Stereo 1176 support - Mnats/Hairball

[Stagefright13]

If you are using pro tools... Or another daw. Get the stereo compressor sounding good by ear. Then send a sine wave into both channels at the same level. And tweak each channel. I rarely do this tho. I find it is always close enough for horse shoes and hand grenades.....

John

 

[dashbad]

I've finally finished my stereo unit. Having spent days trying to work out why the stereo link wasn't working, including changing the switch and numerous components I found out that I was using an incorrect opamp on the link pcb. DOH! It's always the stupid errors that have you stumped.

Anyway, I'm pretty chuffed with the unit. It sounds great and was great fun to build. Many thanks go to hairball, mnats and Dan for providing all the parts and case. For what its worth I've posted some pics below.

My wiring is, to say the least, a bit of a joke - so perhaps this is more of an advertisment on how not to lay out a 1176-2  :

I did my best to try and keep the audio path out of the way of the power and managed to do this however it was never going to be easy with the power switch located in the centre of the unit. That said, I'm very happy with how quiet it is. Under normal operation it's basically noise free and I only get -56dbfs of hiss in my DAW if I crank the input and output to Max with no signal. Pretty good imo

For the front panel lamp I used a 240V xenon panel indicator from RS Components and wired it in parallel with the mains supply and power switch. Its not the greatest quality and maybe something I'd change if I could be bothered. If I could redesign the case I would definitely move the power switch and lamp over to the right hand side of the panel as this would help with wiring a great deal.

Ok, here are the pics. Please be gentle - as I say, I realise my wiring leaves a fair bit to be desired....

 

[waner]

Hi

I`m about to start on my Stereo 1176 (with Dan`s great case and Hairball`s stereokit). I wonder if someone have figured out a good layout for the PCB`s in the cases. I`m worried about Hum with the powerswitch at the center of the case.

Thanks
Mattias

 

[dandeurloo]

I think I have a ok layout going on.  Transformers all on the side walls. Input and outputs on the opposite sides from the IEC inlet.  PSU transformer on the right side between the IEC inlet and the side wall towards the back.

The put the PCB's toward the input and output transformers.  I haven't had time to complete mine yet but it seems to keep audio away from the PSU power.  If I get a chance I will try and put pics up.  I've been slammed with producing and mixing.  Hopefully next week I'll have time to try and finish it.  I also have the hard bypass boards that I need to figure out where to put them..could get tricky.

 

[mitsos]

I am thinking of doing mine like the UA 2-1176:  PSU in the middle, each channel off to one side.

 

[waner]

So this is the layout I`m going for.

I mounted the mainboards on 40mm tall hex and put the Inputtransformer and stereo link board underneath.
The inputciruit is far away from the maintransformer and the cables to the Powerswitch can go on the bottom of the case.

Just some wirring left

 

[dandeurloo]

Hey guys, anyone know does it matter which way the Lorlin switch goes on to the meter board?  I think it probably doesn't matter as long as I make sure the stop pin is on 3.  Can anyone confirm before I solder these in?  Thanks

 

[dandeurloo]

Does anyone have a confirmed working Stereo Link board.  I have tried a few different ways of wiring it up and its not working properly yet.  Any ideas would be great. 

Everything else on the unit seem to work great and sound really really nice!

 

[benlindell]

Does anyone have a confirmed working Stereo Link board.  I have tried a few different ways of wiring it up and its not working properly yet.  Any ideas would be great. 

Everything else on the unit seem to work great and sound really really nice!

+1 mine never worked right

 

[atticmike]

is there an official mouser list for the power supply pcb?

also, do I really have to do the rotary switch thing? I wanted to do my clone with the classic button option and bought these in addition to the stereo kit.

 

[dandeurloo]

yeah, the push buttons don't work in the chassis.  To big for the stereo units.

Mnats has a bom on his site for the PSU. Here it is.  I'll link on the main page as well.
http://mnats.net/psu.html

 

[abechap024]

I just built 2 of these units. I ran into a ton of problems most of them relating back to the single sided PCB boards from Mnats having broken traces on them, right around were I soldered in components (don't know if they were old boards or what) Maybe I don't solder gently enough ?
But in any rate, I was having trouble with the stereo link, till I stupidly realized I thought both opamps were tlo71 for some reason and one was actually tlo72, also don't forget to install that wire jumper on the pcbs.

Then in practice you have to sometimes adjust the attach and release for them to be more "in stereo" as the only thing the stereo link boards does is send the same audio to the side-chains, but in reality slight differences in timing cap value, timing resistor value, attach/release potentiometer tolerance (usually +/-20%) means you have to adjust input/output and most importantly attach/release by ear and by meters for them to track reasonably well. thats been my experience at least.

