hank alrich wrote:

I think people think they want to build a great preamp project that
costs less in total per channel than the price of a jensen input
transformer. g

You know what, though...

I have a lot of junk in storage. Rack devices that are inferior or don't
work, or just aren't useful. But they could be excellent candidates for
scrapping for DIY projects. Think about it, they already have XLR connectors,
holes drilled in the front, and quite possibly power supplies that could
be adapted for a mic preamp project or something else. They might even
have useable output transformers.

Rob R.

"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message
...
In article , Garrett Cox
wrote:
How much to build the powersupply? I assume we'd be building it. I'd be
interested. I love reading the DIY also. Still want to piece together a
few of Scott Dorsey's passive EQ's.

Please hurry up! I'm not getting too many orders for the passive EQ
boards,
so I'm probably not going to do a second run of boards like I have for
most
of the other projects.

220 per channel is a bit of cash. I won't say steep but it is a DIY
project for almost 2 grand. (If you do 8 channels)

The thing is that you can do the power supply and two channels today, then
you can slowly populate the boards as time goes on and you need more
channels. Of course, this works only as long as none of the parts get
discontinued in the meantime (which has happened now and then).

Not real likely -- everything on the board is either a common part or a
common size.

Again, per-channel cost is down to about $150 for a basic unit (unbalanced
output, flat response, global phantom on/off), up to $175 for the fancier
unit (balanced out, switchable high-pass filter, individual channel phantom
on/off). Still assuming $25 for the board, which is still guesswork, and
will be until I lay the board out. The $220 was a typo caused by my adding
something in twice.

Peace,
Paul

"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message
...
In article , Garrett Cox
wrote:
How much to build the powersupply? I assume we'd be building it. I'd be
interested. I love reading the DIY also. Still want to piece together a
few of Scott Dorsey's passive EQ's.

Please hurry up! I'm not getting too many orders for the passive EQ
boards,
so I'm probably not going to do a second run of boards like I have for
most
of the other projects.

220 per channel is a bit of cash. I won't say steep but it is a DIY
project for almost 2 grand. (If you do 8 channels)

The thing is that you can do the power supply and two channels today, then
you can slowly populate the boards as time goes on and you need more
channels. Of course, this works only as long as none of the parts get
discontinued in the meantime (which has happened now and then).

Not real likely -- everything on the board is either a common part or a
common size.

Again, per-channel cost is down to about $150 for a basic unit (unbalanced
output, flat response, global phantom on/off), up to $175 for the fancier
unit (balanced out, switchable high-pass filter, individual channel phantom
on/off). Still assuming $25 for the board, which is still guesswork, and
will be until I lay the board out. The $220 was a typo caused by my adding
something in twice.

Peace,
Paul

"Mike Rivers" wrote in message

I don't agree with that. Dymo tape to me symbolizes an experimental or
unfinished project. That's not what I want to trust my sound to.

Or an incredibly hi-zoop but 'played down' low key image projection....

geoff

"Mike Rivers" wrote in message

I don't agree with that. Dymo tape to me symbolizes an experimental or
unfinished project. That's not what I want to trust my sound to.

Or an incredibly hi-zoop but 'played down' low key image projection....

geoff

"Mike Rivers" wrote in message
news:znr1100646634k@trad...

In article writes:

Single control for two channels? Sounds like an application for DUAL LOG
TAPER to me.

Naw, he wants it both ways - individual control or with both channels
tracking.

How about the same in dual-concentric form factor ?!!

geoff

"Mike Rivers" wrote in message
news:znr1100646634k@trad...

In article writes:

Single control for two channels? Sounds like an application for DUAL LOG
TAPER to me.

Naw, he wants it both ways - individual control or with both channels
tracking.

How about the same in dual-concentric form factor ?!!

geoff

"Kurt Albershardt" wrote in message news:2vvqi2F2psk7gU1@uni-

military & high grade commercial stuff. I used to buy dummy load stuff
from them and they had a TON of pots.


Maybe they got busted ?

geoff

"Kurt Albershardt" wrote in message news:2vvqi2F2psk7gU1@uni-

military & high grade commercial stuff. I used to buy dummy load stuff
from them and they had a TON of pots.


Maybe they got busted ?

geoff

"Paul Stamler" wrote in message news:4q5nd.33589

Again, per-channel cost is down to about $150 for a basic unit (unbalanced
output, flat response, global phantom on/off), up to $175 for the fancier
unit (balanced out, switchable high-pass filter, individual channel
phantom
on/off). Still assuming $25 for the board, which is still guesswork, and
will be until I lay the board out. The $220 was a typo caused by my adding
something in twice.

Maybe it would be cheaper to implement this device as a software plugin !

geoff ;-)

"Paul Stamler" wrote in message news:4q5nd.33589

Again, per-channel cost is down to about $150 for a basic unit (unbalanced
output, flat response, global phantom on/off), up to $175 for the fancier
unit (balanced out, switchable high-pass filter, individual channel
phantom
on/off). Still assuming $25 for the board, which is still guesswork, and
will be until I lay the board out. The $220 was a typo caused by my adding
something in twice.

