Tape Saturator?

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You know, that patent brings up an interesting irony...

Ampex got a patent for an invention to reduce tape saturation and here we are trying to put it back in. :green:

It's all good, though.

And my crack at RS was only meant to be a joke. I've done plenty of parts shopping there.
 
So how do you overdrive a transformer?
You can saturate transformer with some portion of DC voltage :green:
With gap change some nice sound saturation is possible.... :roll:
 
Yes, you can AC-couple your signal to the transformer, then draw a variable DC current through the primary to control the amount of saturation. As you increase the current, primary inductance will fall and so will bass response, however.
 
After looking at that schem, I bet if you are using a fatso WITHIN a mix, say on a drum buss or something like that WITHIN a mix (not talking about main LR buss application here) you could probably use two ts808's on that buss and get a very similar sound I bet. Build up a little box with two tube screamers or something. Easy way to save yourself $1500.

Has anyone ever tried this? I bet it would get you "close enough" when all you need is "close enough".

dave
 
here is my little qucktest circuit and some soundsamples....

tapesimtest.jpg



this is the original clip
http://home.t-online.de/home/micro.wave/forum/Tapesimtest/orginal.mp3

this is the clip played thru the circuit above
http://home.t-online.de/home/micro.wave/forum/Tapesimtest/with_emphasis.mp3

this is the clip played thru the diode clipper only but without the pre/ deemphasis.
http://home.t-online.de/home/micro.wave/forum/Tapesimtest/without_emphasis.mp3

this was just a short test to find out how the pre and deemphasis influnces the sound.
I pushed the volume a little too much to make the effect more audible.

all files are normalized to the same peaklevel!

after that test I think that one of the secrets why tape and vinyl records sound so cool
is the record/playback frequency curves (remember the RIAA kurve on vinylrecords)
even this stupid diode clipper sound punchier and warmer with a little emphasis . . .


steff
 
also plays fine here.

I had some info I´ve copied on my HD and as I couldn´t find the original URLs, I´ve complided it in a ZIP file and put online for you:

http://hps.infolink.com.br/rafafredd/diode_clipers.zip

I hope it´s not a big problem to put this online. I really don´t want to cause any trouble for me or this place, so if you want this info, download it and save it now. It won´t be online tomorrow.

I hope someone can find the time to experiment with all the good info on those files. I thinks this thread is very interesting!!!

Don´t forget to unzip the files before viewing it, or you won´t get the pics.
 
Don't shoot me, but I've been using the Crane Song Pheonix plugin for Schmo Tools lately and I find it excellent for individual tracks and/or the stereo bus. I also have a 1/2" stereo Scully 280 that I rebuilt and I find the plugin to be good enough so that if I'm feeling lazy I'm perfectly happy to use the plugin and not hassle with the tape machine. This month, anyway.



:guinness: :sam:
 
I was able to play all three files fine. And I must say, your little circuit makes quite a bit of difference. I liked the one with pre-emphasis the best. Think you could share a little more about this with us?
 
Okay, I went back to take a closer look, and I see how it works, now. Your circuit looks more straightforward, too.

So what did you use for pre- and de-emphasis? An RC network like I've seen in some RIAA preamps?

Thanks for the files. I do rather like how the circuit sounds.
 
[quote author="Consul"]Okay, I went back to take a closer look, and I see how it works, now. Your circuit looks more straightforward, too.

So what did you use for pre- and de-emphasis? An RC network like I've seen in some RIAA preamps?

Thanks for the files. I do rather like how the circuit sounds.[/quote]


I used my sontec clone for the emphasis
(preemphasis: channel1 hi shelv fullboost at lowest filterfreq,
deemphasis: channel2 hi shelv fullcutt at lowest filterfreq, so the
overall frequency response is linear)

this was just a short test....there is a lot to improve (a simpler
filternetwork but with variable response curves, the clipping stage with single si-diode has a very hard knee.... but there´s lots of info to modd it in the files fabio posted :)
I´m sure this can be a nice unit when the cicuit gets proper tweaking....

steff
 
[quote author="Steffen"]I used my sontec clone for the emphasis
(preemphasis: channel1 hi shelv fullboost at lowest filterfreq,
deemphasis: channel2 hi shelv fullcutt at lowest filterfreq, so the
overall frequency response is linear)[/quote]

Well, I guess that works. :grin: You could design an RC network to do the pre- and de-emphasis, I'll bet. I have that passive filters book thing that NYDave posted some time ago. I would say it's now time to crack into it, but I backed it up onto DVD and I currently have no DVD-ROM drive. :sad: Maybe later...

this was just a short test....there is a lot to improve (a simpler
filternetwork but with variable response curves, the clipping stage with single si-diode has a very hard knee.... but there´s lots of info to modd it in the files fabio posted :)

Would the Ge diodes give a softer knee, then?

I wish I could do more than just kick around theory. Unemployment sucks.
 
[quote author="Consul"]
Would the Ge diodes give a softer knee, then?
[/quote]

Ge diodes have lower forward bias, but not necessarily a softer knee.

Check out the diode clipper article rafafredd made avabible for download (above)
 
I've been pleasantly surprised by Ge. Well, not surprised, since it's clear why, but OK. Let's use 'rediscovered'.

Like:

* The 'boutique-version' of the TS9 uses Ge- & Si-diodes anti-// for asym. distortion.

* The FuzzFace FX-pedal in Ge-incarnation (BJTs) sounds really nice when compared with its Si-version. We're talking at least about other Vbe-characteristics and lower current gains (w.r.t. Si) here though.
The musicality of this circuit (w.r.t. 'touch-sensitivity') is great.

Ge diodes have lower forward bias, but not necessarily a softer knee.

I thought they usually had a softer knee as well, but I bet you're right, not necessarily.

Bye,

Peter
 
[quote author="rafafredd"]also plays fine here.
I had some info I´ve copied on my HD and as I couldn´t find the original URLs, I´ve complided it in a ZIP file and put online for you:
http://hps.infolink.com.br/.../diode_clipers.zip

I hope it´s not a big problem to put this online.[/quote]
Most of those files are from my site... I wish you would not post them in this manner, especially since the originals are available online for free at http://www.muzique.com/lab/main.htm

Look at the Warp controls and the Saturation controls...

regards, Jack
 
Sorry.

I just deleted the file. I´ve posted it because I couldn´t find the link at your site, when I´ve looked for it. And, as I knew you were a regular in here, I though it wouldn´t be a real problem. I apologise.

Rafael
 
Not a big deal Rafael... bookmark that link! :grin: :grin:

It's just better if people can go to the original post in case there are updates or additions, and they might find other useful ideas and articles.

Best regards, Jack
 
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