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Post by jimwilliams on Jun 1, 2014 11:44:05 GMT -6
A modern Juarez SM-57 makes all of my amps sound small. They are a big filter. I pretty much stopped using those on amps 30 years ago.
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Post by jimwilliams on Jun 1, 2014 11:32:09 GMT -6
Yamaha crossovers are pretty bad quality. I used to replace those caps and coils way back in the 1980's ,when they were more universally used. A quality 4.7 uf film cap like a Rel-Cap RT does the trick. Add a .01 uf RT 600V as a bypass. Then, remove the iron cored coil and measure it's DC resistance and inductance on a meter. Swap it to a copper foil inductor as made by Aries or Solo, (available from www.michaelpercyaudio.com) and hear what that crap crossover has been filtering out for you.
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Post by jimwilliams on May 31, 2014 10:31:01 GMT -6
I like the dead ones.
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Post by jimwilliams on May 31, 2014 10:24:02 GMT -6
Ahh, Blue Oyster Cult. Awesome! I can't remember ever compressing drums back in the 1970's or up to the mid 1980's. Like Bob said, it was those damn SSL track compressors that did us in. Old habits die hard. Some still use NS-10's too. So what was it about the SSL track compressors "being there" that made you/everyone start using them? If they build them, they will come. It was a "why not slap a comp on every track, we have them" situation. Before that you had maybe 4 or 5 comps in the rack, now we have dozens!
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DI's
May 31, 2014 10:20:28 GMT -6
Post by jimwilliams on May 31, 2014 10:20:28 GMT -6
I also have a set of Jensen home made DI boxes. Those are problem solvers, especially live. They have some limitations I avoid. Passive electric guitars/basses will be loaded by the 140k input impedance, it will darken the tone. Active instruments will shine as does keyboards.
They are also a great choice in home brew C-12 mic clones as their 1/12 ratio is ideal for those mics.
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Post by jimwilliams on May 30, 2014 10:36:23 GMT -6
Can you do a THD+noise sweep on it when done? The last Neve versions I tested had about .4% THD, rather dirty.
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Post by jimwilliams on May 30, 2014 10:33:46 GMT -6
I can't remember ever compressing drums back in the 1970's or up to the mid 1980's. Like Bob said, it was those damn SSL track compressors that did us in.
Old habits die hard. Some still use NS-10's too.
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Post by jimwilliams on May 30, 2014 10:29:26 GMT -6
"Pro audio developers" have mostly moved on to other industries. There is little demand for pro audio developers when there is no supporting recording industry. DIY is a tiny fraction of that and as no effect.
Having some engineering chops does make for lower cost gear, whatever that's worth. A vibrant recording/music industry would provide many more opprotunities and options, but that is gone.
Decades ago I had crappy recording gear and amazing artists to record. Now I have amazing recording gear and crappy artists to record.
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Post by jimwilliams on May 30, 2014 10:22:08 GMT -6
The opamps are all surface mount.
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Post by jimwilliams on May 28, 2014 9:44:22 GMT -6
My Mexican built Telecaster is top notch. Ash body, maple and rosewood neck, the guts are there. It's a Muddy Waters "areest" model I paid $550 for new. The bridge is the same as the made in 'vintage style' US version with brass saddles too. Tuners are kluson knockoffs made in Japan, just fine, actually, better than USA klusons. The pickups are #42 wire, alnico 5 magnets and properly wound. The machining seems tighter than the USA models, overall.
Even custom shop Fenders use unshielded wiring and don't properly screen the guitars. Slopping on some conductive paint inside isn't the same as faraday shielding with copper foil. Factory guitars are always a starting point for me. You just need the important basic parts done right, wood, hardware, paint.
Mine is fully screened inside with quality Mogami wire used off the pickups. I added one of my preamp/booster pcb's between the volume and tone controls. Gain is set to 10 db and it will drive long cables without losses and even headphones for practice. The volume pot is a Bourns model 50 10k ohm conductive plastic, very smooth like a fader and no tone changes when attenuated. The pickups are shock mounted with rubber surgical hose and that metal plate under the lead pickup is gone, replaced with lock nuts. Yes, you can play this Tele on "11", it will not squeal nor feedback unless strings are let go. Hendrix controlled feedback is easy and fun, like a well controlled Strat.
I also added a .022 250V film cap in series with the string ground under the bridge. That is important if you want to avoid electrocution or stage shocks from poorly grounded vocal mics.
As you can see there are many things to be done with a factory guitar, no matter if it's a 500 buck Mexican special or a $5000 'custom shop' bank breaker.
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Post by jimwilliams on May 27, 2014 9:49:15 GMT -6
Most any modern 'rock' band with guys just sawing Les Pauls in half. I got over 'strummers' back in the 1960's folk era.
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Post by jimwilliams on May 27, 2014 9:46:19 GMT -6
Try Japanese bipolar transistors, they are less noise. 2SA1084 Renesas PNP's are .6 nv. Matching 2SC2546 NPN's or the Toshiba version, 2SC3329's are excellent.
I used those in my GAP 73 and it's very quiet now.
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Post by jimwilliams on May 27, 2014 9:40:36 GMT -6
I never got the "custom shop" stuff. It was the same instrument, supposed to be built by 'craftsmen' or some other bs.
Wood, parts, paint are all pretty much the same.
The question to ask yourself is this:
Do I want my Fender guitar built by Mexicans in Ensenada, BC or do you want your Fender guitar built by Mexicans in Corona, CA? Usually I pick Ensenada, BC. Labor rates are less, quality seems a bit better as I believe those guys really like having that job in Mexico. They work harder as they don't have unemployment insurance nor welfare to fall back on.
