ARX supplied most of the info
Nov 2006

The sheer amount of effects and signal processors required for today's standards of audio production puts a great strain on the available space in equipment racks, both in the studio and on the road. So, in order to give engineers more control in less space,  ARX created the ARX Sixgate Optical Noise Gate; Six full function noise gates neatly housed in a compact, all steel 1 RU package.

Internally, each gate features ARX's brand new proprietary ultra low noise high-speed opto-coupler circuitry with program dependent Attack time, which tracks the incoming signal to automatically determine optimum gate response.

ARX's new ultra low noise high-speed opto-coupler offers noise and distortion specifications which cannot be matched by conventional VCA or DSP designs.

ARX's research shows that the majority of noise gates get used on drum kits, which means using typically 5 to 6 gate channels. Compare this to the two or maybe 4 channels that most other units have, and you'll see the reason for the Sixgate's success. And, by using a minimalist approach to drum gates, the ARX Sixgate has enough gates left over for backing vocals and other instruments. Plus, the instruction book is written by legendary Duncan Fry, expert wordsmith and author of the lesser known book "I punched the Production Manager and got away with it".

Front panel controls for each gate consist of the 'Industry Standard' controls for Release, Depth and Threshold, plus Red and Green LED displays to indicate Gate Open or Closed status, and an IN/OUT bypass switch with Yellow LED Status display.