how easy or hard is it to build an 1176 limiter with no electronics experience?

GroupDIY Audio Forum

Help Support GroupDIY Audio Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

New Soul Rebel

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 25, 2010
Messages
135
Hi Guys ;D

Hoping this will be a friendly forum, for a complete novice like myself.

The willing is there, but not the Experience! :-\

I'm slowly getting my heart set on building an 1176  compressor clone.  I haven't got the faintest clue where to start or really whether or not this is beyond my own capability. I've built computers,  and reasonably handy with a soldering iron and I have plenty of patience!

is there anyone here who was in my boat once.  anyone who built a decent clone from a kit without any previous experience? am I wasting my time?

wondered if you'd all be kind enough to either encourage me,  or pat me politely on the shoulder and say " there there lad,  perhaps you ought to just go handle that 50cc  before you play with the big boys".

anyway,  Cheers 8)

from a budding Electronics Wannabe

New Soul Rebel (Matt)
 
That's a hard question to answer...and what it really comes down to is this; you can probably build it, but if it doesn't work because you made a mistake somewhere, things will get infinitely harder.

That being said, there's truly only one way to find out, and I'm a firm beliiver that people can do anything they set their minds to.

I built my first preamp from info on this site with absolutely no electronics experience at all.

Can you read a schematic?

 
If you want to try, you should.  But, it will be far harder than buying an official one; you will spend more in the combination of parts cost and time investment.  It will pay educational dividends, to offset the costs. 
 
Similar to what the other guys said, it seems to me that the people who fail on these projects are doing them because they want a cheap piece of gear.  The ones who succeed are the ones who want to spend time and energy learning about what goes on under the hood.  I hate to sound like Yoda or something but I truly believe there is as much of a corollary between motive and ultimate success as there is between skill/knowledge/experience and success. 

Why are you doing it?
 
mushy said:
I hate to sound like Yoda or something but I truly believe there is as much of a corollary between motive and ultimate success as there is between skill/knowledge/experience and success.  

Absolutely 100% true.

It's all about motivation.  My first real build was an 1176.  It didn't fire up the first time but I got it working after a few hours of troubleshooting. You have to be doing it because you want to learn something about electronics (which was my motivation).  You also need to be willing to do some reading an take your time.

There seems to be a rash of people on the forum with the attitude  of "I can't read a schematic" or "I can't figure it out for myself".  Anyone with common sense can follow the basics of a schematic and do basic troubleshooting.  If you can't find a part on a labeled schematic from a labeled PCB and recognize how it connects to other components, you've got bigger problems than DIY.

If you just want a cheap compressor don't do it.  You will fail and will be wasting $500.  Go buy a Purple or a UA, get a warranty and save yourself a ton of time.

Mike
 
Okay guys, well this has been a 'Bump'!

I wonder what my pedigree is like for this.

I already own 2 neumann mics and I have an API lunchbox with 2 API 512c Compressors in it. I am an audiophile! (or fast becoming one)!

I have my heart set on an 1176, but frankly the kind of prices i've seen have been horrendously high here in the UK. I am thinking i'd like something interesting in my studio, possibly with my name on it!

I haven't ever had to read a schematic, but I bet I could.

I reckon that if I started it, I would encounter problems. no question about that because I can't believe its possible to build something like this without encountering the need for troubleshooting and additional help from the folks on the forum. Is it enough to not try?

in 2003, I started pulling down our garage. My wife came out into the garden to ask me what the hell I was doing. 18 months later, I had built a purpose built, detached recording studio in the grounds of my house. I know about Labour of Love.

Why do I want to do it? The challenge, and because everything in my life i've ever set my heart on, i've achieved. It would be amazing to own an 1176 that i'd built myself.

Should I try my hand at something simpler to begin with? Perhaps a nice little preamp?
 
Personally...I don't really think that the 1176 is really any harder than a preamp.

If you are interested in learning, the only real way to do it is by getting your feet wet and going for it! I feel fairly confident in saying that you seem to understand that it takes work...but it's so worth it!!!

Good luck my man!
 
build a JLM baby animal if you need a good preamp.  Easiest preamp to build and no high voltage to deal with.  Very good to get your feet wet without spending very much money and it sounds great.  After that you'll have a good sense of reading schematics and wiring before you dive into the 1176.  The wiring gets more complicated, but there is plenty of info in the forums about it.  

http://www.jlmaudio.com/shop/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=6
 
Or why not classic api 312 for you lunchbox? DIY is great fun and timeconsuming, but great fun  8)
http://www.classicapi.com/catalog/

I've been reading this forum for over 30 days (registered a bit over year ago) according to my profile and haven't built anything yet other than fixing and modding old stuff I already had. This forum is super :)
 
tmuikku said:
Or why not classic api 312 for you lunchbox? DIY is great fun and timeconsuming, but great fun  8)
http://www.classicapi.com/catalog/

I've been reading this forum for over 30 days (registered a bit over year ago) according to my profile and haven't built anything yet other than fixing and modding old stuff I already had. This forum is super :)

Hey Tmuikku, i've just taken a look at the instructions to build an API 312! WOW! I reckon I could build that, and it would be an excellent foray into the world of DIY audio gear. I'm quite excited by the concept!

