TM-6

Vacuum Tube

Multimode Filter

Owner's manual

edition 1.0

January 2006

PMB 109, 881 11th Street

Lakeport CA 95453 USA

www.metasonix.com

synth@metasonix.com

READ THIS, DAMMIT!!!!!!!!!

CAUTION: to reduce the risk of electrical shock, do not remove the bottom cover. HIGH VOLTAGE INSIDE. No user serviceable parts inside. Refer servicing to qualified service personnel.

WARNING: to reduce the risk of fire or electrical shock, do not expose the TM-6 filter to rain or moisture.

DETAILED SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS: All the safety and operation instructions must be read before the TM-6 filter is operated. If you don't read and HEED them, you are a MORON and you deserve to be CASTRATED.

RETAIN INSTRUCTIONS: The safety and operating instructions should be retained for future reference.

HEED WARNINGS: All warnings on the TM-6 filter and in the operating instructions should be adhered to.

FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS: All operating instructions should be followed.

WATER AND MOISTURE: The TM-6 filter should not be used near water (e.g. near a bathtub, washbowl, kitchen sink, laundry tub, in a wet basement, near a swimming pool etc.). Care should be taken so that liquids are not spilled onto or near the enclosure.

VENTILATION AND COOLING: The TM-6 filter normally operates warm to the touch. It MUST be situated so that its location or position does not interfere with convective cooling. The TM-6 filter MUST NOT be used on a bed, sofa rug or similar surface which may prevent proper cooling. It is NOT a toy. If the TM-6 filter is mounted in a rack or other built-in installation, space must be left around it to allow convection from the case.

HEAT: The TM-6 filter MUST be situated away from heat sources such as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or other devices (including power amps) that produce heat.

POWER SOURCE: The TM-6 filter should be connected to a power supply ONLY of the type described in the operating manual or as marked on the TM-6 filter.

DO NOT APPLY DC POWER TO THE TM-6! It uses 12 volts AC ONLY!!

POWER CORD PROTECTION: Power supply cords should be routed so that they are not likely to be walked on or pinched by items placed upon or against them.

CLEANING: The TM-6 filter should only be cleaned with a soft cloth moistened with water. Unplug the power supply before attempting to clean.

NON-USE PERIODS: The power supply of the TM-6 filter should be unplugged from the outlet when left unused for a long period of time.

DAMAGE OR TUBE REPLACEMENT REQUIRING SERVICE:

The TM-6 filter should be serviced by qualified service personnel when:

-The power supply or plug has been damaged;

-The TM-6 filter has been dropped, physically damaged, or subjected to force;

-Liquid has been spilled onto the TM-6 filter or it has been exposed to rain;

-The TM-6 filter does not appear to operate normally or exhibits a marked change in performance.

SERVICING: The user should not attempt to service the TM-6 filter. All servicing should be referred to qualified service personnel.

METASONIX LIMITED WARRANTY and standard legal disclaimer
Thank you for purchasing this Metasonix product.

The following terms and conditions apply:
1. Warranty period is for 90 days from date of purchase with proof of purchase submitted. Warranty covers electrical failure of vacuum tubes and gas-filled tubes, except in cases explained in 3 below.
2. Operating instructions must be followed. This device was intended ONLY for use by AUDIO AND MUSIC PROFESSIONALS.
IT IS NOT INTENDED FOR USE BY ORDINARY CONSUMERS!!

Product must not have been damaged as a result of defacement, misuse, abuse, neglect, accident, destruction or alteration of the serial number, improper electrical voltages or currents, repair, alteration or maintenance by any person or party other than our own service facility or an authorized service center, use or installation of non-Metasonix replacement parts in the product, or the use of this product outside of the U.S.A. or Canada (except as a product distributed by an authorized Metasonix dealer), or modification of the product in any way, or incorporation of the product into any other products, or damage to the product caused by accident, fire, floods, lightning, or acts of God, or any use violative of instructions furnished by Metasonix.

3. Obligations of Metasonix shall be limited to repair or replacement with same or similar unit, at our option. To obtain repairs under this warranty, present the product and proof of purchase (e.g. bill or invoice) to the authorized Metasonix service center, transportation charges prepaid. When returning the product for repair, please pack it very carefully, preferably using the original packaging materials. Please also include an explanatory note.
IMPORTANT:
To save yourself unnecessary cost and inconvenience, please check carefully that you have fully read and followed the instructions in this instruction manual.
This warranty is in lieu of all other expressed warranties, obligations or liabilities. ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES, OBLIGATIONS, OR LIABILITIES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, SHALL BE LIMITED IN DURATION TO THE DURATION OF THIS WRITTEN LIMITED WARRANTY. Some states do not allow limitations on how long an implied warranty lasts, so the above limitations may not apply to you. IN NO EVENT SHALL WE BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES FOR BREACH OF THIS OR ANY OTHER WARRANTY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WHATSOEVER. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of special, incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state.

