ruffrecords
Well-known member
Now I am reasonably happy with the poor man's tube mic pre design I thought I might use it as the basis of a simple, easy to build tube mixer project. It would be an N channel into 2 with each channel module sporting:
mic/line inputs
switched mic/line gain (up to 60dB on mic)
20dB pad, phase and phantom supply switches
3 band EQ based on the Helios type 69
post EQ direct out
pan pot and L/R/mute routing switches
The simplified signal flow means there would be no aux sends or solo.
The fader would be external to the module so you can use anything from cheap rotary pots through to P&G faders.
The only other module would be a mix/monitor module. This would include the L&R mix bus amps, monitor switching (between L&R and 2T tape return) and a monitor gain control. You could tack a couple of VUs across the monitor switch output for visual monitoring.
All the modules would be 6U high and 14HP wide so 6 will fit into a standard 19inch sub-rack. So you could make a 5/2 in one sub-rack or a 11/2 in two sub-racks (you might like to make it 10/2 and use the spare slot for other features) or a 17/2 in 3 sub-racks (this is a natural for a 16/2 with a spare slot).
The whole would be powered from an external 19inch rack mounting power supply or if you are feeling lucky you could try building one inside the mixer itself.
Since most of the smarts are in the PCBs I'll be offering them via the white market (so no one gets upset) for a year assuming there is enough interest to cover the costs of doing this.
I'll also be doing front panel layouts in front panel designer and I'll make the files for these freely available - you can order them as cheaply as I can and this gives you the opportunity to customise the look.
How you enclose the whole is entirely up to you and I guess there will be quite a few who would happy just building a rack of 6 tube mic pres with Helios EQ.
The design is in its early stages right now so don't expect anything to be available for some months yet.
Cheers
Ian
mic/line inputs
switched mic/line gain (up to 60dB on mic)
20dB pad, phase and phantom supply switches
3 band EQ based on the Helios type 69
post EQ direct out
pan pot and L/R/mute routing switches
The simplified signal flow means there would be no aux sends or solo.
The fader would be external to the module so you can use anything from cheap rotary pots through to P&G faders.
The only other module would be a mix/monitor module. This would include the L&R mix bus amps, monitor switching (between L&R and 2T tape return) and a monitor gain control. You could tack a couple of VUs across the monitor switch output for visual monitoring.
All the modules would be 6U high and 14HP wide so 6 will fit into a standard 19inch sub-rack. So you could make a 5/2 in one sub-rack or a 11/2 in two sub-racks (you might like to make it 10/2 and use the spare slot for other features) or a 17/2 in 3 sub-racks (this is a natural for a 16/2 with a spare slot).
The whole would be powered from an external 19inch rack mounting power supply or if you are feeling lucky you could try building one inside the mixer itself.
Since most of the smarts are in the PCBs I'll be offering them via the white market (so no one gets upset) for a year assuming there is enough interest to cover the costs of doing this.
I'll also be doing front panel layouts in front panel designer and I'll make the files for these freely available - you can order them as cheaply as I can and this gives you the opportunity to customise the look.
How you enclose the whole is entirely up to you and I guess there will be quite a few who would happy just building a rack of 6 tube mic pres with Helios EQ.
The design is in its early stages right now so don't expect anything to be available for some months yet.
Cheers
Ian