A passive monitor volume controller

[squeegybug]

Originally Posted by chipwits

That would be excellent squeegy, if you could post the clips! If the presonus is 100% transparrent I am gonna get it.

Ok, I found the clips. Here are three samples of pink noise --

one Lavry DA to CS Main output back to Lavry AD
one Lavry DA to CS Channel A output back to Lavry AD
one looped through the Lavry DA back to Lavry AD (no CS in circuit)

in no particular order:

Sample_A
Sample_B
Sample_C

You can load them and check for nulling or A-B-C as you want.

Steve

[chipwits]

Thanks for sharing these squeegy!

How much attenuation did you have from the Presonus? Or was it wide open?

James

[squeegybug]

No attenuation (on Channel A sample) as far as I recall, been a while since I did those.

Steve

[redddog]

Can't play them for some reason. Could you give me a synopsis?

[squeegybug]

Originally Posted by redddog

Can't play them for some reason. Could you give me a synopsis?

I can hum the pink noise sample for you... HHMMMMMM.....

sorry. They are 48 kHz 24 bit wav files. Standard Windows Media Player won't play that format. Maybe try Audacity, iTunes, winamp, foobar2000, etc.?

Steve

[redddog]

Hahaha... no Squeegy...could you give me a synopsis of the results of the test? Not why the clips wont play. What did you discover?

Thanks bro.

[squeegybug]

That "humming" was my synopsis. Lame.

To me the sounds are indistinguishable between the 3 samples. I did not measure how far down the tones nulled, I listened to the difference files of Lavry/CS vs. Lavry only and they are *very* low level. Here they are if you want to hear them:

Diff_1
Diff_2

I'm pretty fussy about my sound, I would not use the CS if it caused noticeable changes to the audio. And I have other places I need to spend money right now for more return on investment than any potential miniscule differences between higher cost monitor controllers. Functionality is also important, and the CS fits my needs there very well.

Steve

[redddog]

Thanks Steve. I have one and I don't feel like there is any signal degradation. To me, if Presonus is selling the fact that it's a passive circuit, it better well be. I think high-enders see the word Presonus and shrug their well-healed shoulders. "Why buy some thing from Presonus when crainsong makes a distribution amp?" (In my best lockjaw impression). Thanks for the samples anyway and glad to hear that the CS stood up well.

Danny

[warhead]

The Central Station has a happy home in my rack, as well as the remote.

War

[TAVD]

If you can hear differences in cables or potentiometers of different values, you'll hear differences between the various passive controllers. I used a CS for nearly 3 years. When I built one using a few switches and a spare fader, I preferred it to the CS but the differences were slight. I could also hear a difference b/t the CS and Benchmark DAC-1 and the differences were even less apparent. Finally, switching between the DAC-1 and digital in on the CS (using the CS as the master vol) it was hard to distinguish one DA from the other. I didn't need the routing so I sold the CS. BTW, the CS headphone amp sucks, yuck! Another interesting thing I noticed is there's a potential relationship b/t the volume controller and other parts of the monitoring chain. A certain set of monitors might sound better with a 250k pot for example.

[chipwits]

Yeah I've been trying to understand impedance and how it affects the chain. I have a Lynx Aurora 8 that has an output of 100ohms balanced. I believe most amplifiers are 50ohm. Perhaps I should get an amp that is rated at 100ohm also and some passive monitor controller that has 100ohms in and 100 ohms out. Wish I knew more about it.. studying up on it now. Finally found a use for complex numbers (learned them in calculus 2 in college).. never thought i'd use them. but I guess they are used heavily in AC circuitry.

James

[Mitch Manger]

I just bought a Mytek 8x192 as my first non-digidesign DAW product, and just discovered that I would have to switch each of the 32 tracks in Pro Tools to output ADAT, EVERY time I receive a mix from another band member (and we trade mixes pretty frequuently). So I'm left with my Digi002 monitor control pot unless I want to change the output of each every single time I trade mixes. I could use the Digi002 pot, but Mr. Bob Katz has criticized the "pot users" for inaccuracy, and recommended getting a 1dB-stepped attenuator instead. ...and I don't need to spend thousands on multiple-monitor controllers yet.

Are there any passive monitor volume controllers that are stepped? From what I read and saw, none of these bare-bones passive 2-ch monitor volume attenuators are detented:
Behringer 1002fx
A-Designs ATTY
SPL Volume2
SM Pro M-Patch 2

[chrisrulesmore]

I mentioned this in another thread the other day...

Dave from Apogee was just out in Boulder demoing the Symphony system with a pair of AD/DA16x's and they were using the Presonus Central Station. He said they even went so far as to bring it into Apogee and put it on a scope. According to him, it does NOTHING to the signal as it is completely passive.

If it is good enough for those guys, trust me, it is good enough for you!

[TER]

Originally Posted by chrisrulesmore

According to him, it does NOTHING to the signal as it is completely passive.

Well, that's hardly a reason that a device would do nothing to a signal. I can name any number of passive devices that will mangle a signal.

I have not used the CS, but it certainly looks well designed and built. The Coleman stuff is also well designed and built.

I use one of the Goldpoint stepped attenuators here and really like it. Before the attenuator is a Goldpoint switch that selects from three inputs and after the attenuator is a switch that chooses the signal destination between 5 sets of monitors. I couldn't find a monitor controller allowing me to do this exact job, so I built it. The rig is entirely balanced and passive. Sounds great, works great, and I got to decide the form factor to make it suit me. Long live DIY.

tom

[Stitch333]

Originally Posted by TER

Well, that's hardly a reason that a device would do nothing to a signal. I can name any number of passive devices that will mangle a signal.

I have not used the CS, but it certainly looks well designed and built. The Coleman stuff is also well designed and built.

I use one of the Goldpoint stepped attenuators here and really like it. Before the attenuator is a Goldpoint switch that selects from three inputs and after the attenuator is a switch that chooses the signal destination between 5 sets of monitors. I couldn't find a monitor controller allowing me to do this exact job, so I built it. The rig is entirely balanced and passive. Sounds great, works great, and I got to decide the form factor to make it suit me. Long live DIY.

tom

I just got an old painton winkler 30 step attenuator (its a classic!) and the goldpoint 3position switch is soon to come. DIY is the way, my dude...

[jenkel16]

Out of curiosity what did it cost for the DIY?

[majortom]

Just a word on the ATTY. I have two and the mute button seems to go on them after a while. If I jiggle it just right it works otherwise it cuts out. I also notice that it sometimes shift the image to the left or right... mostly to the right at low volumes.

[Gator M]

Hello,

If you've had the ATTY's for less than a year you should contact the dealer that you purchased them from and send them back for repair.

[soapdodger]

found this on ebay

Stepped 100K Stereo Potentiometer Attenuator - Ladder on eBay Integrated Amplifiers, Amplifiers, Tube Amps, Vintage Electronics, Consumer Electronics (item 120155817260 end time 04-Sep-07 14:48:56 BST)

1% tolerance resistors seems to be the only downside, tho you could replace them