8 Channel, 3U NEVE 1073 completed

[sr1200]

Is the gain set at its lowest?  And which transformer (input or output).  And i was getting really off voltages also until I hooked EVERYTHING up, (input and output TX's)  Once everything was in there I was good.  If the TXs are too close and you have the gain maxed you may be getting some oss.

 

[sr1200]

On another note... My front panel finally got here!  (woo hoo!)

If ya wanna se pics from the whole build
http://www.facebook.com/anthony.paganini#!/album.php?id=1326207212&aid=104345

And when martin is back from his humanitarian work, I hope hes got some more boards in stock! This was fun!

 

[ilfungo]

Great work sr1200 - congratulations!!!!
two questions:
how did you connected the VU meter?
what you used as trim fader?
Thanks and congratulations again

 

[sr1200]

Thanks was my first real build.
The VU meter is connected to the trim pot.  In martins instructions, there is a diagram to connect the trim pot.  I basically just tapped off the center and ground.  (right now the VU is showing POST trim fader levels.  I had it set to PRE-trim levels and was a little confusing.  My racks are under my desk and when setting the level, i cant see both the DAW display and the pre at once so i figured if i get the right setting on there i should be close going to the daw)

As far as a buffer goes I used the JLM VU buffer.  It can run off a 24V line and JLM has pretty decent instructions on how to set it up on their site.  (took a bit of calibrating since they're so small but its just a few (read: many) turns of the trim pot on the VU buffer. (meters i got on Ebay and look exactly like the JLM versions - amber lamp not LED)

Trim fader I used
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?WT.z_header=search_go&lang=en&site=us&keywords=51AAD-B28-D15L-ND&x=15&y=15
A little pricey in my opinion, but i used a cheaper pot before i got this, and it really was crappy.  (felt bad and kinda sounded weird. no other way to describe it)  You get what you pay for.  This thing sounds AWESOME! Its dead silent and just has this really nice flavor.
Its hooked up to the apogee rosetta 200 to convert into the daw.  Perfect match.

 

[ilfungo]

thanks sr1200!!!
Great info!!!

 

[MicDaddy]

sr1200,

Had a chance to manipulate the gain/trim color/clarity?  Betting all around it sounds great, but have you noticed  'sonic differences' if any, while playing with the two knobs?

I've yet to purchase transformers as I'm not sure which direction I want to go there....  thanks for the lead on the trim pot.

Love the front panel and your work is nothing less than pro!

 

[sr1200]

I will say that there was a HUGE difference in using a carbon pot to the conductive plastic pot.  I bought a cheap $.70 10K carbon (which Martin states NOT to use lol) but i figured for $.70 what the heck.  It felt like garbage, you could hear the tabs inside scraping against the disc and it made the unit sound like it was (and im using the totally wrong word here) scratchy, gritty, lo-fi almost.  As soon as i put the good pot in it was ultra clean.  I usually leave the pot maxed unless one of the steps is just a little too much (it also helped in calibrating the meters)  I brought the input gain up quite a bit and gradually rolled the trim up until i got unity on my signal generator, my 1073 and the apogee. 

It is nice to be able to drive the hell out of the input tx and roll the trim down to get a little grit, which is why I decided to ADD the trim pot. 

Even with my ribbon mic, i can barely get this thing over the 50 mark on the gain stage without clipping the DAW.  With an SM57 I got up to about 55/60 on an "acceptable" level sound source.  Condenser mics.... rarely going above the 25 mark. 

From all the research I did before ordering parts (i was looking at different tx's)  the carnhills always came out on top.  Well worth the investment.

 

[MicDaddy]

It is nice to be able to drive the hell out of the input tx and roll the trim down to get a little grit, which is why I decided to ADD the trim pot. 

Yes this is what I was curious about, was thinking it would benefit from having the trim for some coloring options as well as being more versatile.

For $7/pot, that's a pretty good investment (value) added IMO.

I've been leaning Carnhill, but I'm very easily mislead and have been reading some regarding the Vintech models moving away from Carnhill (or at least in appearances are different)  wasn't quite sure the reasoning.  If this is not correct I'm open for clairification 

again great build sr1200

 

[sr1200]

Thanks again, my thoughts would be that Vintech has either started to do their own, or found someone else to make them cheaper.  Its all about the $$$ for the commercial product which is why there is so much crap on the market.  You cant go wrong with the Carnhills.  And im sure anyone else thats built this unit can attest to.

 

[ilfungo]

Ed Anderson has made a copy of the original:

http://hairballaudio.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=24&products_id=76

and

http://hairballaudio.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=24&products_id=63

cost less ...
someone has tried them?
thanks

 

[gavthirdphase]

Hi,

I have bought one of these boards and I was wondering if there would be any issues with me initially supplying the 24volts to the board but not the 48v. Other than not being able to use a condensor mic would the pre amp function ok? I will probably get a jbl acdc but in the meantime i Just wanted to see if I could get the thing working. Also could I get it to work without out the transformers as I am a little tight for cash and wanted to make sure I could get it working before I buy nice transformers.

Thanks

Gav

 

[snipsnip]

Yeah it's fine, 48v is for the mic only.

 

[sr1200]

You can do without the 48v but not wuthout the transformers.  Thats where not only the timbre of the pre comes from but the input unbalances and the output rebalances amongst other things.

 

[snipsnip]

Yes, completely missed the bit about transformers for some reason.

 

[skal1]

Hi madriaanse

you back yet, need some boards

skal1

 

[Govinda Doyle]

So i built these a while back and i have to say i love them!
putting 10 of these into a 3u rack wasnt much fun, but all my drum duties can be in one 3up rack!
oh the pain!
haha
Govinda

 

[Govinda Doyle]

more pics..

 

[Govinda Doyle]

and more... it was a tight squeeze!

 

[0dbfs]

Awesome! What are you using to power that beast?

Best,
jb

 

[Govinda Doyle]

i'm using for now a switch mode power supply.....
i'm about to build a discrete power supply, there is a difference without the discrete... switch mode is my temporary solution!