older analog
versions always sounded better With these goals in mind, we strove to create a
hybrid compressor that was the best of both worlds: a true analog compressor based
on classic designs, but with the repeatability, fine resolution, and consistency of
digital plug-ins Enter the inspiration for the Bettermaker Bus Compressor!
We’ve put a large amount of time, effort, money, and listening tests into the
research and development of the analog stages of the Bettermaker Bus Compressor
We feel that it represents one of the best values, highest fidelity, and newest methods
of working available in audio today We set out to make a product that broke new
ground, a compressor with the highest sonic quality, ease of use, and a full pallet of
sound shaping tools to allow engineers to make the best-sounding record In the
following pages, we’ll share this knowledge, show how the controls work and
interact to provide a complete sound - sculpting system
The Bettermaker Bus Compressor is a new approach to a well known VCA
compressor design Choosing modern components and design practices over older
traditional methods helped maintain the transient response and low noise-floor
necessary for today’s recording practices Wherever possible we choose over-spec’d
components to ensure trouble free operation and a long product life Where feasible
we increased the gain resolution and frequency range to ensure the greatest flexibility
no matter what source (from tracking to 2-bus and mastering applications) Most
importantly we listened first, changed, tested and then listened again We hope you
enjoy your Bettermaker Bus Compressor
Now o make some music Better!
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II. Important safety information
Before you turn the unit on
Always use quality AC power cord with safety (earth) pin and ensure that the
power outlet in the wall has the earth connection too It is important for safety
reasons but also helps to keep the unit’s noise levels low
Safety Warnin s
Do not operate this unit in the presence of rain, liquids or condensing moisture
Liquid entering the product enclosure presents the risk of electric shock injury
Do not operate the Bettermaker Bus Compressor in any place near water
Always be sure to protect the unit from dust, particles, water, beer, groupies, and
stage divers
For normal operation it is not necessary to access the interior of the Bus
Compressor
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III. Construction of the Bus Compressor
The sound of the Compressor is of course based on the quality of its analog
audio path But all the control and user interactions are performed in the digital
domain This allows us to incorporate options and possibilities not found in any
standard analog compressors:
recall last unit state after reboot
Instant reset of all parameters
Rapid, precise and repeatable adjustments
Precisely linked stereo operation with the ease of a single control
DAW automation and recall of all available parameters
Front panel
The front panel of the Bus Compressor is build around eye-catchin LED
matrix display, that allows you to monitor almost all functions available on the
device, as well as input/output levels and amount of gain reduction applied by the
compressor
Apart from the LED matrix you will find six knobs placed on endless rotary
encoders These knobs are labeled SET, THRESH, ATT, REL, GAIN and USER
All knobs are velocity-sensitive for fine increment/decrements when turned slowly
SET and USER knobs also have push-button functionality The USER knob
can be set for one of four parameters: ratio, wet/dry mix, sidechain HPF and THD
amount
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The ENGAGE button allows you to turn the audio processing on (the button is
lit) or bypass the unit (relay based true bypass). When the unit is powered down
(power unit disconnected), it will pass unprocessed audio.
Analo section
Great care and thought went into the development and implementation of the
analog section of the Bettermaker Bus Compressor High quality capacitors and low
noise op-amps are used in the analog path Relays were used, whenever creating the
shortest path for the audio signal was necessary
The analog section consist of high quality input/output buffers capable of
passing thru high level audio signals, VCA Compressor itself (famous THAT chips),
THD section, sidechain circuit with external hardware insert and precise gain stage
for fine adjustments
All these modules are controlled by the digital section of the Bus Compressor,
so no mechanical switches or knobs are required to adjust any of the parameters
Internal si nal path
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IV. General Operation
The guide below will walk you thru all the screens and functions available in
the Bus Compressor
Connectin the Bus Compressor to your system
Apart from connecting the AC-DC PSU to the unit and connecting AC plug to
the wall socket (with grounding pin) you will also need:
- to connect the USB LINK to your MAC/PC It is recommended to use quality
USB cable that is no longer than 1 5m or additional USB hubs might be required
The USB LINK will allow you to control the unit from your favorite DAW via VST/
AAX/AU Bettermaker control plug-in and perform the firmware update in the future
- to connect XLR and TRS inputs and outputs Using balanced, quality cables is
essential here to provide best possible signal quality with very low noise floor
Markings on the back of the unit will make this process very straightforward
Level and ain compression meterin
By pressin SET knob you can switch between two metering displays:
LEVEL + GR metering or GR (gain reduction) meter only
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Usin main rotary encoders
THRESH – adjust compression threshold
from -35dB to +5dB
ATT – adjust compression attack time from
0 1 to 60ms
REL – adjust the release time from 10ms to
2s Turn the encoder further and you will
enable AUTO RELEASE mode
GAIN – set the compressor output ain
(make-up gain) from -5dB to +15dB
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Usin USER rotary encoder
As mentioned before the USER knob can be set (with the SET knob) to adjust
one of the following parameters:
RATIO – choose from 1 5, 2, 4, 6 or 10:1
values
MIX – adjust balance between compressed
and dry signal 0% means that only
uncompressed signal is passed thru (but you
can still apply the output gain)
HPF – adjust the sidechain high pass filter
from 20 to 370 Hz Turn below 20Hz to
disable HPF
THD – adjust the amount of level
independent harmonics added to the
compressed signal Set to 100% to get rich,
warm and pleasant tone
Double press the USER knob to reset all the parameters to default values
Confirmation will appear on the screen with the option of selecting YES or NO
Choose the right one with USER knob and press it to accept
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