 

[atticmike]

yeah, the push buttons don't work in the chassis.  To big for the stereo units.

Mnats has a bom on his site for the PSU. Here it is.  I'll link on the main page as well.
http://mnats.net/psu.html

thanks but isn't there a mouser list?

I have a hard time finding the components or rather settle with the right one.

Then there is also the question whether I have to still stuff the power section of the original pcb?

I mean anything that's on the picture of mnat's psu site is for an older gyraf unit or so. Doesn't help me at all.

Should've bought two power transformers and power them separately instead of doing this temporary stereo solution...

 

[dandeurloo]

No need to stuff each PCB if you use the Dual PSU board.  That's the reason to use it!

No mouser cart that I know of.  You just need standard parts for it so stick with the same types you see in the rest of the Mouser cart.  Just get the right values. 

Pretty easy just takes a little time to sort through it you first go round.

 

[atticmike]

No need to stuff each PCB if you use the Dual PSU board.  That's the reason to use it!

No mouser cart that I know of.  You just need standard parts for it so stick with the same types you see in the rest of the Mouser cart.  Just get the right values. 

Pretty easy just takes a little time to sort through it you first go round.

yeah just took some regular ones.

well I don't have to meaning that I could practically stuff both boards and power them with the supply?

 

[mnats]

I ran into a ton of problems most of them relating back to the single sided PCB boards from Mnats having broken traces on them, right around were I soldered in components (don't know if they were old boards or what) Maybe I don't solder gently enough ?

I designed the boards, but I have never sold them. So the boards you have cannot be "from" me.

That said, I received two boards from the first batch done for Hairball and had no problems with broken traces. I think you're right - you may need better soldering practices. Can you post a picture?

well I don't have to meaning that I could practically stuff both boards and power them with the supply?

On my Rev A, D and F/G boards there is an outline around the power supply components (which can be left off if using a separate power supply) and a screen layer legend marking where the +30 and -10 Volt rails are connected. Grounds from each board are connected as per the wiring guide and tied to a common point on the chassis. If this seems unclear please don't attempt the AC wiring without help!

 

[atticmike]

I ran into a ton of problems most of them relating back to the single sided PCB boards from Mnats having broken traces on them, right around were I soldered in components (don't know if they were old boards or what) Maybe I don't solder gently enough ?

I designed the boards, but I have never sold them. So the boards you have cannot be "from" me.

That said, I received two boards from the first batch done for Hairball and had no problems with broken traces. I think you're right - you may need better soldering practices. Can you post a picture?

well I don't have to meaning that I could practically stuff both boards and power them with the supply?

On my Rev A, D and F/G boards there is an outline around the power supply components (which can be left off if using a separate power supply) and a screen layer legend marking where the +30 and -10 Volt rails are connected. Grounds from each board are connected as per the wiring guide and tied to a common point on the chassis. If this seems unclear please don't attempt the AC wiring without help!

But the board is required to power two units with one transformer? So I can't stuff both boards and dual wire them?

 

[mnats]

But the board is required to power two units with one transformer? So I can't stuff both boards and dual wire them?

The separate power supply is not required, but suggested to reduce component count. You can still power two boards each stuffed with power supply components from a single transformer.

You can see an example of a stereo unit wired with the separate power supply board in the photos posted on Reply #21 above.

Please take note of my AC warning above. I believe that many people just ignore the warnings on my page.

 

[abechap024]

I ran into a ton of problems most of them relating back to the single sided PCB boards from Mnats having broken traces on them, right around were I soldered in components (don't know if they were old boards or what) Maybe I don't solder gently enough ?

I designed the boards, but I have never sold them. So the boards you have cannot be "from" me.

That said, I received two boards from the first batch done for Hairball and had no problems with broken traces. I think you're right - you may need better soldering practices. Can you post a picture?

Single Sided PCB?  I'm talking about the 1176 boards Rev J I believe. The units are already racked up and I fixed the broken traces around components. Not trying to diss anything, The boards are really great, well laid out and everything. I just should've gotten some of your double sided boards with the plated through holes. The boards obviously didn't come with broken traces, just during the course of soldering all the components there were a hairline fracture our two around the solder point and then the trace. Anyway happened a bit on both my boards. Probably just my lack of soldering finesse.

 

[mnats]

Single Sided PCB?  I'm talking about the 1176 boards Rev J I believe.

Sorry, I thought that since you mentioned the stereo link boards just after you mentioned single sided that you were referring to the link boards themselves.

Of course I do sell the 1176 Rev J boards. But I've never heard of broken traces happening due to soldering. The solder mask seems to act as an extra layer of protection that keeps the tracks from lifting. But if you lift the pad itself then naturally it can cause problems where it joins to the track.