Post by jeromemason on Jul 10, 2015 22:51:46 GMT -6
Ok, I'm going to design 1 of 2 different things to make into a kit for folks just on here. I've had these ideas in my head for a while, but with working on mics and such haven't had the time to really sit down and dig in.
First option, is a box similar to a cloud lifter, where you have a variable impedance box that is positioned right next to the source. It will have a tranformerless input that goes to a passive baxandall eq, from there to a blend knob, and finally to a make up gain stage that will drive a modest impedance signal to your pre amp. The idea here is that instead of your preamp having to pull the source to it, and the impedance increasing over the cable run (this can cause a loss of low end and umph) it will be as if you've plugged the mic into the back of the preamp. It will run off your preamps phantom power so it can be placed virtually anywhere. Selectable input impedance's will help dial in a fat or thinner tone at the source, the eq will be smooth and let you have presets for certain instruments (I'll get into this more later) and the mix knob is only bypassing the input impedance and eq, but not the last gain stage and output transformer. I'll make another option available that can be run from external power with an input transformer that is switchable in/out, a passive pultec style eq, DOA's for the the blend buffer and final gain stage, and the same output transformer. Obviously this one will be more expensive and require you to have power near by, but in terms of sound will offer far more benefits. The bypass on this one will again just bypass the eq and eq buffer circuit, it will still go through the output DOA and transformer.
The second option is a 500 series parallel blend processor. It'll be 2u, and multi-mono. You can send audio to your favorite "beating the hell out of it" device, sending a pure unaltered tap from the audio heading into the circuit before it's broken down by a differential amp. Once you've done your horrific beating you'll take the outputs for your mean ole compressor/eq etc. and return them to the blend module. Both the compressed and pure signal will be sent through a blend knob where it is passed through a buffer amp, output amp and then to a multi-tapped transformer with selectable line to line or a 2:1 ratio to be routed out of the 500 rack. There will also be an "EQ In" switch that is between the mix knob and the buffer amp where mixed audio from the blend knob will be tapped and taken to a bandaxell eq where you can add whatever has been taken away from the crushing. When this switch is engaged it sends that blended audio directly through the eq circuit and back up to the buffer and it heads out of the module through the output amp and switchable transformer.
I'm sure there are a lot of ideas that can be thrown into this, and a lot of "not sure if you can do that's" thrown in as well, so I welcome both opinions and both idea's. But, I can only get into doing one of these because of time, I'll do them both, but for now just pick one. These will be offered as kits for you to assemble, and during the design stage ALL feedback is welcome from those on here who are into design and can help with some of my shortcomings. This will only be available to RGO members as I want to keep things like this in OUR house, if other folks want these designs they can become participating members of RGO.
There are some challenges with both designs, less with the blend module, but these are two things I believe should be built and could benefit a lot of folks in both large and small studio setups. I'm excited about collaborative input from you guys and helping to design something that truly is our own. svart also feels this way I believe, I'm not speaking for him, but I do believe he feels the same as I do, that this forum is full of very talented and cool people, and also people that know a thing or two about this business. I think this will be fun, I know svart is getting dialed up to also do another design, so I feel like we should keep that train rolling. I mean if you look at it the big massive studios back in the day designed their own gear, and it was a community of audio engineers and Electrical engineers that made that happen, that is some of the most sought after gear in existence. I'm not saying what any of us designs will be, I'm simply saying that putting a bunch of heads together and collaborating on something we can call our own is special, and I believe we will be envied. This may also help to expand this forum with even more great minds and folks that are like us that just haven't found their way here yet.
So, lets get crackin' I'm ready to dig in, but you guys decide which would be most preferable right now
First option, is a box similar to a cloud lifter, where you have a variable impedance box that is positioned right next to the source. It will have a tranformerless input that goes to a passive baxandall eq, from there to a blend knob, and finally to a make up gain stage that will drive a modest impedance signal to your pre amp. The idea here is that instead of your preamp having to pull the source to it, and the impedance increasing over the cable run (this can cause a loss of low end and umph) it will be as if you've plugged the mic into the back of the preamp. It will run off your preamps phantom power so it can be placed virtually anywhere. Selectable input impedance's will help dial in a fat or thinner tone at the source, the eq will be smooth and let you have presets for certain instruments (I'll get into this more later) and the mix knob is only bypassing the input impedance and eq, but not the last gain stage and output transformer. I'll make another option available that can be run from external power with an input transformer that is switchable in/out, a passive pultec style eq, DOA's for the the blend buffer and final gain stage, and the same output transformer. Obviously this one will be more expensive and require you to have power near by, but in terms of sound will offer far more benefits. The bypass on this one will again just bypass the eq and eq buffer circuit, it will still go through the output DOA and transformer.
The second option is a 500 series parallel blend processor. It'll be 2u, and multi-mono. You can send audio to your favorite "beating the hell out of it" device, sending a pure unaltered tap from the audio heading into the circuit before it's broken down by a differential amp. Once you've done your horrific beating you'll take the outputs for your mean ole compressor/eq etc. and return them to the blend module. Both the compressed and pure signal will be sent through a blend knob where it is passed through a buffer amp, output amp and then to a multi-tapped transformer with selectable line to line or a 2:1 ratio to be routed out of the 500 rack. There will also be an "EQ In" switch that is between the mix knob and the buffer amp where mixed audio from the blend knob will be tapped and taken to a bandaxell eq where you can add whatever has been taken away from the crushing. When this switch is engaged it sends that blended audio directly through the eq circuit and back up to the buffer and it heads out of the module through the output amp and switchable transformer.
I'm sure there are a lot of ideas that can be thrown into this, and a lot of "not sure if you can do that's" thrown in as well, so I welcome both opinions and both idea's. But, I can only get into doing one of these because of time, I'll do them both, but for now just pick one. These will be offered as kits for you to assemble, and during the design stage ALL feedback is welcome from those on here who are into design and can help with some of my shortcomings. This will only be available to RGO members as I want to keep things like this in OUR house, if other folks want these designs they can become participating members of RGO.
There are some challenges with both designs, less with the blend module, but these are two things I believe should be built and could benefit a lot of folks in both large and small studio setups. I'm excited about collaborative input from you guys and helping to design something that truly is our own. svart also feels this way I believe, I'm not speaking for him, but I do believe he feels the same as I do, that this forum is full of very talented and cool people, and also people that know a thing or two about this business. I think this will be fun, I know svart is getting dialed up to also do another design, so I feel like we should keep that train rolling. I mean if you look at it the big massive studios back in the day designed their own gear, and it was a community of audio engineers and Electrical engineers that made that happen, that is some of the most sought after gear in existence. I'm not saying what any of us designs will be, I'm simply saying that putting a bunch of heads together and collaborating on something we can call our own is special, and I believe we will be envied. This may also help to expand this forum with even more great minds and folks that are like us that just haven't found their way here yet.
So, lets get crackin' I'm ready to dig in, but you guys decide which would be most preferable right now
