Electro-Harmonix NY-2A Compressor Questions?

[Fender&EHX4ever]

I just purchased one on eBay. One of the last unattainable items on my list of gear lust. I intend to use it primarily on vocal tracks. But I hope to learn more about how to use it to mix down and master my own tracks.

 

But now that I've been reading up on the manual , I realize that I have entered into a whole new realm of amateur, inexperience, and ignorance. So naturally I am coming to you all for guidance.

 

For starters, how compatible is my Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 and Logic Pro X with the NY-2A. Am I going to experience any issues with impedance, loading, etc.? I don't even really understand the details of what that means yet.

 

Some of the reviews talk about how consumer gear might not be able to drive it properly. I'm not exactly sure what that means either. I use a combination of 2 Electro-Harmonix EH-R1 Ribbon mics, 2 Electro-Harmonix 12AY7 Mic Pres, and 2 Cloudlifter Zs for vocals.

 

What should I be looking for in the Specifications to know if I have an compatibility issues?

 

Also, based on the photo, it looks like I purchased the newer version with the built-in fan. Apparently these puppies get crazy hot. For that reason I'm not going to put it in a rack. I'll place it on top of my Fender Rumble bass amp for now, and leave about 5 feet of air above it. Are there any other precautions I should take?

 

I'm sure I'll have more questions as I learn more, but this is a good start.

 

 

 

[Phil O'Keefe]

Mic -> Cloudlifter -> Mic pre -> compressor -> computer interface's line input jack. Use an XLR to 1/4" TRS cable to connect the compressor's outputs to the line inputs on the Focusrite. You can try using an XLR to XLR cable, but check the manual - the XLR inputs on the Focusrite may be able to be set to accommodate line level sources, but if the signal is still be going through the Focusrite's mic preamps when you use the XLR as a line in (which I suspect may be the case), it can/would add a bit of extra noise. If you can adjust the level with the gain knobs on the Focusrite while using the XLR input, then the signal's going through the preamp on the interface too, which really isn't / shouldn't be necessary when using an external mic preamp - not to mention one with a Cloudlifter driving its input.

 

From there, it's all just a matter of proper gain staging.

 

Between the Cloudlifter Z and the Mic Preamp you should have more than enough signal level available to drive the compressor, even when using a ribbon mic, and even though the 12AY7 Mic Pre seems to only offer 40dB of gain when driving a 600 ohm load... at least according to the Musician's Friend page. The EHX manual doesn't seem to provide any info on the preamp's impedance characteristics.

 

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/electro-harmonix-12ay7-tube-microphone-preamp

 

Nice score. You can also use it to process previously recorded tracks, but that is a bit more complicated...

 

 

 

[Phil O'Keefe]

If there's a hardware or software switch to set the nominal level for the Focusrite's line inputs, set it to +4, not -10.

 

As far as the impedance everywhere else in the chain, you don't need to worry about it if you set it up in the way I described in my previous post. In general, you want low source / output impedance driving a high input impedance so you don't load down the input; typically at a 10:1 ratio or better.

 

The Cloudlifter Z does something similar going in to the mic preamp - it adjusts the mic's output impedance. You can still adjust the Z knob on the Cloudlifter to taste to play with the impedance of the mic signal without causing any problems - just dial it up until you hear the sound you want.

[Fender&EHX4ever]

As always Phil, you are the single most valuable resource person I know on the internet. Thank you!!!!!!!

 

Mic -> Cloudlifter -> Mic pre -> compressor -> computer interface's line input jack. Use an XLR to 1/4" TRS cable to connect the compressor's outputs to the line inputs on the Focusrite. You can try using an XLR to XLR cable, but check the manual - the XLR inputs on the Focusrite may be able to be set to accommodate line level sources, but if the signal is still be going through the Focusrite's mic preamps when you use the XLR as a line in (which I suspect may be the case), it can/would add a bit of extra noise. If you can adjust the level with the gain knobs on the Focusrite while using the XLR input, then the signal's going through the preamp on the interface too, which really isn't / shouldn't be necessary when using an external mic preamp - not to mention one with a Cloudlifter driving its input.

 

From there, it's all just a matter of proper gain staging.

 

Between the Cloudlifter Z and the Mic Preamp you should have more than enough signal level available to drive the compressor, even when using a ribbon mic, and even though the 12AY7 Mic Pre seems to only offer 40dB of gain when driving a 600 ohm load... at least according to the Musician's Friend page. The EHX manual doesn't seem to provide any info on the preamp's impedance characteristics.