METASONIX shall not be held liable for any incidental, consequential, or direct damages or expenses associated with the use or misuse of its products. The audio output of this product is capable of damaging some types of solid-state audio equipment; such use is entirely at the risk of the user. METASONIX does not guarantee that any of its products are designed for any particular use or purpose. The entire risk of suitability and performance of this product lies with the user. Products manufactured and/or sold by METASONIX are not authorized for use as critical components in devices used in life support and other systems whose failure or performance could result in compromised safety or danger to life or property.

Did we mention the DANGEROUS HIGH VOLTAGES inside the TM-6 filter? Well, here we mention it again.

DO NOT OPEN THE BOX unless you're a service technician or a blithering suicidal idiot.

NOTE: All sales are FINAL, especially custom designs. Only a Metasonix authorized dealer is permitted to return products to Metasonix for a refund or exchange.

You now have a revolution in electronic music----in the palm of your hand.

The TM-6 uses an all-vacuum-tube circuit which is unlike any other. Because it is unique, its sounds are unlike those produced by ANY other filter, past OR present. (Except for our TM-2 filter, upon which the TM-6 is based.)

Because this design is new to the music world, it takes some explaining. If you are not familiar with electronic filtering or control-voltage systems, you should first read a book about electronic music equipment. We recommend "Vintage Synthesizers" by Mark Vail (Backbeat Books, ISBN 0879306033) and "Synthesizer Basics" by Brent Hurtig (Hal Leonard Publishing, ISBN 0881887145).

The TM-6 has a unique filter design:

The low-pass filter is made up of two simple bandpass filters of the "twin-T" design. They are simple circuits which have been used in electronic music before---yet unlike the previous designs, the TM-6 filters use pentode vacuum tubes rather than transistors or ICs. The two filters are similar, except their center frequencies are offset by 2 or 3 octaves (depending on the setting of the BANDPASS RANGE switch). They otherwise track together. The bass filter is adjusted to resonate AFTER the treble filter, thus producing a lowpass filter response. The FILTER TYPE knob allows mixing the two filters together (center, producing lowpass response), or by turning FILTER TYPE fully clockwise, the bass filter is disabled and the TM-6 becomes a bandpass filter. By turning FILTER TYPE fully counterclockwise, only the output of the bass filter appears at the TM-6's output. The bass filter can be made to resonate by increasing the RESONANCE knob.

Adjust the INPUT LEVEL control to adjust the amount of clipping introduced to the filters--driving the filters harder makes the filtering effect less obvious, but adds distortion in a unique manner. Adjust the RESONANCE control to obtain "peaking" of the upper bandpass filter--best effect is usually obtained at the 9 o'clock position.

The outputs of the two filters mix together. A BYPASS button can remove all the TM-6 circuits from the signal path.

The output of the TM-6 is buffered thru an op-amp to provide a low output impedance of 1K ohms, which should drive any LINE-LEVEL input, such as a mixer or keyboard amplifier. The user is warned that running the TM-6 output directly into a high-gain guitar amp can cause problems with hum and distortion.

Note that the TM-6 gets warm during normal operation; try to keep it away from heat-sensitive materials. KEEP IT COOL. Don't pile anything on top of it while it is operating. Allow for convection cooling.

The TM-6 needs a line-level signal for best operation (about 1 volt RMS).

Use the TM-6's INPUT LEVEL control to set the input volume--the gain of the circuit is optimized. To control the output level, use the volume control on your mixer or amplifier, NOT the INPUT LEVEL control on the TM-6. (The TM-6's output is designed to "hard clip" at 20 v p-p, which should not damage any solid-state device connected to the output.)

POWER

The TM-6 can only accept 12v AC power. The frequency can be 50 Hz or 60 Hz. If the TM-6 did not include a suitable AC adapter, obtain one locally with suitable AC mains plug and input voltage rating. The jack connecting to the TM-6 must be a 2.1 mm coaxial power jack.

NEVER, NEVER connect an adapter with a DC output to the TM-6! It will damage the TM-6 and itself.

You should see the pilot lamp on the TM-6 light.

You should also see one or more of the tubes in the TM-6 thru the porthole, its cathodes glowing orange.

TO BEGIN:

INPUT LEVEL FILTER RESONANCE BASS ONLY BAND PASS LOW PASS BANDPASS RANGE LOW HIGH FILTER TUNE FILTER TYPE first connect the line output of an electronic keyboard or synthesizer VCO to the TM-6's input. Connect the TM-6 output to an amplifier/speaker or to your mixing board, so you can hear the result.

Set the controls as shown below.

Play the keyboard, and adjust the INPUT LEVEL. If it does not change, hit the BYPASS button and try again.

