JLM Baby Animal

[mattmoogus]

If you find out the max clip level of your Firebox, you can make a pad to go between the mic pre and your interface. That way youll get the best noise performance.


M@

 

[unheardof]

Ok, I finished my Baby Animal last night! Plugged it in and it seems to be working just fine. I wasn't able to evaluate the sound much, but it did sound good. One thing I noticed was that 60dB of gain wasn't as much as I thought it would be. With a normal speaking voice into an AKG C1000 I had to turn the gain up to about the 3 o'clock position to get good level into ProTools. I would say that in 95% of recording situations the gain would be fine, but this wouldn't be my first choice for classical music or recording anything really quiet.

Anyway, on to the photos!

The case I ended up using is an old one from Radio Shack, which I think they quit carrying. I bought it for $5 when they were trying to get them out of inventory.

You might think the panel layout is a little odd, but actually there is a reason for it...

I purposefully left enough room in there for another channel if I ever get around to ordering another one. In order to balance the weight of the unit a little bit, I put the gain pot and input/output jacks on the other side. If I put another channel in, they will go on the same side. I left a space to the right of the gain knob to put a variable impedance knob, which I'll try out as soon as I can get a 100k pot. The two red LEDs in the back were an attempt to illuminate the JLM opamp so it could be seen glowing red through the vent slits in the side of the case (a la "pimp my pre...":grin, but it turns out they did not provide much light at all. I could lower the resistor value going to them, but I'm not sure how much current those LEDs are supposed to get. I'll probably just remove them.

The only other problem with this case is that the metal is surprisingly bendable, which is a problem when you are plugging and unplugging in the back. I'll probably end up using JB Weld to fix some L brackets to the top of the case just behind the front and back panel.

I know my wiring job is not the best, but it works! I also apparently wired the transformer backwards, but I figured it wouldn't matter if you swapped + and - as long as you did it on both the primary and secondary, right? Any comments appreciated.

And Joe, I wasn't trying to criticize about the power supply. I was just making an observation. And yes, some of the haze did come off with a damp cloth, thanks!

 

[Purusha]

I am a little lost in the area of preamps with so many in/out transformers... can some of you give me some word of advice? I might get one or two baby preamps for my studio but I don't know what would I actually get. What kind of pre is it? High, middle, low end? Compared to what and so on?

I have CiB from Amek as my main pre, I mean it's a nice preamp but I want the real hi-end stuff for vocals and guitars and I would prefer the more affordable DIY version rather than the 10 times over priced finished products on the market.

 

[mattmoogus]

You know I work for the company so you cant believe anything I say (cause were driving Ferraris on Baby Animal kit sales) but...

Honestly you can not go wrong with the different transformer and opamp combos for the BA. Put any that can fit in there and you will have an absolutely fantastic pre, that would have a place in any studio in the world. I really mean that.

My personal all round favourite (I know I keep saying this but here goes again) is the JLM 1:4 + 99V + JLM 1:1:1. Yes theyre all JLM parts but I honestly think thats a better all round combo than you get with OEP or Lundahl transformers. The Jensen and Cinemags I havnt really heard so I cant speak of them.

In the Baby Animal thread in the Black Market I made a list of what configs I would have if I was to build an 8ch BA pre, so maybe look there for some ideas.


M@

 

[mr.jones]

I received my second Baby Animal kit today (with the Hybrid opamp), and should have it built by tomorrow. I'll post some thoughts after I play with it.

One quick question: the BOM/schematic for the Hybrid shows two 100uF electrolytics, but the kit came with two 47uF. Is this correct, or do I need to swap them out for 100uF?

Cheers,
Chris

 

[rodabod]

[quote author="mr.jones"]I received my second Baby Animal kit today (with the Hybrid opamp), and should have it built by tomorrow. I'll post some thoughts after I play with it.
[/quote]

Do you have another one with a different opamp?

An A/B would be very cool.

 

[Purusha]

mattmoogus,

please check your PMs. Thanks. :thumb:

 

[fucanay]

Is my understanding correct that the Baby Animal needs to use the PSU supplied from JLM? Or is it possible to use an internal PSU. I want to add this to a project that will need a couple of different voltages inside and want to see if this is a suitable fit for my project.

This is the project in question. http://www.groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=15922

Thanks Matt

 

[mr.jones]

[quote author="rodabod"]Do you have another one with a different opamp?

An A/B would be very cool.[/quote]

Yep, I've built and racked one channel with a JLM14 input transformer and OPA2604 opamp. The second channel will have the JLM Hybrid opamp. See the top of page 6 for photos and commentary.

Cheers,
Chris

 

[mr.jones]

[quote author="fucanay"]Is my understanding correct that the Baby Animal needs to use the PSU supplied from JLM? Or is it possible to use an internal PSU. I want to add this to a project that will need a couple of different voltages inside and want to see if this is a suitable fit for my project.[/quote]

You don't have to use the 48V power supply on the Baby Animal page. I believe they offer it to fit with the newbie-to-DIY qualities this preamp has i.e. supply a power supply so the beginner doesn't have to build it.

