Hi all.
Since I'm nearing the completion of my honey badger, I've started looking into what preamp to use. To be honest I'm in a bit over my head so I'm completely open to recommendations.
The Honey Badger will be used in a studio setup, powering two Yamaha NS-10's. It will be receiving audio from a Burl B80 Mothership, which outputs a balanced signal. It seems like the Mesmerize B1 Buffer might be able to do this with some modifications? Or would it be easier to simply get something like the Lundahl Balanced>Unbalanced converter.
I essentially only need 2 channels of balanced input and 2 channels of unbalanced output, although multiple input channels would probably be a good idea for future proofing.
Cheers.
p.s. Is dual mono worth it for a preamp?
Since I'm nearing the completion of my honey badger, I've started looking into what preamp to use. To be honest I'm in a bit over my head so I'm completely open to recommendations.
The Honey Badger will be used in a studio setup, powering two Yamaha NS-10's. It will be receiving audio from a Burl B80 Mothership, which outputs a balanced signal. It seems like the Mesmerize B1 Buffer might be able to do this with some modifications? Or would it be easier to simply get something like the Lundahl Balanced>Unbalanced converter.
I essentially only need 2 channels of balanced input and 2 channels of unbalanced output, although multiple input channels would probably be a good idea for future proofing.
Cheers.
p.s. Is dual mono worth it for a preamp?
do you need a selector if your only source is a Burl?
do you need a volume control, or does the Burl do that for you?
If your Burl does selection and volume control, then you don't need anything except a cable to connect the Burl to the power amplifier.
Did you consider making the input to your power amplifier compatible with your balanced impedance equipment?
do you need a volume control, or does the Burl do that for you?
If your Burl does selection and volume control, then you don't need anything except a cable to connect the Burl to the power amplifier.
Did you consider making the input to your power amplifier compatible with your balanced impedance equipment?
Ideally I would need a volume control and maybe a selector, I could get away without the selector though. Basically the Burl sends a DSUB line to a patch bay, which is where I'd pull outputs from. The only volume control would be through the computer which isn't really practical, some sort of volume control would be pretty handy.
I did consider making the Honey Badger compatible with balanced but I wasn't really sure how hard it would be. Is there more to it than a Lundahl converter?
The other option I considered was adding some passive attenuation to the honey badger, which would probably be the easiest. I'm not sure if the quality would suffer here though.
cheers.
I did consider making the Honey Badger compatible with balanced but I wasn't really sure how hard it would be. Is there more to it than a Lundahl converter?
The other option I considered was adding some passive attenuation to the honey badger, which would probably be the easiest. I'm not sure if the quality would suffer here though.
cheers.
So a bit of bump, I've decided to go a passive preamp. Does anyone know what ohms I should go for? Or can point me to somewhere to work it out? Also, looking for decent brands, I have a budget of about 150 dollars for a good pot ( or is it worth getting a pair of detented pots to keep it dual mono, if that exists?)
I've decided to not worry about converting from balanced to unbalanced at the moment as the line is quite short. I might do this later if I have issues. Does anyone have any links to articles on converting an amp to take a balanced input?
Cheers.
I've decided to not worry about converting from balanced to unbalanced at the moment as the line is quite short. I might do this later if I have issues. Does anyone have any links to articles on converting an amp to take a balanced input?
Cheers.
Hi nerdles,
I think that going without a buffer after your level control is short changing the amplifier - greatly. Strike the term "passive preamp" from your vernacular. It's a stupid concept anyway. Call it what it really is, an attenuator. The output of which is fairly high impedance even if it measures 1K0.
You can drive the Honey Badger very nicely with an OPA2134 using the positive phase from your source. The OPA2134 is a J-Fet input op amp with wonderful credentials. It sounds really good too. Your input to the amplifier will now be driven from a low impedance source and will sound much better for it. The attenuator will easily drive the J-Fet op amp without much in the way of bias currents to deal with. Couple that to a small power supply and you have a very high quality "preamp". You can use the OPA2132 as well, but once you see the price ... The opa2134 will do nicely.
I have used this chip in various locations where a J-Fet op amp is indicated, and it totally slays most of the other chips out there. It's very quiet as well. It utterly destroys the performance available from say, a TL072. As a bonus, you could build the preamp using a TL072 as proof of concept, then switch in the opa2134 once you know it works.
-Chris
I think that going without a buffer after your level control is short changing the amplifier - greatly. Strike the term "passive preamp" from your vernacular. It's a stupid concept anyway. Call it what it really is, an attenuator. The output of which is fairly high impedance even if it measures 1K0.
You can drive the Honey Badger very nicely with an OPA2134 using the positive phase from your source. The OPA2134 is a J-Fet input op amp with wonderful credentials. It sounds really good too. Your input to the amplifier will now be driven from a low impedance source and will sound much better for it. The attenuator will easily drive the J-Fet op amp without much in the way of bias currents to deal with. Couple that to a small power supply and you have a very high quality "preamp". You can use the OPA2132 as well, but once you see the price ... The opa2134 will do nicely.
I have used this chip in various locations where a J-Fet op amp is indicated, and it totally slays most of the other chips out there. It's very quiet as well. It utterly destroys the performance available from say, a TL072. As a bonus, you could build the preamp using a TL072 as proof of concept, then switch in the opa2134 once you know it works.
-Chris
You can download the Peavey CS800s diagram from eserviceinfo.com. The input section is in the box on the upper left. Just use the op amp of your choosing instead of 4560 peavey used. Use a socket for various dual in line op amp 8 pin trials.
For a fast op amp like opa2134 you should put a 22 or 33 pf disk cap across R183. Don't forget the .1 uf disk caps near the op amp IC. I use low noise ST33078 at about a tenth the price of OPA anything. Noise spec is looser for a device not individually tested.
Forget the R184 for bridging the amp.
Or you could buy the Peavey repair part input board and your own +- 15 v power supply. They operate in Aust.
For a fast op amp like opa2134 you should put a 22 or 33 pf disk cap across R183. Don't forget the .1 uf disk caps near the op amp IC. I use low noise ST33078 at about a tenth the price of OPA anything. Noise spec is looser for a device not individually tested.
Forget the R184 for bridging the amp.
Or you could buy the Peavey repair part input board and your own +- 15 v power supply. They operate in Aust.
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Hi nerdles,
You can certainly go that route. Otherwise, as much as I hate to suggest this, you can pick up an Ebay kit or finished PCB, and even buy a case and power supply. Then you sub the op amp with the OPA2134 and attach the bits together. You said yourself you don't need input switching. If you do, use a switch, or buy any of the Ebay kits for a preamp switching setup that uses signal relays. They even make remote controls for the above and have some with nice "volume controls". That gets you done cheaply and quickly.
I assume that your deliveries from China are much faster than the time to ship to North America. I think you're on your way now.
-Chris
You can certainly go that route. Otherwise, as much as I hate to suggest this, you can pick up an Ebay kit or finished PCB, and even buy a case and power supply. Then you sub the op amp with the OPA2134 and attach the bits together. You said yourself you don't need input switching. If you do, use a switch, or buy any of the Ebay kits for a preamp switching setup that uses signal relays. They even make remote controls for the above and have some with nice "volume controls". That gets you done cheaply and quickly.
I assume that your deliveries from China are much faster than the time to ship to North America. I think you're on your way now.
-Chris
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