StudioMollan: TIRDI-500, PROTO-500.

[Studio Mollan]

New lower price on kits / pcb's, and no more built units. ​

The TIRDI-500 full kits are now 160€ plus shipping.
TIRDI-500 PCB (including 4 knobs and front panels) 50€.
PROTO-500, prices lowered.

All payment is done via Paypal. Send me a message with your adress and I'll get back with an accurate shipping quote,

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Fellow gear / music enthusiasts,

Introducing the TIRDI-500 and the PROTO-500


Both units are made completely of PCB, circuit board material. The difference in color in the above pictures is due to the fact that the TIRDI has a top coat of polyurethane clear coat.


I had great help with the design from this forum so offering them here makes great sense. I’m also glad to pay a fee for the white market to give something back to the forum.
This is not a business venture for me so don’t expect this thread to be around for very long. I have a limited supply of full kits for TIRDI-500, but a larger supply of boards. As long as I have parts and boards available, and people are buying them, I’ll keep the shop open.
As you all probably know by now the availability on components are rough… I managed to buy a larger batch for 50 units before the pandemic hit the electronics supply. Almost all IC:s and capacitors I ordered from Mouser are now out of stock. That being said, it is not impossible to get more. Banzai still seems to have a good stock. If you want to source your own components it should be manageable. A lot of you guys probably have a lot of it already.
The PROTO-500 is just a set of circuit boards so that will be no problem at all to keep available.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

TIRDI-500
Just a short introduction here. More info in the build manual. <- click link do download. It's a large pdf. Detailed photos -> large size.

EDIT: I added a short clip to my YouTube channel.

So:
TIRDI = Transformer Isolated Reamp + Direct Interface.


It is a transformer isolated reamp device and a Hi-Z "DI" interface with filters. Use it to interface Hi-Z gear when recording or as a classic reamp device when, well.., reamping. Filters are resonant with large range.
I record and mix through a lot of such gear and this design started out to fill a personal need. I got some interest from friends and fellow GroupDIY:ers so I figured I might as well offer a few for sale.

I've tried to make the build as robust, easy, straightforward as possible. There is no calibration required, few electrolytic caps to get low maintenance, good quality components and still relatively Cheap. The component count is pretty low and all parts for the kits are VERY well organised. An experienced builder could probably build one in an hour.
I have learnt a lot from build manuals, and building kits, in the past so I made an effort trying to make this manual as informative as possible. I've gotten good feedback from all that has built and used the unit so hopefully this should all go very well. If this is your first kit, it should NOT be a problem. Please read through the build manual before your order though.

Price and how to order:
160€ (was 220€), Full kit, all components, wiring, panels, etc included. Detailed Build Manual and VERY well sorted bags of components. This is an easy and fun build.


50€, PCBs, no components. This includes the front panel. You need to order your own components. Check BOM in the Build Manual.
4 x knobs for the pots will be included while my stock lasts.

contact[at]studiomollan com. <- Get with me here, or send me a message here on groupdiy for orders. Include your forum name and adress / location for shipping price.

Here's the build thread. - > Build Thread



____________________________________________________________________________________


PROTO-500


A handy prototyping board. The pads are organised so you can pretty easily build a basic circuit with standard 8pin ICs. Up to 16pin works fine. As stated earlier it's all made of circuit board material, and you solder it together. It forms a tough connection and the unit is very sturdy when built. The front panel is all blank. Drill up whatever holes you want.

A user case could be this:
Get a JLM Amphead and mount it in the PROTO-500. A cheap, and good sounding 500-series headphone amp for very little $. Here you can also experiment with mono options, or individual mutes for "Left" / "Right" etc etc. Just what a prototype board is intended to be used for.

Or:
Get a couple of small VU-meters. Build a proper drive circuit for them on the PROTO-500 and install the VUs in the front panel. Easy and cheap way to add a patchable VU meter to your rig.

Or:
Fit a couple of panel voltage / current meters and fit them to the board. A neat way to monitor the PSU in your 500 rack.

Or:
Design, and build your own 500-series module.
_______

The board is pretty self explanatory. ALL connector tabs (ex +16V BUS, +48V BUS etc. etc) should be soldered together as a start. This makes the voltages and ground follow the lines on the board. This way the power is never far away and can easily be jumped over to the circuits.

"GND"

When bridged connects the metal in the front panel to ground. Could be useful if you need a ground lift.​

GND PLANE"

Three pads here. These are, from the left to right, PWR GND, GND PLANE in board, AUDIO GND. These three should probably always be bridged.​

​

"+16V BUS" + "-16V BUS" +"+48V BUS"

When bridged the voltages will be distributed across the boards. Look at the graphics. If not bridged you can use these bussed pads for something else.​

To bridge either insert a component leg cut-off and solder that, or just add enough solder the the pads so that it flows together. Either way works. You could of course also add pin headers and jumpers if you want it nice and tidy.

Price and how to order:
30€ each.
50€ / pair.
80€ / 4 boards.

contact[at]studiomollan com. <- Get with me here, or send me a message here on groupdiy for orders. Include your forum name and adress / location for shipping price.

Here's the build thread. - > Build Thread

 

[Studio Mollan]

Working on a little video of the TIRDI. Should be up soon.

 

[Studio Mollan]

Updated first post with a short video demonstration.

