Yamaha PM-180 mixer -- anything like PM-1000?

[JasonW]

A friend of mine offered to sell me an old PM-180 for $50. I'm probably going to take him up on it just to have something new to play with.

I looked all around the ol' interweb for reviews of this particular model, but found nothing. I did discover that they were building these things back when they were still building the PM-1000's, which piqued my interest. Does anyone around here have any experience with one of these units? Is it possible that this might sound as good as a PM-1000?

[Scodiddly]

http://www.yamahaproaudio.com/30_15/history/main.htm

You can also download a manual from Yamaha, although it can be a bit tricky to find - no schematics, alas. But it does look interesting. Transformer-balanced inputs, which is a very nice thing to have. Probably more of an op-amp design instead discrete transistors.

[inverseroom]

I'm wondering the same thing about the PM-430...I was at the amp shop yesterday and saw one sitting on the workbench...it looks really cool, sort of like the uglier CS-series synths, with the huge wide fake wood end caps.

[Milkmansound]

I think the 430 is similar, but has smaller transformers maybe? Less headroom - but probably still a decent mixer for analog summing.

and yeah, they are ugly!

[JasonW]

I paypal'd my buddy, and he's shipping it to me tomorrow. I figure, if nothing else, it's salvageable for the VU's and transformers.

If anyone has any info on these transformers, or better yet, a downloadable schematic for this thing, please share.

[Milkmansound]

for $50 is might be worth it for parts. There is a power amp in there too right?

from the look of it I doubt there are transformers in there at all - it might be IC based. Some of the other PM models used these strange opamps that are no longer made, and that are not pin for pin compatable with anything else made today - but they still sound kinda cool.

I bet you can hack that thing up and at the very least make it into a summing box, cause its fairly small.

[JasonW]

I don't think it's powered, and after reading the little bits of info available at the Prodigy-Pro forums, I'm pretty sure it uses Tamura transformers on all channels. They input trannies are supposedly smaller than the ones used in the PM-1000, with a lot less headroom. The two output transformers on the master outs are supposed to be the same ones used on the PM-1000.

I'm gonna try it out and see if the mic-pre's are any good. If they are, I'll try to mod some direct outs for all channels. If they suck, I'm gonna scavenge everything from the knobs on down for DIY.