JLM Baby Animal

[Lowfreq]

Hey everyone.

I finished my Baby A's quite a while ago, and have been loving them on drums, but I finally got hold of a camera to take some pics.

Here we go. My wiring's not as tidy as I 've seen round here, but who care's..........these things sound AMAZING!!!!!

It's an old speaker switching system that no-one was using at work. FREE CHASSI!!!! Right now lets take her top off. :wink:

Another View. I've got one channel in API style (cinemags + 2520 DOA), two with cinemag input and jlm99v (no output tranno) and one with OEP and OPA2604 IC (no output tranno)

The electro caps are nichicon HE's on three of the channels, and rubycons with a couple of cheapy Jaycar caps on the oep channel also.
In case anyone was wondering what the output transformer was.

The API type channel is my FAV on snare. So much punch and crack while still having the meaty lower phatty sound to it. And the cinemag/99v combo is just awesome on floor tom and kick drum.......................mmmmmmmmm

Lets put her clothes back on and turn her on. (never thought I'd ever hear myself say that :wink: )

mmmmmmmm

I use the D.I straight into the 2520/cinemag channel a lot in combination with my forssel opto compressor(using 99v DOA's), and that is a winning tracking sound for bass. Very Nice. :thumb: :thumb:

So BIG thanks and appreciation to Joe and Matt for these awesome products!! My studio kicks some serious arse now!! :shock: :green:

 

[Godders]

Looking good! :thumb:

My four channel BA should be a week or two off completion now (just ordered a second pair of kits from Joe and am waiting on some Lundahl xfomers which I’ve had to order from the states).

I’m using Lundahls and the hybrid in channels 1 and 2 and OEPs and 99Vs in the other 2 (one of these will also have a DI). I’m looking forward to comparing the two combos.

Cheers

Nick

 

[gevermil]

Wow Low freak
Thats beutiful !
Every drummers dream , well mine any way
I only have one BA but its great on drums
Same calibre as a hardy M1 . Little more midrange meat .
How would You describe the sonic differences between your four pres ?
I know its a typical question but Im going to get 3 more BA's and cant wait to expirement .
Nice Job
G

 

[3nity]

This question goes to Joe or Matt:
I was wondering if it's okay to change the 47pF and the 10k Resistor in parallel to 20K and 120pF.

 

[Lowfreq]

[quote author="Godders"]I’m using Lundahls and the hybrid in channels 1[/quote]
The Lundahls are great. I've also got a pair of JLM dual 99v's with 1538's in them and they're awesome. Put them on OH duties on drums and the baby a's on close micing duties, and it's a beautiful thing.
Great for acoustic guitar and vox too. Clean, but with that silky high end thing happening.

[quote author="gevermil"]How would You describe the sonic differences between your four pres ?[/quote] Ok, I'll try my best to explain what I hear. The cinemags are more hi-fi sounding then I expected. Not too far off my lundahl loaded pre's, but maybe a little more foward sounding.....with the tiniest hint of more attack. But very subtle differences.

As for the 2520 vs the 99v DOA, dry & agressive vs clean but polished........... Don't know if that makes sense.

The difference between the OEP channel and the others is more noticeable. More gritty sounding, crunchy maybe?? Which is a good thing.
Not as much low end on it as the other pre's, which I've noticed on OEP transformers in general.(although the apps have been limited).
a little bit hissier than the other channels, but ever so slightly. Not sure if its the OEP, or if a DOA instead of the IC would make a difference. Haven't had too much of a chance to play and swap things around.
But again it's a tiny, tiny, tiny hiss that once you get a source sound in front of , you can't hear at all. But the cinmeag pre's are dead silent.

I could describe the similarites better. ha ha
They all have that big professional sound to them. A transformer thing maybe, coz I'd prefer any of my JLM's over my green pre (which is also fantastic).

The frequncy range in my recordings sounds fuller, and you can really hear things like the SPACE in a room. I've been mainly recording drums latley but we'll be working our way onto guitars and stuff soon, but I'd describe it like ther's more speration with the drumkit. Each part of the kit really stands out, whilst still blending together as one instrument.

I'm not sure if I'm explaining myself well, but past drum recordings have had me mxing my arse off, to try to not have the dums sound so blurry........You can EQ in more hi or low end but it still sounded 2dimensional...................

But now!!! :green: :shock: :shock: :green:

 

[buschfsu]

quick first time build question.

when the resistors say NF for not fitted does that mean jump them with wire or leave them out of the circuit entirely.

