Channel Strip conversion

ogy

Anyone know anyone who would convert old channel strips to standalone units on these shores? any idea of the cost involved?

Seziertisch

I'd say twould depend to a certain extent on what the strip was? Otherwise, why Ireland specifically, or would Europe do?

PaulBrewer

ogy wrote: »

Anyone know anyone who would convert old channel strips to standalone units on these shores? any idea of the cost involved?

Fixtronics and lots ....

What units ?

Each one will need a power supply, possibly multiple voltages to same spec as original. (Power requirement will be max current divided by original chan count)

Then it will need casing plus in/out connections.

ogy

guess Europe would do too. theyre old EAB channel strips, hadn't heard of the brand before but the little info on the net suggests theyre from the golden age of German audio manufacturers. would be great to get one done and see if the rest are worth doing. can't find out model number or anything, just EAB logo on the casing. not many pics of full channel strips online

studiorat

I've done it. It's relatively simple but time consuming. Depends on what the channel strip is and if you have the pin-outs for the strip and preferably the circuit diagram.

Most, all channel strips I'd say need a -/+ DC voltage and +48V for phantom power, assuming it has a mic amp. 300mA should be enough. Some use a 5 Volt supply for logic too. (switches etc.) But you don't really need that. So it's a case of building up a power supply for the job, there are plenty PSU kits available and most have +48V and variable +/- rails. Five Fish Audio make one, I would recomend their transformer kit anyway, the JLM powersupply kit is a nice piece of work too. Handy to build and there's great support from their guys. Cheap and fast delivery too.

The only other thing to watch out for is that you make a shunt on the board so the output is pre-fader, otherwise the circuit will be "expecting" a return from the fader if you will. Also it would be wise to find out if the channel strip has a balancing amplifier otherwise the channel out will be unbalanced.

The most difficult part IMO is building a box and mounting the fecker in it...

I've a variable kit lying around at the moment, if you can get schematics and some information for the strips we might be able to fire them up. Although it might be better just to salvage the mic amps alone...

Do you have any schematics for the strips?

ogy

thats the problem, theres no info at the source, and very little online, no idea where you'd get pinout info etc, never mind the fact that i think electronics end of it would be a little over my head.

by lots you reckon hundreds? more? obviously if the cost is more than a new high end preamp its not worth while, but it seems a shame to leave them in a box gathering dust!

PaulBrewer

Sorry to be continuing the downer vibe .....

As a rule ....

Old stuff = Shyt

Doesn't matter if it's Neve , Api whatever. Having mechanical parts (pots , switches etc) means they wear, capacitors dry out etc etc.

Like humans, and myself and StudioRat being fine examples, time takes it's toll. Thems da rules, I didn't make them.

So unless something of age has been maintained to a high standard it's probably crap .... or will continue to develop new problems.

Ask anyone with an old console who uses it hard !

However as a fun project go for it ! Just don't expect the Holy Grail !!

ogy

fair point, sound advice.

the preamps are gratis so im just trying to suss out how much the racking would cost, i'll investigate more and keep yis updated if we decide to do anything with them!

Seziertisch

You could contact these guys and see what they say

http://www.funkstunde.com/de/technik/technische-dokumentation.html

According to the blurb on the homepage they have pretty much all the documentation for the companies listed with just a few things missing. They also offer a repair and maintenance service. Considering the origin of these units you should be looking to Germany to find someone to rack them up. There are probably any one of a number of places that would be able to help you.

Edit: I just read a bit more, this place seems to be largely a museum of sorts for the golden age of radio, they don't offer repair and maintenance but rather help with repair and maintenance. I am sure they could put you into contact with someone who knows the units and does mods/repairs.

ogy

thanks seziertisch great resource