Carvin s400d Manuel D’Utilisation

To start, turn the CHANNEL LEVEL control to 3 and the MASTER LEVEL to 3.  As you require

more or less volume, turn the master up and down along with the channel level.  If you need
more gain (sensitivity), you can turn the master and channel levels up to 10 together.  However,
the channel should not be set at 10 and the master at 3 or distortion could result within the
pre-stages of your S400.  Because all instrument and mics have different output levels, achiev-
ing full power from your S400 could happen at 5 or 10 on the levels controls.

The EFF control on each channel is the “send” to add sound effects (built-in on the S400D

model).  Normally you will set this control at 5 and the master EFF LEVEL at 5.  Adjust accord-
ingly to what sounds best.  You should never have to run the channel send and the master
effects to 10.  Do not set the channel effects at 10 & the master effects at 3 or distortion could
result within the effect processing circuits.  These levels should be set about equal.

Tone controls are used to shape your sound.  To start, set all tone controls to their center

0 position where no tone corrections are made.  Generally for microphones you’ll want to
set the HI and LO controls to 3 o’clock (+6 db).  This will add more depth and crispness
to your voice.  You will want to do this for your instruments too.  Channel 1 provides a MID
control for your guitar.  Along with adding +6 db to the HI and LO controls, set the MID
control at 9 o’clock (-6db).  This takes out the unwanted 750Hz mids which have a ten-
dency to dull the sound of your guitar.  

The ACOUSTIC SWITCH is a high frequency boost set at 11K Hz for adding shimmering

highs for an acoustic instrument.  Push this switch in when using acoustic instruments.

The MIC XLR connectors are designed for professional low impedance microphones.  The

instrument jacks 2-3 may also be used at the same time providing the mic doesn’t have
an ON/OFF switch set to OFF.  If a mic with an ON/OFF switch is used, such as Carvin’s
CM50, simply leave the switch in the ON position.

The INST. 1 jack is designed for instruments such as an acoustic or electric guitar. 

The INST. jacks 2-4 are designed for instruments or line level inputs such as a drum machine, 

tape deck, bass guitar, keyboard, an unbalanced mic, etc.. The sensitivity of these jacks
are lower than CH 1 so LEVELS 2-4 will have to be turned higher in some cases.

The L-R TAPE / CD jacks are for connecting a tape deck or CD player to the StageMate™.

The jack is configured to combine the L and R inputs from your player.   Adjust the level
with the Channel 4 LEVEL control.  Some CD or tape players may have high output levels
and the Channel 4 LEVEL control must be kept very low. The XLR MIC input and RCA TAPE/CD
inputs may also be used simultaneously providing the mic doesn’t have an ON/OFF switch
set to OFF.  If a mic with an ON/OFF switch is used, such as Carvin’s CM50, leave the switch
in the ON position.

The MASTER LEVEL control adjusts the over all volume of the StageMate™, including the

Tape/CD, EFFects level and channels.  Use this control to make overall adjustments.  The
MASTER LEVEL should not be set much lower than the highest channel LEVEL.

The EFF LEVEL control is the return volume for the effects loop and the internal DSP proces-

sor on the S400D model.  To use your external effects processor, use the SEND and RETURN
jacks.  To ensure that the effects processor is not being overdriven by the channel SEND
controls, the EFF LEVEL MASTER control should be not much lower than any of the chan-
nel EFF send levels.  A normal setting for both the send and the master return effects should
be about 5.

The 24-BIT processor provides a host of great sounding effects including FLANGE,
REVERB, ECHO, & CHORUS.  Turn up the LEVEL control to 5 as a starting position.  Turn
the LEVEL higher if more effect signal is desired.  The adjacent PK LED will flash if the EFF
LEVEL is set too high.  To avoid distortion, lower the EFF LEVEL.  Use the SELECT and the
ADJUST controls to get the desired effect (more details are below). Note: An audible noise
will be heard while adjusting the effects.

EFFECT PARAMETERS
Each of the four effects has a variable parameter that can be easily adjusted.  Each “SELECT” &
“PARAMETER” is described below.
A)  ECHO: SELECT the amount of the regeneration (repeating).  Now select the ADJUST con-
trol for the shortest or longest delay time between the original signal and the echo.

B)  REVERB: SELECT the amount of presence (high frequencies) in the reverb. Now turn the
ADJUST control to provide the minimum or maximum decay.

C)  CHORUS: SELECT the amount of reverb with your chorus. Now turn the ADJUST control
to increase the depth.

D)  FLANGE: SELECT the amount of speed with your flange (phasing effect). Now turn the
ADJUST control to increase the depth.

The EFFECTS FOOTSWITCH jack uses a normal 1/4” plug footswitch to turn off the effects

loop remotely.  Use the Reverb/Effects switch on th optional Carvin FS22 footswitch. 

For additional coverage and output, connect the Carvin 810 speaker or any quality 8

ohm speaker system.  NOTE:  A 4 ohm extension speaker is not recommended or lower
battery time and distortion will result.  Also, the added extension speaker will result
in lower battery time due to higher power demands delivered by the StageMate™.  We
recommend installing the optional second “B400” battery to double your battery time.

This jack is a dual mono output for headphones or to feed the StageMate™ audio to an

external sound system.  Use headphones with a STEREO 1/4” plug.  Connecting headphones
or a cable does not mute the internal speaker.  Use the MASTER LEVEL to adjust the volume
of this output.

To use your outboard effects processor, connect this jack into the “input” of your effects

processor.  The EFF level on each channel sends the signal to the processor from jack.

Connect the RET jack into the “output” of your external effects processor.     

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