Recording - June 2016 - 28

B Y PA U L V N U K J R .

elysia karacter 500
This sweet module helps give your digital tracks real 'karacter'
The German company elysia's products
are known for zero-compromise build
quality and sonic precision. Starting with
mastering compressors and EQs costing
$4000 to $10,000, elysia branched out
into more affordable hardware: the xpressor compressor, xfilter EQ, and nvelope
impulse shaper, all available as rackmount or dual-slot 500 series modules.
Each unit offers stereo/dual mono operation, and with a few small exceptions in
the xpressor, all of these units share the
same overall build and control layout.
This uniformity allows the company to sell
each for the same price across the board.
If you are the owner of a 500 Series
enclosure, there is a substantial savings to
be had going that route-the 19" rack
models street for $1499 each while the
500 series boxes are $975.
This month we take a look at the new
fourth member of the family: the karacter.
We reviewed the 500 Series version; a 19"
rack version is expected within a few
weeks. The karacter is a saturation and distortion box billed by elysia as a "coloring
box-full of vibrant colors." Given the company's history of clean and pristine audio,
that means you could say that for elysia, the
karacter is a bit out of character...
Joking aside, internally the karacter is
made up of the same high-end components that elysia's reputation is built
upon. It is a discrete class-A design;
according to elysia, the benefit is that
while you are adding saturation and
harmonic distortion, there is zero degradation of the original signal. The unit
maintains a very low noise floor, to
which I can attest.
Kontrols
As mentioned above, the karacter has
the same configuration and layout as the
nvelope and xfilter. Each channel has 4
semi-stepped knobs along with 4 LED
equipped pushbuttons, with the large backlit elysia logo in the center. From top to bottom the knobs are Drive, Color, Gain, and
Mix; with the exception of Color, they are
pretty self-explanatory and give a good
indication of signal flow.
28

RECORDING JUNE 2016

Drive controls the amount or intensity of
the saturation/distortion; yes, kids, it goes
up to eleven. Color, as per the manual,
changes the harmonics-frequency relationship. It starts at a center 12 o'clock position. Counterclockwise is the low-mid and
bass side, clockwise is high mids and
upper frequencies. While that may sound
like an EQ, it's actually selecting which frequency range you are harmonically exciting and torturing. The elysia folks call the
bass side Dub and the treble side Shred.
Gain is also set flat at 12 O'clock and
attenuates or boosts the output of the signal. This control is essential-settings of full
Drive with high Color can be quite intense,
loud enough to harm speakers and
eardrums. Finally, Mix controls the blend of
the dry signal with the effected signal.
With this control you can achieve intense
distorted and deconstructed signals that
are gently blended into the dry source, or
blend in full saturation with ease.
Each channel's pushbuttons control its
three operation modes, which we will
look at first. When none are pressed, the
unit functions as two independent mono
channels. The top button of Channel One
engages Stereo Link mode, with the
left/bottom controls serving as a linked
master set of controls for each channel.
Pressing the top button of Channel Two
engages Mid/Side mode. In this mode,
the left/bottom controls control the Mid or
center of the audio spectrum, while the
right/top controls effect the Sides of the
stereo signal. This is great on drums and
stereo program material to add weight in
the center and sizzle to the sides, and in
some settings can actually give the mix
an impression of greater stereo width and
sparkle. Note that stereo linking is also
possible in M/S mode.
Saturation and shred
This brings us to the two sonic modes in
the karacter. In its stock state, the karacter
is a mastering-grade saturator... which are
not words I normally put together in a sentence! As a saturator, karacter runs the
gamut from subtle harmonic tickles to fullblown harmonic overdrive.

Pushing the button labeled FET Shred
changes it from a saturation box to a distortion device that elysia says is inspired
by tube distortion. At high levels, FET
Shredded audio can take on a lovely,
unpredictable, harmonically-distorted life of
its own, one that almost has a filtered
synth-like quality... complete with squelches
at extremes. This is similar to high settings
of filter resonance on a synth. In the "wait,
there's more" category, FET Shred mode
has a second button labeled Turbo Boost
that takes it even further into extreme sonic
destruction. The final button on each channel is engage/bypass.
Taste the kolors with your mind
So what does the karacter sound
good on? Darn near anything and
everything, and I am not kidding. Unlike
running sources through a distortion
box, tube saturator, or tape emulation,
karacter's secret lies in the balance of
being able to choose your level of drive,
what frequencies will be affected, and
then how much or how little will be
blended into the signal. As such it is
100% a feel/play by ear piece of kit!
My first use of the karacter was on
drums for an ambient-electronica project
improvised live with real drums. To start
with I placed an old Electro-Voice RE15
dynamic mic on the snare, ran it through
some intense FET Shred settings on the
karacter, and dialed that back so it still
sounded like a snare but with added sizzle and excitement. I then ran that into a
Universal Audio 1176LN reissue with all
the buttons jammed in, and let the drummer fly. On kick I used the karacter, gently



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - June 2016

Contents
Recording - June 2016 - Cover1
Recording - June 2016 - Cover2
Recording - June 2016 - 1
Recording - June 2016 - 2
Recording - June 2016 - 3
Recording - June 2016 - 4
Recording - June 2016 - 5
Recording - June 2016 - Contents
Recording - June 2016 - 7
Recording - June 2016 - 8
Recording - June 2016 - 9
Recording - June 2016 - 10
Recording - June 2016 - 11
Recording - June 2016 - 12
Recording - June 2016 - 13
Recording - June 2016 - 14
Recording - June 2016 - 15
Recording - June 2016 - 16
Recording - June 2016 - 17
Recording - June 2016 - 18
Recording - June 2016 - 19
Recording - June 2016 - 20
Recording - June 2016 - 21
Recording - June 2016 - 22
Recording - June 2016 - 23
Recording - June 2016 - 24
Recording - June 2016 - 25
Recording - June 2016 - 26
Recording - June 2016 - 27
Recording - June 2016 - 28
Recording - June 2016 - 29
Recording - June 2016 - 30
Recording - June 2016 - 31
Recording - June 2016 - 32
Recording - June 2016 - 33
Recording - June 2016 - 34
Recording - June 2016 - 35
Recording - June 2016 - 36
Recording - June 2016 - 37
Recording - June 2016 - 38
Recording - June 2016 - 39
Recording - June 2016 - 40
Recording - June 2016 - 41
Recording - June 2016 - 42
Recording - June 2016 - 43
Recording - June 2016 - 44
Recording - June 2016 - 45
Recording - June 2016 - 46
Recording - June 2016 - 47
Recording - June 2016 - 48
Recording - June 2016 - 49
Recording - June 2016 - 50
Recording - June 2016 - 51
Recording - June 2016 - 52
Recording - June 2016 - 53
Recording - June 2016 - 54
Recording - June 2016 - 55
Recording - June 2016 - 56
Recording - June 2016 - 57
Recording - June 2016 - 58
Recording - June 2016 - 59
Recording - June 2016 - 60
Recording - June 2016 - 61
Recording - June 2016 - 62
Recording - June 2016 - 63
Recording - June 2016 - 64
Recording - June 2016 - 65
Recording - June 2016 - 66
Recording - June 2016 - 67
Recording - June 2016 - 68
Recording - June 2016 - 69
Recording - June 2016 - 70
Recording - June 2016 - 71
Recording - June 2016 - 72
Recording - June 2016 - Cover3
Recording - June 2016 - Cover4
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