 

[corgan4321]

Looks great - I’m interested! Possible to post the BOM as an excel sheet? Curious what stock is like for these items in the US.

 

[Studio Mollan]

Looks great - I’m interested! Possible to post the BOM as an excel sheet? Curious what stock is like for these items in the US.

Sure. looks like the forum don't support .xlxx files. Here's a dropbox link.

TIRDI-500 BOM in Excel format

EDIT: BOM updated. Mouser link for R02, RI5 and RI6 had the wrong mouser link.

 

[Studio Mollan]

Just updated first post. PCB option for TIRDI-500 now includes knobs, as long as my stock lasts.

 

[nielsk]

Does the Proto-500 include the front panel / sled and if so what material is it made from?
Thanks!

 

[Studio Mollan]

Does the Proto-500 include the front panel / sled and if so what material is it made from?
Thanks!

Hey!
Yes the front panel is included. Everything in the PROTO-500 is made of circuit board. It is assembled by soldering the parts together.

 

[corgan4321]

Just wanted to update the thread saying I completed a pair of the TIRDIs. They are AWESOME. Anyone with even a small amount of experience soldering could complete this project. Before Emil sent me the PCBs I was already considering the commercial options - mostly just the Radial offering. I love that these are 500 series and I love the simple filter design. Yesterday, I recorded a Strat through a Strymon Deco direct into the TIRDI inputs. I used the filter to sculpt the incoming signal and needed no additional EQ in my DAW.
The day before I reamped some vocals through a stereo Boss Flanger pedal and that also worked great. I couldn't be happier with the design and recommend anyone looking for a reamp/pedal interface device to give this project a try.

 

[Studio Mollan]

Just wanted to update the thread saying I completed a pair of the TIRDIs. They are AWESOME. Anyone with even a small amount of experience soldering could complete this project. Before Emil sent me the PCBs I was already considering the commercial options - mostly just the Radial offering. I love that these are 500 series and I love the simple filter design. Yesterday, I recorded a Strat through a Strymon Deco direct into the TIRDI inputs. I used the filter to sculpt the incoming signal and needed no additional EQ in my DAW.
The day before I reamped some vocals through a stereo Boss Flanger pedal and that also worked great. I couldn't be happier with the design and recommend anyone looking for a reamp/pedal interface device to give this project a try.

Thanks for your kind words! And I do agree, although biased, they are very versatile.

 

[Studio Mollan]

I just updated the fist post. Clearing out the stock of finished units. 200€ / was 320€.
This is it for them. After these ten are gone there will only be kits and PCBs. They are also available in my reverb shop for 10% more so GDIYers gets a discount.
Changed price for full kit to 200€ from 220.

 

[Studio Mollan]

Check first post. Updated prices on all products.

 

[znjamznjam]

Hy
Can Proto-500 be used as send return for parallel compression?
I wil used for kick and bass parallel compression to dbx 160.
Is signal clean enough for this type parallel compression or is manly make for fx (pedals, echos en reverbs)
Thanks in advance

 

[Studio Mollan]

Hy
Can Proto-500 be used as send return for parallel compression?
I wil used for kick and bass parallel compression to dbx 160.
Is signal clean enough for this type parallel compression or is manly make for fx (pedals, echos en reverbs)
Thanks in advance

Hi,
The Proto-500 is a design tool that you can use to build your own circuits and use in your 500 racks. It would absolutely be possible to build a parallell mixer setup within the Proto-500, but I can't provide the schematic. If you find a fitting circuit you could start experimenting on your own though? Just do a search here on groupdiy. Im sure there are plenty other that has been exploring this in the past.

 

[znjamznjam]

Hi
I mean TIRDI-500 not Proto my fault sorry

 

[Studio Mollan]

Ah, ok that makes sense, .
So you want to insert a DBX 160 into the TIRDI so you can use that as a parallell compression bus for kick and bass guitar.
That shouldn't be an issue. The TIRDI is designed to interface, and isolate, HI-Z gear. The 160 will probably be LO-Z and for this setup you won't be needing the isolation, and the HI-z send to the 160 might have a little weaker signal that what its used to.
I'm guessing you want to use the filters in the TIRDI and maybe also to get balanced in/out of your 160? Or am I wrong?
It will probably work just fine, but to be honest there might be better options out there for your use. What type of DBX is it? Is it the VU version or the more modern ones with led VU?

Hope this makes sense? Have I understood your question? If not please clarify and I'll try again.
/
Emil

 

[znjamznjam]

You have answered good. I want to use only for parallel processing with dbx160 clone. Everything is balanced.
I see TIRDI is more voor design for gitaar boxen.
I search more for send n blend module in 500 format.
Something lijkt this SEND N' BLEND - 500 SERIES MIX / BLEND MODULE - Serpent Audio

 

[znjamznjam]

Clean without reamp

 

[Studio Mollan]

You have answered good. I want to use only for parallel processing with dbx160 clone. Everything is balanced.
I see TIRDI is more voor design for gitaar boxen.
I search more for send n blend module in 500 format.
Something lijkt this SEND N' BLEND - 500 SERIES MIX / BLEND MODULE - Serpent Audio

Ok good. Well, in that case the send'n'Blend is the better option. There is no MIX knob on the TIRDI.
Hop you find what you're looking for! I know TK-Audio has blend/mix products, but not for DIY.

 

[znjamznjam]

ok thanks for clear that out