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Buss Comp
Jun 16, 2020 20:02:41 GMT -6
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Post by deehope on Jun 16, 2020 20:02:41 GMT -6
So I finally jumped in and 4 projects later I'm addicted. I'm thinking I'm ready for an gssl build. Is there really much difference between all the offerings? Between serpent sb4000, sound sculpter cp4500, pcbgrinder which would u choose?
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grantb
Junior Member
Posts: 97
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Post by grantb on Jun 16, 2020 21:21:04 GMT -6
Looks to me like SB4000 is no longer available as a kit. I might do the Sound Skulptor since I have some 500 slots free, plus it has the blend control.
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Post by ragan on Jun 16, 2020 22:06:41 GMT -6
I've got the Audioscape and would like a couple more channels. Following along for thoughts on the current DIY faves.
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Buss Comp
Jun 17, 2020 13:50:47 GMT -6
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Post by deehope on Jun 17, 2020 13:50:47 GMT -6
I've got the Audioscape and would like a couple more channels. Following along for thoughts on the current DIY faves. have you tried the warm yet? Only reason I'm going diy is it was a little to clean so I'm thinking of throwing a pair of dbx 202s in it for some grit. I'm leaving heavily towards the pcbgrinder kit. |
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Post by svart on Jun 17, 2020 14:13:20 GMT -6
They're all basically the same in how they work. The difference is in the features such as the sidechain filters/switching, etc.
I have a couple original single-VCA GSSLs but modded for true stereo sidechains (rather than the summed mono version of the original GSSL) and I added trims for trying to calibrate the units better since the original wasn't even close to being accurate. I also have a SB4000 PCB version in one of the units and use the paralleled VCAs (which were a pain to get calibrated for distortion) and my own home-brew sidechain filtering.
honestly I think they're all mostly just differentiated by features, so just get the one that has the features you want.
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Post by Blackdawg on Jun 17, 2020 14:25:55 GMT -6
The warm was clean even with transformers engaged? It's too bad that you can't swap in your own op amps on that unit.
I have an SB4000 I'm building. Been a big project.
The PCB grinder kit would be a good place to start, there are a ton of mod's you can add to the GSSL boards. Overall that kit is a pretty basic unit compared to a lot of others but you'll be able to tweak it as you want.
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Buss Comp
Jun 17, 2020 14:30:33 GMT -6
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Post by deehope on Jun 17, 2020 14:30:33 GMT -6
The warm was clean even with transformers engaged? It's too bad that you can't swap in your own op amps on that unit. I have an SB4000 I'm building. Been a big project. The PCB grinder kit would be a good place to start, there are a ton of mod's you can add to the GSSL boards. Overall that kit is a pretty basic unit compared to a lot of others but you'll be able to tweak it as you want. the trannys added some weight but not nearly as much colour as I would get from my colour palletes. would u say it's under 12 hours on the sb4000? |
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Post by Blackdawg on Jun 17, 2020 14:56:42 GMT -6
The warm was clean even with transformers engaged? It's too bad that you can't swap in your own op amps on that unit. I have an SB4000 I'm building. Been a big project. The PCB grinder kit would be a good place to start, there are a ton of mod's you can add to the GSSL boards. Overall that kit is a pretty basic unit compared to a lot of others but you'll be able to tweak it as you want. the trannys added some weight but not nearly as much colour as I would get from my colour palletes. would u say it's under 12 hours on the sb4000? Not for me. I'd say I have 20 hours into it or more. Just have to finish the wiring and calibration though. I want to add the Expact audio Cavendish mod to mine. |
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Post by svart on Jun 18, 2020 7:32:36 GMT -6
The warm was clean even with transformers engaged? It's too bad that you can't swap in your own op amps on that unit. I have an SB4000 I'm building. Been a big project. The PCB grinder kit would be a good place to start, there are a ton of mod's you can add to the GSSL boards. Overall that kit is a pretty basic unit compared to a lot of others but you'll be able to tweak it as you want. The NE5534 opamps are part of the SSL sound. How the sidechain in the SSL bus compressor reacts to the input signal is where the grabby character of the compressor comes from. |
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Post by mhbunch on Jun 20, 2020 1:24:25 GMT -6
The warm was clean even with transformers engaged? It's too bad that you can't swap in your own op amps on that unit. I have an SB4000 I'm building. Been a big project. The PCB grinder kit would be a good place to start, there are a ton of mod's you can add to the GSSL boards. Overall that kit is a pretty basic unit compared to a lot of others but you'll be able to tweak it as you want. the trannys added some weight but not nearly as much colour as I would get from my colour palletes. would u say it's under 12 hours on the sb4000? If you think the warm is too clean you would hate the SB4000. That said the sb4000 is the best SSL style I’ve used. |
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Post by Blackdawg on Jun 20, 2020 8:12:41 GMT -6
the trannys added some weight but not nearly as much colour as I would get from my colour palletes. would u say it's under 12 hours on the sb4000? If you think the warm is too clean you would hate the SB4000. That said the sb4000 is the best SSL style I’ve used. Cool thing about the sb4000 is it'll take a ton of different vcas though too. With the quad vca it's very quiet. My sb4001 is too but it still is amazing. |
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Buss Comp
Jun 21, 2020 22:20:07 GMT -6
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Post by rocinante on Jun 21, 2020 22:20:07 GMT -6
I've been building and selling bus compressors lately with a ton of features. Make no mistake though; they are just a gssl with a bit more bells and whistles on a bit of steroids. I like the sb4000 a lot.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2020 4:13:42 GMT -6
It is hard to make something wrong selecting a (G)SSL for DIY building.
My first one was a self-etched original GSSL with a lot of experimenting with opamps and different VCAs and finally had the THAT2159 in it, they were out of an old Behringer VCA-driven Cybermix. They were tested by Volker/silentarts at some point in comparison to the other 2150-style VCAs and surprisingly(?) were the quietest. Differences in the unit between the different VCAs were not THAT great. ;-) Different opamps though made a more perceivable difference to me, but nothing i tried sounded bad ...
Experimenting and the somehow crowded original Gyraf PCB were part of the challenge and fun, I learned a lot about how VCA compressors are working along the way, kits were not available that time, and I appreciated to take the time fiddling it all out by my own, just saying.
So it is maybe not so important, which kit you choose, I am guessing they are all pretty good or can be altered with alternative part choices here and there. If you are in for more dirt, you might consider trying a non-pretrimmed VCA variant and calibrate it to purposely being a bit off.
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Buss Comp
Aug 8, 2020 22:19:32 GMT -6
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Post by rocinante on Aug 8, 2020 22:19:32 GMT -6
That thread you are talking about with Volker was revealing. For one a THAT representative was being given the results of his own company's chips and with physical proof via datasheet from Volker. To wrap it up it seemed in the SSL bus comp circuit the 2150 and ne5534 were superior to the 2180 and any other op amp one wanted to put in it.
It is a part of its sound and behavior.
I wish I had Warm's money to put Cinemags in my bus comp builds.
That said my bus comps offer a blend circuit, prettier switches, hpf switching, and are made with love and a deep respect to Jakob from Gyraf.
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Post by deehope on Aug 11, 2020 16:25:07 GMT -6
That thread you are talking about with Volker was revealing. For one a THAT representative was being given the results of his own company's chips and with physical proof via datasheet from Volker. To wrap it up it seemed in the SSL bus comp circuit the 2150 and ne5534 were superior to the 2180 and any other op amp one wanted to put in it. It is a part of its sound and behavior. I wish I had Warm's money to put Cinemags in my bus comp builds. That said my bus comps offer a blend circuit, prettier switches, hpf switching, and are made with love and a deep respect to Jakob from Gyraf. I was actually underwhelmed by the cinemqgs in the warm. tbh I get more flexible results using the diyre ctx on the mix buss |
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