R-506 Dual Band VCA Compressor

€ 990

ARREL Audio R-506 is an advanced dual/mono band VCA based compressor, conceived to offer to the 500 series user the superior audio performance of the ARREL audio high level products. The R-506 is characterized by high reliability, rugged design, outstanding audio quality, versatility and ease of use typical of the tradition of ARREL Audio products. The R-506 is characterized by an extreme flexibility in a single slot 500 module. It includes the following features:

ARREL high audio quality input and output buffers, dual envelope detector and dual VCA architecture, variable crossover with two bands (50-500 Hz, 500-5000Hz), Attack and Release three position switches separate for the LO and HI frequency bands, mode switch: Mono Band, Mono Band with LO cut on the envelope detector and Dual Band, Compression Ratio and Threshold knobs for the HI and LO band, Compressed HI and Compressed LO mix knob, Dry-Wet mix knob (for mono and dual band parallel compression), Flexible metering system (Compression HI, Compression LO, global output level), Side Chain External input, Side chain stereo link input, True by-pass function.

The R-506 provides four operative modes: single band compressor (full band on the envelope detector), single band compressor (LO cut on the envelope detector), Dual Band compressor with 50-500 Hz of crossover bands and Dual Band compressor with 500-5000 Hz of crossover bands.

An Internal dip switch can be used to set up different mix of LO and HIGH signals at the input of the respective envelope detector circuits. R-506 is the one of the ARREL 500 series modules (the other models are R-501, R-502, R-503, R-504, R-505) designed to give to the professional user the best audio tools for its application. To obtain an outstanding audio quality, no servo amplifiers are used in the R-506 so it is not possible to unbalance the line out of the R-506.

Number of Channels: 1
Power Supply +/- 16 V DC, very low power supply currents with respect to the API 500 standard
Power Consumption 120 mA
Line Input Electronically Balanced,
Impedance 20KΩ,
Input Level +4dBu, Max +20 dBu.
Output Level Electronically Balanced,
Level +4 dBu, Max +27 dBu,
Output Impedance 100 Ω
Bandwidth 5 - 150 KHz +/-1 dB, perfect square wave up to 20 KHz
Distortion + Noise <0.003% ( typical 0.001%).
Front Panel Controls True By-Pass button (LED),
DRY-WET mix knob,
LO-HI mix knob,
OUT level knob, Ratio knobs (HI and LO) 1:1 to ∞:1,
Threshold knobs (HI and LO) -20, +13 dBu,
Attack switch (separate HI and LO): three positions (slow, mid, high)
Release switch (separate HI and LO): three positions (slow, mid, high)
Mode switch: dual band, mono band dry, mono band with side chain controlled by a LO cut filter.
Crossover frequency control
Metering selection switch: three positions (Ho compression, LO compression, Output level) True By-Pass button (LED),
Crossover Frequency Bands 50Hz-500 Hz OFF-ON-X10 SWITCH in ON position -6dB/Oct
500Hz-5000 Hz OFF-ON-X10 SWITCH in X10 position -6dB/Oct
Attack and Release Time ATTACK HI (slow, mid, fast)=(33 msec, 10 msec, 2.3 msec), LO (slow, mid, fast) =(120msec, 23 msec, 5msec)
RELEASE HI slow, mid, fast=(1 sec, 490 msec, 85 msec) LO (slow, mid, fast)=(200msec, 1 sec, 1.5 sec)
Rear Panel Input Connectors API 500 compatible connector
Front Panel Connectors Stereo link connector
External side chain connector
Construction Compliant 500-series rack with PSU and external audio connections,
Single 500-series rack slot required for each R-501 module.
Dimensions API standard
Weight TBD kg.

    R-506 Key-Technologies

  • LARGE BANDWIDTH (LBW)

    Large Bandwidth (LB) means a very fast transient response able to represent the original sound with the maximum temporal resolution. LB is required to improve the perception of a “real sound” and to represent the details of the original sound.
  • PERFECT SQUARE WAVE (PSW)

    Large bandwidth plus very low total harmonic distortion means a perfect square wave reproduction.
  • ULTRA LOW NOISE (ULN)

    Ultra Low Noise (ULN) active and passive components and ULN design techniques. This requirement is especially important when the audio bandwidth is large as in the case of ARREL Audio products.
  • HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR)

    High Dynamic Range (HDR) means that the saturation probability of the output stages is very low. This is obtained by using special rail to rail circuits and by increasing the power supply voltage of the analog circuits.
  • ELECTROMECHANICAL FAULT TOLERANCE (EFT)

    Electromechanical tolerance means that electromechanical components are doubled in every situation in which maximum reliability it is important due to a frequent use (switches, push buttons, potentiometers).
  • THROUGH-HOLE TECHNOLOGY (THT)

    Through Hole technology means the maximum reliability in terms of thermal and mechanical stresses especially for connectors and electromechanical components.