 

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/electro-harmonix-12ay7-tube-microphone-preamp

 

I wonder why Focusrite didn't make the preamps optional for each input. I wish I had understood that better before buying it 2 years ago. Are there any other interfaces in a comparable price range that allow for disengaging the preamps? There appears to be some info in various forums that talk about this, and some say there is a knob setting that will pretty much eliminate the pre-amp's interference with the signal. My ears are so burnt, I probably wont' hear the difference anyways.

 

 

Nice score. You can also use it to process previously recorded tracks' date=' but that is a bit more complicated...[/quote']

 

I would love to learn more about this. I still haven't quite figured out in Logic Pro X how to use an Aux Bus Channel Strip for external gear. I see in the effect options for the strip where I can assign "Utility" then I/O. I'm assuming that is how I route the compressor. Aside from the software procedures (which I should be able to find a tutorial for), will using outboard gear require something like the Pigtronix Keymaster to match impedance when the signal leaves through the Saffire output to go to the compressor then return to the Saffire's input?

 

[SoulSonicFX]

You could try messing with Ardour with JACK...that allows easy routing of auxes and inserts to physical outputs. Or maybe you could just use JACK with Logic? I've never tried that, I'm not a Mac guy. But basically what you want to do is send whatever track to a physical output instead of to whatever the mix buss is in the software. In Ardour this is actually pretty easy because it lets you put an Insert on the channel and have that inserts I/O be linked to physical I/O. Other software can do this too... it's definitely not exclusive to Ardour - that's just one I'm familiar with and it seems to handle it in a very straightforward way. You can then do it all realtime, but you'll have to watch out for latency on the I/O causing potential problems with it lining up correctly in time with the other tracks. But, alot of programs will allow for latency compensation in some way.

[Fender&EHX4ever]

Update for all the crickets paying attention .png' alt='16x16_man-very-happy.png.58f4fc7892e8041ddc6575c8d5db3ad6.png' alt='very-happy'>.png'>

 

 

The NY-2A arrived this week, and I finally had an opportunity yesterday to give it a go. Probably a bit early to commit to any statements (honeymoon period still in session), but here are my initial impressions:

 

- Compressors have always been a bit of a technical conundrum for me. I'm not an audio engineer, so I don't really have a solid understanding yet of the math involved in ratios, thresholds, attack, release, etc. The NY-2A, however, simplifies all of this for me by designing a compressor that only has knobs for Pre-Gain, Compression, and Post-Gain, then giving me only a few options for attack. That much I can mostly grasp.

 

- The optical photocell design really makes me smile. I have no context or experience with classic compressors to compare to, so I won't pretend to know how that design compares sonically or functionally to other tried and true designs. I just know that the idea of having 3 different light sources being used to determine the compression and attack variables is just downright delicious to think about. And the magic eye meter just accentuates that whole relationship between sound and light. I don't care if it's gimmicky, it just makes me happy to watch it and think about it as I'm singing into my mic.

 

- I first tested out the NY-2A for vocals. I used my Electro-Harmonix R1 Ribbon Mic, a Cloudlifter Z, and my Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 into Logic Pro X. I decided to not use my Electro-Harmonix 12AY7 Mic Pre this time just to remove any additional variables from the equation. Once I get a foothold with the the basics I will experiment later.

 

- After a couple of hours playing with different settings, I arrived at using the LED setting for my voice with the Pre-Gain and Compression settings set around 3 00 and the Post-Gain set around 10 00. I felt like the Silver Surfer, singing instead of surfing.

 

- For my acoustic guitar, I used the same hardware, but I changed the NY-2A settings using the EL lamp instead. I switched on the squash, set the Pre-Gain to about 1 00, the Compression to about 5 00, and the Post-Gain to about 10 00. I was using my vintage Electro-Harmonix Brody acoustic guitar, which has a super boomy low E string. That boominess combined with the low freq accentuation of the EHX Ribbon Mic required some real low-end reduction, no matter how I directed the microphone to my guitar soundboard or fretboard. I'll experiment more later with different mics and a different acoustic, which will probably yield different NY-2A settings.

 

That's it for now. Eventually I want to try playing my final stereo mix through the NY-2A to pull everything together. But that seems quite daunting until I understand the nuances better.