THE ULTIMATE Mic-PSU chassis - VINTAGE NEUMANN STYLE discussion thread

[mrerdat]

Here are the parts from Mouser that definitely will fit the PSU cutouts.  I know for sure because I got some parts wrong (the banana jacks) the first time!  8)  Interestingly enough, Mouser just told me to destroy the parts that I requested to RMA because it's not cost effective for them to take back the parts but refunded the cost for them anyway.

Let me know if you have any better alternatives, but here's what I have installed on my PSU:

basic:
565-5931-0 - Pomona  banana jack (black)
565-5931-2 - Pomona banana jack (red)
691-2BL62-73 - DPDT power switch (close but has enough clearance away from toroidal transformer)
576-03455LS1H - Fuse Holder
568-NC3MD-LX-B - Gold Plated Neutrik Male XLR3 connector
562-703W-00/07 - IEC receptacle (as mentioned in the thread earlier, needs to be sanded down)

for M49:
611-A10303RSZQ - switch for polar pattern (for M49 build, not using a pot on mine and the one in Dany's PSU BOM has a actuator that is too long)
45KN012-GRX -  pointer knob, inexpensive and looks great IMO

For the lamp I just bought a Fender style lamp holder and a jewel from here:
https://www.tubesandmore.com/products/P-L110

 

[jpharaoh]

I apologize if I missed it in an earlier post but what is the part number for the chassis connector that supplies the power to the mic, not the 3 pin XLR.  I know that depending on different mics this might have different number of pins.  but I wanted to know where I could start looking.

 

[stribor1]

Anyone knows this web-shop?
https://www.don-audio.com/Power-Supply-Mic-Enclosure-MPS-700

They sell the same enclosure for 289€, pretty steep.

 

[rainton]

Anyone knows this web-shop?
https://www.don-audio.com/Power-Supply-Mic-Enclosure-MPS-700

They sell the same enclosure for 289€, pretty steep.

That's my chassis - he bought some from me, but the price he sells them for was a typo I guess  ;D
I wrote Aaron and he corrected it - now the webshop shows 158,27 Euros.

BTW: I also have a few Mic PSU chassis left - the price here on group DIY for members is still 105 Euros excl. VAT ea.
124,95 Euros incl. VAT if applicable...

In case somebody wants one - just let me know 
Martin

 

[mrerdat]

I just finished 2x M49 power supplies yesterday!  8)

I had to turn the PCB upside down in order to be able to mount the fender amp pilot lamp (mentioned a few posts above) because otherwise it would get in the way of C5.  The divider panel also had to be bent outward slightly by hand (like 1/4" or so) to accommodate the lamp. A minor issue to me, but worth noting for others who want to get a pilot lamp with different dimensions to be able to mount the PCB right side up.  I am also eschewing terminal blocks because they are more expensive and less reliable than soldering cables onto a PCB.

Transformer side (the resistor up top is something I had lying around and I'm using it for the lamp):

Side-by-side view:

Here's the audio connector side.  I'm debating if I want to leave the polar pattern switch unlabelled since it looks good already. Also I think the XLR looks so much better with the panel inside of the chassis.

So some pro/cons/critiques to help with version 2 (if Rainton is updating these in the future).

Pros:
- Looks awesome! Couldn't be happier with the appearance. This is debateable but I think it looks way better than old beat up original Neumann PSUs ever did.

- The handle feels/looks super high quality and is better than anything I've come across elsewhere.  It's thick and is probably less likely to get chewed up over time like thin leather handles are.

- Minimal metal working: for M49 just drill the hole for the cutoff switch and use a cutoff wheel to trim/notch the heater pot. The tiny predrilled pilot hole is an awesome touch and made things a lot easier.  By comparison my collective cases U67 power supply has a lot of small flaws in the metal work because I am not skilled with metalworking and had to drill/countersink all the holes myself.

- Time/money saved due to lack of metalworking needed to be done.  I'd say that you'd save easily 3-5+ hours and whatever money you'd end up spending on drill bits or other hardware. Easily worth the extra money this PSU case costs over other options.

Cons:
- I wish there was a bit more room for M49 PCBs to be farther away from the IEC Sockets.  It wasn't a huge problem but more clearance would help.