I do have a "custom 'sweat' shop" Epi Les Paul. They have those shops in PRC too.
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Post by jimwilliams on May 26, 2014 10:38:59 GMT -6
Good things come to those who wait. Craftsmen by nature take the time required to complete the job.
If you need drive-thru transactions, a local Guitar Center is nearby.
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Post by jimwilliams on May 26, 2014 10:27:09 GMT -6
Virtual ground sum designs are very different than voltage sum amps. Opamps with inverting inputs or grounded base discrete designs allow better crosstalk specs and don't have 40 db of gain noise and THD added to the mix like older Neve stuff. They instead add noise gain that will stress the THD accuracy and bandwidth with a large number of inputs.
Grounded base designs seem to be able to avoid that problem with the transistor in the opamp feedback loop, they have extremely large gain-bandwidths of over 140 db. Design in transconductance opamps into a grounded base sum amp you then remove the bandwidth limiting that is necessary to stabilize traditional virtual ground sum designs. Bandwidth then is dependent on feedback resistors, not capacitors. With that design a 30 mhz frequency response sum amp is achievable with zero degrees of phase shift, not possible with current sum amp technology. THD and IMD resides at about 2ppm. Noise can be as low as -125 dbu. Crosstalk when sum resistors are properly implimented is -90 dbu at 10k hz, respectable.
The sweet spot for these designs is that place above the noise floor and below clipping, it's rather wide. THD+noise measurements will show a lowering of THD at higher signal levels, that is because the noise is constant and if you bring the signal further out of the noise floor, THD measurements show improvement, but it may not actually do that.
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Post by jimwilliams on May 20, 2014 9:46:44 GMT -6
Up the rails to -30 or even -40 volts. Check the voltage ratings on the caps to be sure they can handle it. You may have to adjust a couple of resistors to match the current draw. Those transistors can also be replaced with low noise types like 2SA1084 PNP's and 2SC2545 NPN's. Use a scope to examine sine waves to determine if one stage clips before the other. Once you figure that gain staging out you can adjust the gain of each stage so clipping is evenly spread out.
Get an adjustable DC single ended power supply and test it all out. Installing sockets for the transistors will allow trying different types. Forget 500 supplies, this will be a custom job, if you want to expand the capabilities.
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Post by jimwilliams on May 20, 2014 9:06:25 GMT -6
Hmmm... interest in a non colored, not audible compressor?
I use 5 Aphex 651's here. That's the only one I've squashed 30 db on while everyone is asking, "do you have that thing on yet?"
DC to 250k hz, zero phase shift, .002% THD and that high frequency expander that maskes the compression effect.
The guys at the Record Plant said it best:
"It's like there's a little man inside that's running a fader up and down who's smarter and faster than we are".
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Post by jimwilliams on Apr 17, 2014 9:40:38 GMT -6
My Core 7 PC is very quiet. Consider a Silonex fan replacement in your power supply and SSD's. Or shut it off when recording. That works best for me.
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Post by jimwilliams on Apr 17, 2014 9:36:40 GMT -6
I've had problems loading on this website. That's the reason I only come here once and a while. If my security settings are set to mid level, it locks up. If set to high, it loads fine but will not allow log-in. So I have to reset security to mid level to log in and high to load the site first, a PITA.
Yes, this PC is XP.
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Post by jimwilliams on Mar 27, 2014 11:43:29 GMT -6
Nothing sounds like a real plate, it's metallic sounding, for a reason. Bricasti and Lexicon plate sounds are an alternative, not a replacement.
Yes, you need to buy them all.
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Post by jimwilliams on Mar 26, 2014 10:07:25 GMT -6
Play it again Sam, or sound like Cylons.
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Post by jimwilliams on Mar 26, 2014 10:04:02 GMT -6
Lexicon is a pop sound, swishy and full of modulations, sort of like what I call 'chorus-reverb'. It's ok as long as you accept it's an effect added. Bricasti is different, it creates the space the music is recorded in. Therefore it hides behind the dry sound much better, it sounds like it's part of that sound, not an afterthought added on.
It's quite the bargain as main frame Lexicons cost over $8,000 new with loaded 480's and 996 over $10,000. Computer based knock-off algo's won't get there either, you would need about 10 P7 processors to numerate the data rates going on in the Bricasti with it's 6 Analog Devices Blackfin processors.
I bought mine after hearing it at NAMM. I first auditioned the lexicon PCM 96, but the Bricasti made me forget all about that. I sold my tweaked up Lexicon 224XL the next day and bought the Bricasti. I still have other Lexicons for that pop reverb. The Lexicon 224 I got for free for fixing another one for someone that bought them off an LA rental co. So in the end, the Bricasti was also free.
Bricasti is a continuing design, Casey is working on new algo's and there will be future free updates to owners.
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Post by jimwilliams on Mar 25, 2014 9:43:30 GMT -6
Me. I got one here in the rack above all those classic Lexicons. Yes, it's better than you think it is. It creams anything Lexicon, IF you want to 'sell the room'.
It's the only reverberator that sounds really great 100% wet, no Lexicon does that well. I run it at 96k analog I/O to my analog console. It's worth twice the price. I wish I had two of them.
Start saving your pennies...
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Post by jimwilliams on Mar 25, 2014 9:35:15 GMT -6
Nuthin'. That's what mastering is for.
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Post by jimwilliams on Mar 25, 2014 9:32:57 GMT -6
Shut off the PC or MAC, hide the mouse and mix on an analog console with hardwired outboard. You will work very fast that way when you don't need to look at a screen all day.
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