[BUILD] Hairball Audio - Elements

[midnitestudios]

I have sound! Apparently I forgot to solder two joints from the relay. I got sound from a Condenser mic and from Dynamic mic. I will test out the DI later on today. Thanks again Mike for all your help!!!!  8)

 

[Echo North]

I have sound! Apparently I forgot to solder two joints from the relay. I got sound from a Condenser mic and from Dynamic mic. I will test out the DI later on today. Thanks again Mike for all your help!!!!  8)

Killer man.  Glad you found it.

8)

Mike

 

[Greenote]

Bronze update. Re-did all my solder joint. I decided to check my patching and my lunch boxes. I do have an issue with some cabling, but the bronze is still cutting out . I'll check the op-amp again.
Might send it to you for a look.
Lola's and Copper sounding great though!

T

 

[Indecline]

Bronze update. Re-did all my solder joint. I decided to check my patching and my lunch boxes. I do have an issue with some cabling, but the bronze is still cutting out . I'll check the op-amp again.
Might send it to you for a look.
Lola's and Copper sounding great though!

T

Looking at the pic, Q600 looks like might be in backwards. Check the PCB overview here: http://www.hairballaudio.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Elements_PCB.jpg

 

[Echo North]

Bronze update. Re-did all my solder joint. I decided to check my patching and my lunch boxes. I do have an issue with some cabling, but the bronze is still cutting out . I'll check the op-amp again.
Might send it to you for a look.
Lola's and Copper sounding great though!

T

Looking at the pic, Q600 looks like might be in backwards. Check the PCB overview here: http://www.hairballaudio.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Elements_PCB.jpg

Ya Q600 looks backwards (might just be the angle).

If it's not, send me an email (info at hairballaudio dot com) and I'll give you the address to ship it in.  We'll fix it up!

 

[Greenote]

Thanks Mike~ that was the ticket. Not sure how I got that wrong.
It sounds great. Seems to have more gain than the Copper.

 

[Echo North]

Indecline with the eagle eye!

Ya it has 3dBu more gain.  It also has a lot more "fixed" gain from the input TX so at any point in the gain stage it's  a lot hotter than Gold or Copper.

Mike

 

[furn1979]

Looks like a good clean build!

Maybe a defective part.

Have you double checked all our cabling/patchbay to make sure something isn't out of polarity or unbalanced?

You could always send it in if you like, we're happy to look over weird acting builds.

Mike

Thanks Mike... gain issues with the mic input have been sorted out as far as I'm concerned... I'm just not used to cranking volume controls so much. I might look into upgrading the pots to Grayhills, eventually.

The DI situation however, isn't solved. Tried different instruments and cables without success. Although "some" signal passes through, it is still highly distorted. It's even more obvious with a signal from a higher-gain source such as music playing back from my iPhone. Just nasty distorted.

I'll hold on to shipping it back until I get the other one finished and tested... plus, I really enjoy troubleshooting stuff

We'll move on from there.
P

Ya we actually made the Grayhill the default gain option this morning.

Sounds like a funky part.  We'll gladly look at it for you.

Keep me posted!

The mystery thickens...

Just finished the second unit and it does the exact same thing on the DI input. ???
... tried on different sources, guitars, basses, synths, ipod.

Here's how it sounds (this is also very weak, I gave it 36 dB of gain in Pro Tools): http://www5.zippyshare.com/v/4870545/file.html

Any idea on what might be wrong?

Thanks
Phil

 

[Echo North]

Do you want to send one in?  I may need to just test it.

DI is definitely ok on our Gold here.

 

[furn1979]

Do you want to send one in?  I may need to just test it.

DI is definitely ok on our Gold here.

I fear I might have to... I'll send you an email.

 

[Indecline]

Any chance I can order the Grayhill gain rotary add on by itself? I got my Silver working this morning, it's basically a Bronze with an SL Red Dot. Sounds great!!

Can't wait to experiment with future Silver builds 

 

[Echo North]

Any chance I can order the Grayhill gain rotary add on by itself? I got my Silver working this morning, it's basically a Bronze with an SL Red Dot. Sounds great!!

Can't wait to experiment with future Silver builds 

Ya I'll get that up this week.  Shoot me an email if you want to buy one in the mean time.

 

[Indecline]

Any chance I can order the Grayhill gain rotary add on by itself? I got my Silver working this morning, it's basically a Bronze with an SL Red Dot. Sounds great!!

Can't wait to experiment with future Silver builds 

Ya I'll get that up this week.  Shoot me an email if you want to buy one in the mean time.

Mailed! Thanks!!

 

[Echo North]

Do you want to send one in?  I may need to just test it.

DI is definitely ok on our Gold here.

I fear I might have to... I'll send you an email.

Update for those following along.  We messed up on the Golds and sent the wrong IC.  We sent the dual instead of the single version which has the wrong pinout.  If you ordered a gold, you'll be getting an email w/ a new IC coming your way soon.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[mrbobbailey]

Mike,

Have there been any new discoveries on this.  I've verified all of your suggestions above except for testing the V rails.  The fuses are are soldered such that I'm going to have a hard time clipping to a bare lead.  Before I go in and de-solder these, is there anything else that was missed?

B

 

[Echo North]

Mike,

Have there been any new discoveries on this.  I've verified all of your suggestions above except for testing the V rails.  The fuses are are soldered such that I'm going to have a hard time clipping to a bare lead.  Before I go in and de-solder these, is there anything else that was missed?

B

I think I have all the issues in this thread sorted.  One of the copper builders sent a unit into me and it was an error with resistor values. 

What are your symptoms?

Do you have an image of the stuffed PCB?

You could clip to the ground and +V on the opamp sockets, and the ground  and -V to test the rails there.

Mike

 

[Indecline]

I've been looking at the metal L-brackets and have been thinking.. Hmmm, could a Carnhill be mounted here?  ;D

It would require some cutting of the PCB to make room. Not sure if there are traces under there as mine is assembled and in the lunchbox. Maybe I'll pop it out today and look 

 

[mrbobbailey]

Mike,

Have there been any new discoveries on this.  I've verified all of your suggestions above except for testing the V rails.  The fuses are are soldered such that I'm going to have a hard time clipping to a bare lead.  Before I go in and de-solder these, is there anything else that was missed?

B

I think I have all the issues in this thread sorted.  One of the copper builders sent a unit into me and it was an error with resistor values. 

What are your symptoms?

Do you have an image of the stuffed PCB?

You could clip to the ground and +V on the opamp sockets, and the ground  and -V to test the rails there.

Mike

Much like Indecline, no sound or DI signal.  My lunchbox and signal path are fine; tested with a Lola.  I'll send along a couple of photos.

 

[mrbobbailey]

Imgage 2

 

[mrbobbailey]

image 3