Building our own mic pre! Inquire within...

  • Thread starter Thread starter tubedude
  • Start date Start date

Will you be building a pre with us?

  • Yes, I'm in without a doubt!

    Votes: 11 44.0%

  • I most likely will particpate...

    Votes: 3 12.0%

  • 50/50 chance...

    Votes: 11 44.0%
  • Total voters
    25
123

Ok, at this point I've done a few things...
1st, I've emailed around looking for someone to take the bait...
2nd.. I've looked up alot of stuff on electronics and class A preamps, and WHOA... we're in deep if we do this. I think I'm a bit scared of it at this point.
3rd... I've registered in the electronic circuits class at school along with my other classes for this fall. They cover all this stuff, class A, B and even C amps and circuits, including building filters and stuff, too. I think it'll be fun. Fun, or totally terrible. I'll see, I guess.
Time will tell, dont give up yet... :)
 
Re: 123

I would like to build a nice pre, kinda getting sick of my Tube MP. Good pre but a little weak for my needs. Im in!

sondriven
 
Re: 123

tubedude said:
3rd... I've registered in the electronic circuits class at school along with my other classes for this fall. They cover all this stuff, class A, B and even C amps and circuits, including building filters and stuff, too. I think it'll be fun. Fun, or totally terrible. I'll see, I guess.
Click to expand...

Woehoe... Congrats. It will give you alot more insight in what you're doing. Very interesting. But totally terrible.
I hope you have a good insight in what fourier is all about, frequency versus time domain,... All of that crazy maths-stuff. In fact, that is about the worst maths can get.

Did you have basic electronics courses already? Don't know how your system works... I guess so, it's not very usefull to study amps and filters if you don't know how a transistor works.

Anyway, we didn't see too much of that analog stuff. A course on opamp designs was about it (filters were covered, amplification too, not the class a b stuff, some oscillators,...). I hope you see more than that. But my bet is, you finish the course, you get the theory, you understand all the schematics, but you hardly know how to make a good design, have hardly seen the real advanced measurement tools, and still lack the knowhow to implement your schematic in a decent way (choosing components, pcb design taking shielding etc into count).

I'm being pessimistic. Maybe. ;) Anyway, go for it. It will not take you all the way, but it will get you on the road. I really wish I had chosen the analog-type classes instead of the (for me, easier) programming stuff...
 
This is the book we used... All I know about opamps. :D

'Design with Operational Amplifiers and Analog Integrated Circuits'
by Sergio Franco
 
Count me in...

Sounds like this could be very benificial financially if we do this right, b/c i have been thinking about buying 1 or 2 higher quality preamps, just make sure we get a mentor who has built something like this before.... I don't want to burn my place down, i just got finished rearranging everything!!

Chris :D
 
Sound like a great idea. I’m in as long as we can keep the cost under $250 (just components, not tools). I’d hate to get side-tracked with a new project and have a thousand bucks worth of leftovers. Have you found somewhat to host the stuff?

You’re going to need space for pics and schematics. It would be cool if we could have video for this too. I know that sounds picky, but when I’ve built circuits in the past, I have to have my nose right up on the SOB to see what I’m doing! I have a friend who owns a hosting company… may be able to talk him into helping a noble cause.

I also have to agree with Roel on using custom PCB’s. It’ll make it a LOT easier to explain where you’re going.

Anyway, count me in!

Brad Gallagher
http://www.just-for-musicians.com/
 
You guys might want to check out the Thread about Burr-Brown OP's also in The Rack forum. There is a link for a site with a pre schematic with several pages of info and the word in the link is that individual OP's can be had for around $12 and bulk discounts even lower.

I am following with interest but will be unable to participate in building anything due to a serious lack of funds. For know I am trying to build a data bass of options, opinions and hopefully your experiences on the results.

After reading the Davis Sound Site it seemed like a better idea to hand hardwire everything rather than the PC board route. Am I missing something obvious? I can see how mass produced things require the PC boards for economical reasons but I fail to see the benefit for some thing that will be completely hand built and designed and pretty time intensive with or without the PC board.
 
Aiaiai! You don't see the use of a PCB??

How are you gonna handwire 20 resistors, 20 capacitors and 10 DIP-chips without getting a mess?? A pcb is needed to keep the components organized, to easily make good durable contacts, ...

