German Tube Consolette (Girls Build)

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I can't fully lay out the history of this German Audio technology, but in my understanding there is a clear line from probably the 1930s to the V7xx technology in the 1960s. In my understanding it originated from a government funded development hub (under different names over the decades) which developed or laid out devices which were then build by external companies. The Nazis were supposedly the first to use PA technology for Hitlers speeches. Taking the also newly developed light installations which they also used for that into account, they basically laid the foundation for any modern rock concert. They also had a great interest in radio technology to make themselves heard in every German flat - for that they needed radios, recorders and mics/preamps. Great effort went into this to achieve the 'Volksempfänger' - 'peoples radio' - the first widely affordable radio - and the broadcast technology feeding the program. Afaik the V41 design goes back to the late 30s/early 40s? This design was the predecessor of the V76 and the V72. The V76 schematic diagram is still signed IRT - Institute for Radio Technology - not by any company name. This institute developed a lot of these devices and laid out the guidelines and rules for the technology used in German radio and TV stations. Until the 80s (as far as I remember) there were no private radio or TV stations in Germany, so the IRT was the central hub for development, testing, approval and documentation for all the technology involved. There was a collection of descriptions with schematics for pretty much all the mics and amplifiers in use, called 'Braunbuch' - brown book. I copied all the material I could get hold of in the 90s and gave a bunch of the most relevant schematics to Kubi a long time ago, which helped kick off his collection back then.

I believe that the radio stations were the biggest clients for the V4x / V7x technology and the 'studio consoles' - like at abbey road - were a side business, making use of the already developed high end technology. I am not aware of any military use of that technology. It also does not seem very usable for the military in terms of ruggedness and power consumption.

From todays perspective it is difficult to comprehend for me, why they still labeled their amplifiers Vx - after the use of V1 and V2. Also labeling the documentation 'brown book' - while brown is the color associated with the Nazis - feels weird to me. But I guess that is a distant reflection some 70 years later...

Michael Tibes,​

Do you have these files material from the 'Braunbuch' - brown book for share still?

opacheco.
 
Hello friends,

Special mention from my family (Wilma) to @vintagelove for helping to get us motivated on a V72 build. This may seem confusing to anyone not in the know about Miahak, Telefunken, TAB and Siemans. They seem to have all been manufacturing similar console designs based around the V72 mic preamp.

We were first schooled about the V72 from David @Winston OBoogie and have been looking for a way to really learn as much as possible about this design. This lead us back to Miahak and his legacy (which we can discuss as I learn more about the man).

This has been further possible with lots of support from The Middleman who has almost single handedly outfitted our entire educational programs labs. Dare to dream. My dream console was a Miahak Tube Console (prior to learning of Mr. Thompson-Bell' designs). We thought we found a V45 for $2000! But was a bunk site. Here.



View attachment 90043
Maihak V45
The V72 History - Tab-Funkenwerk
This is everything I've learned about Miahak V45 online

Below is a list of parts we are starting with.

1 x Telefunken V72 Racked ( @vintagelove )
16 x Eckmiller W68 Tube Faders
3 x TAB U70A Light Beams
3 x TAB U70A Meter Amps

What is a Tube Fader or Tube Buffered Fader?
This is the second time we have come across this term and have no idea what it means.
View attachment 90045

Eckmiller W68 Faders

Carbon track fader for broadcast mixing consoles. Balanced construction.
  • Input 600 ohms
  • output 200 ohms
Same as Maihak W66c, but with recessed control knob.


View attachment 90049
TAB U70A Light Beams



View attachment 90048
TAB U70A Meter Amps

We may be looking for someone fluent in German to help us translate some of the documentation we are collecting. More on that soon.

For now, we are going to work on a custom designed enclosure. This will be a HEAVY look into these designs and how they are layed out.

We wanted to further comment on @vintagelove and his genorosity helping to get this project rolling. He practically gave us the V72 all before our post about a V72 console. Expect more details tomorrow now that this is online.

Lastly this about fills our quota for Historical Locations with Maihak opening up a whole new world of designs and designers from the surrounding areas of origin.

Definately more on this soon!

Wall and Family

Dear matriachamplification,

Did you finished this interesting project ? let us to know the work you did for please.

opacheco.
 
es material from the 'Braunbuch' - brown book for share still?

Michael Tibes,​

Do you have these files material from the 'Braunbuch' - brown book for share still?

opacheco.
If I remember things correctly then I did share the relevant modules as pdfs with Kubi a very long time ago, they should still be on his site I guess? I have copied a lot more pages of the Braunbuch, but the remaining stuff is mostly about microphones or 'uninteresting' stuff. Back then I when I did the copies I didn't have time to digest things first, I had to give back the originals, spent hours at the copy machine and copied everything possibly interesting. You can identify the copies of the Braunbuch by the 'IRT'-logo. So all the interesting stuff should be 'out there', most likely you have the copies as pdfs, but just don't know that they originate from the Braunbuch ;-)
 
If I remember things correctly then I did share the relevant modules as pdfs with Kubi a very long time ago, they should still be on his site I guess? I have copied a lot more pages of the Braunbuch, but the remaining stuff is mostly about microphones or 'uninteresting' stuff. Back then I when I did the copies I didn't have time to digest things first, I had to give back the originals, spent hours at the copy machine and copied everything possibly interesting. You can identify the copies of the Braunbuch by the 'IRT'-logo. So all the interesting stuff should be 'out there', most likely you have the copies as pdfs, but just don't know that they originate from the Braunbuch ;-)
We did identify a library (in Tech Docs with a full index) in Germany that holds a complete paper copy that might allow limited copying in the future. 👍
 
We did identify a library (in Tech Docs with a full index) in Germany that holds a complete paper copy that might allow limited copying in the future. 👍
That's sound good! May be we can get them soon aviable in any server in the near future!🤞

opacheco.
 
If I remember things correctly then I did share the relevant modules as pdfs with Kubi a very long time ago, they should still be on his site I guess? I have copied a lot more pages of the Braunbuch, but the remaining stuff is mostly about microphones or 'uninteresting' stuff. Back then I when I did the copies I didn't have time to digest things first, I had to give back the originals, spent hours at the copy machine and copied everything possibly interesting. You can identify the copies of the Braunbuch by the 'IRT'-logo. So all the interesting stuff should be 'out there', most likely you have the copies as pdfs, but just don't know that they originate from the Braunbuch ;-)
The Kubi website is death now!. Do you know what happened with? also the IRT website is death from a couple of years ago too!

opacheco
 

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