It (3 songs arranged as a kinda medley) has /that/ sound again, which I’m delighted about. Especially as this isn’t a Calrec Soundfield recording, instead being recording using near-coincident pair of relatively cheap Chinese built “T-Bone” small diaphragm condensors, and a Line6 Toneport UX2 stuffed into Cam’s laptop.

Which means that the sound (which I like, anyway…) appears to be a me thing. I’ve been listening to other recordings, and, well.. I’m feeling pretty bloody smug right now.

Nothing complicated at all, but rather congratulating my sense of /not/ using all them magic “turd polish” buttons the way it seems most others do.

So it was all done on the DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) with the most vital component being Visual Virtual Microphone, downloadable free from http://mcgriffy.com/audio/ambisonic/vvmic/

The (un)finished product can be heard/downloaded from http://soundcloud.com/ambisonix/sets/small-symphonies

Feedback welcomed. (and yes, I know there is noise, from the mic preamp’s power supply smoothing caps.)

With audio gear, one of the most frequent bits to fail are capacitors, and specifically electrolytic “cans”, and they don’t just /die/, oh no, they /complain/ and /warn/ about it, with mysterious bursts of crackle and pop that threaten to destroy speakers etc. They are, for the layperson, like little batteries, that get charged, and discharged, and consist of many conductive layers, separated by an insulating “dielectric” layer. This dielectric is normally what breaks down, allowing the electricity stored in the adjacent conductive layers to short through. Now perversely, this often “heals” the cap, by boiling the adjacent dielectric, pushing the conductive layers apart, or by burning away a bit of conductive layer, like a microscopic fuse.

The tell tale is that something snaps crackles and pops at switch on, then seems to calm down after a while, only occasionally having little noise attacks randomly afterwards, until it is switched off for a while, then will go through the entire process again at next switch on. When this occurs, it is time for a re-cap.

With any mixer re-cap, the first thing to do is audit the desk, which involves pulling one module of each type, and listing the electrolytic capacitors, by: number, type, capacitance, voltage, and physical size.

Easy, right? Except tis desk has 7 types of module, and on many, the caps are inserted with the value face down. – pull another of the same type and see, repeat ad nauseum.

Being of That Age and fairly unwell, with side effects, I need to use reading glasses *and* a magnifying glass to read the component values. A cumbersome task, but one I attack with enthusiasm, if not relish. Even when dismantling the multi-pcb-stacked “Aux/Monitor” module, which contains more components than any other 3 modules on the desk (other than the talkback module) and, like most talkback/monitor modules, is not built to anywhere near as high as spec as the main signal paths.

Many hours later I have a list (just don’t ask about costs, it is more than I paid for the desk!), go online and price the components (where decent ones are available) at that well know supplier, Maplin, who often have a /very/ good premium component, as well as the “economy” components. Seriously, I acquired the caps to do my Trident there, “Rubicon”, renowned for good tone at the time, and the whole lot cost maybe £40. The idea is to go in, get the bits for one module, check them out, do a channel and group, check the sound, then if satisfactory, order in enough to do the whole desk. The Rubicon caps sound /mighty/ fine.

Yesterday, online, Genelec (General Electric) caps were available, and priced “economy” too. So maplin it was, and list in hand I trekked (got a lift off son#1) to Maplin, where at the first and most common component, a 220uF 25v axial cap., I was told that “this is an online item only”.

Now I’d had a bad feeling when I approached the “technical” counter at the back of the store, and seen it piled high with fishermans anoraks, but this, the lack of a most basic and common electronic component, ws a little weird, and I, being me, went to great pains to point out exactly that, and was informed that Maplin are getting out of components, and into camping equipment.

Hi-de-sigh. ho and off to Farnell we go!

(added days later)
So far I’ve audited all of the the Preamps, Routing, and Group modules. 340 capacitors, average price 50p (I’ll get a bulk discount though) That’s 720 desolders, 720 solders… Ugggh! It will be nearer 500 caps (1000 joints) by the time i’ve finished the audit.

