Hi!
In my never ending hunt for the 'best' recording/mixing chain.. a great mixbus EQ had always escaped me.. I'm a GML 8200 lover and the amount of times that it's saved a mix of mine is countless! It really should get the mix fee...!
So I made it my goal to attempt to recreate the magic in 500 series format.. This lead me of course to the original Sontec circuit.. (the orginal as opposed to the Igor modified one)
Some pictures!
I've seen inside a couple of Sontecs over the years and knew there were polystyrene caps in there so I used them where appropriate for the value..
I ended up socketing every cap in the unit (apart from power decoupling) in case my ears weren't impressed!
prototype with socketed caps ^
Now, everyone says the sound of the Sontec is the opamps.. so I put the two DOA footprints in case I needed to come up with a DOA to satisfy my ears!
For my initial tests, I experimented with ICs.. I knew I wanted FET input, fast, low input current.. so I chose 5 that satisfied this and had "good reviews" online for my initial tests..
The OPA134, OPA827, OPA1641, ADA4627 & AD8512.
As it turns out.. I couldn't be happier with the sound! I've been amazed at how much I can push the top end without it sounding harsh.. It's forced me to check the EQ curves several times as my brain refuses to believe it..
To my ears it's smoother than a GML and cleaner than a Sontec.. It's now been permanently on my mix bus for a month & it's never leaving!
In my never ending hunt for the 'best' recording/mixing chain.. a great mixbus EQ had always escaped me.. I'm a GML 8200 lover and the amount of times that it's saved a mix of mine is countless! It really should get the mix fee...!
So I made it my goal to attempt to recreate the magic in 500 series format.. This lead me of course to the original Sontec circuit.. (the orginal as opposed to the Igor modified one)
Some pictures!
I've seen inside a couple of Sontecs over the years and knew there were polystyrene caps in there so I used them where appropriate for the value..
I ended up socketing every cap in the unit (apart from power decoupling) in case my ears weren't impressed!
prototype with socketed caps ^
Now, everyone says the sound of the Sontec is the opamps.. so I put the two DOA footprints in case I needed to come up with a DOA to satisfy my ears!
For my initial tests, I experimented with ICs.. I knew I wanted FET input, fast, low input current.. so I chose 5 that satisfied this and had "good reviews" online for my initial tests..
The OPA134, OPA827, OPA1641, ADA4627 & AD8512.
As it turns out.. I couldn't be happier with the sound! I've been amazed at how much I can push the top end without it sounding harsh.. It's forced me to check the EQ curves several times as my brain refuses to believe it..
To my ears it's smoother than a GML and cleaner than a Sontec.. It's now been permanently on my mix bus for a month & it's never leaving!