New member in need of advise

[LXthe4th]

Hello there everyone,
my name is Alex, I'm new to analog gear and electronics, in the past I built a couple of guitar pedals and simple MIDI controllers.
Since I'm building a new studio, I got interested in 500 Series gear, especially because of the large DIY scene that seems to exist in this space.

Now, to begin this "out-the-box" journey, I'll need a chassis to mount any future 500 modules.
I'm considering going for a Midas L10, which I've read both great and horrible about (PSU seems to be a cause of concern when using multiple power-hungry modules, like preamps). I found an upgrade kit by linkaudio for that chassis, which I would get if issues with power would arise in the future.

As I'm fairly new to all this, I would appreciate some experienced opinions about this plan and/or pointers towards affordable/beginner-friendly Chassis projects to help me get started.
Cheers, Alex

 

[Barry Hufker]

I can't help you Alex, but I can offer you a welcome!

 

[tk@halmi]

Welcome to the group!

I have gone through four different 500 Series lunchboxes until I found one that worked all of my cards, some vintage with poor power rail rejection. My recommendation is to spend on this as much as you can upfront and avoid a long/expensive journey. I ended up with an API one after trying Midas, Fredenstein and Radial boxes.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Welcome. This sounds like a good topic to post in the "Drawing Board" sub forum.

JR

 

[TwentyTrees]

Welcome to the board! If you're open to DIY, and depending which side of the pond you're on, Total Audio Control 11-slot racks worked out to be the cheapest and most configurable option when I looked into this a few years back. I've since built two, and they're as solid as tanks. Full details are here:

https://groupdiy.com/threads/500-ra...one-by-total-audio-control.52462/#post-668904

Total Audio Control are based in the UK.

 

[HerbertR]

Hello and welcome. I can promise you that you will have no problems with classic builds like those from well-known companies in Midas L6 or L10... Capi, AML, TAC, Sound Sculputure... Quite the opposite - Midas offer more power than most other 500 racks on the market. But many people think nowadays that it is "normal" to run a few modules with Xx tubes that consume few amps current to imitate old venerable tube audio dinosaurs in 500 format in one 500 rack. I can only shake my head. But live and let live... each to his own... as long as no recording studio burns down because of such nonsense...

 

[jakearoo]

Midas l10 has 300ma. More than enough current

 

[ashdot]

I’ve been using in our studio two fully loaded Midas L10’s for over 4 years, with no problems.

 

[LXthe4th]

Thank all of you for your replies!
@TwentyTrees I'll be taking a closer look at them, do you know if there are any other EU/UK based vendors for DIY kits for 500 racks?

 

[TwentyTrees]

Thank all of you for your replies!
@TwentyTrees I'll be taking a closer look at them, do you know if there are any other EU/UK based vendors for DIY kits for 500 racks?

I'm not aware of any (doesn't mean they're not out there of course!).

 

[sahib]

Thank all of you for your replies!
@TwentyTrees I'll be taking a closer look at them, do you know if there are any other EU/UK based vendors for DIY kits for 500 racks?

Your countryman Volker (SilentArts) trading as 51x Audio.

 

[Di_Sousa]

I'm considering going for a Midas L10, which I've read both great and horrible about (PSU seems to be a cause of concern when using multiple power-hungry modules, like preamps). I found an upgrade kit by linkaudio for that chassis, which I would get if issues with power would arise in the future.

As I'm fairly new to all this, I would appreciate some experienced opinions about this plan and/or pointers towards affordable/beginner-friendly Chassis projects to help me get started.

Volker (Silent Arts) sell some nice Kits for 500 series 51X rack cases,
contact him:

http://51xaudio.com/

Volker, Sound Skulptor and Audimaintenace have some really nice Kits for DIY modules for the 500 series, like preamps, Eqs and compressors

Welcome to the forum

 

[Di_Sousa]

Midas l10 has 300ma. More than enough current

For each module or in total?

 

[iomegaman]

Welcome! And guard your pocketbook, 500 series is the same as buying a console one channel at a time...just kidding...sorta...

Down that road the 51x stuff is great...the most important part of your spend will be the power supply...don't dance around with "close enough" its money wasted...I ended up with an over-powered Lambda Dual rail lab supply for my main rails and do +48 out of box...its ugly but dead quiet.

 

[zzzzz]

I have one of the Midas racks as a backup / in a mobile rack. I recently got it in a trade and was reluctant about using it for anything critical because of various reports of the PSU being noisy or whatever, but I’ve never had an issue. I’ve brought it with me to sessions at other studios loaded with around 6~ modules and it had no problems. Will eventually be putting it into full-time service and see how it behaves and if I need to beef up the supply.

Otherwise, I’ve had good luck with the Lindell 500 racks which are also affordable. Been running two of them at our studio 8-12 hours a day pretty much every day for the past 6+ years. Quiet, reliable, and haven’t had any issues when they are fully loaded with modules. Even slightly lower noise floor than our very old BAE 500 rack which has an external PSU box with PowerOne linear modules (which I have since recapped — Lindell is still quieter)

Ours are the older ones — I see they make a version now with an external power supply brick which is probably better quality.

TL;DR: the Lindell is great, tried and true testimonial on multiple units over here with years of daily use. The Midas also seems fine and the price is nice. Both are good entry level (or pro level!) racks