Project: Ward Beck Line Input --> Rackmount Mic Pre

Hey Steen... you live in the north? I'm building a house over there, had to sink a quick 30,000 into construction after the ban on rural building... our planning permission was up, and we had to get started or not be able to build. All this when the exchange rate was 2 to 1 and the real estate collapse was still only in the south... could have done the same work today for a third of that. Planning includes a separate building for a studio. Everyone said we were nuts, that the building was too big...but it passed planning and we're building... all the foundation and first level block work and floors are done. But it's ind of on hold at the moment since we just bought a nice house over here. With a Heated in ground salt water pool, 8 person Artesian hot tub spa on the one deck off the living room, another deck off the family room with a screen in porch between them... huge yard with some fores behind the house, about a half mile from an ocean beach... price was just too good.
 
I have finally got everything working 100%, and am planning on getting it all inside my rackmount enclosure tomorrow. I'm most worried about this part of the whole project, because it's not like soldering wire! If I screw it up, I don't have a second chance.

Will post pictures when it's done.
 
it'll be fine! just measure twice and cut once!!!!


mofo,,you're talking about Northern Ireland right?? if so,,where abouts? i'm at the top of the ards peninsula.
 
Steenamaroo said:
mofo,,you're talking about Northern Ireland right?? if so,,where abouts? i'm at the top of the ards peninsula.
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Yes the North, just barely... but we couldn't be further away and be in the same country... We're building down in the South-West corner just outside of Belleek in county Fermanaugh. Lets just say that if we head any direction but west we're heading south :confused:
My wife grew up in Belleek and her whole family's still over there. In fact her brother still weaves the ceramic baskets for the pottery... when he's not running his pub in Derrygonnelly
 
hey austin, i'll probably be around 2nite if u arrive, but i'll ask here anyway..

could you do me a favour? could you check for continuity between either of the shields (p9) and 25v com? (p2-20?)


i have continuity between my 0v and my chassis, which could be the reason i'm getting buzz...


obviously, test it with the edge connectors off, please :)
 
Hey Steen, I just now saw your post. Would you still like me to do this? No biggie if so.. I can just pop the top off and pull the edge connectors off, then test.

I'll go ahead and post my pics. Project is finished.


Here's my dad getting the cut started for the face. I did the rest after that.

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In progress..

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They slid right in first try... beautiful.

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Front after being racked
(the big lights are very much red, they just appear to be extremely bright/white in this photo due to the camera on my phone..)

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And the rear...

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looks very very smart man!!!!


i'm not sure what to ask you to check anymore man :(

i'm still getting buzz,,,so i unwired EVERYTHING and started from butts...

with one module wired,,all was perfect, so i wired the rest,,,then the all got their buzz on :(

the later,,i played around with the grounds, and the buzz went away...

turned them off, went away,came back,,,,,,buzz had returned!!!

i could figure it out if it was consistent :(

going to bed now :(
 
That's a lot of :(s for one post! :( :(

You'll have to let us know if the mega-ground-loop was in fact the problem!

I'm comparing three different pres and to me, the Digimax sounds more similar to the m490... while the 002 pre is just ever-so-slightly darker on the high end.
 
haha...sorry for all the :(


i'm not 100% sure, but i think i may have got it sorted....

there's a very very slight buzz if the mic is near the modules,,but i'm guessin there's an amount of buzz that will always be there.

i was aware earlier in the week that if someone flicked a switch or turned on a light, i'd hear a static kinda pop. so,,,i'll test tomorrow.

if that's not present, then i've got 8 modules tip top,,plus, i've already racked up that pair for my mate on the side.

I'm tempted to throw him a few quid and just go 10 modules for me :)

we'll see.
 
I was just kidding about the :(s. Just noticing how saddd you were.

Cool, man. Glad you got it sorted (mostly, if not completely)!

:P
 
quick question austin,

did you ever wire in the pad?

i have pads on all channels but i think they might be a bit hefty.

i notice the signal is pretty hissy with the pad on, but having said that, i'd only ever use the pad on kit, and i've no way of knowing how loud the hiss will be in relation.

also,I've read about replacing the lm201s with modern counterparts. I think i might try LME49710NA in one of my modules just to see if there's an audible difference..

It's a shame, i have these all working, but i don't really have the setup/space/time to properly test them UNTILL EASTER!!!

more :( lol.
 
Yeah, man, I have the pads wired into my edge connectors. Thing is, I think one of my modules' "B" switch is dirty or something else is quirky within the module, and when my B switch is 'on' (pad active), it's very hissy/noisy.. and the signal is almost nonexistant.

On my other module, the pad works wonderfully, with no extra noise or anything. I can definitely get by on the quirky module for now, especially considering we have the built-in trim pots! :)

Is the LM201 a transistor?
 
Its an operational amplifier. From what i've read, they're archaic! lol

have you cleaned the switch? i spent the whole day a few days ago tearing my friends two modules apart cos there was no signal.

i (wrongly) assumed that there was a fault with my modifications, since 8 modules work perfectly, and these two didn't process audio at all.

Turned out, the a+b switches weren't contacting.lol..

once again, drop of lighter fluid and a couple of flicks sorted it out! hehe


do both your on lights work? if they don't, i discovered the the off switches have bulbs!
good source of spares since the offs don't seem to light up anyway.
 
Oh, nice! Haha.

I only cleaned one switch. I should clean the others that need it now.

Yeah, my on lights work, but on one module, the "Q" switch doesn't work (not that it needs to).. of course it's still able to be activated by pulling the fader all the way down.

Nice find with the off light bulb! haha.
 
yeah man. i don't wana preach, cos personally i didn't bother,but the wbsps guys are always banging on about cleaning all the switches when you get ward beck modules.

It's true enough though, cos almost every fault i've had has ended up being a switch.lol

my m470s still need a lot of faffing to get the input selected, but really all they need is a clean.


thinkin about it now, i'm pretty stupid for not cleanin, them since the signal passes straight through.
 
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