Passive Attenuator Project
Mikkel:
In the above config, which board supports the remote mute, phase reverse, and tape loop? I think I may need another board. Also, will the instructions show me how to wire it so that these functions may be selected at the base?
Last question: With a TVA approach, the desire is to eliminate as much circuitry as possible to allow a pure signal to pass. As I understand it, with your boards the signal will only pass through a relay -- is this correct? Is your relay as good as a high quality switch such as an Elna or a Shalco?
Thanks
Michael
Mikkel:
In the above config, which board supports the remote mute, phase reverse, and tape loop? I think I may need another board. Also, will the instructions show me how to wire it so that these functions may be selected at the base?
Last question: With a TVA approach, the desire is to eliminate as much circuitry as possible to allow a pure signal to pass. As I understand it, with your boards the signal will only pass through a relay -- is this correct? Is your relay as good as a high quality switch such as an Elna or a Shalco?
Thanks
Michael
Re: Passive Attenuator Project
Mute works by selecting the ground tap on the transformer. The phase and tape loop relays are not on the board, but there is a header on the attenuator board for connecting them.
No, not at the base. The VolControl2 board only has the encoder for setting the volume. So the other functions can only be selected by the remote. If you need to change those setting on the front panel also, you can use the Control1 or 2.
It passes through two relays actually. That way the number of relays needed is halved. Whether you use relays or rotary switches the signal passes through gold-plated silver switches. I can't really see what difference it makes where the switches are placed...
Best regards,
Mikkel C. Simonsen
mike_mcf said:
Mute works by selecting the ground tap on the transformer. The phase and tape loop relays are not on the board, but there is a header on the attenuator board for connecting them.
No, not at the base. The VolControl2 board only has the encoder for setting the volume. So the other functions can only be selected by the remote. If you need to change those setting on the front panel also, you can use the Control1 or 2.
It passes through two relays actually. That way the number of relays needed is halved. Whether you use relays or rotary switches the signal passes through gold-plated silver switches. I can't really see what difference it makes where the switches are placed...
Best regards,
Mikkel C. Simonsen
Mikkel:
I'm not thrilled with the Control1 board. I think I will have more design flexibility with the Control2, so I'll go with that. So it controls both the RelVol2 and the VolControl2? Will the one PSU power all of that? Do I just add the Control2 to the order?
Michael
PS: I'm glad to hear about the high quality relay contacts!
I'm not thrilled with the Control1 board. I think I will have more design flexibility with the Control2, so I'll go with that. So it controls both the RelVol2 and the VolControl2? Will the one PSU power all of that? Do I just add the Control2 to the order?
Michael
PS: I'm glad to hear about the high quality relay contacts!
mike_mcf said:
No, if you use the Control2 you don't need the VolControl2. You need a display for the Control2 for setup (any LCD like a 1*16), but you don't need it for use if you don't want it.
Yes.
Yes, and you should probably add a control panel type 1 also - since you wanted front panel controls for the mute/phase switching.
Best regards,
Mikkel C. Simonsen
Mikkel
My kits arrived safe.
The boards are very good quality great value.🙂 Highly recommended
Thanks for all your help.
Peter
My kits arrived safe.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
The boards are very good quality great value.🙂 Highly recommended
Thanks for all your help.
Peter
Passive Attenuator Project
Mikkel:
The LCD displays look too small to be seen across the room. Are there larger HD44780 displays available? I couldn't find any.
I assume that the VolControl2 display is large enough to view across the room. Could it be used with the Control2 just to get the encoder and display?
Michael
Mikkel:
The LCD displays look too small to be seen across the room. Are there larger HD44780 displays available? I couldn't find any.
I assume that the VolControl2 display is large enough to view across the room. Could it be used with the Control2 just to get the encoder and display?
Michael
You can get bigger HD44780 LCDs but generally not much bigger. There are heaps on Ebay. VFD and PLED displays have more clarity and are viewable from wider angles but ofcourse they are more expensive and harder to find 😉
You can find quite a few VFD's of larger size but they cost. I did find larger LCD's but I cannot find the url now I'm afraid, they were not much bigger though.
The blue display from Dantimax is a little hard to read at distance, for me it starts to become hard to read at 5ft plus.
A bar graph for volume would be cool, I can see the display fine just not make out the numbers clearly. It could switch back to numbers once you have finished adjusting. Maybe not possible though!
I think your best bet is to get a high contrast one, I've seen some red text on black background ones and they look much easier on the eye. All the geeks like me want blue, but infact it is not the clearest!
Like this : http://www.crystalfontz.com/products/2002a-color/CFAH2002A-RMC-JP_front.jpg
Matrix Orbital have a nice choice too : http://www.matrixorbital.com/index.php?cName=lcd-mop-character-lcds
The blue display from Dantimax is a little hard to read at distance, for me it starts to become hard to read at 5ft plus.
A bar graph for volume would be cool, I can see the display fine just not make out the numbers clearly. It could switch back to numbers once you have finished adjusting. Maybe not possible though!
I think your best bet is to get a high contrast one, I've seen some red text on black background ones and they look much easier on the eye. All the geeks like me want blue, but infact it is not the clearest!
Like this : http://www.crystalfontz.com/products/2002a-color/CFAH2002A-RMC-JP_front.jpg
Matrix Orbital have a nice choice too : http://www.matrixorbital.com/index.php?cName=lcd-mop-character-lcds
Reading distance
Agree, the blue displays are hard to read...the red are better.
