Soundcraft 3200 Ch Strip Racking - Insane ?

[r2d2]

Hi to everyone ,
after attending a mixing session of a friend's song at a studio with a Soundcraft 3200 analog console ,
found that the ch strip of Soundcraft 3200 have a really not bad eq section with also parametric hi-mid and low mid ,
by the way the guy owner of the studio have various channel strip spares surplus which would sell ,
and it wouldn't hurt to have 2 racked ,
to be used as a pre + eq or only pre or eq in insert on the DAW
or with an analog summ unit ,
as the ch strip is longer than the standard rack dimension ,
the section to keep would be :
from the mic-line input section , the gate section , the filter and the full eq ,
cutting the strip after the stereo send 1 keeping it as out level trim ,
it would be possible with not many difficulties
or it sound like insane ?
soon some image about the ch strip and internal parts as well .
cheers

 

[r2d2]

Some images of the ch strip , images are large size ,
for full size view open them on a new tab or download ,
the first image is about the section of the ch strip to keep for racking :

 

[r2d2]

Second image about external side of pcbs overview :

 

[r2d2]

And the third image about internal side with parts of pcbs :

 

[Gareth Connor]

I don't recall exactly where all the circuitry is.
The line-level audio I/O is on the 32-pin DIN41612.
Power is on the lower DIN connector.
Track buses are on the top DIN connectors.
The transistors, diodes and resistors between the track bus DIn and the audio DIN are likely to be current sources for LED chains.
You *should* be able to cut off the top of the module and PCB (track routing section) without any trouble.
Unless you are wanting to get into a whole load of pain, it may be easiest to keep as much of the lower 70% of the module as you can. This should keep the electronics work to a minimum, but it will give you a load of unused front panel facilities (unless you want to create a load of aux outputs).
It's possible I may have some more detailed info, but in the 32-ish years since working on the design of the 3200, I have moved home, workshop and continent a few times and some things just do not show-up as quickly or as easily with each move
I did not do the PCB layouts on the channel modules; IIRC it was probably Dave Wade-Evans. Douglas Self was the main designer behind the console's electronics. My involvement was mainly master modules and patchbay.
Feel free to ask - If I can help, I will.... I may need to go to the container yard and grab a box of manuals out of storage.

 

[r2d2]

....Feel free to ask - If I can help, I will.... I may need to go to the container yard and grab a box of manuals out of storage.

Thanks for post Gareth ,
pcbs are quite populated of parts and tracks ,
so ideal would be make the cuts with less "damages" as possible
that have to be fixed to allow the part of the strip to keep run properly ,

so first info to know are where the ch strip voltages supply input ,
pwr ground , audio signal in-out and gnd , are located ,

in attached an image with a first guess of cut points
good more for keep pcb dimension around 290 mm .

 

[iampoor1]

Why would you cut off the din connector when you can clearly leave it and it will still fit in the case? Cut as little as possible... If you remove just the routing matrix that will be easiest. Remember its always easier to remove more later than all at once!!

 

[iampoor1]

Oh and to answer your question...no it's not insane. But your proposed plan of cutting off the din connector is insane

 

[drybones]

Hi to everyone ,
after attending a mixing session of a friend's song at a studio with a Soundcraft 3200 analog console ,
found that the ch strip of Soundcraft 3200 have a really not bad eq section with also parametric hi-mid and low mid ,
by the way the guy owner of the studio have various channel strip spares surplus which would sell ,
and it wouldn't hurt to have 2 racked ,
to be used as a pre + eq or only pre or eq in insert on the DAW
or with an analog summ unit ,
as the ch strip is longer than the standard rack dimension ,
the section to keep would be :
from the mic-line input section , the gate section , the filter and the full eq ,
cutting the strip after the stereo send 1 keeping it as out level trim ,
it would be possible with not many difficulties
or it sound like insane ?
soon some image about the ch strip and internal parts as well .
cheers

So I see this is an old thread by I see you have the big guns involved. Gareth Connor is my hero and coached me in 2008 when I bought my 3200 on eBay! I had to part with it last year as storage was eating out of house and home but I saved a handful of channel strips and sent them off to Jim Williams for a recap and chip swap for newer chips that were not available to Doug and Gareth. I am now commissioning a buddy to build the side car. I am a ribbon mic freak and own over 32 of them. Most are vintage RCAs. The 3200 mic pre is a discrete circuit and has the best gain of any board I have ever used.