X12 Preamp: housing and tweaks

[brooklynhero]

I will be getting a wonderfully assembled Five Fish Studios X12 Preamp in the mail soon. Lunchbox Mic Preamp, 500 Series Mic Preamp, DIY Mic Preamp, Power Supply Kits - FiveFishStudios.com - X-12 Mic Preamp Kit
Along with a Fet DI kit from JLM Audio (not so soon - but we will see) It has a 1 Mohm input impedance which is "mission critical" for the K&K floating bridge transducer that I use on my archtop.
Menu -> JLM DI page

I'm SUPER EXCITED

So now to house it

I'm looking for a super portable rig and I'd rather not carry around a rack unit. Though if push come to shove - I may not have an option.

plus I'd like to keep the cost down.

So leading the pack as of late is the Hammond 1458E3 (8"W x 9"D x 3" H internally)


I think it looks cool and it's easily machined (1.6mm steel). Which will be crucial for fitting the blasted IEC plug (ideas for how to do this with only a corded power drill and bits would be appreciated ;-) )

I think there will be enough room as the case is essentially a half rack wide and a full 2 spaces tall.

I'm also looking for ideas to fully support the card since it's loaded with two transformers and will sure exhibit stress on the card during useage as I'm trying to make this portable.

ALSO

this particular preamp uses a DOA. Any thoughts to how different opamps will change performance given the Five Fish Cinemag transformer and a 1:2 output transformer?


the preamp will be used mostly for Male Vocals, Acoustic guitar (and acoustic archtop), Bass DI, Electric guitar pre, Drum mono overhead. And of course anything else that comes up.

FURTHERMORE - does anyone have ideas for a super simple way to add HPF and a Through Jack for the DI (unaffected)? I have info on the Pultec type passive HPF and LPF - but I don't necessarily need something crazy, but I'd like to get away with a small three way switch with two settings optimized for LF rumble for room ribbon mics and a high setting for vocals.

thanks for all your help in advance.

Cheers,

Michael



PS. I've tried to post in the FiveFishForums but I can't seem to get registered AND I'm still waiting on a reply from Owel on the matter. So I thought to post here - among the industrious types.

[brooklynhero]

I went ahead and bought an enclosure but it's not the one pictured. it's black anodized aluminum

It looks like the type of shell used to house the ART tubeMP stuff


I guess the only thing I'm wondering is - with the pictured layout - will I run into noise?


the front panel will read from right to left

1/4" insert (front panel for accessibility)

Trim pot

The Meter and Polarity, Pad, and Phantom switches

Gain pot

Fet DI

XLR in

power LED


on the back I'll have the XLR out in the far left side and the IEC in the middle.


Thanks in advance for any comments.

[brooklynhero]

so i'm trying to house this preamp and I've hit a major road block

Owel's supplied faceplate design and measurements (taken from the 5fish fourm) are off.

Luckily I did not drill

does anyone have any advice for how to draft a custom faceplate for parts that are fixed in place on a board?

placing the XLR and the DI jack was easy - but the X12 preamp face controls are tough, and I have no real frame of reference except for the actual preamp assembly.



perhaps someone will see this thread.



I've sent another email to Owel at 5fish - but I did not recieve a reply from my last email sent a while back so i'm skeptical about this one - we will see.

but in the meantime....

[lain2097]

Sorry not much for me to add except that it looks like it will be nice once completed

I have assembled the original preamp from fivefish years ago. Great clean pre. Never got around to create a beautiful case for him.

[brooklynhero]

I WIN!!!!

Ruel from 5Fish supplied the proper layout - I went crazy with my unibit - tested for hum seated all the boards

PRESTO

a preamp is born

Behold...

[brooklynhero]

the FET DI going into the input tranny is the BEST part!

here's a quick A/B between my 1957 P-bass with flats going direct via the Apogee Duet's instrument Input and Through my JLM/ 5Fish FET X12 Beast.


There's room to add a through jack and an instert on the front panel. can't add much else on the back panel. and in a few days I'll be getting a GAR2520 kit and I'll change out the Opamp.

[ppa]

Originally Posted by brooklynhero

this particular preamp uses a DOA. Any thoughts to how different opamps will change performance given the Five Fish Cinemag transformer and a 1:2 output transformer?.

I've sold several my DOA's for this pre. These DOA's are APP2050, that is a DOA I've designed some years ago. Infact in the X12 web page there is a photo with one my, very old, APP2050 ver.1. (Lunchbox Mic Preamp, 500 Series Mic Preamp, DIY Mic Preamp, Power Supply Kits - FiveFishStudios.com - X-12 Mic Preamp Kit Now I sell the 2050 v. 5.4.)

Pier Paolo

[brooklynhero]

Here's an example of how the preamp works with an RE20 for VO work.

no eq, no compression, heck - no pop filter!!!

I just turned the gain and trim up and let her rip.

What I'm saying is just flowing out of my head.

[brooklynhero]

All Tracks used the X12

Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon cover | Brooklynhero

[brooklynhero]

My voice - RE20 - X12 - into Logic at 24/96K no eq or effects.

[brooklynhero]

lo-fi goodness X12 used for bass, kick, snare, grungy guitar, slide guitar

[ultrasonic]

That looks very nice. I understand what you're going for and I have a similar project.

I had a vintage API 312 card sitting around and decided to make a single channel preamp in a desktop box, instead of a rack enclosure. Mostly using parts that I had on hand I built it up in a Hammond cast aluminum box (approx. 8"x8"x3") using JLM power supply and DI kits. I wanted it completely self contained including power supply.

It turned out well and of course sounds great. I've been using it for overdubs recently and I'm sure it will appear on the tracking session for the project I'm starting in a couple weeks.

I'll post some photos later, if you're interested.

[brooklynhero]

go right ahead! I think these "little" portable pres that are still SERIOUS about their components and high voltage supplies are something of merit to the small format, project, and portable recording community.

Pics are certainly encouraged!

[dualflip]

I love all the five fish studio products, and the construction quality of their PCBs is probably one of the best out there, the components are very high-end too, you cant go wrong with fivefish.