Summing amps for analog mixdown from DAW

[GrievousAngel]

any advice on what is the best 7th Circle line amp to be used for a summing and mixdown from LYNX Aurora16 DA (Nuendo 3)?

i have been mixing down in Nuendo 3 and mastering in Wavelab 5 (using Waves Mastering plug-ins, mostly L3).

considering changing to analog mixdown and summing. i use a tascam M5000 as my main console.

later,

GrievousAngel

[Nerdyrocker]

These are MIC preamps so the level coming out of your DAW is more than likely going to be LINE level (depending on your hardware audio interface). The SCA pres are looking for a much lower level signal.

[GrievousAngel]

can the mic pres be set up to accept +4 or of course better choice is there a line amp lit?

[PJD3]

I'm not sure if this will help but at the Jensen transformer website I was pleasantly surprised to see that there is a transformer with accompanying schematic(very simple schematics) that make it really easy to interface any kind of input to any kind of output and vice versa. It's a simple matter of picking the transformer that is pre designed specifically for the interface that you require, and maybe a few resistors and a couple of capacitors at the most. If someone is ambitious enough to build an entire high end pre amp then these interfaces would be a breeze. Take a look if you get at chance and you'll see what I mean.

KInd regards,

PHil

[PJD3]

I'm not sure if this will help but at the Jensen transformer website I was pleasantly surprised to see that there is a transformer with accompanying schematic(very simple schematics) that make it really easy to interface any kind of input to any kind of output and vice versa. It's a simple matter of picking the transformer that is pre designed specifically for the interface that you require, and maybe a few resistors and a couple of capacitors at the most. If someone is ambitious enough to build an entire high end pre amp then these interfaces would be a breeze. Take a look if you get at chance and you'll see what I mean.

KInd regards,

PHil

[GrievousAngel]

who sweears by mixdown of DAW mixes via an analog summing is worth the extra cost and trouble?

that's why i am looking at these products even though they are mic pres. i need 16 channels of choice analog summing (+4 in and out).

peace,

Billy

[Reggie]

Maybe you should look into summing boxes first. Once you find one that meets your needs, then you might try yourself 2 channels of J99s for the final stereo amplification.

Any of you guys that are confused as to why our thread-starter is looking for pres to use for summing might take a look at this thread to see where this all came from: http://www.recording.org/modules.php?na ... sc&start=0

[tele_player]

The main contenders in this would be the Dangerous 2-Bus and the Roll Music Folcrom. I'd try a Folcrom into some 7th Circle pres.

[GrievousAngel]

with my limited background as a degreed EE, i felt maybe someone had mod'ed a 7th Circle mic pre (maybe with some negative feedback or had sharp enough chops) to have tried such a foolish idea. i heard 7th Circle pres were really great sounding amps or preamps if you prefer. lower the gain to unity and you may have a great start for a piece of gear to feed a digital signal (DAW) into to sum and mix to a stereo image. i admitt i do not know the circuitry of the several pres 7th Circle offers so i may be wasting a few moments of someones time.

i am researching what DAW freaks like myself are trying these days to improve digital summing issues. of course, 2" 16 track tape is nice. i plan to try my tascam m5000 after i finish changing the opamps to OP275 or maybe the 'snakey' OPA2604's. i have removed about half of the coupling caps and/or 2x-3x the cap value of the ones i kept. also 2x-3x the de-coupling caps also. the newer opamps have much better 'trimming' charateristics so passing DC is not as much of an concern as it once was. also Tascam designs were very 'safe' you may say be as kind as possible. note coupling caps on input and output of EVERY opamp!!!

PEACE,

Billy

[tele_player]

The 7th Circle preamps don't need to be modded to accept the output of a resistive summing mixer like the Folcrom, which has a balanced output, and requires 30-40db of makeup gain.

The Folcrom goes for about $750, but if you're feeling handy, something similar can be built for much less.

Take a look at:
http://www.forsselltech.com/summing_buss_schematics.htm

[GrievousAngel]

yea, that's kinda what i was thinking, summing passively into a 7th Circle pre.

what pre do you prefer for something like this?

do you plaay a Tele? i own one and also a pedal steel (Derby).

thanks,

Billy

[tele_player]

Not having tried it, I won't say which preamp I prefer for this, but I expect ANY of them will sound 'good'.

Yes, I play Tele mostly.

[tpryan]

The Folcrom goes for about $750...

That's a ton of money for a boxfull of pushbutton switches. If you use Fred's balanced summing circuit with a mic preamp, you might want to add a 150 ohm resistor across the output of the summing network so as to better match the input impedance of the preamp. Any of our preamp modules will work, it's just a matter of how much and what kind of "color" you want to add.

[tele_player]

To be fair, it's also a bunch of resistors, connectors and a case.

But, yes, I'd say it's a lot of money - I'd build one myself.

[T-rex]

I am pretty interested in this now that i am getting into the DIY thing a little more. I currently use a Delta 1010 soundcards that are not balanced and a Tascam M520 console, also not balanced.

Anyway, I would like to build one of these to use with my SCA stuff to compare against the Tascam and ITB mixes. Since I am coming from unbalanced outs on the soundcards could I simple use RCA's for the inputs on the summing box and if so which pin would I tie to the ground?

Excuse the question, I am a newb and this looks like a good, fairly simple project to experiment with while waiting on the pre's.

Any advice greatly appreciated!