Dangerous Music Sum & Minus 20th-Anniversary LE

Short Description:

ANALOG SUM & DIFFERENCE CONTROL FOR YOUR MIXING OR MASTERING RIG. In Used, Excellent condition

What We Think:

The Dangerous Music S&M (Sum & Minus) is a mastering-grade analog Mid/Side matrix designed to unlock precise spatial control over stereo tracks, sub-mixes, and full masters. Built around the ultra-transparent circuitry of designer Chris Muth, the S&M encodes a standard stereo signal into center (Sum) and side (Minus) information, allowing you to process lead elements like vocals, kick, and bass independently from wide-panned guitars, synths, and reverb tails.

Equipped with a dedicated analog insert loop, the Sum & Minus lets you patch your favorite mono outboard gear—such as a vocal compressor, EQ, or de-esser—directly into the center channel without affecting the sides, or vice versa. Paired with an ultra-precise, stepped stereo width control, it provides unparalleled corrective and creative freedom for rescue-job mixes and high-stakes mastering sessions.

Manufacturer Description:

The Dangerous Music S&M mid-side processing matrix is revered in the mixing and mastering community. Insert your favorite outboard, split your stereo into Mid and Sides and get to work. Juice up the overall top end then de-ess that vocal without destroying the ethereal shimmer on the sides. Take your ‘perfect’ drum sound from a stereo pair of overheads, where the snare is too loud and resolve it in seconds with a limiter on the Sum channel. Peel back the mung from the bass so it punches hard, without choking the guitars or synths. Deploy it classically or experimentally as a most potent creation tool.

We say it isn’t over, even after it’s over. The Dangerous S&M separates any stereo track into a center and side matrix yielding previously unattainable control over the entire stereo field.

FEATURES  

• Unprecedented control of your mixes

• Separately process the center & the sides of stereo pairs

• Powerful stereo image width control

• Insert Loop for Analog Outboard Processing

• 100% Analog Signal Path

• Incredibly Clean and Quiet

• Repeatable controls

The Dangerous Music S&M is an analog sum and difference (mid-side) processor designed to allow engineers unprecedented control over their stereo information. The potential of what the S&M can do is only limited by one’s outboard collection and imagination. The avenues for crafting sound through inserting compression, limiting, EQ, de-essing and other types of processing are virtually endless.

Mastering engineers will enjoy the fact that S&M allows them to save seemingly unsalvageable tracks by altering vocal levels without remixing, by fixing overly wide or narrow stereo fields, or by de-essing aggressive cymbals while leaving the center of the mix untouched.

The mixing engineer can use the Dangerous Music S&M to extract the snare drum from a washy overhead pair, enhance the width of anemic stereo synths, or custom design the stereo image of the mix without altering the tonal content.

Other fun and useful things to do in the mix room include aggressively limiting the center of a drum overhead pair while leaving the sides open and sparkling, without collapsing the width of the image… or how about running some reverb and effects returns through S&M and opening up the width control? In surround widening the rear channels creates impressive soundstage and depth, all done with cutting edge analog circuitry and without trickery.

Assembled by hand using the highest quality components and a no-compromise attitude the Dangerous Music S&M is the missing stereo link for any serious mixing or mastering engineer.

Specifications:

Frequency Response

Flat within 0.1dB from 1Hz -100kHz

THD + NOISE

<0.002%

IMD60 4:1

<0.002%

Sum and Minus channel separation

-78dB

Width control accuracy

0.02dBu

Dynamic Range

108dB

Nominal operating level

+4dBu

Maximum Input Level

+23dBu

Input Impedance

25K Ohms Balanced

Output Impedance

50 Ohms Balanced

Replacement Fuses:

AMERICAS: 90-120VAC 2 Amp Slo-Blo fuse

EUROPE: 200-260VAC 1 Amp Slo-Blo fuse