There may be a grain of truth in this, however certainly more modern desks have better specs on paper – but they don’t sound as yummy.. And, purist though I may claim to be, I acknowledge the magic of valves, or discrete silicon class A preamplifiers, and especially used in conjunction with good quality transformers.

So I huffed, and I puffed, and I sweated away, and one by one, I removed all 53 modules, and 32 blanking plates, from my ancient “Rank” mixing desk, placing each module carefully at a different strategic location in three rooms of the house. Then (after a cup of tea and a cigarette of course) steeled what is left of my once almost-adequate, and now, well “decrepid” would be a complement – and that is according to my doctor (though in fairness, he used less direct language.) who cannot fix it any more, and just provides the necessary chemistry to sustain cellular activity of sorts – body, and hefted the wood-clad steel and aluminium mainframe of the console from the old “music room” to the lounge, and gave the innards (and backplane, which is just too complicated to remove) a good vacuuming out.

More straining and groaning, and (yesterday morning, if I recall correctly) I managed to get it up the stairs and into its new home, a rather-too-creaky-for-comfort pine table, that continues, in spite of its many years of service as a computer desk, and table for strippers wearing stilletos to dance upon, to just about prevent the monster console from crashing to (and perhaps through!) the floor.

And over the last 24+ hours, between cursing the condition of my back/knees/eyes/teeth and excuses for muscles,  I have been bringing up power supplys, monitoring, group, routing, fader metering, talkback, and the all-important, discrete silicon and transformer buffered in and out, preamp modules, and carefully negotiating them down their now-brittle plastic guides, and into the probably-equally-brittle Socapex connectors of the backplane. Powering up periodically to check for the magic smoke escaping from the precious antique silicon.  It is going to be ongoing “For A While”<tm>.

I’m not too bothered about the capacitors, though expensive, they are all of “that age” now, and a re-cap of the whole console is probably a decade overdue (I’ve had it about two years, so only 20% of the negligence can be laid at my door).

A re-cap is in order, as soon as I’ve finished the recap on my Triden 16:8, which I have at least purchased the requisite parts (except for one chip, an LED ladder driver IC for the master section, which I never use so…) Used to love soldering things together.. Now.. ermm..

Some while later, after wiring the desk up to the DAW, and running a few of my digital multitracks through it as a test, I wondered at its way of “maxing up” the sound, even with the EQ flat, things set not to distort,  and pondered Mr. Neve’s words from several decades ago.

Transformers really do /rock/.

I will of course be chasing intermittent pops and crackles for many moons after a move. And fixing the half-dozen  pre-amps that caps have already fully failed on. At some point.

But I also ran “House Of Hopes And Dreams” through a couple of channels, and back to the computer.. Whilst recording..

Emperors New Clothes?

You Decide.

Before: 

House (Of Hopes And Dreams) (Work In Progress) 20100818 take 3 by Ambisonix

After:

House 20100818-take3TopRanked by Ambisonix

For me, the main downside of this console is not the lack of enough groops (it only has 4. against the Tridents but that it it doesn’t have PPMs, but VU meters instead. I’ve never found a use for the things. Managed to balance this to within  0.5 dB L/R,  and 3.3 dB of headroom at first (and only)  attempt though, so I’m fairly chuffed. (and surprised!)

The layout is fairly cumbersome, with the A/D box and the Calrec Soundfield processor perched on a wooden 1940′s coffee table under the pine bench that supports the console.

A Dark Place.

Hmm.. I may have overdone the consonants, but hey “work in progress”, right?

In the mean time,  I may need the services of one of them there chiropractors, or at least a stiff drink or two.

Many years ago, when Dolby Surround became prevalent, I expressed my displeasure. Nothing has changed, its a piss poor consumer grade system, limited rear/side sounds, and no up/down component. I can’t fix history, or the intelligence of the cinema-going or gadget buying public.

But I /can/ moan. :-0