Turtlerock Forum

Hey All,

Just thought I'd give you all a look into what i have been doing in the last 12months. Some of you may be interested. So 12 months ago I purchased my first real console. It was a Soundcraft Sapphyre, some of you may have seen it on ebay. So for $600 plus the $200 shipping cost from Adelaide to Brisbane I had myself a 10ch inline console. I was then able to track down another 6 ch's from a guy in Perth. So I did you goggling & found out that this console is quite mod-able. So with the info I found on the mods I sent 1 strip the Totally Technical up here in Brisbane as the owner is a good friend. So he was able to recap & do 1 EQ mod for me. I then bought a desoldering station & got to work on the rest this was all done in January this year. I also replaced 6 alps faders for new ones as well.( I'm hoping to do the rest soon) As the EQ where done I then decided I would make use of the Transformer option on the ch strip PCB. So i contacted Jensen, Sowter & Cinemag & bought the transformers they recommended for the job (see photos) To my ears the Cinemag is the best. This also came out as well in the testing that they did in at the shop as well. So within the console itself I now have 4 different sounding pres to choose from when tracking. I added a nice arm rest ( got rid of the crapped rubber one) I also made timber sides as well. I also recapped the power supply which improved the sound & the running of the console. Then in these last few weeks I sent of the Master Section & another ch strip to Jim Williams at Audio Upgrades to do the mods that he does for that console. Well the master section is sounding very nice & clean but punchy as well. It feels as if it has brought my mixes to life. Well hopefully you guys find this interesting. I didn't want to go on & on about it at the start. feel free to comment away. If your interested I have spent around $3k all up to get this console sounding great & bring it back to life. I have been told back when they were being made (92-95) that this frame size console sold for around $25k. So I think I have done alright plus the learning experience has been one of a kind. Thats for reading

Some more photos

Great stuff Andy.....


And I for one would love to hear you wax lyrical on the process........

Thanks for posting. Its always good to see someone pursuing the analogue path to self realization.

Chris H wrote:Thanks for posting. Its always good to see someone pursuing the analogue path to self realization.

Beautiful - the keystone of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs with the pinnacle being self-actualisation. You're inspiring us Andy.

Thanks for the kind words guys.

Heres a little info on the EQ mods
the mic pre is new. I replaced transistors, caps, opamps. The EQ is redone with the range extended. Hi mids go to 22k hz. Low mids down to about 50 hz. The high shelf EQ is converteed from 2 poles to a smooth single pole with max boost/cut at 20k hz. The mute circuits and fader amps are redone as is the direct out. Outside of the mic pre and mute blocks, all the rest of the circuits are direct coupled, no more caps in the signal path.

Master section
The master has Analog Devices ADA4898-2 class A opamps for summing, those have heat sinks on them. The rest is also direct coupled, no caps. Low end is flat to 1 hz, top end out to 200k hz. There is no phase shift as a result. The noise floor should be quite a bit lower as well.

As for the transformers

Well the Jensen has the biggest bottom end out of the 3 as you would expect being a Jensen.
The Sowter has less bottom end then the Jensen but it provides this wonderful mid/top end thing that is just smooth & not brittle sounding.
The Cinemag is somewhere in the middle of the 2 & it is the warmest sounding out of the 3.

TRM
Where guys post up stuff nobody would ever give two stuffs about
And yet all of us look through it with interest and glee
Nice going !
Looks great

rick wrote:Where guys post up stuff nobody would ever give two stuffs about

...always interested in what the family's up to!

Great stuff andy.

Thanks for reading guys. It's the pride & joy of my studio

rick wrote:TRM
Where guys post up stuff nobody would ever give two stuffs about
And yet all of us look through it with interest and glee
Nice going !
Looks great

thanks Rick