RAM Audio: "RAM Mega" - Looking for (service-)manu

[TobWen]

Hi there,

a friend of mine bought a "RAM Mega" mixer, build by RAM Audio in the year 1986.

It's unbelieveable good for the mid-80ies:
- each channel has a 4-band equalizer - full parametric (+- 15 dB, TL072)
- mic-preamp with 5532A and place for a Haufe transformator
- 100mm P+G Faders with slide-rails made of stainless steel
- pots are 2- and 4-channel ALPS
- all the resistors are 5% metall (unbelieveable for 1986)

Does anybody have good connections or a big archive with the service-manual?

Best regards,
Tobias

 

[kvintus]

Contact RAM Audio directly. They are nice people and they probably have the schemo even if this mixer hasn't been in production for ages.

/Anders

 

[TobWen]

"RAM Audio Spain" didn't build the mixer :-((

An English corporation build it ... so everything is gone :-(

 

[Guest]

Tobias - which English Corporation?

 

[TobWen]

nobody knows ... they only existed for a small time :-((

 

[TobWen]

[quote author="RogerFoote"]Back in the 70s, there was a RAM Audio in California USA.[/quote]

Seems like they are all over the world

 

[Rossi]

I remember RAM from the 80s. Orange logo, if I recall correctly. Weren't they a spin-off of another British brand?

 

[TobWen]

I just got mail from German "RAM Audio" (the new, spanish one) support.

He's quoting some messages from "rec.audio.pro" newsgroup:

Quote from Luc Weytjens 1997/04/21:

RAM was short for "Recording Audio Mixers Ltd." .. but is mentioned only once in this group before.

Quote from Preben Friis:
"Recording Audio Mixers" (RAM) was a bit of a mysterious (at least to me)
British brand with a rather short lifespan. They produced a series of mixing desks in the second half of the 80's. I remember a conversation with
somebody who praised these desks for their transparency, amongst others. I would have taken his opinion with more than one grain of salt if he would have been selling them, but he wasn't (in fact he was distributing D&R desks and Tannoy loudspeakers at the time), so I'm intrigued."

One of these days I might repair the power supply, and fire it up again, but on the other hand, I've got a handfull of better mixers around, so why
bother...

I made a scan of the block diagram for you at:
http://hiq.homepage.dk/studio/rm-16.jpg

Enjoy and good luck finding a mixer.

Quote from James Perrett (5 Jul. 2002):
RAM disappeared years ago - I don't think they even made it into the
90's.

Of all the makes you mention RAM are the only real mixer manufacturers -
all the others are general cheap music gear manufacturers who probably
aren't worth bothering with. I had a friend with the RM16 hooked up to a
Fostex 8 track. It worked well for him although the tape outputs were on
phono connectors which were sometimes a bit intermittent.

If you can find a Soundcraft Spirit or Studiomaster then you might find
that they are a step up though.

Cheers.

James.

 

[Guest]

BTW - James hangs out at the SoS forums if you want to ask him more

 

[TobWen]

[quote author="uk03878"]BTW - James hangs out at the SoS forums if you want to ask him more[/quote]

thanks, I'm just contacting him

Edit: He already replied: No good news :-(

 

[kvintus]

Ok. That was new to me. I have always thought that RAM Audio was RAM Audio.

/Anders

 

[Guest]

Ask TedF - he was probably working for Alice then - they may have been a competitor

 

[smallbutfine]

Hi Guys,
I'm just reviving the thread because I got my hand on such a RAM (micro, not mega) mixer and got absolutely no information about it.
Now I got a manual for this this as well, but only block schem.
Produced by Recording Audio Mixers Ltd.
Factory was in Hogg's Drove, Norfolk.
I've seen some of these mini desks coming up on the used market lately and was tempted to buy mine for peanuts.
So far looks like a very solid design I will take a deeper look-under-the-hood later today. But so far it looks very interesting, ribbon wiring with multipin plugs for bussing, like in the better soundtracs desks, VU meter bridge, extremely heavy build.
Will be a very hard refurbishing job, the case looks like it has been bombed in WWII.... ;D
Kind regards,
Martin

 

[andysm]

Martin - I have just bought a RAM micro 10 and like you have had trouble finding any information. I don't suppose you can email me a link to the manual or a copy if it is electronic.

cheers,

Andy

 

[smallbutfine]

Hi Andy,
there is nothing special about the mixer, one can figure out functions very easily.
Nevertheless, I will make a scan at my next document scanning session, won't be that soon, but I will send you a copy when done. Send me your email adress via PM so I do not forget to do so....
BTW service on these is very easy as they are build like conventioinal modular mixers and channel modules have very good PCB design so most things can be fixed without disassembling (except pots and switches of course).
Very clean concept, absolutely nice to have...

Kind regards,
Martin

 

[s2udio]

I have a 16-4-2 ram micro.....used it for a live desk back in the 90s
I modded the output to drive a couple of oep trans for a 600ohm stage mc
Had a nice sound.....also put leds in the meters !
Its still in the loft....must resurect it...
As said they were manfactured in diss norfolk....a few miles down the road !
They are pretty straightforward construction and did a very good job when
I used it for small rig PA .....i neither have a manual....but they are not rocket science

 

[Darek C]

Hi,

I'm a fan of the RAM consoles. We will be happy to share the instruction manual for the Ram Micro RM 10 RM 16.

I am looking for a user manual for the Ram mega 24.
I will be grateful for your help


Darek

 

[JohnRoberts]

There was an American company (CT or NY) back in the 80's making audio products under RAM brand, a small company run by a guy named Richard A Majestic (thus the company named from his initials).

I don't recall seeing mixers but I was called in as a consultant to kick the tires for some investors thinking of buying his company based on his power amp. Perhaps there was yet another RAM audio....?

That was the first and last contact I had with him a few decades ago.

JR

 

[PRR]

> Perhaps there was yet another RAM audio....?

Already mentioned in this old-old thread.

Produced by Recording Audio Mixers Ltd.
Factory was in Hogg's Drove, Norfolk.

Prolly not your NY/CT guy.

 

[analogguru]

RAM was registered in July 1983 and probably dissolved some years later.  There was a connection to Starsound Dynamix (Atlantex).  The mixers were distributed by "Audio -Music Marketing".

.... "RAM Mega" mixer.......:

- each channel has a 4-band equalizer - full parametric (+- 15 dB, TL072)

That is incorrect.  There is no "Q"-adjust therefore the two mid-controls are so-called SEMI-parametric EQ's (or sweep EQ's).  Bass and Treble control don't even have a frequency adjust knob - they are built like a graphic EQ (bass with a gyrator).  So nothing really special about that.

What is uncommon and can not be found on the el cheapo consoles of that time are sweepable lowpass- and highpass-filters on each channel which are located on a dual concentric pot below the bass and treble control. This can become confusing because people who can't or won't read may believe that the knobs is for the frequency adjustment of the Bass/Treble control.  These dual concentric  potentiometers (used everywhere except the Pan-pot) can become a problem in servicing

There were also some odd "features" like Mic Input and Line Input were mixed together on each channel and if you used the Line-Input and played a tape the tape signal was audible because one couldn't switch off the tape input when using the Line Input.

There was a buffer after the fader which could have been made as a fadeer recovery amp (+ 10dB) with two additional resistors/channel with the benefit that AUX Pre and Post have the same level and there is less summing noise.  Unfortunately the two resistors/channel were not invested.