Thanks mate, for that link. I'm going to keep scooting this forum for the next few weeks, before I make my decision on what i'm going to tackle, and get reading up on electronics.

One more question guys, are there any basics guides, glossaries of terms and other stuff that I should read to accelerate my knowledge before i get going?

oh and one last thing, thanks for your excellent replies of objectivity and encouragement. its helping. cheers New Soul Rebel (Matt)
 
I have to second the ClassicAPI.com pres.

I think this will be much easier to build than the 1176.
After building an 1176, I found the wiring to be a big pain in the ass.
On my shelf are a couple of additional units that have been all built with the exception of the wiring for over a year.
...haven't finished them because I'm dreading the wiring.

Also, the 1176 has a calibration routine that tends to trip a lot of people up.


Jeff's VP2X preamps [classicapi] are super simple builds, and...they sound sound fantastic.
 
New Soul Rebel said:
One more question guys, are there any basics guides, glossaries of terms and other stuff that I should read to accelerate my knowledge before i get going?

Well, familiarize yourself with schematic symbols first and foremost. Google it, there's a ton of reference pages.

http://www.makingthings.com/teleo/products/documentation/teleo_user_guide/electronics.html

That site looks helpful.

 
Hit up one of Jeff's pre's can't go wrong. No parts to source, hardly any wiring and you already have the power supply built. A couple of Gary's Discrete Op amp kits will get your small motor/soldering skills up to snuff in no time.

While Sklyar is right about the wiring being more than half the battle of an 1176 build, don't let that scare you away. With all of the documentation and diagrams around here it's just a matter of a few hours, a spool of wire and some heat shrink.
 
When I first jumped the band wagon on this unit as my very first DIY build, I was rather frustrated at the sellers minimal support. I was also frustrated at the amount of information I was referred to (I had to read over a gazillion posts), rather than just post the answer if you know it responses I got, from my newbie questions. I was also frustrated when I had seen a couple of people stuck on their builds and there were a minute few people who found it amusing to make fun of them or agitate them.

I thought this build was the hardest of the 2 I did (La2a and 1176), but at the moment, I have to say that it's not really that bad. It would be alot harder if you are building something that's a new DIY build with no history to reference from for any build process Q&A, troubleshooting errors, BOM references with store links, picture references, etc. The 1176 DIY build has been around for a while and theres ALOT of information on it, it has a BOM, build instruction, videos, Troubleshooting history, build process Q&A, picture references, etc.

IMO you can build this unit just by following what information is available without being some techno guru, knowing about schematics, ohms law, etc. but you do need to know polarity of caps, transistors, resistors values, how to use a multimeter and other tools, etc. There is enough information online and there is enough good people on this board to help you out. IMO the only time you would need to know more is if you encounter a problem, such as a component is faulty somewhere, wiring is done wrong somewhere, soldering fault, wrong components used, etc. BUT if you do ALOT of prep work, ask as many questions including dumb ones to ensure that you minimize any chances of error, double check your components, wire it correctly, solder nicely, then you can build it smoothly, power it up and do your calibration of the unit.

Even though I got bagged for alot of my newbie dumb questions, I am happy to say that I ran to minimal issues on my finished build, powered it up and it was working (calibration needed though which I did), as compared to someone who asked nothing or a few intelligent questions and got stuck and spent weeks on troubleshooting and had to take it to a tech to finish. Not only did they waste alot of time troubleshooting but more money getting it working.

There are some common pitfalls with the wiring and troubleshooting that has been covered on several posts which you should take note off because it is a common issue that you may come across and avoid.

I have some materials that you may find useful which I can send you. I made a markup sheet BOM which I found very useful. Also some information and picture reference that I gathered. I built some picture diagrams as well of certain wiring. Message me with your email if you want a copy. I built the Rev D unit.

The unit sounds great!

This is just from my experience  :)
 
mushy said:
Similar to what the other guys said, it seems to me that the people who fail on these projects are doing them because they want a cheap piece of gear.  The ones who succeed are the ones who want to spend time and energy learning about what goes on under the hood.  I hate to sound like Yoda or something but I truly believe there is as much of a corollary between motive and ultimate success as there is between skill/knowledge/experience and success.  

Why are you doing it?
This is probably true but for me, I wanted to build units because I wanted to have cheap gear but at pro quality because of money deficiency. I was sick and tired of not having particular pro gear because I could not afford it. At the same time though, I wanted to learn the confidence to do DIY but not know the deeper technical side of things. I only wanted to touch on the basics.

