pmroz
Well-known member
Hello, I've been here reading all day, the info is infinite...
Never tried a DIY project but have done soldering (cables and output jacks mostly) and trying to learn electronics theory from a couple Radio Shack books. In the meantime, thought I'd try to put something together from scratch. After reading here, it seems like the Paia kits are a good place for me to start... along with the Craig Anderton book. I was wondering what people thought of the Sound of the finished Paia dual mic-pre w/ phantom kit? How might compare in the world of brand-spanking-new products, and how it would compare to the green pre and/ or other projects? The Paia kits seem to be my skill level (feeble) but I don't want to build something that wouldn't be better than the pres on my soundcard (aardvark q10). If they're just okay-sounding, I'll build the theremin kit into an old 35mm film box laying around... also I know there are many 'flavors' of pre, would this be the neutral or colored flavor?
3nd question (4th?)... speaking of laying around, I also have a metal box which I'm guessing is an oldish (70's?) analog/video switcher/monitor... 4 channels w/ both m&f XLR, some coax i/os labeled pgm,1,2,3, all hooked up to a 10 position rotary switch. Also vol pot, vu meter, and int/ext switch to choose 1/4 headphone or built-in Altec 405a 8ohm speaker. I tried to fire it up, but the power plug needs resplicing... do that manana. The parts look in good shape (but not electronically tested) and i was wondering the viability of making a mic pre of the parts.
The parts (as far as I can tell, note question marks) are:
Power transformer: Triad Utrad f-93x Huntington, Ind. brown paper on coil, white ink on top says 17-7619... connects to a black hexagonal relay? with either an m or w in the middle... 4 posts, +/- are grounded to chassis via 2 metal cylinders marked 500mf, 25v, tt25x500a. These are about 1 1/2in longx3/8in. diameter.
Input Transformer: Opamp Labs Model 423, the power goes to 2 ceramic resistors, yellow/purple/tan/silver, don't have the Radio shack book here for ref. Also 2 more of the above metal cylinders connected to different pins of the octal socket, along with a two smaller resistors and a smaller can-type cylinder that reads 8022a + .
Output Transformer?: UTC A-18 15k/80k max level +15dbm. Found some info on this somewhere on the web
Output Power Transformer?: Triad-Ultrad S-79z 20w, 16ohm pin connected to speaker/headphone switch, com pin to UTC. Also paper-wrapped, print on paper.
Rotary switch: Janco 2amp 115v has numbers 1-12 on the back, but i could only get 10 positions. 48 connections.
Volume pot: A/B Type J, 100k ohm (jain200p104aa)
Also 10 fXLR, 5 mXLR, 5 coax, most are wired to the switch, 1 mallory tcn-5010 with ff printed on it, paper cylinder, another metal cylinder 2"x3/4" with no markings between speaker/headphone switch and headphone.
It seems to my small brain that this box contains almost all the pieces hooked up for a single mic or line pre, and I could lose the rotary switch, speaker, and zillion connections, and maybe add phantom somehow? And would it be any good, usable for a DAW front? Does anyone know of a DIY mic pre build that utilizes any/all of these components? Maybe I could save some shopping. Also, I read some reference to the usefulness of the rotary switch for volume vs. pots... would the switch (with resistors) work better for pre volume than the pot listed above?
Long post, sorry. Any help/info welcome. Sorry if all these parts=crap, you can just reply with 'it's all crap'... if not I'll get a meter and test them. Don't even know what the metal cylinders are... are they caps? i read somewhere UTC's are spendy, the opamp 423 is $50 on their site... that's only why I asked, doesn't mean they're useful for a mic pre... if helpful I can unmount the components again and give exact pinouts, or try a diagram, but i've no idea how to draw a switch like that... thanks in advance...
Never tried a DIY project but have done soldering (cables and output jacks mostly) and trying to learn electronics theory from a couple Radio Shack books. In the meantime, thought I'd try to put something together from scratch. After reading here, it seems like the Paia kits are a good place for me to start... along with the Craig Anderton book. I was wondering what people thought of the Sound of the finished Paia dual mic-pre w/ phantom kit? How might compare in the world of brand-spanking-new products, and how it would compare to the green pre and/ or other projects? The Paia kits seem to be my skill level (feeble) but I don't want to build something that wouldn't be better than the pres on my soundcard (aardvark q10). If they're just okay-sounding, I'll build the theremin kit into an old 35mm film box laying around... also I know there are many 'flavors' of pre, would this be the neutral or colored flavor?
3nd question (4th?)... speaking of laying around, I also have a metal box which I'm guessing is an oldish (70's?) analog/video switcher/monitor... 4 channels w/ both m&f XLR, some coax i/os labeled pgm,1,2,3, all hooked up to a 10 position rotary switch. Also vol pot, vu meter, and int/ext switch to choose 1/4 headphone or built-in Altec 405a 8ohm speaker. I tried to fire it up, but the power plug needs resplicing... do that manana. The parts look in good shape (but not electronically tested) and i was wondering the viability of making a mic pre of the parts.
The parts (as far as I can tell, note question marks) are:
Power transformer: Triad Utrad f-93x Huntington, Ind. brown paper on coil, white ink on top says 17-7619... connects to a black hexagonal relay? with either an m or w in the middle... 4 posts, +/- are grounded to chassis via 2 metal cylinders marked 500mf, 25v, tt25x500a. These are about 1 1/2in longx3/8in. diameter.
Input Transformer: Opamp Labs Model 423, the power goes to 2 ceramic resistors, yellow/purple/tan/silver, don't have the Radio shack book here for ref. Also 2 more of the above metal cylinders connected to different pins of the octal socket, along with a two smaller resistors and a smaller can-type cylinder that reads 8022a + .
Output Transformer?: UTC A-18 15k/80k max level +15dbm. Found some info on this somewhere on the web
Output Power Transformer?: Triad-Ultrad S-79z 20w, 16ohm pin connected to speaker/headphone switch, com pin to UTC. Also paper-wrapped, print on paper.
Rotary switch: Janco 2amp 115v has numbers 1-12 on the back, but i could only get 10 positions. 48 connections.
Volume pot: A/B Type J, 100k ohm (jain200p104aa)
Also 10 fXLR, 5 mXLR, 5 coax, most are wired to the switch, 1 mallory tcn-5010 with ff printed on it, paper cylinder, another metal cylinder 2"x3/4" with no markings between speaker/headphone switch and headphone.
It seems to my small brain that this box contains almost all the pieces hooked up for a single mic or line pre, and I could lose the rotary switch, speaker, and zillion connections, and maybe add phantom somehow? And would it be any good, usable for a DAW front? Does anyone know of a DIY mic pre build that utilizes any/all of these components? Maybe I could save some shopping. Also, I read some reference to the usefulness of the rotary switch for volume vs. pots... would the switch (with resistors) work better for pre volume than the pot listed above?
Long post, sorry. Any help/info welcome. Sorry if all these parts=crap, you can just reply with 'it's all crap'... if not I'll get a meter and test them. Don't even know what the metal cylinders are... are they caps? i read somewhere UTC's are spendy, the opamp 423 is $50 on their site... that's only why I asked, doesn't mean they're useful for a mic pre... if helpful I can unmount the components again and give exact pinouts, or try a diagram, but i've no idea how to draw a switch like that... thanks in advance...
