DIY thread.....

[Dani Pace]

My only DIY worth mentioning was mounting flanges on the celing and hanging mic stands with booms for overhead mics, it really helped eliminate clutter on the floor.

 

[thane1200]

Here's an EZ idea: standard wall "block-off" plates (the type used to cover up an electrical box opening) can be drilled and fitted with XLR, 1/4", MIDI, or whatever jacks to made small, simple, and cheap wall plates.

Not an ingeious idea I know; but why the hell pay money for these pre-made ?

 

[CoolCat]

DIY: 90degree Corner reduction

I was at a audio/speaker store today.

They had placed this thick wood-trim (abnormally thick trim)..all
around the room to reduce the 90degree/corner... he said it was cheaper.

maybe not as good as $30 pcs. of Aurelex Wedge foam that are 4' each/ length,
but its a cheap DIY.

for $40 you could almost do the whole room...at least around the ceiling.

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

or $40 you could almost do the whole room...at least around the ceiling.

For what?
fitZ

 

[thane1200]

I was at a audio/speaker store today.

They had placed this thick wood-trim (abnormally thick trim)..all
around the room to reduce the 90degree/corner... he said it was cheaper.

maybe not as good as $30 pcs. of Aurelex Wedge foam that are 4' each/ length,
but its a cheap DIY.

for $40 you could almost do the whole room...at least around the ceiling.

I may be wrong, but I think he means a thick baseboard that would reduce the flool/wall or wall/ceiling corner to a less than 90 degree angle.

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

l/wall or wall/ceiling corner to a less than 90 degree angle.

Hmmm, I wonder why? Modes will still terminate in the corners no matter.

maybe not as good as $30 pcs. of Aurelex Wedge foam that are 4' each/ length,

Maybe not as good??? Why bother? It won't do anything as far as acoustics is concerned. Oh, maybe reflect at wavelengths equal to or less than the width. I don't understand the point though Unless it substitutes as a cheap crown moulding/trim.
fitZ

 

[johnsuitcase]

I've made a few goofy things, converting tool boxes into mic cases, for instance (I get some packing foam from a local shipping supply store)! Oh, and rewiring MoreMe headphones so there's no short coiled cord, just a long (20ft) cord with a proper 1/4" connector.

I bought a cable tester, and discovered that several of my Mic cables were wired incorrectly! And that one brand (from guitar center) has the metal casings grounded at both ends (problematic when trying to use a ground lift on DI boxes or splitters.)

Speaking of which, I just ordered a few Art SplitCom Mic Splitters (for live recordings). I was considering making some myself, but the only transformer I've seen suggested was the Jensen, at $60 a piece.

Has anyone made DIY splitter cables with ISO transformers? What transformer did you use, and how were theresults?

 

[CoolCat]

90degrees

Hmmm, I wonder why? Modes will still terminate in the corners no matter.
Maybe not as good??? Why bother? It won't do anything as far as acoustics is concerned. Oh, maybe reflect at wavelengths equal to or less than the width. I don't understand the point though Unless it substitutes as a cheap crown moulding/trim.
fitZ

reduces the sharp 90deg/corners. (yes really,really big crown molding looking stuff.)

i'll try to take a pic next time i'm there.
its nothing fancy, just a Hi-End audio store listening room...
i was there checking out some 802's and 602's and noticed it.

of course the walls were all kinds of shapes and sizes...non-parrellel.

 

[applejax]

When I get my new monitors, I'm going to be building an LCD and Monitor stand that has the main body able to move vertical and twist (large tube housing a smaller tube i guess you can say lol). Then attaching from that is the Left (monitor) Center (LCD)and Right (monitor) arms. For the Monitor arms parts, they will have a horizontal joint then a vertical joint at the plate where they will have a nice flat surface to sit on. And the LCD arm joint will be horizontal and will have ANOTHER joint half way that's vertical (that way it can be positioned further back or closer up) then another horzontal where the LCD will be mounted directly to the stand using some mounting bracket that comes with the LCD !

Now I'm still not sure about the monitors being able to go on this stand... I might just do it for the LCD and then have the monitors ontop of my 2 racks...cause I'm limited to space due to my "corner" lol. Anyways I'll get some drawings up sometime.
The racks will be custom built so what would be a cool way of doing 2 racks with housings for monitors if I went that way?