The Baby Animal in standard configurations runs off of 1 48V power rail (providing +/-24V.) I don't know what voltage rails the other 2 components of your project require, but if it was me, I'd buy the JLM Power Station 5 rail power supply. It has 5 separate voltage rails, so you'll have 2 +/- pairs for your other two components, and one 48V rail for the Baby Animal. This would be especially convenient since you're already looking to order a Baby Animal kit anyway. Just add the power transformer.

 

[fucanay]

[quote author="mr.jones"]
The Baby Animal in standard configurations runs off of 1 48V power rail (providing +/-24V.) I don't know what voltage rails the other 2 components of your project require, but if it was me, I'd buy the JLM Power Station 5 rail power supply. It has 5 separate voltage rails, so you'll have 2 +/- pairs for your other two components, and one 48V rail for the Baby Animal. This would be especially convenient since you're already looking to order a Baby Animal kit anyway. Just add the power transformer.[/quote]

That's what I was hoping and had planned on, but then going to the JLM site, it doesn't say anything about using their internal PSU boards. I didn't know if it was a noise issue or whatever, so I thought I'd just ask.

As for the project I plan to include this in, it should require a 9 volt supply to power six guitar effect module and whatever it takes to power the BA + DI. The reamp is passive, so I won't need any power for that. Wouldn't the regular JLM AC/DC PSU work just as well?

Matt

 

[mr.jones]

[quote author="fucanay"]As for the project I plan to include this in, it should require a 9 volt supply to power six guitar effect module and whatever it takes to power the BA + DI. The reamp is passive, so I won't need any power for that. Wouldn't the regular JLM AC/DC PSU work just as well?[/quote]

Ah, yes, that one will work perfectly for you. I assumed each section required power which is why I recommended the 5 rail model before.

Cheers,
Chris

 

[JLM Audio]

I would say that in 95% of recording situations the gain would be fine, but this wouldn't be my first choice for classical music or recording anything really quiet.

Yes if you are doing quiet recording with passive ribbons you will need our Dual 99v or Micro1290 with there 80dB of gain. You can get 6dB more gain and a fully floating balanced output from the Baby Animal with a 1:2 output transformer like our JLM111DC.

The two red LEDs in the back were an attempt to illuminate the JLM opamp so it could be seen glowing red through the vent slits in the side of the case (a la "pimp my pre..."),

:grin: :grin: gotta like that.

One quick question: the BOM/schematic for the Hybrid shows two 100uF electrolytics, but the kit came with two 47uF. Is this correct, or do I need to swap them out for 100uF?

No any value from 10 to 47uF will be fine as they are just extra power rail smoothing caps. The 100uF caps when they turned up were bigger than the measurement they gave use so we just went down to the next value so they fit better.

Is my understanding correct that the Baby Animal needs to use the PSU supplied from JLM? Or is it possible to use an internal PSU

The baby animal will run on any smooth 48v to 62v rail that can supply enough current. You could use our AC/DC or PowerStation kits if you need more rails for other things but the 48v rail on them would only be enough for 1 or 2 baby animals. This is due to the pump charge and 47R 2w current limit resistor in the 48v rail. I will put up some very simple linear power supply ways to make the 48v to 62v for those with a distaste for Switch mode power supplies soon.

 

[fucanay]

[quote author="JLM Audio"]

Is my understanding correct that the Baby Animal needs to use the PSU supplied from JLM? Or is it possible to use an internal PSU

The baby animal will run on any smooth 48v to 62v rail that can supply enough current. You could use our AC/DC or Powerstation kits if you need more rails for other things but the 48v rail on them would only be enough for 1 or 2 baby animals. This is due to the pump charge and 47R 2w current limit resistor in the 48v rail. I will put up some very simple linear power supply ways to make the 48v to 62v for those with a distaste for Switch mode power supplies soon.[/quote]

I'd only be using one Baby Animal with phantom and also powering your DI. I guess that would all come off of the +48. Then I'd use the other for powering my guitar effects circuits, 6 of them to be exact.

Sound good?

Matt

 

[JLM Audio]

I'd only be using one Baby Animal with phantom and also powering your DI. I guess that would all come off of the +48.

That would be fine.

Then I'd use the other for powering my guitar effects circuits, 6 of them to be exact.

Only thing to be careful when powering several pedals from one supply it that they are all the same polarity. If they are say 9v boss pedals for example and use and a original fuzz face which is -9v and you run them both from the same 9v rail you will make a dead short. The fuzz face needs to run on a -9v rail so the ground can be shared. Also some pedals that run 15v to 24vdc actually split the rail into +/- rails with there ground sitting at half volts. So using one 0v ground power supply it will short out the - half of the pedals supply. This is only because normally all pedals are running on floating plug packs so the only 0v ground connection between them is the shield on the patch leads.

I have made some very complex multi power supplies that an Aussie band called Wolfmother are using to power all their guitar and bass/keyboard effects boards and it took some serious testing and thought to get it all right especially with the combination of old, new and custom pedals they were using.

