API 312 Thread!

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No, these caps won't affect your sound much, they are PSU filter caps :)

They provide the juice for when your opamp needs it. Use whatever fits, NHG tend to be a little smaller than FC. FM will also work buI think they might be bigger. Use whatever you can find (decent quality) around 100uF / 35V and you'll be fine.
 
C3 / C4 are the same  '0.1uF  Wima MKS2 104J63'

I believe I found them?, is this them?

http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=MKS2-.1%2f63%2f5virtualkey50520000virtualkey505-MKS2.1%2f63%2f5


But C5....  I cannot for the life of me find  0.1uF Wima MKP2 104J63

I search MKP2 in mouser, but I can't find anything that references to 104J63 as in BOM....


Please help, sorry for the trouble, i'm trying here, hahha
 
laddie.music said:
I search MKP2 in mouser, but I can't find anything that references to 104J63 as in BOM....
'104' = capacitance 10E4pF = 100000pF = 100nF = 0.1uF = 0.0000001F (think micrometer, millimeter, meter, kilometer, ...)
'J' = +/-5% tolerance
'63' = max.DC voltage rating
so this WIMA MKP2 is a 0.1uF or 100nF cap with a max.DC voltage rating of 63V and its real world capacitance might be in range between 95nF and 105nF, just another way to express the same thing.
 
Exactly as Harpo says, of course! I thought that terminology would be clearer, but hey, now you learned it so you can read any cap value!  ;D

The MKS and MKP are both metallized film, the MKS being polyester, the MKP polypropylene (C7 is the same as C5).  Either will work in either place, in fact some will argue that you don't "need" any of them, they are just bypassing good quality electrolytic caps.  But, it's common practice, dating back to when lytic caps were terrible, so you had to bypass them with a film cap to improve highs, but nowadays if you use Panasonic SU bipolars or NIchicon Muse SE or something like that in the signal path, these bypass caps may be overkill.  That said, I always use them and generally I choose polypropylene whenever it's in the signal path (and fits), and MKS for power supply bypassing.  Even better is FKP (polypropylene film, non metallized) but they are huge (and more expensive).

Another electrolytic cap that is nice for C6 and C8 is Elna Silmic II, (I'mpretty sure I've used them in some 312, but I know I've used them in some SSLs without bypass caps, and these I did do "blind" listening tests and it was clearly better than some other high end lytics (like nichicon KZ, for one).  They are not bipolar, so to use them you must arrange them with the positive lead towards the opamp.

Take all this with a grain of salt, of course, caps are caps after all, but if you really want to know if they make a difference, put them in one channel and keep another without and listen to both. It's fun, you might learn something. Or maybe not, it might be BS.  ;D
 
man thanks heaps guys for the time and help, i'm actually getting a feel for this now, haha

Although I still cannot find the right value,  the minimum voltage i've found for polypropylene is 100v

http://www.mouser.com/Passive-Components/Polypropylene-Film-Capacitors/_/N-5g7u?Keyword=0.1uf+wima&FS=True

I cannot find a polypropylene for 63v...  know any other places that might sell?, doesn't seem like mouser has a 63v polyprop

 
laddie.music said:
man thanks heaps guys for the time and help, i'm actually getting a feel for this now, haha

Although I still cannot find the right value,  the minimum voltage i've found for polypropylene is 100v

http://www.mouser.com/Passive-Components/Polypropylene-Film-Capacitors/_/N-5g7u?Keyword=0.1uf+wima&FS=True

I cannot find a polypropylene for 63v...  know any other places that might sell?, doesn't seem like mouser has a 63v polyprop

If you are located in Europe, Banzai Music has decent collection of capacitors (and pots, knobs, screws etc.):
http://www.banzaimusic.com/WIMA-MKS2-0-1uF-63V.html
 
Thanks Jsteiger,

I was hoping this was the case, someone mentioned in an earlier post the specs from the bOM meant 'max voltage' would be 63v,

So this is great news, thanks a million

 
Ok, i'm closing in on this order ugh!!!, thanks everything so far

Would like to use Bourn pots the 25k CCW,  (i'll have them off board connected to front panel) I will need 8 of them,

I'm just wondering about some values i'd have to chnage on my BOM

Would I still use a 100pF  for the feedback cap ??

I'm not sure what value for the 'feedback loop resistor'  ??