The best vould be an "analog" type, bar-graph, or just ~ 10 single diode-outputs to form a line, or the circle round the vol-knob...
Arne K
Agree, the blue displays are hard to read...the red are better.
The best vould be an "analog" type, bar-graph, or just ~ 10 single diode-outputs to form a line, or the circle round the vol-knob...
Arne K
Re: Passive Attenuator Project
Yes, you can get them much bigger. They cost a fortune though. I can check the prices for you. I have though about making a 1-line display using alphanumeric LED displays though. That wouldn't be cheap either, but it may be cheaper still.
I have made a small board with two displays for showing just the volume setting, if that's what you want.
Best regards,
Mikkel C. Simonsen
mike_mcf said:
Yes, you can get them much bigger. They cost a fortune though. I can check the prices for you. I have though about making a 1-line display using alphanumeric LED displays though. That wouldn't be cheap either, but it may be cheaper still.
I have made a small board with two displays for showing just the volume setting, if that's what you want.
Best regards,
Mikkel C. Simonsen
Re: Reading distance
That's very easy to make. You would only need a 3-to-8 decoder to make an 8-LED bargraph.
Best regards,
Mikkel C. Simonsen
Cobra2 said:
That's very easy to make. You would only need a 3-to-8 decoder to make an 8-LED bargraph.
Best regards,
Mikkel C. Simonsen
Magsy said:
I think green on black should be the best actually. The eyes are very sensitive to green.
Best regards,
Mikkel C. Simonsen
I have looked at some larger LCDs. The standard type has a character height of 5.55mm. I can get types with 7.76mm and 9.55mm characters also. The 9.55mm type is about twice the cost of the standard types, and the 7.76mm type is somewhere inbetween. My supplier has the green ones in stock, but other colours are available also of course.
Best regards,
Mikkel C. Simonsen
Best regards,
Mikkel C. Simonsen
I assume it is green with a black background? What is the price?
What is the size of the display included in VolControl2?
Could VolControl2 be used with Control2?
I will be using the RelVol2 with a 20-step S&B TX-102 TVA. The TX-102 is non-linear at the top and bottom (ie the steps are bigger than they are in the middle). Does the display show the actual attentuation level in dB, the tap on the TX-120, or is it an approximation of the level? Ideally, I would like the display to show the actual attentuation or gain of the transformer.
Mike
What is the size of the display included in VolControl2?
Could VolControl2 be used with Control2?
I will be using the RelVol2 with a 20-step S&B TX-102 TVA. The TX-102 is non-linear at the top and bottom (ie the steps are bigger than they are in the middle). Does the display show the actual attentuation level in dB, the tap on the TX-120, or is it an approximation of the level? Ideally, I would like the display to show the actual attentuation or gain of the transformer.
Mike
mike_mcf said:
No, it's the standard black text on green background type. The price is €32 including VAT (so 25.6 for you).
It's the standard MAN74-type DIL displays. The actual display is 0.3" - the orange type is slightly larger at 0.4"
No. I made a two-digit display for the RelVol1/3, and since they are binary you only have to monitor six signals to make a display. For a 20-step RelVol2 attenuator there would be 11 relays (per channel) to monitor. I could make a display like that, if you want one, but I think using a larger LCD (or VFD) would be simpler.
Do you have the transformers? It seems S&B recently changed their transformer design, so they have 24 steps now. The datasheet on their website still showed 20 steps last time I checked though.
The VolControl2 shows step numbers. The Control2 could show the actual attenuation, if I can figure out what that actually is 😉
Best regards,
Mikkel C. Simonsen
Transport CD unit
Hi Mikkel,
I have a Theta Digital transport CD with a faillure in its mechanism.
I am thinking about replacing its CDM-12 transport by your CD-PRO2M in place, but I am not sure if these machines are both compatible 100%.
Some ideas?
cheers,
luis.
Hi Mikkel,
I have a Theta Digital transport CD with a faillure in its mechanism.
I am thinking about replacing its CDM-12 transport by your CD-PRO2M in place, but I am not sure if these machines are both compatible 100%.
Some ideas?
cheers,
luis.
Re: Transport CD unit
I'm not sure either. This is what Philips has to say about it: "Still, the CD-Pro2M remains 100% compatible, electrically and mechanically, with its predecessors (CD-Pro2, CD-Pro and CDM12 Industrial). In other words, one should be able to replace a CDM12 Industrial module by a CD-Pro2M in its existing application without any problem."
But what is the difference between the CDM12 and the CDM12 Industrial?
I guess if it looks like the CD-Pro2M will fit in your player, and the connectors are the same, it should work. The connectors on the Pro2M are 4-pin power, 6-pin DSA control, 6-pin I2S, 4-pin audio, 2-pin S/P-DIF.
Best regards,
Mikkel C. Simonsen
LuisMCP said:
I'm not sure either. This is what Philips has to say about it: "Still, the CD-Pro2M remains 100% compatible, electrically and mechanically, with its predecessors (CD-Pro2, CD-Pro and CDM12 Industrial). In other words, one should be able to replace a CDM12 Industrial module by a CD-Pro2M in its existing application without any problem."
But what is the difference between the CDM12 and the CDM12 Industrial?
I guess if it looks like the CD-Pro2M will fit in your player, and the connectors are the same, it should work. The connectors on the Pro2M are 4-pin power, 6-pin DSA control, 6-pin I2S, 4-pin audio, 2-pin S/P-DIF.
Best regards,
Mikkel C. Simonsen