 

[fucanay]

[quote author="JLM Audio"]

I'd only be using one Baby Animal with phantom and also powering your DI. I guess that would all come off of the +48.

That would be fine.

Then I'd use the other for powering my guitar effects circuits, 6 of them to be exact.

Only thing to be careful when powering several pedals from one supply it that they are all the same polarity. If they are say 9v boss pedals for example and use and a original fuzz face which is -9v and you run them both from the same 9v rail you will make a dead short. The fuzz face needs to run on a -9v rail so the ground can be shared. Also some pedals that run 15v to 24vdc actually split the rail into +/- rails with there ground sitting at half volts. So using one 0v ground power supply it will short out the - half of the pedals supply. This is only because normally all pedals are running on floating plug packs so the only 0v ground connection between them is the shield on the patch leads.

I have made some very complex multi power supplies that a Aussie Band called Wolfmother are using to power all there guitar and bass/keyboard effects boards and it took some serious testing and thought to get it all right especially with the combination of old, new and custom pedals they were using.[/quote]

Very good info. I will be sure to check out all of the schems to be sure I'm using the right stuff. I didn't know it was that complex since most of the pedals I've used previously have been Boss.

And we in the USA are getting a good taste of Wolfmother right now. They are an incredible band and I just...can't... stop....listening to the new album (6 months old in Aussieland) !!!!!

This project gets more and more complex all the time, as most do I'm sure. I'm allotting a good 6 months or so to actually get it finished, so I'll be working out the bugs as I go.

Thanks again for the great info.

Matt

 

[7s0und3studios]

im building the baby animal with the 99v and jlm 14, and have a few remaining parts, maybe somebody could help!

have a spot for a zener(30-47v) and a similar one that just says 47. Im assuming you put the pair of transparent resistor looking things there(i know...can you say newbie!?) but i also have two of those things that are separate and slightly different.

also i have two slots for a BD681, and only one BD681G part. Saw something on the thread about wire jumping these for 48v, but ive got the big power supply. Thanks for takin the time you all!

If anybody needs any music related advice, ask, ill respond. At least i know about THAT topic...

 

[mr.jones]

OK, I just finished building my second Baby Animal, this time with the Hybrid opamp instead of the OPA2604. I plugged my guitar into the DI, thinking I'd test it out for a few minutes to see if it worked. When I checked the time, an hour had passed. This thing is a joy to play through--I've never heard myself sound so good!!

I can't A/B it directly at the moment (because I unhooked my first channel to test this one) but when I get them both wired into the rack, I'll do a more comprehensive test. It definetely sounds different...the JLM hybrid page says it has a super tight low-end, and it definetely does--the 2604 sounds a bit muddy in comparison. I have to play with it some more, but I think I may order another hybrid kit and replace the 2604 in my first channel with it. It's also worth noting that so far I'm not having the oscillation problem I'm having with my 2604 pre. I'm going to check all my joints and resolder some parts and see if it corrects the problem.

I think my favorite thing about the hybrid is that Joe seemingly laid out the parts on the PCB so it looks like a one-eyed robot pirate grimacing at you. You may notice there's no smiley on the PCB unlike most of Joe's products, but it's OK. Why silkscreen a smiley face when the components can form a robot pirate instead? I don't know either.

Yaaarr!!

The larger point I want to make is that with either a 2604 or the hybrid, the Baby Animal sounds fantastic. You cannot go wrong buying this kit. If you're on the fence, hop on over, because over here on Joe's side, it sounds great. Thanks to Joe for making such an awesome kit.

Cheers,
Chris

EDIT: OK, I take it back, I'm still having a slight oscillation. I think there's something messed up with my Firebox, as most of the hiss comes from it, not the Baby Animal i.e. if I unplug the input but leave it record-enabled with a Guitar Rig 2 patch, there's almost exactly the same amount of hiss. Not cool. It may be replaced soon.....

 

[7s0und3studios]

hey chris where in VA are you located? I live up north by george mason University. If you are close, ill trade a test on my fireface if i can check out your baby animal, minor component confusion...

 

[mr.jones]

[quote author="7s0und3studios"]hey chris where in VA are you located? I live up north by george mason University. If you are close, ill trade a test on my fireface if i can check out your baby animal, minor component confusion...[/quote]

I live in Blacksburg, so I'm not too close. I might be up there sometime soon, but you'll probably have your questions answered by then. If you still want to check it out we can probably work something.

What voltage is your power supply providing? Do you have a meter you can measure it with? If it's 48V then you don't have to fit any of the regulator components (transistors/zener diodes), although you do have to fit a jumper from E to C on both transistor sockets. If you're running higher than 48, then you'll have to fit the components. My 2 Baby Animals run off 48V, so I can't really help you if your're running the higher voltage. Best wait for Joe to answer.

Also, don't forget to fit a jumper from pin 4 to 7 on the IC socket. You can either solder it directly onto the board or fit the socket and fit the jumper into that. Either way works.

Cheers,
Chris