 

[astrovic]

Leave them out...the only wire jumpers you need are the ones indicated on JLM's website (to jump the transistors from memory under certain setups).

 

[Jonkan]

almost there!!!
Nice view huh?

I was also wondering if this is an ok layout for two channels? Any ideas on improvements? Im trying to fit everything in a smaller box than a 1ru rackcase, because the guy im building it for wants it to be a bit more portable.

/J

 

[Godders]

Can someone confirm what voltages I should be getting using the 48v PSU without the DOA fitted?

I'm getting (on all 4 channels I've built):

IN+ 24v
IN- 0
OUT+ 0
Pin below OUT+ 0
Pin above +V 24v
V+ 48v

Cheers

Nick

 

[ChrioN]

Jonkan: what are those DOAs with no casings?

 

[JLM Audio]

They beyers are marked exactly the same. Thats why i am a bit worried.

Umm doesn't sound right. But definitely double check the measurements again with a multimeter as it would be hard for the winding to go up in resistance normally unless it is open circuit. Usually it will go down due to shorts.

So BIG thanks and appreciation to Joe and Matt for these awesome products!! My studio kicks some serious arse now!!

:grin:

This question goes to Joe or Matt:
I was wondering if it's okay to change the 47pF and the 10k Resistor in parallel to 20K and 120pF.

If you want to build a 312 with a 2520 then yes but you will need to change the gain cap to 250uF and Rg to 200R and a 20k rev log pot. Or leave everything as is and only change the 47pF cap to 220pF and this will give you the same gain bandwidth as the 312 and sound no different.

quick first time build question.

when the resistors say NF for not fitted does that mean jump them with wire or leave them out of the circuit entirely.

NF = Not Fitted = no strap required either.

Can someone confirm what voltages I should be getting using the 48v PSU without the DOA fitted?

I'm getting (on all 4 channels I've built):

IN+ 24v
IN- 0
OUT+ 0
Pin below OUT+ 0
Pin above +V 24v
V+ 48v

If you download the Baby Animal and BA2 and BA4 wiring overlay on the baby animal web page.
http://www.jlmaudio.com/BabyAnimalWiringOverlay.gif

It has a note on it that -in and the out of the opamp will be at 0v instead of +24v when no opamp is fitted otherwise all all other voltages stay the same.

Jonkan: what are those DOAs with no casings?

Yes what are they?

 

[Jonkan]

those are melcors!

cheers! :guinness:
/J

 

[Godders]

[quote author="JLM Audio"]If you download the Baby Animal and BA2 and BA4 wiring overlay on the baby animal web page.
http://www.jlmaudio.com/BabyAnimalWiringOverlay.gif

It has a note on it that -in and the out of the opamp will be at 0v instead of +24v when no opamp is fitted otherwise all all other voltages stay the same.[/quote]
Sorry Joe, it must annoy you to answer questions when the answer is already in the published info.

Channels 3 and 4 should be up and running tonight, I had to put an order in with Rapid for some other stuff so i just got a couple of 262A3s as well (they're as cheap as chips over here anyway). Still waiting on those Lundahls for channels 1 and 2 though.

Cheers

Nick

 

[Godders]

Good news, wired up the first channel and it works great.

Bad news, I wired up the second channel and it’s not passing audio. All voltages are fine except for the 2 rows of four detailed in the pic below; they measure 0 even with the P. power switch engaged. The other circled point (one of the 'lytics) measures a little low (42v) with Phantom on.

The Phantom LED is also a little dimmer than the other one and there is no phantom power on the input. Of course I've checked with a dynamic mic because the voltages indicate a phantom power problem but there's no signal being passed at all.

I’ve scrutinised for dodgy soldering and have checked all component values.

Any ideas?

Cheers

Nick

 

[Jonkan]

I triple checked the transformer. And i get the same result every time. Very strange..

Is there any other possible explanation other than the transformer being broken somehow?


/J

 

[JLM Audio]

Bad news, I wired up the second channel and it’s not passing audio. All voltages are fine except for the 2 rows of four detailed in the pic below; they measure 0 even with the P. power switch engaged. The other circled point (one of the 'lytics) measures a little low (42v) with Phantom on.

