Hi All,
After building a small foundation to stand on regarding electronics and my desire to learn and do more growing, I'd like to begin trying my hand at racking some preamps. While the PM1000 project has been on my radar for a long time, long before I even started my dive into the tech world, I'm sure I'll do it at some point but as of late I've been more interested finding some other module with less extensive documentation (so long as I have a schematic). My thought here is that it could be a better learning experience - instead of following step by step guides, it would force me to research and figure some stuff out on my own, study, and better understand the circuit. While that means more room for mistakes, with that comes more room to grow and learn and apply what I pick up to further endeavors. Maybe the end result won't be as versatile in the studio as the PM1000, but the PM1000 will always be there for a rainy day, and I'm sure I'll be able to build it.
With this being said, here are some potential options I'm considering right now. Weighing my options, inevitably I'll just need to pull the trigger on something to establish the project and set a goal for myself that I can work towards, but would like to hear the thoughts of others.
Gates M-6034 Broadcast Pre -
https://www.ebay.com/itm/264864653062?hash=item3dab29df06:g:ZCEAAOSwqJJfXs9pAn affordable but unknown preamp with darkhorse potential? I can't find much about these beyond their tech specs and schematic in old product guides. Maybe the lack of talk about them indicates they aren't that great, unless someone on here knows anything about them to counter my assumption? A search showed that someone was selling a few of these at one point here but no further info. I know that while Gates tube stuff is coveted the solid state stuff doesn't seem to carry that rep and broadcast gear seems to be regarded as hit or miss regarding musical application. With the lack of information on how these sound and being germanium, maybe they're cool but if there a bigger chance they are a bust? If I rack them and they work then the project is a success regardless, but if the sound isn't what I'm after, is there room to experiment with swapping parts? I'll have to add an output transformer regardless, but knowing the rep germanium has, could I try experimenting with swapping out different silicon equivalents? While I know they don't operate under the same conditions so you can't 1 for 1 swap, elsewhere someone was suggesting that in the early days of transitioning to silicon, swapping them out while doubling the resistor emitter could get you in the ballpark of proper biasing conditions - does this hold somewhat true?
ADM Input Modules. Seem to have a great rep for their API sound and value for which you can get them. Don't think I'd being going wrong this way.
EAG Mic Preamp or Stereo Line Amp
That vintage eastern european appeal.... I guess the downside would be the language barrier on the manuals, but a schematic is a schematic at the end of the day so should be able to fare ok in that sense. A stereo line amp actually has some appeal here for me as well cause I could use something to throw on the 2-bus right now, and I'd have the added benefit of not needing to build phantom and saving that for next time. Saw these go up on reverb before and thought they sounded pretty nice when I listened to a demo video, so thought I could give it a go. As an added bonus, with a line amp I wouldn't have to worry about supplying phantom so the PSU could be simpler.
Beyond options and looking toward the work entailed, in a general sense, it seems the bulk of the work in a racking project stems from building the PSU to the conditions the module needs, the rest stems from switching, recapping, pad/input/output level control, etc. If the PSU is the bulk of the work, is trying to design and build my own a good or bad idea vs using a kit (JLM, FiveFish, MeanWell)? As I want this to be a learning process in which I can start to grasp what is going on under the hood and apply it elsewhere, I was thinking going through the process on my own with a simple PSU be a good experience that sets me up for success in the future? Nothing against the kits as they are well regarded, but for the sake of project I don't mind doing some homework and studying in the name of improving my theory, even if its more difficult and will take longer. Safety being a concern here, as long as I'm triple checking wiring, connections, checking my design with more experienced people, and following safety protocol, is this a bad idea? I just think it would be pretty satisfying for it to come together as a product of my own design, even if beyond this project I choose to use kits.
Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks.
After building a small foundation to stand on regarding electronics and my desire to learn and do more growing, I'd like to begin trying my hand at racking some preamps. While the PM1000 project has been on my radar for a long time, long before I even started my dive into the tech world, I'm sure I'll do it at some point but as of late I've been more interested finding some other module with less extensive documentation (so long as I have a schematic). My thought here is that it could be a better learning experience - instead of following step by step guides, it would force me to research and figure some stuff out on my own, study, and better understand the circuit. While that means more room for mistakes, with that comes more room to grow and learn and apply what I pick up to further endeavors. Maybe the end result won't be as versatile in the studio as the PM1000, but the PM1000 will always be there for a rainy day, and I'm sure I'll be able to build it.
With this being said, here are some potential options I'm considering right now. Weighing my options, inevitably I'll just need to pull the trigger on something to establish the project and set a goal for myself that I can work towards, but would like to hear the thoughts of others.
Gates M-6034 Broadcast Pre -
https://www.ebay.com/itm/264864653062?hash=item3dab29df06:g:ZCEAAOSwqJJfXs9pAn affordable but unknown preamp with darkhorse potential? I can't find much about these beyond their tech specs and schematic in old product guides. Maybe the lack of talk about them indicates they aren't that great, unless someone on here knows anything about them to counter my assumption? A search showed that someone was selling a few of these at one point here but no further info. I know that while Gates tube stuff is coveted the solid state stuff doesn't seem to carry that rep and broadcast gear seems to be regarded as hit or miss regarding musical application. With the lack of information on how these sound and being germanium, maybe they're cool but if there a bigger chance they are a bust? If I rack them and they work then the project is a success regardless, but if the sound isn't what I'm after, is there room to experiment with swapping parts? I'll have to add an output transformer regardless, but knowing the rep germanium has, could I try experimenting with swapping out different silicon equivalents? While I know they don't operate under the same conditions so you can't 1 for 1 swap, elsewhere someone was suggesting that in the early days of transitioning to silicon, swapping them out while doubling the resistor emitter could get you in the ballpark of proper biasing conditions - does this hold somewhat true?
ADM Input Modules. Seem to have a great rep for their API sound and value for which you can get them. Don't think I'd being going wrong this way.
EAG Mic Preamp or Stereo Line Amp
That vintage eastern european appeal.... I guess the downside would be the language barrier on the manuals, but a schematic is a schematic at the end of the day so should be able to fare ok in that sense. A stereo line amp actually has some appeal here for me as well cause I could use something to throw on the 2-bus right now, and I'd have the added benefit of not needing to build phantom and saving that for next time. Saw these go up on reverb before and thought they sounded pretty nice when I listened to a demo video, so thought I could give it a go. As an added bonus, with a line amp I wouldn't have to worry about supplying phantom so the PSU could be simpler.
Beyond options and looking toward the work entailed, in a general sense, it seems the bulk of the work in a racking project stems from building the PSU to the conditions the module needs, the rest stems from switching, recapping, pad/input/output level control, etc. If the PSU is the bulk of the work, is trying to design and build my own a good or bad idea vs using a kit (JLM, FiveFish, MeanWell)? As I want this to be a learning process in which I can start to grasp what is going on under the hood and apply it elsewhere, I was thinking going through the process on my own with a simple PSU be a good experience that sets me up for success in the future? Nothing against the kits as they are well regarded, but for the sake of project I don't mind doing some homework and studying in the name of improving my theory, even if its more difficult and will take longer. Safety being a concern here, as long as I'm triple checking wiring, connections, checking my design with more experienced people, and following safety protocol, is this a bad idea? I just think it would be pretty satisfying for it to come together as a product of my own design, even if beyond this project I choose to use kits.
Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks.