Advice and ideas for a mixing console build

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pucho812 said:
I love the idea of a removable mic pre/eq module like on the old Neve's and trident desks. While it does up the cost a bit it does make it plausible to run those modules separate from the consoles for remote recording.

Many large format consoles are built highly configurable.. I may have gone a little overboard with the frame though, one could fit a lot more features into it than what I originally sketched in the schematics.

Another thing I've been thinking is whether I should make the fader section modular for easy service.. at first I was thinking fixed configuration, perhaps because I was intending the console for summing. Faders are dirt cheap though.

Thanks for the ideas anyway!
 
efinque said:
Many large format consoles are built highly configurable.. I may have gone a little overboard with the frame though, one could fit a lot more features into it than what I originally sketched in the schematics.

Another thing I've been thinking is whether I should make the fader section modular for easy service.. at first I was thinking fixed configuration, perhaps because I was intending the console for summing. Faders are dirt cheap though.

Thanks for the ideas anyway!

While that is true, most do not let you remove the mic pre eq and just plug it into a rack and go.  there is usually some sort of hoop to jump through.  As we migrate further and further forward we loose those things.  for example the new ssl's are not as modular as the older ones.
 
pucho812 said:
While that is true, most do not let you remove the mic pre eq and just plug it into a rack and go.  there is usually some sort of hoop to jump through.  As we migrate further and further forward we loose those things.  for example the new ssl's are not as modular as the older ones.

I was thinking mic pre modules instead of kits.. eliminates the need to look for bad solder joints and components etc, and means less solder work. The obvious downside is serviceability though..
 
pucho812 said:
We should do a gdiy console project. I plan on 24 buss and 8 auxes because I still have that desire and need to a degree.  Plus it's becoming more rare to do.  If anyone wants to trade ideas around maybe we can get to doing it.

I think a "charity" console idea is great.. I was thinking a very similar concept with PA the other day.
 
efinque said:
I was thinking mic pre modules instead of kits.. eliminates the need to look for bad solder joints and components etc, and means less solder work. The obvious downside is serviceability though..
Removable modules were invented primary to improve serviceability. It's an upside not a downside.

Cheers

Ian
 
ruffrecords said:
Good one aren't cheap.

Cheers

Ian

Yes but the ones I can fit in there are... the ALPS for instance have a very high profile.

Meanwhile, I've been working on a linear PSU..
 
My second piece would be that 3U high 500 series modules are too small for this.

It's size seems perfect for non-tube pre's but I agree they get a little tight with full featured eq's.

I chose that format because they have become fairly a standard. There's so many 3rd party offerings of all sorts, diy and commercial that is seems like a natural choice for a modular  'community' mixer, at least in the pre section.

 
500 modules make  sense for preamps and EQ's.  That was the original intent.

So what happens when you quickly run out of edge connector fingers in the 500 format for stuff such as busing and auxes and yada?

Bri
 
Brian Roth said:
500 modules make  sense for preamps and EQ's.  That was the original intent.

So what happens when you quickly run out of edge connector fingers in the 500 format for stuff such as busing and auxes and yada?

Bri

Exactly. You need something taller  with more I/Os for routing modules. Maybe a double height module with two connectors?

Cheers

Ian
 
boji said:
It's size seems perfect for non-tube pre's but I agree they get a little tight with full featured eq's.

I chose that format because they have become fairly a standard. There's so many 3rd party offerings of all sorts, diy and commercial that is seems like a natural choice for a modular  'community' mixer, at least in the pre section.

I believe classic API already has the metalwork available for building a console in the 500 series format?
 
Back in the 70s-80s when I was running my kit company I considered offering a modular kit console/mixer. I ultimately abandoned it for a couple reasons.

#1 the primary reason people bought kits (at least back last century) was to save money. A kit modular console would actually cost more than a cheap (made in Japan) value mixer of the day. This was before mixers from China got silly cheap in the 1990s. 

#2 The design task to make a truly flexible, fully configurable mixer/console, means you have to anticipate all the possible future configurations to incorporate the hooks into the basic design. Even if you don't populate all the features for a basic mixer, you burn the PCB real estate and connectors. If you want lots of buses you need a line or two for each. In hindsight I am kind of glad I didn't do this kit program.

I know several people who have built one DIY console for their personal use, nobody who ever built a second one.

JR
 
One of my clients has a custom console by the folks at tree audio.

It has 16 channels that have 2 x rows of 500 slots to allow 2 X 500 modules per channel.  It seems like a great idea, I can add 500 modules to a channel strip that has auxes, busses, panning, mute, solo, etc.  that's the upside it is customizable I can build as I go, add what I want, etc. The downside is if you do not already own the 500 series modules, it can get real expensive real quick to fill it up.
 
The downside is if you do not already own the 500 series modules, it can get real expensive real quick to fill it up.
Ain't that the truth.  Also since the channel section and patch seriously test one's endurance, the thought of diy-ing another 32 modules is...

Two kidneys right? We technically only need one, so...
 
Here's a pic of a prototype channel strip in the making..

IMG-20181101-044459.jpg
 
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