- The 6 chassis mount screws for the outer part of the enclosure.  It was sort of an ordeal putting the cases back together and ironically the hardest part of assembly because although the 2 screws on top went in little difficulty, it took a lot of work to align the 4 corner holes.  It feels like a 2 person job where you need one person to squeeze the PSU so that the chassis holes line up and the other person operates a screw gun.  I don't know if this is related to having the cases powder coated, but it feels ultra tight. Since I did it myself, I had to insert the screws at an angle to get started (very bad for screw threads).  I actually broke 2 screws inside the chassis for one of my cases and need to use a screw extractor and rethread the M3 holes.  Yikes.  Perhaps if these holes were drilled after the paint job (I know, easier said than done) the issue could easily be fixed?

 

[rainton]

Thanks for your extensive feedback!!

I'm really glad you like it and also I'm sorry for the inconvenience some spots might have caused.

As mentioned before the powder coating added more thickness to the material than I expected (my prototype wasn't powder coated) - hence the problems you experienced with mounting the 4 screws that hold the lid in place.

Also the position of the M49pcb will be changed if there's a future revision. If I remember correctly I also mentioned that the decision to place the M49 PSU pcbs at this position was made in order to make space for the bigger choke necessary for the M49 build.
The good thing for everybody else who's not building an M49 is, that the M49 PSU pcbs is the only one placed that far to the right.

Regarding the pilot lamp holder I would recommend using a fender style pilot lamp holder available at any guitar shop. If you want to keep it simple and use a 110-130V pilot lamp (available on the web)

For what it's worth - I built two M49 PSUs and one U47 PSU with my chassis already and even though it can be a little tough to fasten the 4 screws to mount the lid as mentioned above, I never had the problems mrerdat described in terms that:
- I always managed to mount the lids alone
- I never broke or damaged any screws while doing so

None-the-less: This is definitely something to be changed in a 2nd revision! As well as the placement of the M49 PSU pub and some other minor flaws I came across and I'm grateful for all your feedback, because only that will make a better product in the end.

So thanks again mrerdat for taking the time to give us such a detailed impression of your builds, thoughts and suggestions!
Martin

 

[stelin]

I had the same problem with the 4 screws that hold the lid in place.

I had to force the lid down to get the screws in. It was clear that it was the powder coat that was the problem: Have you seen the show American Chopper? The bike parts never fit when they come back from powder coating. Same problem. 

After I extended the 4 holes in the lid downwards about 0.5mm with a round needle file, the problem was gone.  It only took five minutes per enclosure.

 

[rainton]

Hey guys,
I'm preparing a White Market thread at the moment where I'll offer my chassis, so I renamed this thread to remain the place to discuss all build related questions and discussion


Martin

 

[rainton]

Mic PSU and some other chassis kits I did along the way are now available in the White Market:

http://groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=63423.0

 

[Aaudio]

Hi,
I wonder about the screw dimensions for the MK-U47 PSU build. Does anybody know?

 

[Humner]

I want to try and use this chassis for another project.

Do you have dimensions of the inside of the PSU chassis. Can that middle internal separator panel be removed?

Thanks

 

[rainton]

I want to try and use this chassis for another project.

Do you have dimensions of the inside of the PSU chassis. Can that middle internal separator panel be removed?

Thanks

The dimensions of the chassis inside are:

Length:  236mm
Height:  130mm
Width:    116mm

Of course the internal separator can be removed - it's screwed in with two screws 

 

[rainton]

We're working on a Rev.2 version of it.
This new revision will also support Chunger & Matador's universal tube mic pcbs (both passive and active) - so it will basically support ALL known mic pcb kits out there  8)

The  laser engraving in the dividing panel will reflect the changes and we made it easier to see which pcb belongs where.

Also we corrected some minor flaws - the M49 pcb will now be moved more towards the center of the chassis to allow for easier
wiring and we corrected some screw holes that made it difficult for some to attach the lid since powder coating had added more to the surface thant we expected. Now these screws should go in easily

You can preorder as off today - and we plan to have the new ULTIMATE Mic PSU chassis kit MkII ready for shipping in 4 weeks.

 

[Voodoobeat]

finished it today. thanks, that saved a lot of time and looks great!
I'm just wondering what would be the best way to ground the mk u47?
For now i have the pcb, binder input, xlr out and test-jacks on a star ground..

 

[donaudio]

Hello everyone,

I just want to let you guys now we finished a small batch of nice polar pattern plates for Martins awesome project. Here is a pic:

If someone is interested in it, they can be found here.

For questions, just give me a message.