Also... I'm getting a VS2480 and i guess you could say it's kind of "bulky" or ONTOP of the surface to I wanted a way to be able to have everything look "together" if you get my drift? LIke the VS2480 with an external CD-R "molded" with the table? lol I'm confusing i know lmao... WELL my problem was solved. My dad is getting his masters in teaching, and for this he's been going to alot of factories/industry places to see how people work etc...i dont know WHY but it's part of his course lol. Anyways, he had to do this project where they had to make a "button console" just a thing with buttons and switches that make lights get brighter etc. Well, I get all my handy-man/technology/sound/everything-else skills from my dad, and I saw him working on this wodden sort of dash board...and I was like wtf. Well 2 days later he comes back from his course and they visited a local plastic or w/e shop. Well he had that dashboard or w/e vacum pressed with plastic...so it's a COMPLETE mold of what he was making (Sorry to keep you waiting after reading this paragraph it's 2:15AM and thought i'd get it off my mind lol). So i was like thats SOOOOO cool. So you could make a design out of wood and body filler (for smoothing out round corners or anything else) and make a crazy ass console housing unit and make it fit to everything you want...with cup holders or w/e lol. Anyways... THEN you take it to get it vaccum pressed and it comes out a mold of what you made...and then the holes are cut for the console and everything sits nice and perfect because youve PRE mocked it with your wood lmao

Anyways what I'm gonna do is get the VS2480 HD (without INTERNAL CD-R) Then get an external CD-R and have it right infront of my mouse ... The mixer/CD-R will all have this casing around it and look like one complete unit. I personally think I'll be really cool. Cause just moving my hand forward and I can open the CD-R drive. Man i dont know why but i thinks it could be really useful cause I want to add penholders too. Anyways just one of my wacko ideas. I'll post a drawing if i can get one up later!!

Wow that was alot of typing...i'm tired lol...i want to got to bed but.. I DONT. Tell me what you guys think! Thanks!

EDIT: I did a quick and CRAPPY fireworks drawing at 3 AM lol Its just a rough design for the console. I'm gonna have more of a space age look...it'll be alot cooler looking.

 

[thane1200]

Just thought I'd add this.........
https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?p=1569708#post1569708

I had just thought of this, very simple and cheap-o.

 

[applejax]

Its a good idea for people like me...with pests in the house LOL

 

[thane1200]

Its a good idea for people like me...with pests in the house LOL

What did you come up with to solve your *little* problem?





They do make cash-boxes with electronic keypads.

 

[CoolCat]

DIY- PASSIVE SPEAKER- add a Fast Blow Fuse

I was just reading an old Electronic Musician magazine...July 1995!!

Article recommended monitor position at ear level, speakers on the side, tweeters apart from each other, triangle etc....
Article recommended 12-14 gauge wire.
Article recommended color coding to ensure phase is correct- red positive, black neg....etc...

DIY- Fuse Protection: Passive speakers and amplifier.

recommended adding fuses on the Positive side (red terminal) to help prevent blowing your speakers due to input levels cauing transients that can fry the speaker.

1) power off everything

2) buy/insert a "covered- spring loaded fuse holder".This will be placed
in-between the speaker and amplifier on the positive side, red side.

3)What size fuse??
Formula & Calculation example for choosing the fuse rating.
P / R= Amps squared(AxA).

Example was 100watt amplifier(Power) and 8ohm(Resistance) speaker.
So P/R= 100/8 = 12.5 Amps squared= 3.5 amperage fuse.

To be better protected then divide the Fuse Amperage value by 1/2 or 2/3.

So buy a 1.75amp to 2.25amp fuse.
<recommend FAST Blow fuse>

Once installed, crank up the amp....if the fuse blows, increase slightly,
like 1.75 to 2 for example.

Fuses are alot cheaper than new speakers!
....I assume this is not needed for Active speakers, hopefully they have an internal protection designed in??

but this DIY can be done on home HiFi or Passive+Amp studio monitor setups.

 

[applejax]

Wow Coolcat, i am totally confused...maybe it's cause i know nothing about fuses LOL!

Thane, Well for now.. I just bought a key lock for my door lol... But when I get my new gear I'm gonna get my dad to help me wire up maybe a keypad or something... Like I dont need it to "lock" the gear up or anything, I just want it to "power-up" the gear. You know? Maybe I can still tie my sister up

 

[thane1200]

Fuses are alot cheaper than new speakers!
....I assume this is not needed for Active speakers, hopefully they have an internal protection designed in??

but this DIY can be done on home HiFi or Passive+Amp studio monitor setups.

You can install circuit breakers instead of fuses to allow for quick reset, instead of running to the store for a new fuse.

Also, did the article mention whether to use fast, normal, or slow-blow fuses?
My guess would be fast-blow.

 

[CoolCat]

DIY- speaker protection

breakers sounds good, i recall a friend had those on his hifi speakers...
good idea.

i wonder if the audio-philes will screech about sticking something in the sound path??

 

[johnsuitcase]

We used fuses in the Tannoy near fields years ago, after blowing tweeters about 5 times. I couldn't tell the difference sonically, so I doubt it affects the sound.

 

[mshilarious]

Here's an EZ idea: standard wall "block-off" plates (the type used to cover up an electrical box opening) can be drilled and fitted with XLR, 1/4", MIDI, or whatever jacks to made small, simple, and cheap wall plates.

Not an ingeious idea I know; but why the hell pay money for these pre-made ?

If you don't already have a drill press (with a fairly large bit for XLR) & rivet gun, and you don't need a ton of them . . .

 

[thane1200]

If you don't already have a drill press (with a fairly large bit for XLR) & rivet gun, and you don't need a ton of them . . .

Touche`................

 

[guitar junkie]

i sure wish this was a sticky