To get 42v at that cap you mention means that the +in and -in path are both dead short to 0v. This will be one short to 0v in that path with the low impedance of the primary winding holding the other about 30ohm off 0v. With the pre off try to measure the resistance between pin 2 & 1 and 3 & 1 of the input XLR. Both should be 3.4k to 0v pin 1. If both read low ohms remove the 2 jumpers in the DI socket and see if you get 3.4k. If you do get 3.4k replace the 2 jumpers and try the pad switch and phase switch to see if you get short to change pins and or resistance? This will narrow down where the short is.

Let me know what you fine.

 

[glide 1]

Hi Joe and Matt,

Would like to thank you for a wonderful sounding pre, we had a few minor problems with assembly (our mistakes of course)and joe responded to our emails promptly.

We compared the BA2 to Api's, Adesign P1, Seventhcircle N72, Avalon, etc and it is right up there with quality, on some sources like bass guitar and vocals, even better. I would have to say it sounds closest to the N72 with extended lows and highs.

A big thumbs up....we look forward to getting more channels in the future.

glide 1

 

[Godders]

The problem was in the wiring, all sorted now, thanks for the response Joe.

Glide1, what transformer and opamp combination did you use in your BAs?

Cheers

Nick

 

[glide 1]

[quote author="Godders"]The problem was in the wiring, all sorted now, thanks for the response Joe.

Glide1, what transformer and opamp combination did you use in your BAs?

Cheers

Nick[/quote]



Hi Nick, I used the JLM transformer and 99v opamp.

 

[usekgb]

Ok. I got my two BA kits on Jan 11th, and had them built by the following Sunday. I used the JLM input and the JBL output xfrmrs and the 99v op-amp. I also included two JLM DI's. All I can say is WOW! What a great and useful pre. The first thing I used it on was a vinyl transfer of some old choral music recorded in the mid 60's. I ran a Technics 1200 -> Radial J33 phono pre/DI -> BA -> insert returns on Tascam FW-1884 -> Wavelab. The sound was just wonderful. Very balanced with a lot of depth. I did, however, have the volume pot wired backwards (I should have looked at the wiring overlay) so it took a little tweaking to get the gain structure set up correctly. The customer was very happy with the recording and thought that I had done some audio "sweetening" on his old vinyl. All I did was chop the tracks up and burn a CD. No processing necessary.
I re-wired the volume pots the next day, and was on to my next application. This was my live sound club gig. There were three pretty rockin' bands and I used the pre on kick and lead vocals. Signal chain for kick was Audix D6 -> BA -> line in on AH Gl2200. Vocal chain was Audix OM5 -> BA -> line in on AH Gl2200. I turned the gain all the way down on the mixer so I could get the BA to provide more of the gain. The kick sounded huge! almost no EQ required. Just a little bit of boost in the top to help it to cut through a pretty loud and dense mix. what I was really impressed with was the mid and low-mid clarity. This is a tough room to mix and this pre just made it really easy to get the kick to sit well in the mix. As for vocals, it was a dream. I didn't have to do any tone shaping at all. All I had to do was cut a bit of a peak in the upper register of the three vocalists. Vocals were loud and clear and I had a very easy time getting them above the loud mix without any of the harshness that can easily happen in this room. I wish I had an eight pack of these pre's installed in this room all the time!
Finally, the DI's. I ran my Fender '62 P-Bass re-issue -> BA DI -> Mackie 1402 VLZ Pro line in -> JBL LSR4328P's. What a great sound! It didn't seem to have quite the bottom end that my Radial J48 DI has, but it was a more balanced and controlled sound than the Radial. I haven't had a chance to track with this set-up yet, but I think it will sit very well in a mix.
All in all, I am extremely happy with this pre. Money well spent. I like the sound a bit more than the True Audio Precision Solo that I had auditioned recently, and I get two channels for the price of one True Audio channel. There are no buzzes and the pre is dead quiet, even at high gain settings. Joe did a great job with this one, and I hope to be getting a few more channels soon. Next time though, I am ordering the front panel and using a deeper enclosure. I managed to fit all of this in a 5" deep rack (a gutted Ashly 3-way crossover), but it was not easy. I barely had room to mount the output transformers in there. Also, the brushed aluminum Middle Atlantic blank front panel that I used was barely thin enough for the DI mounting nuts to go on securely. I didn't do any fancy screening or anything. Just a Brother labeler with a white-on-clear cartridge. It may not look professional, but it sure sounds professional. That's all that matters to me!

Cheers,
Zach