Cheat Sheet for things you might forget:

• To activate the compressor per channel hold press the encoder and turn it CW to increase the amount of side chain.



• To switch compressor modes hold press 4 encoders for longer than 1 second until the Sidechain LED blinks 1/2/3 times depending on which mode is selected.



• Mode 1: ducking with CV.



• Mode 2: ducking with audio.



• Mode 3: ducking with triggers where the side chain knob adjusts the decay of internal envelope.

Cockpit2 3U / 1U

Cockpit 2 is a 4 channel stereo performance mixer with mutes, on-board compressor and external sidechain control voltage option (3 modes) to add dynamics to your mix. Available in 3U 6hp and 1U 24hp versions with some design differences.

The information in this manual applies to both 1U and 3U versions, every difference between each version will be explained in more detail below.

Links

Cockpit2 3U product page
Cockpit2 1U product page

Overview

Cockpit 2 is a stereo mixer designed with performance in mind. It can either be used as a 4 channel stereo mixer or 4 channel mono mixer, or anything in between. The user defines how the module behaves. The 3U version has 4 jumpers on the back that switch between stereo / mono functionality, while the 1U version has the first channel set to stereo with one input jack and the other 3 channels feature 2 inputs each for the L and R audio input.

The levels of each channel are controlled using 4 onboard encoders with Red / Blue LEDs that make it daltonic friendly. The same encoders can be pressed to mute / unmute each of the channels.

Built-in compressor can either run on the whole mix by reducing big audio peaks or can be used along with the external sidechain input. Each channel can have a different level of sidechain configured by hold - pressing channel’s encoder while turning it CW to increase the sidechain amount. This is very useful if you want to give your mix more dynamics and generally to avoid clashing frequencies between Kick and Bass for example.

Front panel controls

4 encoders: the encoders are used to adjust the volume of each channel, acts as mute buttons and set the sidechain amount per channel.

Audio inputs 3U: Audio inputs 3U: 4 user configurable audio inputs, can work as either stereo or mono inputs depending on the jumper position on the back of the module.

Audio inputs 1U: accepts cv signals in the range of -5V...+5V. If no CV is applied and no manual sample offset is selected using the Parameter knob, the first sample of each voice’s folder is chosen.

Sidechain knob: depending on which of the 3 sidechain modes is selected, it either sets the attenuation of external sidechain CV and Audio or the length of internally generated AD envelope.

Sidechain CV input: depending on which of the 3 modes is selected, it accepts CV, triggers or Audio sources.

Sidechain LED: shows compressor / sidechain activity.

Master volume knob: adjust the final mix output level.

Stereo output: final mix stereo output, with enough current to drive a wide range of headphones. We recommend using either a stereo 3.5mm TRS cable or a stereo splitter cable available at our merch store.

Front panel controls

Both 1U and 3U versions feature extra rear connections, that are either used for daisy chaining multiple modules together to act as one big mixer or to wire the Inputs / Outputs to either other modules or ¼ inch TRS outputs via the Intellijel Jacks IO v2 board.

3U version:

• 4 jumpers that set if the chosen audio input accepts Stereo or Mono sources.
• Master / Slave pins: used for daisy chaining multiple modules together to create a bigger mixer system. Connect the Master pins of Cockpit No 1 to Slave pins on Cockpit No 2.

1U version:

• Aux In: accepts audio input from other Mix Bus compatible modules.
• Mix Out: post master volume knob audio output, compatible with other Mix Bus modules.
• Stereo Balanced Line Out: 6 pin connector for the Intellijel Jacks IO v2 board, let’s you route the final post master volume knob output straight to the TRS jacks on the Intellijel cases.

Compressor Modes:

The built in compressor features 3 different modes of dynamic processing of audio signals. To switch different modes, hold press all 4 encoders for longer than 1 second until you see the Sidechain LED blink either 1, 2 or 3 times showing the selected mode.

• 1) Ducking with CV:The input of the COCKPIT accepts unipolar CV from 0 to approximately +5V. Everything that goes above +5V is being saturated, and everything that is below zero will be cut off.The sidechain knob adjusts the level of ducking. Adjust it to the desired pumping level/intensity. The blue LED near that knob shows the amplitude of the input signal and lights up when the ducking level increases. TIPP: When no plug is inserted into the sidechain jack, the sum of all four channels is sent to the sidechain input of the ducking compressor. That connection may seem a bit experimental (since the channel generates a CV envelope from the full mix and it may sound more like amplitude modulation), however at some point it may bring interesting results.



• 2) Ducking with audio:The sidechain input is amplified by approx. 10 times with an envelope follower at the input. Now you may simply input a sound source (a kick or snare drum for instance – at a consumer line level – approx. 1Vpp) and the CV will be extracted from that audio source and applied to the channels you assigned to the ducking by pressing-and-holding the encoder for over one second (just as you did in the CV in mode described above). Tipp: If the ducking effect seems too hefty, it may be that the audio you want to use is too 'hot' – attenuating may help.



• 3) Ducking with triggers:The sidechain input accepts triggers in standard modular level (everything that is higher than 1V is recognized as on and lower than 250mV as off). Every trigger generates an internal envelope (falling ramp) in the COCKPIT. That envelope has instant (zero) attack and the decay time is defined by the sidechain knob. Time of decay varies from 10ms to 10 seconds and at full CCW knob position there is no effect applied. This mode works great if you don’t have an extra envelope in your system, but also because you can control the sidechain release time independently from your audio and cv sources, giving you more control over the dynamics.