With your signal going into the TM-6, adjust the INPUT LEVEL until you hear the undistorted signal. Leave INPUT LEVEL there. We will use the LOWPASS setting, which is the most generally useful in electronic music. So set FILTER TYPE to midpoint. Set the BANDPASS RANGE switch to LOW.

Adjust RESONANCE to about the 9-o'clock position, as shown.

While the signal plays, turn FILTER TUNE back and forth through its middle range. You should hear the filters in the TM-6 sweeping back and forth, creating a unique "WOOOOOOW" effect, similar to other electronic filters but different. Also notice that there is some of the unfiltered signal in the output--this is normal.

There are two filters in the TM-6. The lower-frequency filter affects the bass, while the upper filter is in the treble region. They sweep together and are operated as a unit. This allows the TM-6 maximum utility as a swept filter for a variety of signals, regardless of their frequency range.

Try adjusting the RESONANCE and INPUT LEVEL controls, then sweeping FILTER TUNE back and forth, and listen to the changes in timbre. Overdriving the TM-6 will tend to make its filters less "filtery", while overdriving the filter tubes and adding tube distortion. DIfferent settings of RESONANCE will cause different sound effects.

You can switch ALL the effects of the TM-6 out of the circuit by hitting the BYPASS button. It works just like the bypass footswitch on any guitar effects pedal. You can hit it with your hand or your foot.

To shut off the TM-6s power, either unplug the coaxial connector, or pull the adapter out of the mains socket. Or, use an AC socket strip with a power switch--this is the best way to use the TM-6 with other electronic processing--all of the units can then be shut off simultaneously.

DO NOT leave the TM-6 powered up, this will wear out the tubes prematurely. Shut it off when not in use!

Using the CV inputs:

Although the TM-6 can be successfully used without ever plugging anything into the CV inputs, the advanced user can get an even greater range of sound modification by injecting control voltages or audio signals into the CV jacks. This is easily done if you have a modular or prepatched analog synthesizer available:

The FILTER CV input can accept about 0v to 4v control voltage. Offset can be provided by the FILTER TUNE knob, which is usually best set to approximately 10 o'clock to provide the best filter sweep.

The RESONANCE CV input effects the setting of the RESONANCE knob. By increasing the control voltage applied to RESONANCE CV, the current setting of RESONANCE will INCREASE (tending to make the filter resonate and oscillate). The RESONANCE knob acts as a “minimum setting” control for the resonance CV.

Using the TM-6 with guitar or mic:

The TM-6 can be used as a "WAH" pedal, though it needs a line-level signal---unless you guitar has a built-in preamp, we STRONGLY recommend you run your guitar through a fuzzbox or high-gain preamp before the TM-6, as shown below. A fuzzbox will add distortion, making the "wah" effect more pronounced.

You will also need an expression pedal, such as a Moog Music (tm) EP-1. Plug its single plug into the FILTER CV jack (warning: you can't use a standard volume or other pedal with the TM-6 unless it is rewired to act as an expression pedal).

Set the controls as before. The INPUT LEVEL, RESONANCE and FILTER TUNE will need to be adjusted for best effect. Play your guitar and adjust the guitar's volume, and the preamp/fuzzbox's level. Then adjust the TM-6's INPUT LEVEL--if it has no effect, press the BYPASS button and try again.

While playing guitar and sweeping the pedal back and forth, adjust the FILTER TUNE control until you hear the filter sweeping through the guitar signal.

For changes to the timbre, try adjusting FILTER TYPE. You might also try overdriving the TM-6 by turning up the preamp and then turning up INPUT LEVEL. Very “hot” signal will clip the filter and make it less effective—this can be a useful music effect under the right conditions.

TM-6 FILTER SPECIFICATIONS:

Voltage gain approximately 1 outside passband--depends on input signal and RESONANCE settings.

Recommended input level 0.5v p-p to 2 v p-p (approximately line level). Hum and noise more than 60dB below 0dBu.

Frequency response typ. +-6dB, 10 Hz to 40 kHz when resonance set to minimum.

Distortion adjustable from <1% to greater than 20% with 1v rms input signal.

Control voltage inputs:

-filter CV 0-4 v for full one-octave sweep

-resonance CV 1-5v.

ALL TM-5 inputs/outputs are compatible with modular-synthesizer control and signal voltages.

Power input 12v AC, 50/60 Hz, 0.8 amps maximum at idle.

DO NOT apply DC power to the power jack or the unit will be damaged.

Dimensions: 7 1/2" (192mm) x 4 3/8" (112mm) x 3" (77mm).

Weight not including accessories approx. 5 pounds (2.2 kg).

PMB 109, 881 11th Street

Lakeport CA 95453 USA

www.metasonix.com

synth@metasonix.com

2006-02-07T01:03:04