Klanghabitat Cassiopeia 500 Series Stereo Tube Saturation Module

The Klanghabitat Cassiopeia is a stereo vacuum tube saturation module in the API 500 format. Cassiopeia employs the "natural" characteristics of vacuum tubes saturation. The SATURATION potentiometer is used on the incoming signal - the more this control is turned clockwise, the less the vacuum tube can operate inside spec. The resulting effect are sonically pleasing overtones. The beautiful thing about using tubes in this context is the clipping that occurs in a soft way. The INTENSITY control blends in the saturated signal with the original unprocessed signal. This is very handy in cases where the SATURATION control is cranked up but just a small amount of the wet signal is beneficial to the output. The last element needed is the OUTPUT control, which allows the user to give the correct level to the following device in the entire signal chain.

SATURATION

This control brings the vacuum tube from “normal” operation into the region that will saturate the tube. This is being achieved by restricting the tube's possible range of operation. This is basically nothing else than steeling the tube for its headroom. The magic happens at the moment the incoming signal clips while running through the tube. This is basically clipping, but compared to a DAW, a tube is more forgiving and clips not harsh but with a smooth curve. And voila, the outcome is a THD rich but not harsh sounding signal. If the saturation dial is pushed to the extreme, the signal could be really over driven. This is very interesting in situations where sound design applies.

INTENSITY/OUTPUT

First, the intensity circuitry is passed where this control blends the raw signal with the processed signal. This control operates from 0% to 100%. This function is very useful when the output signal should just partially benefit from the processed signal. The output control is needed to apply the right signal level for gain matching the entire signal chain.

FEATURES:

• Stereo 500 series unit
• 150 mA power consumption
• Controls: Saturation 0 to 100%; Intensity 0 to 100%; Output ±12 dB
• THD+N: 0.024% (@0 dBu Saturation @0%); 26.3% (@0 dBu Saturation @100%)
• 20 Hz – 22 kHz frequency range
• +20 dBu max input level
• +20 dBu max output level