Kenton Plugstation ver.2.01 - Manual (Page 54)

KENTON PLUGSTATION USERS MANUAL
54
your own effects processing or EQ via a suitable mixing desk (or by routing it to the DS2416 and AX16AT as
shown later).
The net result of not fitting the Y-BOARD is that, signals coming back to the SW1000XG from the PLG cards
that you may wish to add effects to will result in effects applied to any one board, being applied to all boards
and with the same send amounts. This may be okay for some applications, as suitable effects such as
Chorus and Reverb can work well on multiple instruments. But we do advise, treat other effects types with
caution as you may not want to apply an AMP SIM to your carefully crafted VL flute sound.
We have found that boards like the PLG100/150VL need effects processing more than any of the others, as
the sounds can appear dry without. A good configuration thus, is to have the PLG150VL coming back
through the SW1000XG card, and any other PLG cards feeding to the individual outputs on the Y-BOARD.
As the PLG150DX is a DX7 (the original had no effects), but with a far cleaner output, more synthesis power
(resonant filters for example), this board is fine coming from the Y-OUTPUTS. The PLG150PF has effects
processing of its own, and as such as very suited to coming out of the individual outputs of PLUGSTATION.
The PLG150AN again is based on analogue classic synths or yesteryear, and as such, sounds excellent
even with no effects (many people liken the sound of this board to that of the Prophet 5 from Sequential
Circuits). So you can see, whilst this SW1000XG limitation may initially be some cause for concern, in fact it
isn’t really. Software such as XGPAD will reflect this, however caution should be taken when using XGEDIT
or XGWorks as they have no idea of the PLUGSTATION existence, and consequently may lead to confusion
with effects return levels. This obviously is not a problem in any way if you have the Y-BOARD fitted and
outboard effects and a suitable mixer. (Or a DS2416 card and AX16AT or 2 AX44’s)
Option 4: Connected to SW1000XG with X-BOARD (and Y BOARD and Z Board)
Putting it simply, this is the option that you really should aspire to, aside from the fact that it gives you an 8
channel 24-bit output expander for the SW1000XG (even without any PLG cards fitted), the routing as you
will see, is just phenomenal, especially when you combine it with a DS2416 card.
As we say, this is where it gets really exciting. Now not only do you have all the options listed in option 3, but
you also can send via the second DSP fitted to the Z-BOARD any SW1000XG audio or MIDI parts to any of
the individual outputs as well. This means that without the need for a DS2416 and AX16AT ADAT card you
can route individual outputs from the SW1000XG to your mixer. This alongside the fact that this will give you
the cleanest output you will ever hear from an SW1000XG or indeed any PLG card courtesy of the ultra
quiet and clean 24-BIT DACs on the PLUGSTATION Y-BOARD, and the fact that the SW1000XG’s output
stage (which has a small amount of EQ applied to it, and which many people have found can very slightly
colour the sound) is bypassed. This means that you hear the full range of SW1000XG effects, and synth
sounds like never before.
The additional headroom offered by these converters on PLUGSTATION will offer a marked difference in the
audio output quality of what already is an exceptional soundcard. Not only can you route SW1000XG MIDI
parts, but as we say, using applications software like XGPAD, you can also route SW1000XG audio parts to
individual ports, giving you for the first time the real flexibility (without the need for the DS2416) to apply
channel based EQ (using the EQ on your mixing desk) or extra channel specific effects on top of those from
the SW1000XG (again the effects would come from your outboard equipment).
NOTE: MANY APPLICATIONS SUPPORT THE DS2416 ROUTING OPTIONS ON THE SW1000XG,
XGPAD IS NOT ESSENTIAL TO CONTROL THIS.
Even if you have the DS2416, you can route all of the above to PLUGSTATION and still send the audio and
MIDI parts in parallel to the DS2416, and any additional expansion units you may have attached to it. For the
ultimate in routing and flexibility however, you can also use the Yamaha AX16AT card connected to the
DS2416 running in tandem with PLUGSTATION, whereby the ADAT out of the PLUGSTATION is feeding
the ADAT input of the AX16AT. This means that not only can you apply effects to any SW1000XG audio
parts or synth parts by routing to the DS2416 via the internal connector, but also by setting up your DS2416
software, muting the SW1000XG feeds to the Z-BOARD (ZSOP MUTE OPTIONS, This is a special mode
case purely for use with the DS2416/AX16AT (or Ax44 x 2) as we are showing in the diagram below, and
should not really be used in other circumstances as it will defeat the object of the Z-BOARD) you can set up
a further 8 channels of the DS2416 to come from the AX16AT ADAT input, which is being fed by the