8 Channel, 3U NEVE 1073 completed

Indeed! Hi Jake, speaking of which your pics are really cool, love that red front and where did you get those knobs from they rock! I would try and get some neve-a-like reds but I think I'd have more luck trying to find some Unicorn cr*p lol ;D

Cheers mate!

I cant remember, but I think the knobs are just brushed aluminium ones from farnell or similar.

I couldnt get any decent neve style ones so I thought I would just go for a 'non-authentic' look.
Jake

Here are a few snaps of my first pre-amp. I'm not into trying to make it look anything like a Neve so I went for a minimal look. The knobs I got from ebay, they are supposed to be from the 50's - not sure if that's true but I like the look of them.


Just need to get busy with the letraset 


The (blurry) guts. Any tips for neater wiring?






The second unit in slate blue rather than brushed aluminum because I scratched the face quite badly and ended up sanding smooth and spray painting. This one will have white letters.

This is my first build so Let me know what you think, good or bad. Sonically these sound amazing and worked without any major tweaking.

Cheers,

John.

Nice Work!

I really like to see some tidy wiring, and yours looks great!

Way to go John!!! Hope you get some great sounds from them!! Don't worry about your wiring; it's fine! Your input wiring is far away from output wiring and that's really all that matters.  

Wanted to chime in re: my 500mA/ch. Yes, it is way over the top. I remember (I think...) inrush current being about 300mA, so I piled some extra on top of that and arrived at 500mA/ch. I also stick monster heatsinks on the LM317's. In the grand scheme of things, overbuilding a PSU isn't really all that much more expensive, and so I happily spend the few extra dollars for a PSU that will probably last me a decade or two. In three years of intense use I've never had a PSU failure, and the pre's (all 32 of them - 16 PSU's) sound lovely.

All the best,

Martin

Hey Martin,  thanks for chiming in.  Do you remember seeing that inrush current anywhere? Or anywhere that explains where it comes from?  Is it the caps charging?  For sure a beefy PSU won't hurt (except your electrical bill maybe), but I am wondering how AMS-Neve seemingly "get away with" such small PSUs for their 8-channel racks. Searched high and wide and didn't find much...

Hi Mitsos,

I measured the inrush myself. I don't think a bigger PSU draws more current than a smaller one except for when it has to source more current - it is able to do so. I'm not sure why anyone uses small, under-spec'd PSU's to be honest.

Best,

M.

Hi Martin, my boards arrived today ;D Brilliant, I can't wait to make a start! Better get ordering parts

I managed to get some 2N3055's cheap from eBay, although they're advertised as Motorola's I've never seen a K replace an M, take a look at the link http://bit.ly/4Vo8ON Have I been had?

Trev

Ordered some days ago 2 PCB's. I'm now ordering all the other parts....
Can't wait to start this build, I'll keep you guys up-to-date... (building 2 preamps in a 2U)..

Guys i need some help here...
I'm measuring some volts in my 1290 and i'm getting like 3.0 volts at the collector of TR6 and 0V at Collector of TR1..
I have the right values for resistors and i see only 3V after the 270R resistor..
Please any help is appreciated

HI 3Nity,

Is everything else measuring low too? PSU going bad/out of adjustment perhaps? What's the voltage at the +24 power input on the board?

Best,

M.

fixed!!!
Emitter was shorting to ground by something else!

Sorry for all!!

Thanks

Glad to hear you got it worked out! What was shorting it?

Best,

M.

Can I order some PCB's from you?  I want to do a 4-channel version for my mobile Pro Tools Rig.

Hi Guys,

Ive unpacked my kit after moving to a new house and think Im seeing a problem with my 1290's .

The output seems to be clipping way before the input of my interface (SSL Alphalink).

Im pretty sure the input of the 1290 has to be OK as Im padding the mic, and the source just aint that loud.

However, when I go to over 55 db gain, the signal is getting clipped. I Havent taken any real meausrements but there is plenty of headroom on my interface. I would assume the neves would have the headroom here?

Anyone clever have any ideas?

Thanks a lot
Jake

hi snipsnip,

Are both channels doing that? It sounds like the transistors voltages on the 2nd pre stage (closest to switch) might be off. carefully check resistor values there.

Your A/D should be clipping long before the EZ1290.

HTH,

M.

Thanks martin,

I probably wont get a chance to open this up until the weekend, but I do remember my voltages being fine before.

If the resitors were wrong, the voltages at the pins would differ from your chart right?

Thanks again!
Jake

Hi Martin
The PCB's arrived today and they are superb! Thank you very much!
I need to save up some money for the transformers now and search the thread for details of appropriate power supply information which will enable me to supply 4 boards and will be mounted externally. Or at least that is my current thinking.
Steve

I received my PCB's the other day as well, very well made!

This should be what your looking for: http://www.jlmaudio.com/shop/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=11

Hi madriaanse - I'm putting this question into this thread, because you inbox is full;

I've been talking to Jim about his 1084EQ project and he tells me that you will be providing the microphone preamp boards for his project. Do you have a time frame on when these would be available? As a rough estimate, how much do you think these would cost and do you feel they could fit inside Dan's case or what can be seen of it in Jim's thread?

Thanks,
B.