Best

Don

 

[jplebre]

Has anyone tried to get a D-Type neutrick for the 7pin plug on this case? 
I'd like to avoid frankenstein a Binder to XLR cable

568-NC7FD-LX-B instead of https://www.rapidonline.com/Catalogue/Product/55-0243

 

[rmburrow]

Hey guys,

here's the thing: I built a couple of tube mics recently, and since I'm located in Europe I always had the problem to get a nice vintage looking Mic PSU chassis for my projects.
Twice I ordered the PSU chassis from Collective Cases, and even though it looks quite nice:

a)  it's very expensive to have it shipped over here from the states (chassis + shipping + tax = approx. 125 Euros)
b) it's a  lot of drilling and extra work
c) the quality is ok, but it could be better


And since I made my first successful steps of designing some chassis with my LA2A chassis group buy I figured why spending a lot of money on a PSU chassis I'm not completely happy with, when I can design my own one instead

I wanted to have a really high quality chassis, as close as possible to the vintage original Neumann PSU chassis in terms of looks, and I wanted it to be a breeze to build a tube mic PSU with it.

So before I write a novel here, I'll post some pics of my finished prototype (for a MK-U47) and thenI'll explain:

OUTSIDE:

​

INSIDE:

Here you can see this is not just the external chassis, but also a dividing panel inside with all cutouts, holes necessary to mount the components easily:

​

In the last pic you can see the dividing panel also includes an integrated mounting bracket for the voltage adjustment pot.
The way this pot is installed allows for turning the pot  with a screwdriver through a small hole in the front of the chassis.

Here's a close-up:

​

But not just that - there are also some holes in the bottom of the chassis where a pair of banana jacks (or something similar) can be installed. So if you want to readjust the voltage, you don't have to open up the chassis, you just flip it over, plug in your multimeter from the bottom and readjust the voltage from the front with a screwdriver:

Also there's a second mounting hole for another pot in the dividing panel if needed.
Basically, apart from the obvious cutouts on the outside(XLR, IEC, Binder, etc)  this chassis offers all holes necessary to mount:

- power transformer
- pcb(s)
- choke
- adjustment pot(s)
- cutouts for wiring/enough space for components

and most holes, (power tranny, choke, handle, feet, fastening holes for the lid...) even include high quality stainless steel nuts punched into the chassis for a smooth ride while mounting the components.  8)

The chassis itself is made from steel with a dark grey hammer finish and the material is thicker and more sturdy than e.g. the collective cases psu. The chassis is a 100% made in Germany.

Also the chassis will come with feet and a really nice & sturdy leather handle which feels great when holding the chassis. ( I always found the one on the cc-psu to be a little flimsy)

Here's my old Collective Cases chassis PSU I built for a U47 compared to the one I designed to be my new standard

On this picture you can see, the Collective Cases chassis definitely looks cool! And if you're located in the US it's great for the price!!

But I wanted to do something with a really authentic vintage look, that offers everything needed to make building a tube mic psu a breeze. And when I built this prototype - I'm telling you - I never had that much fun putting a mic psu together  ;D

Here's another pic without components:

The one I built is made for a U47 type mic, but actually I want this chassis to be suitable for as many tube mic projects as possible.
And I wrote above that the chassis will even include the holes for the pcb.
At the moment this includes only Zayance's MK-U47 psu pcb, but I want it to include the necessary mounting holes for all other popular tube mic projects out there.
Also my U47 pus doesn't need a pattern switch on the PSU so I didn't include it.  But I thought about a way to create a mark inside the chassis, so if you need a pattern switch, it's easy to drill a hole at that spot to install a pattern switch

So this feeler has 4 main goals:
- finding out if there's a greater interest in such a nice PSU chassis
- getting the dimensions of as many different mic PSU pcbs as possible, so I can include their correct footprints (mounting holes)
- how many want the cutout for the mic to be XLR, how many want the larger Binder/Amphenol, any of you want the original tuchel?
- should there be a hole for the pattern switch by default, or should I just leave a mark inside the chassis for the right spot to drill?

I'm aware the way I designed it is not the cheapest way to go (it will still be for European builders though), but it's definitely by far the easiest and most elegant way 

That said with all the above mentioned included we only reach an acceptable price range if we are as many as possible.
So including everything stated above with more than 20 chassis made we look at 119 Euros each. (excl. VAT if applicable)
If we reach more than 40 it'll come down to 105 Euros each.

And that's the 5th reason of this feeler which I want to open to discussion:

- Do you rather pay a price like this and have only high quality parts (e.g. thick leather handle) and the convenience of things like  punched in stainless steel nuts
- or do you rather save on a couple of bucks and sacrifice ease of use

Because - I'm sure it would be possible to design it a little cheaper (e.g. getting rid of the nuts, choosing a lower quality handle, no feet, etc) , but certainly not that much since the most expensive parts, are the complex dividing panel and the bottom chassis.

