Navigation

Home
DIY Projects
DIY-Central Blog
Electronics Bookstore
Home Studio Equipment List
Privacy Policy

Search


On this page


Archive

September, 2010 (1)
December, 2009 (3)
February, 2007 (2)
January, 2007 (8)
December, 2006 (20)
November, 2006 (11)
January, 2000 (1)

Blogroll

RSS 2.0 | Atom 1.0 | CDF

Send mail to the author(s) E-mail

Total Posts: 47
This Year: 0
This Month: 0
This Week: 0
Comments: 27

SC-1 Mic Preamp NOW ON SALE!!!!

After many months of development, testing, troubleshooting, frustration, problems, and accomplishments... the SC-1 mic preamp kit, PSU-1848 power supply kit and power transformer kits are now available for sale!

Click here to ORDER

Photo of a finished SC-1 mic preamp kit!  (Note: XLR jacks and wires shown on picture not included in the kit.)

Features:
- Low-Noise, transformerless, High-Quality Mic Preamp
- All solid-state design, using chipsets from THAT Corp and Burr-Brown
- Soft-start, slow ramp-on +48V phantom power
- Crystal clear Red LED indicator for phantom power
- Electronically balanced input and output stages
- 12-position Grayhill gain selector switch
- Gain range from +6 to +72dB, in 6dB increments
- Input RFI protection
- Input clamping protection
- Output surge protection circuit
- Output RFI protection
... read more...

Download PDF file of Assembly Guide/Kit Instructions

Related products like the PSU-1848 Power Supply Kit, Power Transformer Kit, Power Control Kit are also available for sale. Click here.
 Monday, December 28, 2009
TS-2 Rev.B Preamp Redesign
Monday, December 28, 2009 11:02:22 PM (Central Standard Time, UTC-06:00) ( )
The TS-2 has been getting some traction recently... and I'm thinking maybe it's time to revisit this product again and do a Revision B.

The first TS-2 design was very good, and I love the sound of it! (Of course, it's based on the SC-1mk500 and SC-1mk2 preamps, but in a smaller form factor.)

But assembling a single TS-2 unit takes up a lot of time/manpower and with the small profit I have on each unit, it's a losing proposition. I'd come out ahead if I DON'T build a TS-2!

So to fix this problem, I'd need to raise TS-2 prices, or reduce my production cost, or a little bit of both. For now, I'm going to concentrate on reducing production cost. With today's economy, it may not be smart to raise prices (unless that price increase brings with it additional features that the original TS-2 didn't have.)

Question: So what can I do to reduce production cost?
Answer: Reduce the time/manpower to build a TS-2 unit.

Question: How can I reduce time to build a TS-2 unit?
Answer: Good question...

I'm thinking of several possibilities.
1. Through automation. Using SMD parts and pick and place machines. Ask a manufacturer to build the boards for me.

Cons: A little on the expensive side, and requires a lot of capital. I think 100 boards is the minimum. Assuming it will cost $50 per board assembly fee, 100pcs is a staggering $5000!

And I doubt it will cost only $50 per board... maybe closer to $100. And that's just the labor. The cost of parts for 100 boards is not included yet.

2. Minimize "wiring". Yes, soldering wires to the PCB board and connectors, and jacks take a lot of time. So if we can get rid of "flying wires", then that will reduce a lot of time and labor. So as much as possible, use PCB mounted jacks, switches, LEDs, etc... everything should be soldered to the PCB. No more hookup wires, if I can avoid it!



3. Reduce the number of PCBs. Right now, the original TS-2 preamp has 4 PCBs. A motherboard and a switchboard, and 2 VU meter PCBs.
That's a lot! And of course, there are hookup wires to connect all 4 PCBs to each other (see #2 above). So I need to reduce the number of boards required to build a TS-2.



I've upgraded my PCB design software last year, to allow me to make the bigger boards. Unfortunately, the TS-2 board design was prior to my software upgrade.

Now, with the ability to make bigger boards, I think I'll be able to combine more functions in a single board.

We've got plenty of real estate space FREE!



What else...

Revision B will also give the user the option to have INPUT TRANSFORMERS! So that will be cool! Maybe even add a switch to bypass Input Transformer. Hmmm... I'm getting too far ahead here.

So that's my goal.... redesign the TS-2 preamp to minimize wiring, combine more functionality in a single board, and add some new features.

Wish me luck!

Comments [0] | Trackback | # 
Related posts:
TS-2 Rev.B Preamp Redesign Part 3
TS-2 Rev.B Preamp Redesign Part 2
DIY: Building the Gyraf SSL Compressor
How to build your own Compressor - Part 3
How to create your own DIY cables, XLR, TRS, studio cables
Building a DIY 1176 Compressor - Part 2
Name
E-mail
Home page

Comment (HTML not allowed)  

Enter the code shown (prevents robots):