Lastly on the BOM C6  It has 330uF  16V Panasonic SU Bipolar  but notes that this value could change depending on the pot...  since the Bourn is slightly higher then the BOM at 25K,  what would C6 then become????

Thanks heaps in advance!
 
http://www.groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=26948.0

Thanks to Harpo and Bo, all of life's questions are answered in that thread! :)
 
Hey there, im wondering if anyone could help me. I hope im in the right thread. A built an API clone around a year ago.. It was fabios replica 312.

I sounded great up until recently when the righthand side channel seemed to lose power. For example if i put a guitar through the lefthand side channel with the pad off it will clip when i turn the gain nob half way.. If i do the exact same thing with the righthand side channel even when the gain nob is up full it still doesnt have the power to clip it.. Im not saying i want things to clip obviously im just giving it as an example to the difference between the gain on the 2 channels.. Would anyone have any ideas as to what might be wrong?

Thanks a million
 
leitrim_lad said:
Hey there, im wondering if anyone could help me. I hope im in the right thread. A built an API clone around a year ago.. It was fabios replica 312.

I sounded great up until recently when the righthand side channel seemed to lose power. For example if i put a guitar through the lefthand side channel with the pad off it will clip when i turn the gain nob half way.. If i do the exact same thing with the righthand side channel even when the gain nob is up full it still doesnt have the power to clip it.. Im not saying i want things to clip obviously im just giving it as an example to the difference between the gain on the 2 channels.. Would anyone have any ideas as to what might be wrong?

Thanks a million

Are the two channels using the same opamps?  When you say that you 'put a guitar through', do you mean that you are using the 1/4" Hi-Z input (with the small PCB)?

It sounds like oscillation that is stealing all the headroom.  Can you put a scope to the output to see what is happening there?  You can try recording the output and zooming into the waveform with your DAW.
 
Apologies I just used the guitar as an example! Can be a mic input either! Der different oamps if I remember correctly! I can check! When u say record the output do u just mean to record with nothing put through it or record a tone through it or something? Thanks a million
 
I would start by swapping opamps and see if the trouble follows the opamp or stays with the funky channel. If it follows, well you know it's the opamp. If it stays with the channel then time to dig deeper.
 
leitrim_lad said:
Apologies I just used the guitar as an example! Can be a mic input either! Der different oamps if I remember correctly! I can check! When u say record the output do u just mean to record with nothing put through it or record a tone through it or something? Thanks a million

Try Jeff's suggestion first.  I was assuming that you were having problems with the DI input which can be touchy at time.

If you can't narrow it down to the opamp, try the following if you don't have an oscilloscope handy:

1- Plug a mic in,
2- Start recording,
3- Crank up the gain gradually all the way up.
4- Stop recording.

Look at the waveform and see if you find anything weird.

If you do have a scope handy, probe the output of the opamp (right before the output transformer) when the preamp is acting up to see if you find anything crazy.

Probing before the output transformer has the advantage of bypassing the band-pass effect of the transformer which could hide things at the output of the preamp.

Good luck!


 
Hi. I just wanted to show off my new creation: a 312 preamp based on the old 312-card design. I have changed the layout to accommodate the new input transformers from Ed Anderson, Cinemag, Jensen, etc., and the card edge connector is replaced with screw terminals. Apart from that, everything is identical.

My plan is to put four of these babies in a 1U rack  8)

IMG_1166.jpg


IMG_1167.jpg


IMG_1169.jpg
 
Thanks, 3nity. I know that there are alternative boards out there that require less wirering (like your Access-312), but I like the simplicity and flexibility of the old design. This gives me more freedom to experiment with different controls for the front panel (stepped/linear gain control, pad, output attenuator, etc.). Besides that, the old-style board looks cool and has sort of a vintage feel to it :)

-Tobias
 
ok got some cash going to buy the last parts to my build (I know i'm slow)

i'm very unfamiliar with these next parts, would someone be able to help me find them on mouser?

IN 2 way Molex KK for XLR input
OUT 2way Molex KK for XLR output
AUX_OUT Molex KK 2 way
J1 5 way molex KK for sending audio signal to/from daughterboard
J2 6 way molex KK for power and ground connections
H1 2 pin vertical header for sending LED voltage to daughterboard.
H2 2 pin vertical header for sending LED voltage to daughterboard.

problem is because i'm so lame, all I can go by with these is searching what it says, but I don't know what they are. 

Anyways,  any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Ladvin
 

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