The Ursa Major 8×32 is one of these uncompromising systems – but its quality goes beyond what you hear. Because reverb system’s usefulness depends also on its controls, the Ursa Major 8×32 has been designed for exceptionally easy and informative operation. And because a system must also be affordable, the Ursa Major 8×32 has been priced far below other comparable digital systems. Here, briefly are a few of the qualities that make the Ursa Major 8×32 the outstanding choice among digital reverberation processors.
The Ursa Major 8×32 Sound
In a natural acoustic space – a studio, a large room, or a concert hall – a complex pattern of sound quickly builds up as sound waves reflect off various surfaces. To recreate this complex pattern artificially is an extraordinarily difficult challenge, which the Ursa Major 8×32 solves with a combination of elegant digital technology and sophisticated software.
The result is a quality of sound that is virtually without coloration, high in echo density, and smooth throughout the decay period. Even when you process sounds that most reverb systems don’t handle well, such as clicks, pure tones and pink noise, the Ursa Major 8×32 achieves superb sound qualities.
The Ursa Major 8×32 Programs
The Ursa Major 8×32 lets you place dry, non-reverberant sound into any of four separate acoustic environments, each carefully constructed to enhance vocal and musical values in distinct ways. The programs that simulate these spaces include fast and slow mechanical plate effects, a medium- sized concert hall, and a large, echoing space (see “The Four Master Programs”).
Each program can be fine-tuned virtually without limit. Like a set of architect’s blueprints, the four programs define basic spaces, then allow you to fill in and move the walls at will. You can modify the absorptive and reflective characteristics of these spaces, introduce realistic stereophonic qualities, and even make your sound sources appear to move from point to point within each space.
The Ursa Major 8×32 Controls
With the system’s microprocessor-based controls, you separately adjust seven reverberation parameters, ranging from early reflections through a 20 second “tail” of decay. And control is always quick and easy. The front panel is logically laid out; the LED and numerical displays continuously and simultaneously present all the current control settings.
In addition, there are several special controls. Input Mute and Reverb Clear interrupt the normal reverb process in ways that are useful during live performances. And an instant recall feature lets you switch back and forth between two alternative settings to make comparisons.
The Ursa Major 8×32 Memory
Whenever find a combination of settings you’d like to save, the Ursa Major 8×32 has a convenient and spacious memory large enough to store 64 separate program modifications. And the memory holds its contents even after you turn off the power. This memory makes set- ups almost instantaneous. Simply punch in a register number, and the controls are set automatically. Editing is equally easy. Recall a set-up, make any changes you want, and send it back to the memory for future use.
The Ursa Major 8×32 Remote
Especially for those occasions where nearby rack space is limited, or when you want to adjust reverb settings from an optimum listening point, the Ursa Major 8×32 offers an optional remote-control console. This unit, small enough to be hand- held, has a full set of panel controls and displays, and can be used more than 100 feet away from the master console.
At Ursa Major, developing superior reverberation technology is our basic mission. This technology, and intimate experience with recording. broadcast and live reverb applications. makes the Ursa Major 8×32 a sound processing tool of exceptional versatility. Listen to the 8X32 soon. Hear for yourself the quality of sound it produces, experiment with the controls, and compare prices. And see why the 8X32 is now the standard against which all other digital reverberators should be compared.
How the Ursa Major 8×32 Works
In a naturally reverberant space, direct sound impulses reflect off boundary walls and then quickly diffuse throughout the space. The Ursa Major 8×32 simulates this effect with three independently- controlled processing stages When direct sound is fed into the unit, early reflections are first generated, to lend body to the sound and help define the size of the simulated space. Then a second cluster of distinct reflections emerges, producing initial reverberant effects.
Finally, a dense, incoherent reverberation pattern is created, which can be modified to provide varying degrees of warmth or brightness. In actual practice, the three stages overlap, as they would in a real acoustic space.
The Four Master Programs
The 8X32’s four basic programs are designed to simulate a variety of acoustic environments, ranging from tight, boxy sounds to a large, echoing space. Each program can be modified by the panel controls to achieve virtually unlimited effects.
Plate 1, like a high-quality plate reverberator, produces bright, highly diffuse reverberation patterns. Plate I is especially suited for drums, staccato brass sections, vocals and other instruments that call for explosive reverberation that is fully fused with the original sound Because Plate I almost instantly diffuses short transients into dense, “fattening” reverberation, it essentially eliminates distracting early reflections, even with percussion instruments.
Plate 11 is a program that offers almost the same fast diffusion as Plate I, but with slower build- up and longer decay values result is a more spacious. open environment that is a choice with fast- changing vocals, choruses and “bus” instruments whose rapidly changing waveforms call for fast, dense reverberation. but which still need a little breathing room for maximum clarity.
Hall is scaled and balanced to behave like a good medium- sized concert hall, which will give more leisurely vocals and slower-changing instruments a very full, spacious, open-sounding environment. Ideal for classical music and much material, the Hall program can also be extensively modified to simulate a variety of acoustic spaces, from warm chamber music settings and intimate club environments to large, empty auditoriums.
Space pulls out all the stops to create a surprisingly large, echoing, long- decaying acoustic environment. Space is superb with legato sounds, such as lush string organs, synthesizers, or even vocals set against a shimmering background of sound. With the Space program, early reflections can be made to echo and ricochet with great clarity, and a maximum decay setting of 20 seconds lets sound linger in the air almost indefinitely.
