Hi Keith,
I know this thread is really old, just would like to ask you if you ever got the chance to finalize your version of the system 9098?
thank you
SSLtech said:
[quote author="danielle"]May I be so bold as to ask what you are actually setting out to create in this "version" you are working on?
Sure... Scenaria and I are big fans of the 9098i... (in case you hadn't guessed!) -I must've installed and/or worked on about seven of them... anyhow, We wanted to try and develop a DIY version, but there are a few things which are very component-specific, and without proper parts, it 'works' in that it passes signal, and someone who doesn't have a point of reference to compare it to, might think it's okay, but nothing to get worked up about...
I don't know if you see what I mean, but I hope I'm describing it clearly.
Anyhow... I started with all good intentions of making this another DIY project like the 9k preamp, for everyone to source and make themselves... however, there has been much else to do (LA-2a's, the Bloo Series 2 project, the 1176's and so forth) that this took a bit of a back burner, since it is built and passes signal... however, I think that this might be a tough project for people to reliably source and build with a good chance of actually getting it to sound like the real thing... I don;t know why that is, but there's definately some mojo somewhere in this thing.
Rupert Neve himself commented to me that the PCB layout was critical and Andrew (the main system designer over at Amek, I had a sit down with him when I went back and spent some time at the factory on my last trip back to the UK) was pretty critically important in getting the layout and component selection/specification nailed down...
This really might be better for everyone -in terms of a consistent result- if it was produced as a kit... That way stability, (the first tries tended to oscillate like mad things!) performance and consistency are all the same from unit to unit.
To this end, Scenaria and I have had some discussions about the possibility of making a kit, which would comprise a rack frame, and plug-in modules. That way the whole thing could become something like a 7th-Circle type of project, but rather less expensive. The metalwork would obviously be first-rate, (ask anyone who has received the Bloo kits for the LA-2a type comressors) and in this case they would be absolutely complete kits... otherwise the consistency issue would be completely out the window and the whole purpose of the kit is defeated.
Scenaria is still working hard on the optical tube compressors, and his time and cash is largely tied up in that for the time being. I've got some preliminary specs for the unit, and they're pretty good at the moment, but we're still trying to nail it down, make it sound like the real thing, and keep it affordable and stable.
Bear in mind that the rack-mount outboard version of the 9098 mic preamp does not sound quite like the 'real thing'... that should tell you something!!! :shock: Even Amek were struggling a little with this for a while.
Okay, nobody send me PMs saying "When will the kits be ready?" -If I don;t get this thing to sound right, there will never be a kit. There'll be no point in making a kit for something that doesn't sound like the wonderful, beautiful, excellent real thing. If I ever get this thing to sing like bird however, there will be the opportunity to either:
a) Make this a DIY project for everyone, (if we find out that all you need is mettalised poly, or whatever)
b) make a complete kit, which will make more sense if it has to be a very specific collection of components, some of which might come in minimum order quantities.
Time will tell.
Oh and yes... I have the front end RF filter in the circuit... it's soldered right on the XLR terminals!!! :green:
Keith
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