And I think with the Collective Cases chassis there's a great lower cost option out there - at least for US builders...

Ok, guys I'm really interested in your thoughts.

Here's THE LIST - please check if you're on it and if I got the correct number of chassis you want

lampas (2) PAID
DerEber PAID
Upacesky PAID
chefducuisine (2) PAID
mrcase  PAID
dmp (4) PAID
bancho  PAID
jafo  PAID
tskguy PAID
Sredna (2) PAID
simonlef PAID
radiobug (2) PAID
kosi (2) PAID
craig (2)  PAID
stelin (2) PAID
CBR (6) PAID
jpharao (2) PAID
roger.unc (2) PAID
59flame PAID
olebrom PAID
nattycee  PAID
flatresponse (2) PAID
fazeka PAID
jackinthebox (2) PAID
Zander PAID
Mans Lundberg (2) PAID
gbruler (2)  PAID
Aaudio (2)  PAID
duantro PAID
mrerdat (2) PAID
rainton (3) PAID
poctop PAID
mellsonic (2) PAID

Still building these?  Plan to clone the NKM supply for  DIY M49....

 

[TillM]

See in the white market.
There is still a batch available

 

[flatresponse]

Hello all,
Regarding the ultimate mic-PSU chassis:
There are many people that have already built it, I´m sure.
In the poctop PSU built for the M49, where to connect the status light, the Fender pilot light with a bulb of 7V ?
And yes, I already have the open version leaving space for C5 on poctop´s M49 board.
I´m sorry whether this topic is already treated in this thread. No bashing, please.

Thanks
Manfred

 

[flatresponse]

I just finished 2x M49 power supplies yesterday!  8)

I had to turn the PCB upside down in order to be able to mount the fender amp pilot lamp (mentioned a few posts above) because otherwise it would get in the way of C5.  The divider panel also had to be bent outward slightly by hand (like 1/4" or so) to accommodate the lamp. A minor issue to me, but worth noting for others who want to get a pilot lamp with different dimensions to be able to mount the PCB right side up.  I am also eschewing terminal blocks because they are more expensive and less reliable than soldering cables onto a PCB.

Transformer side (the resistor up top is something I had lying around and I'm using it for the lamp):

Side-by-side view:

Here's the audio connector side.  I'm debating if I want to leave the polar pattern switch unlabelled since it looks good already. Also I think the XLR looks so much better with the panel inside of the chassis.

So some pro/cons/critiques to help with version 2 (if Rainton is updating these in the future).

Pros:
- Looks awesome! Couldn't be happier with the appearance. This is debateable but I think it looks way better than old beat up original Neumann PSUs ever did.

- The handle feels/looks super high quality and is better than anything I've come across elsewhere.  It's thick and is probably less likely to get chewed up over time like thin leather handles are.

- Minimal metal working: for M49 just drill the hole for the cutoff switch and use a cutoff wheel to trim/notch the heater pot. The tiny predrilled pilot hole is an awesome touch and made things a lot easier.  By comparison my collective cases U67 power supply has a lot of small flaws in the metal work because I am not skilled with metalworking and had to drill/countersink all the holes myself.

- Time/money saved due to lack of metalworking needed to be done.  I'd say that you'd save easily 3-5+ hours and whatever money you'd end up spending on drill bits or other hardware. Easily worth the extra money this PSU case costs over other options.

Cons:
- I wish there was a bit more room for M49 PCBs to be farther away from the IEC Sockets.  It wasn't a huge problem but more clearance would help.

- The 6 chassis mount screws for the outer part of the enclosure.  It was sort of an ordeal putting the cases back together and ironically the hardest part of assembly because although the 2 screws on top went in little difficulty, it took a lot of work to align the 4 corner holes.  It feels like a 2 person job where you need one person to squeeze the PSU so that the chassis holes line up and the other person operates a screw gun.  I don't know if this is related to having the cases powder coated, but it feels ultra tight. Since I did it myself, I had to insert the screws at an angle to get started (very bad for screw threads).  I actually broke 2 screws inside the chassis for one of my cases and need to use a screw extractor and rethread the M3 holes.  Yikes.  Perhaps if these holes were drilled after the paint job (I know, easier said than done) the issue could easily be fixed?

Hi,
for the dimension of the resistor breaking down voltage for the Fender light: is it a 7V bulb, that you use, so I can use a 150r 10W as well ? Does it affect the voltage for the filament ? Thanks for letting me know,
Manfred.