Pultec HLF3C Correct Source and Load Impedance

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Bo Deadly

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Dec 22, 2015
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I'm doing a Pultec HLF3C:

pcbstc_hlf3c.png


but I'm not using transformers. This will be driven by and buffered by a pair simple op amp circuits. It now occurs to me that this will not work correctly without setting the source and output load impedance.

The question is, what sort of resistor network should I add before and after this to get the correct response? How do I mimic the impedance of the input and output transformers of the original unit using op amps? Just a 600R in series with the input and 600R to ground on the output? Do I want to throw some caps in here somewhere? Then I suppose my op amp buffer needs +6dB makeup gain?
 
These filters have a characteristic impedance, usually 600 ohms. This means they need to be fed from a 600 ohm source and loaded with 600 ohms. So your series resistor at the input and parallel one at the output is correct and you will need 6dB gain make up for unity overall.

Cheers

Ian
 
It wouldn't matter if you had transformers or not.  Just to say it out loud. 

Find my posts with curves about Langevin and Altec filter set response.  There's a great Altec white paper about filter loading impedances, and how they vary per circuit type.  That's online too. 

Shortest answer is drive Z + series buildout to reach intended input Z, shunt R across output to reach intended Z.  But for some circuit types none of that matters.  Build and measure reality. 
 
I just noticed another potential issue. This is going to be the EQ section in a channel strip that will be Neve 1073 -> insert -> LA3A -> HLF3C. But when the insert and LA3A are bypassed, it up to the Neve BA283.P output to drive the HLF3C. I just tried loading the BA283.P output with a 600 ohm load in LTSpice and the bottom swing clips below -2.5V or so. Oops.

Of course with the filters out the load is 1.2k which is no problem. But with a filter in, the load can dip to a little over 700 ohms or so (but then goes back up and beyond 1.2k - so the 700 ohms is a narrow band). And using something other than 600 ohms, like 1k for example, changes the damping / Q (or whatever the correct term is). So it needs to be very close to 600 it seems. My plan was to use 680 as a compromise to alleviate the load slightly without affecting the Q much.

So now I'm wondering if I need to buffer the input of the HLF3C as well. The 1073 has an inductor EQ driven by BA284.M or P outputs which don't look they have great drive capability either (although it looks like controls have to be in the extreme position to have a low load).

What do you think? Maybe a little narrow band distortion is a feature and not a bug?
 
I built a hlf3c without transformer. The loading affects the "resonance" of the filter. At 600ohm the cutoff is normal and as you go up you see a little bump on the knee of the curve. I added a multipos switch to tweak it, works like a charm.  I suggest testing it out, adjust to taste.
 
diggy fresh said:
I built a hlf3c without transformer. The loading affects the "resonance" of the filter. At 600ohm the cutoff is normal and as you go up you see a little bump on the knee of the curve. I added a multipos switch to tweak it, works like a charm.  I suggest testing it out, adjust to taste.
Yeah, that's a good idea. I should have added two toggles for "peak" options. Although that's not the best name maybe. Maybe "RESONANCE". The HLF3C is otherwise so devoid of controls it would be a nice option.
 
hello good afternoon everyone i am trying to recreate this resonant filter but not getting too much of the schematic.
how many mh does the inductor need to apply at each frequency cutoff?
I'm especially interested in the high-pass filter part.
thank you
 

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It says on the schem 800, 500, 390 ...

Unfortunately it seems audiomaintenance.com no longer has the VTA1430 and VTA1421 multi-tapped inductors for this. That's a shame. I love the HLF-3C. A lot of early records band-passed tracks.

Note that the HLF-3C is not a "resonant" filter. It's supposed to be critically damped with 600 ohms of source impedance and loaded with 600 ohms. If you don't do that it will have a peaky resonant response at the cutoff frequencies. But I played around with that with some other filter sets that I have and decided against it in the end. It just sounded nasal. IMO these filters must be critically damped. And then followed by a +6dB output buffer to compensate for insertion loss and get a low Z out.
 
I thought it was a chebyshev filter like the altec 9069 or langevin 255, I think the latter are quite simple, it is reduced to a multitap inductor, a 3-pole switch and double capacitors, the inductor is to enhance the peak in the cutoff frequency, I'm not sure though.
with respect to the mh values of the scheme 800,500,390 ... ect
Are these values the same for the low pass filter and the high pass filter?
 
I'm doing a Pultec HLF3C:

pcbstc_hlf3c.png


but I'm not using transformers. This will be driven by and buffered by a pair simple op amp circuits. It now occurs to me that this will not work correctly without setting the source and output load impedance.

The question is, what sort of resistor network should I add before and after this to get the correct response? How do I mimic the impedance of the input and output transformers of the original unit using op amps? Just a 600R in series with the input and 600R to ground on the output? Do I want to throw some caps in here somewhere? Then I suppose my op amp buffer needs +6dB makeup gain?
HI Bo,

What inductor did you use ?

Best and thanks

Ritchie
 

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