Just purchased a desoldering gun, hopefully this will make things go a little quicker!

Got scope?

I inherited a massive old valve thing, but unsure if it works, or works properly.

I have come to appreciate its kind of pointless probing around in the dark....

I really ought to grab one.

Cheers
Ben

any updates?

Hey

No, basically. Didnt want to bump this thread with no info.

Ive been mad busy with work and family, for one thing. But main thing was i wasnt sure where i was going with this, in terms of the grounding and the replacing of ICs, so decided to wait a bit to decide. Those grounding wires i was considering look unmanageable.

Im going to pick up an oscilloscope in the next week or so when I get paid, its pointless trying to see whats going on without one.

Any thoughts? I mainly do 'synth-diy' rather than high end audio stuff, it was suggested a 20MHz would be ok, but theres also a Tektronic 2215 for a bit more money (60MHz) which has come highly recommended.

Cheers
Ben

anything new from the upgrade?

no, sorry man, as i said i will update it when i can. im in kind of a music mood rather than an electronics mood at the moment. that said i really miss it, using a small temporary desk, so hoping to get to it soon. Ive bought an oscilloscope since too, but not had a chance to use it.

Cheers

paradigm

i checked a few things that you have posted. im in the process of recapping and changing a few things of my topaz at the moment. and if i have got it right, you are upping the decoupling caps on the different pcb´s this is something you should not do, because different capacities will remove different frequencies of noise. so you should leave them as they are.

i also use the stock values on the coupling caps. because the high pass frequencie which i have checked with an calculator says something like 2-3 hz in most of the coupling situations. the space is very tight so i stick with the stock values. for the bypass caps im using 0.1 uf wimas, i went for the 0.1 uf because i think it could not hurt to go a little higher in this value.

if you checked the grounding on the topaz, it is a kind of star grounding already. not every piece of the pcb´s but every each pcb has its on wire to one central grounding point. so before you go in too much trouble with the grounding leave it as it is. so you can finish this someday.

will report back when im done. maybe in 2-3 days.

i used bipolars for all electrolytics, only the decoupling ones are polarized. this was a big investment i hope this will result in an grea improvement. i used nichicon muse bipolars, i used them in an effects unit and the difference blow me away!

about the scope, you should get one, without it is very difficult to find problems. dont buy an old scope, i did this once and it stopped working after a short time. it needed maintenance but i could not do it myself because of the high voltage inside of it. better get something up to date..

I'm not sure exactly where to ask this question about the Topaz, but there seems to be a lot of knowledgable people commenting in this thread. I'm looking to purchase one and I had a question...

Is it possible to either send the Monitor path to the Tape Output (rather than the Channel path), or if not, is it possible to send the signal to Tape Output pre-EQ, just after the preamp section?

What we are trying to do is track to the DAW without EQ, but while monitoring the EQ in the board. That way we can play with EQ and auxes and such while tracking but without commiting to recording the EQ. Then when ready to mix, it's already halfway there and we can finalize the EQ for each channel. Also this helps so we can jam out new songs through the board and EQ but record straight from the preamp.

The flip function switches the "tape ins" to the channel & fader but isn't a true flip where the monitor pot then becomes your mic input .

Depending on how many inputs you're using and the Topaz model ( 24 or 32 inputs ) you could split the input channels into say , half inputs and half DAW returns.

Also check that the +4 mod has been done.

(here is)How to mod the Soundtracs Topaz Project 8 from -10 to +4 operation.

I purchased the Topaz!

I'm using the RME ADI-8 with the Tape Outs and Ins, which has selectable -10 or +4 ins and outs so the -10 thing doesn't seem like it would be an issue. But the Control Room Outputs sound very low. Is that normal? I'm using balanced cables into powered monitors and I have to crank the CR level and monitors all the way up for decent listening volumes.

Also, if anyone knows a way to get the Monitor path for each channel to go out of the Tape Outs when the Flip button is engaged, I would be grateful for that knowledge!!

Hey Soundshaper.
I get where you'r coming from. I found that, in my whole audio career, that once I started to commit to EQ on the way in my mixes improved immensely. If you hear something lacks a bit of something or has too much of some frequency tweak it on the way in.

I hate all the countless people who just parrot the saying that digital eq is never going to be as good as analog eq but what I have learned is that having your signal recorded crisp, clear with muddiness removed at the first step ie preamp to eq to input, is a serious advantage to trusting plugins to make your seeds sprout...if you know what I mean.

Yes there has been occasions that I made the wrong call in a busy session with lots of distractions but it wasn't so bad that it destroyed the take.



BTW great thread and hopefully we'll hear back from Paradigm and suchenderxxx soon to hear their, dare I say, Final result

I used to own a 32 channel Topaz. My board was stock.
If I remember correctly, the monitor path will not feed the direct outs. You could send them to one of the group outs as an alternative.
I used a RME UCX with an 8 channel ADAT expander. I set the output of Totalmix to -5. At 0 was too loud and -10 was a little wimpy. That worked quite well for me.
Make sure the volume on your monitors are turned up. You shouldn't have to crank that CR knob.

hey

Sorry not been involved here. birth of my second child, severe illness and various life things have meant this has been put on hold. However, im just finishing up one little thing, then im getting straight back on this. i miss my mixer! been using a crappy one in the meantime...

sorry, not actually used the desk in ages, not sure about the monitor path query.

cheers
ben

Hey anything new on the project? I got the Topaz aswell and might recap it and add some mods to it too over time
I have a question about the recapping of the PSU though, can you just desolder the lm317s and swap it with the LM338 ? I got the 24 channel version aswell.

And oh, what bridge rectifiers did you buy?

hi

sorry, ive not looked at this in ages been really busy with life and easier projects. got a spare mixer just just using that.

i used lm317s but in retrospect i might use the larger lm338s. not sure of pinouts etc but much higher current rating, which i guess would help with new opamps etc.

i was considering playing with some opamps but given my time restrictions i might just recap it. havent really got the skills or test equipment to find out for sure.

the main problem mine had was the large caps associated with the ssm2107 preamp chips. i desoldered one of these to replace with the ssm2019, but havent got round. also removed one tl074 to see if i could improve the eq. but on these massive boards it woud be much easier to just stripboard an eq channel and play with that, which was intended, but ive not got round too.

i do miss this desk a lot, my replacement is awful, but works. i think im going to forget mods and just get the problems solved and be done with it.

cheers


i did desoler