how would one "Build A Recording strip"

[thenovice]

serious noob questions[maybe] and i apologize if I over-looked the metas

how would one learn/or go about building a recording strip?
compressor/preamp/eq in one strip?

Not designed from scratch but DIY for instance a:

compressor = SSL Clone [gyraf]
preamp = f110 [isa 110] or a neve 1272
EQ = Calrec PQ1549 or pultech???

what would i need to know,where to start?

How would one go about wiring these to work together?
and used one psu for the whole unit?

Am I reaching to far?

thnx
for any tips,advice,or crticism

 

[matta]

Hey Novice,

If you are going to build a channel strip you need to ask what the needs are and/or what sound you are going for.

My personal advice is to stick to solid state, transistor style designs, they are cheap and easy to build.

A good combo would be something like a Green Pre, What Compressor (not SSL as it is BUSS Compressor, not great for tracking individual tracks) and the Calrec EQ.

All 3 projects run on 15V so you would only need 1 PSU with a big enough trano and heatsink to run all 3 units. You could prob fit all 3 into a single 2U rack, saving money on cases, trano PSU etc.

I started doing this myself, but opted out of the What for now and build a stereo pair of Greens (it sounded to good not to have a pair!) and a Calrec into a 2U rack, pics to follow once I have mounted it all into the rack.

Personally I would not wire them all together and have independent I/O that way you could say access any piece of gear through a patchbay. One day you might build a 1176 and prefer the sound of it to the What for a certain take and just want the Pre, or Say and API through the Calrec, so having separate I/O will be most useful.

You could always have a 'mix' out and uses switches to switch each section in and out for the 'mix' out and combine the signals internally.

There is no reason why you couldn't build say a 1272, Pultec and 1176, it would be one killer strip no doubt but with all the iron and meters (plus tubes if you build the Pultec as a tube version) you are looking at a heavy price tag.

Hope that all helps, have fun picking your projects.

Cheers

Matt

 

[jrmintz]

Hi Novice,

Check out this thread

:thumb:

 

[NewYorkDave]

This was the hidden beauty of the old 600-ohm constant-impedance system: the "channel strip" was a completely open-ended concept. In other words, you could "build" new channel strips on the fly by patching. See this diagram for an example:

Part 1
Part 2
Panel layout example


The following comes from Steve Dove's famous "Consoles and Systems" chapter in The Handbook for Sound Engineers:

The utter beauty of the systemless studio was that anything could go to anywhere via anything else and be mixed and distributed at any point on the way.

Soon enough amplifiers were hardwired to attenuators and designated specifically a microphone amplifier or whatever, and a system had been created. Some of these together with a mixing gain makeup amplifier were thrown in a box. The mixer was born.

It has been downhill ever since, with ever-increasing numbers of system elements being tied together in increasingly knotted manners in order to maintain some kind of flexibility. Perversely, a system can be defined as a means of reducing the ultimate versatility of its consituent parts.

 

[thenovice]

thanks you guys
for your time,it's always apreciated

I'll look into other compressors

for now though

the mic pre is got to be either the isa 110 clone or a neve clone
although the green,I think I will build in the future.

Im nowhere near experienced with this type of stuff

and the "electronics for dummies" book is great

but I would like an easy read book like that on Pre-amplifiers and tubes.

but thats off topic

my needs for this channel strip is first and fore-most based and centered off vocal recordings.

 

[StrayCat]

I felt a tug for this topic.
This is the nicest looking tube channel strip for tracking that I have seen. Ready for market on looks alone.
http://www.digital-synthologie.de/vari-mu/index.html
Check it out for Ideas. The solid state contender I think was by steffen with a neve around an 1176 which I can't find a link for but if I remember correctly that was the item. Looked fantastic too. I'll have to poke around my old archived files for that.
I don't think I'd worry about a full blown EQ in the design (Calrec/pultec)as long as the sound was relatively tame yet colored. A low cut off maybe with high shelving at the most.

Cheers