Maybe it would be cheaper to implement this device as a software plugin !

geoff ;-)

"Paul Stamler" wrote in message ...
Hi folks:

Let me launch a trial balloon here. Is this a DIY project that appeals to
you?

It's a microphone preamp, solid state, transformer in (Jensen),
transformerless balanced +4dBu out with a separate -10dBV unbalanced out. IC
based, up to 8 channels in a 2U case, plus separate power pack. Phantom on
all channels, 100Hz rolloff selectable on all channels, otherwise no EQ.
Designed to be comparable to the Sytek in price, performance and feature
set, but with transformer-coupled inputs. All parts obtainable (to North
Americans, at any rate) from Digi-Key and Allied Electronics, except for the
transformers, which come directly from Jensen. On-card regulation. Like the
Sytek, there are some optional choices in what ICs you use.

Approximate costs are as follows. These include everything except the cases,
which are up to you. At the moment I'm assuming the PC boards would cost
$25.00 / ea.; that's the biggest unknown in the equation. I can't really
fill that in until I design the boards, and I'm not gonna do that until I
find out whether anybody's interested. (Also, of course, price of the boards
will vary depending on how many I order.) There are options which will raise
the price, and some that will lower it, but this is the basic design.

Each input channel: $220.00

Power Supply: $120.00

So a 4-channel unit would cost almost exactly $1k, not counting boxes. An
8-channel would be $1880, ditto. I'd make my slice selling the PC boards and
writing it up for the magazines.

Any interest?

Peace,
Paul

I'm kind of late to this thread but to me the best DIY projects are
for things that you cannot buy very readily and would be hard to make
on your own.

I bought a Big Briar (now Moog Music) Theremin kit around 1996, at the
time it was about the only way to get a theremin....they now sell
assembled ones but they cost a lot more and it was pretty cool to have
built it myself; that impresses people that don't realize it was
pretty easy (the circuit board came pre-assembled).

Most people that are thinking about dropping $1k on a mic preamp are
willing to spend more to get a "name" unit, although your per-pre cost
is low it's still well above what your average Joe would be spending
on a preamp.

I'm not complaining about your costs, just pointing out that once you
hit a five figure price tag, most expectations go up quite a bit, and
$1000 kits are probably not going to be a big seller.

To me some of the cool kits are the LA-2A and SSL compressor ones,
they are not cheap but still seem to be a good value....if I had the
chops to build one.

Analogeezer

"Paul Stamler" wrote in message ...
Hi folks:

Let me launch a trial balloon here. Is this a DIY project that appeals to
you?

It's a microphone preamp, solid state, transformer in (Jensen),
transformerless balanced +4dBu out with a separate -10dBV unbalanced out. IC
based, up to 8 channels in a 2U case, plus separate power pack. Phantom on
all channels, 100Hz rolloff selectable on all channels, otherwise no EQ.
Designed to be comparable to the Sytek in price, performance and feature
set, but with transformer-coupled inputs. All parts obtainable (to North
Americans, at any rate) from Digi-Key and Allied Electronics, except for the
transformers, which come directly from Jensen. On-card regulation. Like the
Sytek, there are some optional choices in what ICs you use.

Approximate costs are as follows. These include everything except the cases,
which are up to you. At the moment I'm assuming the PC boards would cost
$25.00 / ea.; that's the biggest unknown in the equation. I can't really
fill that in until I design the boards, and I'm not gonna do that until I
find out whether anybody's interested. (Also, of course, price of the boards
will vary depending on how many I order.) There are options which will raise
the price, and some that will lower it, but this is the basic design.

Each input channel: $220.00

Power Supply: $120.00

So a 4-channel unit would cost almost exactly $1k, not counting boxes. An
8-channel would be $1880, ditto. I'd make my slice selling the PC boards and
writing it up for the magazines.

Any interest?

Peace,
Paul

I'm kind of late to this thread but to me the best DIY projects are
for things that you cannot buy very readily and would be hard to make
on your own.

I bought a Big Briar (now Moog Music) Theremin kit around 1996, at the
time it was about the only way to get a theremin....they now sell
assembled ones but they cost a lot more and it was pretty cool to have
built it myself; that impresses people that don't realize it was
pretty easy (the circuit board came pre-assembled).

Most people that are thinking about dropping $1k on a mic preamp are
willing to spend more to get a "name" unit, although your per-pre cost
is low it's still well above what your average Joe would be spending
on a preamp.

I'm not complaining about your costs, just pointing out that once you
hit a five figure price tag, most expectations go up quite a bit, and
$1000 kits are probably not going to be a big seller.

To me some of the cool kits are the LA-2A and SSL compressor ones,
they are not cheap but still seem to be a good value....if I had the
chops to build one.

Analogeezer

In article ,
(Analogeezer) wrote:

[snip]

I'm kind of late to this thread but to me the best DIY projects are
for things that you cannot buy very readily and would be hard to make
on your own.

I bought a Big Briar (now Moog Music) Theremin kit around 1996, at the
time it was about the only way to get a theremin....they now sell
assembled ones but they cost a lot more and it was pretty cool to have
built it myself; that impresses people that don't realize it was
pretty easy (the circuit board came pre-assembled).

Most people that are thinking about dropping $1k on a mic preamp are
willing to spend more to get a "name" unit, although your per-pre cost
is low it's still well above what your average Joe would be spending
on a preamp.

I'm not complaining about your costs, just pointing out that once you
hit a five figure price tag, most expectations go up quite a bit, and
$1000 kits are probably not going to be a big seller.

To me some of the cool kits are the LA-2A and SSL compressor ones,
they are not cheap but still seem to be a good value....if I had the
chops to build one.

Analogeezer


I didn't add my $.02 before, but this seems like a kit version of the Presonus
M80 for about the same price as the off-the-shelf one. I built from scratch a 4
channel mic pre based on the Jensen JT-115K/NE5534 about 20 years ago and it
cost about the same per channel as this does. While it was a great learning
experience and it still sounds good, it isn't a cost-effective solution now
unless you consider it to be an educational experience, which it likely will be.

-Jay
--
x------- Jay Kadis ------- x---- Jay's Attic Studio ------x
x Lecturer, Audio Engineer x Dexter Records x
x CCRMA, Stanford University x http://www.offbeats.com/ x
x---------- http://ccrma.stanford.edu/~jay/ ------------x

In article ,
(Analogeezer) wrote:

[snip]

I'm kind of late to this thread but to me the best DIY projects are
for things that you cannot buy very readily and would be hard to make
on your own.

I bought a Big Briar (now Moog Music) Theremin kit around 1996, at the
time it was about the only way to get a theremin....they now sell
assembled ones but they cost a lot more and it was pretty cool to have
built it myself; that impresses people that don't realize it was
pretty easy (the circuit board came pre-assembled).

Most people that are thinking about dropping $1k on a mic preamp are
willing to spend more to get a "name" unit, although your per-pre cost
is low it's still well above what your average Joe would be spending
on a preamp.

I'm not complaining about your costs, just pointing out that once you
hit a five figure price tag, most expectations go up quite a bit, and
$1000 kits are probably not going to be a big seller.

To me some of the cool kits are the LA-2A and SSL compressor ones,
they are not cheap but still seem to be a good value....if I had the
chops to build one.

Analogeezer


I didn't add my $.02 before, but this seems like a kit version of the Presonus
M80 for about the same price as the off-the-shelf one. I built from scratch a 4
channel mic pre based on the Jensen JT-115K/NE5534 about 20 years ago and it
cost about the same per channel as this does. While it was a great learning
experience and it still sounds good, it isn't a cost-effective solution now
unless you consider it to be an educational experience, which it likely will be.

-Jay
--
x------- Jay Kadis ------- x---- Jay's Attic Studio ------x
x Lecturer, Audio Engineer x Dexter Records x
x CCRMA, Stanford University x http://www.offbeats.com/ x
x---------- http://ccrma.stanford.edu/~jay/ ------------x

"Jay Kadis" wrote in message
...

I didn't add my $.02 before, but this seems like a kit version of the
Presonus
M80 for about the same price as the off-the-shelf one. I built from
scratch a 4
channel mic pre based on the Jensen JT-115K/NE5534 about 20 years ago and
it
cost about the same per channel as this does. While it was a great
learning
experience and it still sounds good, it isn't a cost-effective solution
now
unless you consider it to be an educational experience, which it likely
will be.

Same features as the Presonus, prob. a lot higher quality (they don't use
Jensens any more, as far as I know), and the option of building anywhere
from 1 to 8 channels.

And the reason the cost is about the same as what you built is that this
design is probably a good deal similar to yours. Not much new under the sun,
really.

Peace,
Paul

"Jay Kadis" wrote in message
...

I didn't add my $.02 before, but this seems like a kit version of the
Presonus
M80 for about the same price as the off-the-shelf one. I built from
scratch a 4
channel mic pre based on the Jensen JT-115K/NE5534 about 20 years ago and
it
cost about the same per channel as this does. While it was a great
learning
experience and it still sounds good, it isn't a cost-effective solution
now
unless you consider it to be an educational experience, which it likely
will be.

Same features as the Presonus, prob. a lot higher quality (they don't use
Jensens any more, as far as I know), and the option of building anywhere
from 1 to 8 channels.

And the reason the cost is about the same as what you built is that this
design is probably a good deal similar to yours. Not much new under the sun,
really.

Peace,
Paul