You could 'handwire' it on one of them prototype boards, on which you solder the tracks, but you still need a layout for that, and it's rather complex to wire it up that way if it has a fairly high components-count.
 
Right on Roel!

That's the point I was trying to make! When you were studying electronics, did you ever have one of those circuit books that showed you how to wire a bunch of stuff, but you had to map it out on one of those "prototype" boards? Man, what a pain in the ass!!!

As compared to a pcb where you can kick out one after the next. It's still hand wired and I know companies that hand build circuits like this manually today... everyday, constantly.

PS. Someone else asked if you could use wall warts. The answer is you'll run into a problem with the higher current needed for the unit to operate. Look at the thin wire connected to that transformer... Now look at the thich AC that runs from the wall outlet to your amp... Does that make sense?

Brad Gallagher
http://www.just-for-musicians.com/
 
O.K. Thanks Roel,

I stand guilty of ignorance which I have not denied. I have built 1 bass guitar and installed all the electronics, swapped pickups, repaired a few stomp boxes, VCR's and stereo's etc.

I just read the Davis Sound "sales pitch or philosophy" on their web site and from my very limited understanding it sure sounded like they did not use the circuit boards and hard wired just about everything. I plan on reading up on the OP and related electronics this year and I will be less ignorant but I am still probably two years away from being able to afford the parts and tools etc. I suppose I got the impression that you could get a small standardized circuit board that was the "jack" for the preamp chip (like a tube plate) that you could solder all your connections to. But hey, that is why I asked the question. If any one has the time to check out the Davis Sound Site... it is posted in the beginning of this thread.. and explain what I misunderstood I would be appreciative and hopefully enlightened.

Roel I did like the "Aiaiai" response; I could almost swear I could hear your rapidily oscilating voice, hands pulling hair and gnashing of teeth...kinda like Billy Crystal in The Princess Bride. Please respond so I know I am responsible for a sudden coronary or stroke.

Scott
 
Buddha say: The man who is truly ignorant is he who does not learn from the mistakes of himself and others.

You, my friend, are a wise man :-)

BTW Billy Crystal was great in that movie... I laughed my ass off!!!

Brad
 
Thanks Extremedb,

My update on that one is a fool does not learn from his mistakes, a smart man does learn from his mistakes but the wise man.......the wise man learns from other's mistakes whenever possible. Although Nothing sticks in your memory like your own mistakes.


Q. Did your hear the fameous last words of the redneck?

A. " Hey Ya' all watch this" (I live in Oklahoma redneck capital of the USA)

Scott
 
I am not in on this one but have a opinion on PCB vs handwire.

As many of you are inexperienced with soldering I would recommend a pre fabed PCB. This is due to the fact that people new to soldering tend to apply way too much heat to the componets when just installing to a PCB. When you handwire you have to apply more than one wire to some componets on the same pin allowing for excessive heat to be applied more than once. Besides the heat issue be aware of proper ESD safeguards too. Also handwiring is subject to more EMI and RF noise if wires are not routed in a specific manner. Even more so if using internal pwr supply. Projects like these are very fun and you can learn alot about basic electronics at the same time.
 
I'm debating.......

I have a birthday coming up so I might be able to do this (if we can keep the costs relatively low), but I just got the Aardvark Direct Pro which has nice built in preamps and I don't know if I want to get another preamp at this point in time when I really need to get a pair of "real" monitors (these Aiwa CD-Player speakers just aren't cutting it). However, this would be a great learning experience (plus I could get a great preamp for very cheap).......ohhh, I don't know, someone talk me into it. ;)

-tkr
 
Hey Paul,

Haven't heard from you in awhile. Any luck finding a someone to host this monstrosity? Or have you realized what we're up against ;-)

PS I may be able to help out w/the PCB's if it's an issue.

Brad Gallagher
http://www.just-for-musicians.com/
 
I;ve had a few "I'll think about it" but no takers. Probably a time consuming ordeal. And yes, I have realised what we're up against. I'm still down with it, if we can really make ity happen. I didnt realize the equipment we need to tweak them. My idea was, buy the parts, toss em together, and have a preamp. NO quite that easy.
We'll see :)
Paul
 
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