True to the Music
Radial Engineering Ltd.
SW8 Owner’s Manual
2
FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS
Front Panel
1. A and B INPUT SELECT with LED - Toggles between the A
and B input groups. Two status LED lights indicate which input
group is active.
2. ALARM LED - Indicates the loss of Tone Track at either the
AUTO SWITCH INPUT or ALT TONE TRACK (channel-1,
group-A) inputs.
3. TONE LED - Indicates the machine tone is present at either
the AUTO SWITCH INPUT or ALT TONE TRACK input.
4. XLR OUTPUTS 1 thru 8 - Mic-level outputs, transformer
isolated to eliminate hum and buzz caused by ground loops.
5. LIFT SWITCH - disconnects pin-1 on the XLR output to
further reduce the possibility of ground loop hum.
Rear Panel
6. GROUP-A and B PHONE INPUTS - Individual connections
for two groups of eight balanced or unbalanced inputs.
7. ALTERNATE TONE TRACK INPUT - Channel-1 of INPUT-A
may be used for the Tone Track when it is recorded on track-1.
This is an alternative to using the AUTO SWITCH INPUT for
the Tone Track.
8. D-SUB DIRECT OUTPUT - Eight channel direct output.
Balanced Tascam pin-out standard.
9. A and B D-SUB INPUTS - Eight channel input connection.
Balanced Tascam pin-out standard.
10. GLOBAL -20dB PAD - Reduces the signal on all channels
going to the transformers to prevent saturation. Has no effect
on the D-SUB DIRECT output. Status LED indicates when the
Global PAD is active.
11. AUTO SWITCH - Consists of three separate items used to set
up the automatic switching mode:
a. AUTO ON - Activates automatic switching mode. Status
LED indicates when Auto mode is active.
b. AUTO SWITCH PHONE INPUT - Dedicated input for
Tone Track signal. Connects to the device supplying
the Tone Track signal such as the master multi-track.
c. THRESHOLD CONTROL - Sets the trigger level for
automatic switching. When Tone Track signal drops
below the threshold level it will trigger the SW8 to
toggle from input group-A to group-B.
12. FOOT-SW - Remote control input for an external latching
footswitch or automation control system.
13. CONTACT - Internal relay may be used as a switch to
activate external systems like sirens and strobe lights.
14. LINK IN & OUT - Used to daisy-chain multiple SW8 units
together for larger systems.
15. POWER SUPPLY - Connection for the included
15VDC power supply. Cable lock prevents accidental
disconnection.
Internal
16. TONE FILTER SWITCH - Three position low pass fi lter
switch used to prevent crosstalk between the Tone Track
signal and the program audio.
17. CONN4 XLR - Ribbon cable connector used to re-route
the post-transformer, mic-level signals to the rear D-SUB
connector instead of the front panel XLR jacks.
18. RELAY SWITCHING - Sealed audio relays with gold
contacts route audio through the SW8 without coloration.
19. ISOLATIONS TRANSFORMERS - Radial isolation
transformers eliminate buzz and hum caused by ground
loops.
20. INDIVIDUAL CHASSIS GROUND - Each channel is
equipped with an internal chassis ground switch allowing
custom grounding schemes.
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