I would like to learn how to mod consoles

[blue_thunder]

I'd like to learn how to mod recording consoles. I have a little knowledge of electronics, but not alot of experience. I'm pretty handy with a soldering iron, and could identify many of the components (though I'd have to spend quite some time with a color coding table to determine their values). Anyway, I have this old Behringer MX3282a that I'm thinking using for a guinea pig. I know it's not a very good console, but I'd rather get my feet wet on something cheap than take a chance on screwing up a nice board. The thing was given to me for free, so I wouldn't care too much if I accidentally screwed it up. Anyway, I was thinking about trying to add some Burr-Brown opamps to a couple of channels. Would this be a good mod to start with? Do I need a schematic? How do I know which opamp I would need? Is there anything else I would need to do besides replacing the existing opamps with the Burr-Browns? Anything else I would need to consider? Thanks in advance for all your help.

[Ethan Winer]

Based on the questions you're asking ("Do I need a schematic?") I'd say you probably shouldn't attempt this. More to the point, what exactly are you unhappy with? I'm all for experimenting and learning about electronics! But a better approach is to assess your current gear and determine if it's deficient. That is, if the frequency response is flat within 1/4 dB throughout the audible range, and the hiss is soft enough not to notice, and nothing sounds distorted, then replacing op-amps etc will likely offer no audible improvement.

--Ethan

[tINY]

Better to start out with some kits and build a pre-amp, compressor, or EQ.



-tINY

[blue_thunder]

Originally Posted by Ethan Winer

Based on the questions you're asking ("Do I need a schematic?") I'd say you probably shouldn't attempt this. More to the point, what exactly are you unhappy with? I'm all for experimenting and learning about electronics! But a better approach is to assess your current gear and determine if it's deficient. That is, if the frequency response is flat within 1/4 dB throughout the audible range, and the hiss is soft enough not to notice, and nothing sounds distorted, then replacing op-amps etc will likely offer no audible improvement.

--Ethan

I was under the impression that the Burr-Browns would give it a warmer sound and possibly a bit more headroom. Currently the preamps are quiet when they're not pushed too hard, but they sound very small & sterile. I just thought that if all I had to do was de-solder the existing opamp and solder a Burr-Brown in it's place, I could do one or two channels and it would be fairly simple and wouldn't cost alot of money. If the end result improves the sound of those channels, then I would consider doing more, but if not then I could always put the original opamps back in it. If it fries the channels, or the even whole board, who cares because it's a POS Behringer.

[tINY]

You'll probably get more mileage upgrading your coupling capacitors to foil-and-film types. The problem is: There's likely not enough room.



-tINY

[blue_thunder]

Anybody else want to get in on this?

[donsolo]

Honestly, just start reading about EE.

It's just that simple. You gotta learn what you're looking at. You gotta learn what the changes will do.

It's just shooting in the dark if you're just replacing stuff ad nauseum.

I mean, there's many many factors that could cause the behr pres to suck so bad.

There could be cheap capacitors (probably) crappy op-amps (definitely) it might be class B...(can't really change that easily)

[NaturalBlack]

Originally Posted by tINY

Better to start out with some kits and build a pre-amp, compressor, or EQ.



-tINY

u recommend any kits for a preamp? that could be fun

[tINY]

I haven't built any, but this guy seems to have a lot of interesting kits and resonable technical discussion:

Elliott Sound Products - The Audio Pages (Main Index)



-tINY

[NaturalBlack]

Originally Posted by tINY

I haven't built any, but this guy seems to have a lot of interesting kits and resonable technical discussion:

Elliott Sound Products - The Audio Pages (Main Index)



-tINY

Thanks for the link tiny.

[PepsiFX357]

Seventhcircleaudio.com can't go wrong here.

[kafka]

Originally Posted by blue_thunder

Anybody else want to get in on this?

What do you want to accomplish by modifying them? Engineers solve problems. They don't just pimp up gear to see what happens. You have to first figure out what your problem is, and then why you're having it, and then how to solve it. That's the engineering cycle.

Even a Behringer is more than just a box of parts. It's an organization of those parts. Figure out how it's organized, and why each thing is where and what it is, and then you might be able to turn it into something else. Otherwise, your Burr-Browns are just as likely to make it sound worse, because it was engineered to work around the limitations of the parts they used.

A Kia is not just a Mercedes with cheap parts. It's the best car it can be using cheap parts. There's a difference.

[rufus13]

The Art of Electronics

[blue_thunder]

Originally Posted by kafka

A Kia is not just a Mercedes with cheap parts. It's the best car it can be using cheap parts. There's a difference.

But what if it was a Kia with a lowered suspension, extra wide tires, chrome accents, ground effects, those rims that keep spinning whenever the car stops, an exhaust that will make the thing sound like it's about to explode, metallic purple paint job with bright orange flames on the front, a grotesquely large spoiler on the back, some of those annoying blue headlights, hydraulics, a stereo system that causes structural damage to buildings within a 10 block radius, completely opaque window tinting, and a mural of the virgin Mary on the back window that also incorporates my last name and the name of the car club I'm associated with? I'd like to see your Mercedes compete with that.