Matti Posted November 4, 2009 Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 I may buy an old and cheap AD pico mixer to be used as a front end for my DAW, mainly for music recording at my home and would like to get advice of an easy and simple mod for direct outs. I know some of you had them made at the time and would be extremely happy if you could help me with papers or other information. Regards Matti Lehtonen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Blankenship Posted November 4, 2009 Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 The basic concept of just adding direct outs to a mixer is fairly easy. The complications come in as you decide if, for instance, you have plug-in modules, and you still wish to keep them plug-in without a separate cable to be disconnected, etc. For a pre-fader direct out, tapping off the signal at the high side of the mix pot is generally a good point. You're typically coming out of the E.Q. and a buffer amp at this point and then feeding the mix pot with an unbalanced signal which is then routed to the mix buss, etc. If you have a set of schematics and circuit board diagrams you can more easily figure out if there is an unused pin, or set of pins, on the plug-in channel card. Then, decide how to route the signal from the output point in the circuit to the connectors, and from there it is a matter of picking up the signal from the motherboard and adding connectors to the backplane. An alternative is to hard wire from the card to the backplane connectors, but that makes servicing the unit much more kludgy. You can also wire from the channel card to an in-line connector and from there to the backplane connectors, but that adds extra wires crammed into the small interior space. However you wire it can result in additional cross-talk if not done correctly. A well-designed mix panel has had a good deal of attention paid to grounding which is part of the reason they have much less cross-talk than a cheaper board. So, finding the point to derive the signal from is the easy part. Maintaining the integrity of grounding and ease of service are the harder missions. Good luck, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted November 5, 2009 Report Share Posted November 5, 2009 I did the prefade out mods to my old AD145--the people at Audio Developments were pretty helpful in telling me where the pickoff points for both pre and post fade would be. The mod worked out quite well. The hard part was figuring out where I could fit a connector for the direct out. I ended up adding a TS mini female to the very top of each strip, by the trim selector. BTW, you are still stuck with the "spacing" of the levels of the switchable H-Pad, unless you've modded those already. Philip Perkins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matti Posted November 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2009 Thanks! Audio Developments were helpfull also, so now I´m ready to start with the project once I actually get one. Matti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted November 7, 2009 Report Share Posted November 7, 2009 " Audio Developments were helpfull " !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Eric Lamontagne Posted November 7, 2009 Report Share Posted November 7, 2009 Why not just purchase a premodded unit or a similar and far superior AD147 that Brent Lestage has for sale. What an awesome board and also still current. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matti Posted November 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2009 I´m talking about getting one really cheap and after the mod using it as a pack of preamps combined with my other preamps to my daw in some music recording situations. Matti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gabi Posted November 8, 2009 Report Share Posted November 8, 2009 Mr. Lestage is selling his 147 really cheap and it's is great shape and has the direct out mod. Take a look: http://cgi.ebay.com/Audio-Developments-AD147-Console-Audio-Mixer_W0QQitemZ330375070179QQcategoryZ23785QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D10%26ps%3D63#ht_500wt_1182 Gabi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brent Lestage Posted November 8, 2009 Report Share Posted November 8, 2009 Thank you for mentioning my mixer for sale, Gabi and Eric! -- Brent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matti Posted November 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2009 Up to date I was looking for something really, really cheap and found one from UK, I paid about 350£ to my door in Finland. Not seen it yet -other than pictures- but I´m quite confident about the condition of the mixer and I will go through it when doing the direct outs. Matti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted November 26, 2009 Report Share Posted November 26, 2009 It has a nice fat sound but it wasn't the quietest mixer even back then, and there are some headroom and crosstalk issues that later mixers don't have. But if you like the sound it's all worth it. Philip Perkins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted November 26, 2009 Report Share Posted November 26, 2009 Generally speaking: you get what you pay for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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