Now that I have built some units, in the future I would like to know the minimal technical side to do some easy repairs like being able to identify what component is faulty in a unit so I can replace and fix it. The only reason for this is because of money again. Repairing your gear with a store can get very expensive!
 
Yes, there's no one here to hold your hand. If you're looking for a step by step build guide there is usually none provided. It is assumed that you have some knowledge of how circuits work, can read a schematic and know how to identify and use components such as capacitors, potentiometers, transformers, etc.

canidoit said:
When I first jumped the band wagon on this unit as my very first DIY build, I was rather frustrated at the sellers minimal support.

Interesting.  ???

The seller of these boards clearly states on his purchasing thread:

IMPORTANT: Please note that the price is for boards only. No individual technical or other support is included in the price. All the information I offer is posted on my site and in the associated thread linked above.

You can get through a build if you're patient and take some time to learn the basics. An 1176 would not be a good choice for a first build as there are many things that can and do go wrong.

Mark
 
canidoit said:
When I first jumped the band wagon on this unit as my very first DIY build, I was rather frustrated at the sellers minimal support. I was also frustrated at the amount of information I was referred to (I had to read over a gazillion posts), rather than just post the answer if you know it responses I got, from my newbie questions. I was also frustrated when I had seen a couple of people stuck on their builds and there were a minute few people who found it amusing to make fun of them or agitate them.

I thought this build was the hardest of the 2 I did (La2a and 1176), but at the moment, I have to say that it's not really that bad. It would be alot harder if you are building something that's a new DIY build with no history to reference from for any build process Q&A, troubleshooting errors, BOM references with store links, picture references, etc. The 1176 DIY build has been around for a while and theres ALOT of information on it, it has a BOM, build instruction, videos, Troubleshooting history, build process Q&A, picture references, etc.

IMO you can build this unit just by following what information is available without being some techno guru, knowing about schematics, ohms law, etc. but you do need to know polarity of caps, transistors, resistors values, how to use a multimeter and other tools, etc. There is enough information online and there is enough good people on this board to help you out. IMO the only time you would need to know more is if you encounter a problem, such as a component is faulty somewhere, wiring is done wrong somewhere, soldering fault, wrong components used, etc. BUT if you do ALOT of prep work, ask as many questions including dumb ones to ensure that you minimize any chances of error, double check your components, wire it correctly, solder nicely, then you can build it smoothly, power it up and do your calibration of the unit.

Even though I got bagged for alot of my newbie dumb questions, I am happy to say that I ran to minimal issues on my finished build, powered it up and it was working (calibration needed though which I did), as compared to someone who asked nothing or a few intelligent questions and got stuck and spent weeks on troubleshooting and had to take it to a tech to finish. Not only did they waste alot of time troubleshooting but more money getting it working.

There are some common pitfalls with the wiring and troubleshooting that has been covered on several posts which you should take note off because it is a common issue that you may come across and avoid.

I have some materials that you may find useful which I can send you. I made a markup sheet BOM which I found very useful. Also some information and picture reference that I gathered. I built some picture diagrams as well of certain wiring. Message me with your email if you want a copy. I built the Rev D unit.

The unit sounds great!

This is just from my experience  :)

A really great post Canidoit. So utterly helpful. Please do send me the docs, i'll PM you my email. Cheers Matt
 
Ptownkid said:
New Soul Rebel said:
One more question guys, are there any basics guides, glossaries of terms and other stuff that I should read to accelerate my knowledge before i get going?

Well, familiarize yourself with schematic symbols first and foremost. Google it, there's a ton of reference pages.

http://www.makingthings.com/teleo/products/documentation/teleo_user_guide/electronics.html

That site looks helpful.

thanks for link Ptownkid
 
Biasrocks said:
Yes, there's no one here to hold your hand. If you're looking for a step by step build guide there is usually none provided. It is assumed that you have some knowledge of how circuits work, can read a schematic and know how to identify and use components such as capacitors, potentiometers, transformers, etc.

canidoit said:
When I first jumped the band wagon on this unit as my very first DIY build, I was rather frustrated at the sellers minimal support.

Interesting.  ???

The seller of these boards clearly states on his purchasing thread:

IMPORTANT: Please note that the price is for boards only. No individual technical or other support is included in the price. All the information I offer is posted on my site and in the associated thread linked above.

You can get through a build if you're patient and take some time to learn the basics. An 1176 would not be a good choice for a first build as there are many things that can and do go wrong.

Mark
Maybe I phrased the sentence incorrectly.
The sellers minimal support for me to try his build and buy his PCBs. I am just stating how it was when I did the build and in no way I am saying this is his how he works, but I am just explaining my experience when I did the build.
 
Back
Top