SLAM! Stereo Limiter and Micpre With Digital I/O Interface

SLAM! stands for "Stereo Limiter And Micpre" and it pretty much describes what it will do to most VU meters. Manley had to put a switch on this limiter to drop its internal VU meters down 3 and 6dB to keep the poor little needles from bending—it'll get loud fast. And on top of being an amazing pair of (actually four) Limiters and Class A tube mic preamps, it also has exceptional DI, A to D and D to A, VU and PPM.

When it comes to classic gear, especially classic limiters, numbers like LA2s, 1176s, 2264s and others come to mind. What if all those sounds were to be found in one stereo tube unit? Manley combined their favorite Electro-Optical circuit (ELOP) with a fast FET-based brick-wall limiter reminiscent of some cool classics. Manley added a sidechain filter that can remove low frequencies that makes it more useful for a variety of tasks, while retaining an easy, "it just works" quality that has made it a favorite for vocals everywhere. The FET-based limiter has different desirable characteristics that both optimizes the signal for digital recording, due to the brick-wall capability, and lets you dial in how clean, crunchy or punchy, and how loud and proud you want it.

Get in
The Manley Mastering SLAM! starts with tube mic preamps on both channels with switchable phantom power and phase reverse. Manley provided plenty of gain for you in this tube circuit, up to 60dB with 20dB more in the limiter—plenty for soft singers using low-output ribbon mics. The input attenuator is right up front, like a variable pad, so loud rock 'n' rollers won't cause a problem either. Track direct with the Direct Instrument input or bring your line level inputs into the Manley Mastering SLAM! for processing.

Get it LOUD—Two Different and Distinct Limiters Per Channel:
The ELOP Limiter: Manley's beloved Electro-Optical Leveling Amplifier circuit, the ELOP, still the favorite for vocal tracking, shows up here with its switchable side-chain high pass filter making it much more useful for mixes and other tracks as well. One of the most appreciated aspects of Manley's original ELOP is the simplicity of a two-knob limiter, which is optimum for demanding pro recording pressures. You can still grab two knobs and have complete control of level and dynamics, and be ready to hit that record button. Intuitive controls and a straight-ahead signal path through quality components simply works.

The FET Limiter
Here's a fast FET-based "brick wall" limiter that spans the range of clean predictable limiting to the grunge and gravel that other FET-based limiters are desired for. The FET RELEASE control allows you to dial up a variety of colors. The Manley Mastering SLAM! even has a CLIP setting that provides as round a shape as has ever been available. (Read more below about the CLIP settings). Manley aimed at "sound" first, then experimented with circuits until the folks at Manley heard what they wanted, discovering fresh approaches that provide a very wide range of useful dynamic control. For example, you can set up for a fast brick wall limiter with slower releases for minimum artifacts, or go with the faster releases to get some crunch and then get extreme loudness. The Attack control is unusual too, providing the sonic control common with its historic brothers, but very unusually retaining the zero overshoot "none-shall-pass" brick wall that defines a real limiter. And it's punchy! As the saying goes, "Louder is better." The Manley SLAM! optimizes levels to analog-to-digital converters with balls, warmth and loudness verging on silly or just clean and safe.

What is especially nifty is the ability to use the ELOP and FET limiters together at the same time dialing in whatever amounts of each effect you like. Every limiter has its own character or sound, and here, Manley has combined two powerful world-class tools that can be uniquely blended and mixed to taste and purpose. Even the metering is appropriate for each limiter, so you can easily see how each signal processor is contributing.

Metering on the Manley SLAM! is exceptional. The two full-size real VU meters show you the raw input levels, the final output levels, and the ELOP Limiter gain reduction in the traditionally preferred format for visually displaying apparent loudness. Noticing how mastering engineers often need a switchable pad on their VUs because the "optimized" levels tend to pin the needles in the red, the Manley SLAM! VUs also have a 0, -3dB, -6dB switch to help with this situation. There are also very fast and super accurate multi-color LED ladder peak meters that display the input and output levels, the FET gain reduction and some combinations. They will do Peak, Peak Hold timed and Peak Hold until reset, and also allow you to manually set where the individual bars change colors to match your other gear. And with maximum clean I/O levels of +30 dBu, it is a lot more likely you will use these meters to see what's clipping downstream. It probably won't be the Manley tube line drivers inside.

The back panel of the stereo limiter and mic preamp should keep everybody happy. All the usual XLR's for transformer balanced I/O and 1/4" phone jacks for direct unbalanced I/O. The SLAM! has four TRS jacks for inserting external EQ into the sidechains and another connector for linking multiple units for surround. It's all here.

The SLAM! also seems to be a natural mastering tool. The FET limiter works great on mixes, and the ELOP now has a high-pass filter switch that is spot-on for mastering. Manley offer a mastering version, which eliminates the mic preamps, adds detented controls replacing the pots, and provides extra metering options. Manley compressors and EQs are very popular pieces of gear ever when it comes to mastering.

Digital I/O Interface
SLAM! stereo limiter and mic preamp with digital I/O interface has a slot in the back for Manley's optional 24-bit/96kHz analog to digital converter and 24-bit/192kHz digital to analog converter card. This allows one to record directly to the computer or workstation, and provided a convenient way to use a digital insert to jump into the analog realm and back. An AES digital input receives the stereo digital signal to convert to analog for processing by the SLAM! when the DAC input was selected. Or this killer DAC's Output could be used for monitoring, listening, or to be sent to some other analog processors or tape machines.

The digital inputs and outputs are on XLRs for AES/EBU standards, and there is also a BNC for Word Clock and Super Clock input. The BNC was added for users' convenience and not just to help the unit's jitter performance. The
jitter spec is "Almost Zero" and just about unmeasurable regardless of whether it is locked to its own crystal, the AES input or the Word/Super Clock. A 7-way rotary switch selects 44.1, 48, 88.2 or 96K, AES IN, Word Clock and Super Clock, for the AES output data rate. Notice we didn't say "sample rate." This ADC and DAC uses the internal 192k sample rate. Truly amazing sample-rate converters based on SHARC DSPs are used to almost eliminate (not just reduce) jitter and provided the sonic benefits of 192K sampling, even at 48K or 44.1 data rates. These are very fast exceptional sounding world-class converters.

The ADC also has a pair of switches for dither, noise shaping and word length, plus something unusual: a filter select switch. Manley believe that the manufacturer's choice of filter is one of the biggest differences that affects the sound of a converter, so they give the you three choices, 80k minimal effect, 20k analog, (a passive filter similar to the 18k on the Massivo), and a 20k Digital FIR for something comparable to other converters. There are also three filters on the DAC side set for 20k, 40k gentle and 80k. All of these are passive and quite subtle and useful. There is a dedicated balanced +4 phone jack output for the DAC, so these can be tube-converters or high-end solid state. The ADC is similar, but tube or passive front end, that allows a mastering EQ to be cleverly used in this chain.