Drip STA Level build (now finished !)

A few month ago I decided to build a Sta Level compressor with the pcb from drip electronics. The case is from collectivecases.com
It thought I'd get the Sta Level micro pcb (just the main circuit without power supply), but they weren't available any more and replaced by the full pcb.

The pcb is so big that you really don't have a choice of where you put it in the case.... and unfortunately you are forced to make some very impractical wireing (concerning mains voltage etc.) and deal with small clearances etc.

But it can be done



The fontpanel is very nice. I used a Simpson meter and some very authentic looking knobs



You can see that the pcb forces you to have parts of the power supply (HT choke etc..) near the frontpanel, which I don't really like



The output pad is not part of the main pcb and soldered to a small piece of pcb near to the xlr sockets



Another view from the top



Here's the expensive 6386 tube from JJ. It comes in a little foam box ( just like the jewels for your girlfriend  )



I tried to seperate the mains wires to the power switch as best as possible. In addition I covered the wires with some extra shielding tube.

STA Level meter as well!

Very nice, congratulations!

Braeden

Beautiful  work  ;D

A beast!

Gustav

Tight fit but very nice work

Marty.

Can somebody help me with the screws for the simpson meter tabs? Since I'm from Germany it's kinda hard for me

The datasheet sais that I need 1/4" - 28 bolts for the studs.

What I have are 1/4" - 20 UNC  as well as 1/4" - 28 UNF bolts but none of them fit. Is there another size inbetween that I don't know ?


EDIT: Problem solved. Both studs were slightly miscut, I had do do it again with a cutting tool. Seems almost as if their tool wasn't perfect when they made the studs, they were both slightly oversized.

This makes me want to build one so bad.  I have heard from a few guys that they sound amazing once finished. 

My list keeps growing.  Ugh

dandeurloo said:

This makes me want to build one so bad.  I have heard from a few guys that they sound amazing once finished. 

My list keeps growing.  Ugh

Click to expand...

It NEVER ENDS!!! haha

I finished this build today. Plugged it in and it worked from the first second 

Looks great.  How's it sound?

The sound is great, just like I'd expected it. Also the hum and noisefloor is extremely low.

The only thing that bothers me is the slow release times. I think I will modifiy the time constants that it will swing back faster.
The slower setting is completely unusable (it takes almost 25 seconds to get from -30dB back to zero)....

Aren't the speeds the standard speeds on a vintage sta level?

Yes, they are the same as in the original unit but nevertheless not very usefull.

25sec? Oo

My B+ voltage is only 260V instead of 300V.  I'm using a NOS 5y3gt rectifier tube, I should probably swap that against some recent models from JJ or Sovtec or change for a 5AR4. Does anybody have experience with this ?

Also finished my recovery mod box which allows me to choose between 6 (slow to really fast) recovery times

Looks are everything!

Gustav

Hi,
Would you possibly be able to provide the exact part number for the Simpson meter, and a contact person from where you bought it?
It seems very hard to find where to buy these
Cheers,
Anthony

I was asked how I have done the release time mod. It's just a bunch of resistors added in parallel through a rotary switch  to R36 (4,7M) on the main pcb to lo lower its total value. The lower you get the faster the release time will be.

I think I used the following values:

nothing (stock release time)
3M
1M
680K
330K
180K (fastest release time)

I didn't want to drill an additional hole in the stock frontpanel, so I decided to add the resistors in a small external box that is connected through the back panel of the main unit.

Looks awesome! Where did you find that huge LED?