500 series racks

[calaverasgrandes]

Anybody know where to get a reasonable 500 series rack? I can scrape together a little for a few pres, but the additional cost of a rack or lunchbox puts it out of my reach.
I have seen api style racks in digikey and other gear catalogs. anybody know the dimensions I need to spec to fit an API style 500 module?
Ideally I'd be selling my mackie to cover the cost of one or two and then later fill up the rest of the rack.

[A-Barr]

You know you don't just need a rack but a power supply too, right? It is included in the API racks, but you can't just get a rack that will fit API modules and be good to go.

If you are a very techy person, you can order a +/- 15VDC and a 48VDC power supply from Digikey or Mouser, get a 2 or 3 space empty rack-mount enclosure and start drilling, but with the amount of labor, parts and tools required, you might as well just buy a rack or patiently watch (brok)e(n)bay for a while and maybe save a hundred bucks or two...

[calaverasgrandes]

yeah I am aware you need a power supply. I basically was thinking, API's and their kin really arent that expensive, its the rack/lunchbox that ramps up the price. And noise/ripple aside the rack/box contributes noting to the sound of the pre.

I am a very techy person. I would actually probably rather build a power supply. the prebuilt ones are nice but you basically pay for features you dont need like variable output, led displays etc. What I am thinking is get one of these racks (if it fits) Paint it black because most of them are just bare galvanized steel. Build a PS that resides in the rack, wire up the back plane for power, bypass the backplane for in/outs. Which brings me to wonder what the pinout and connector specifics are?
I cant believe ther isnt a simple project for this already existing. Its the kind of simple project you would want to do before you start building more critical things like pres.
I searched the forums and there seem to be a lot of preamp kits, a few for the 500 series, but no rack kits.
Maybe I am going into business?

[Smitty]

i've wondered about this myself... it seems if you can put together the pres as kits, the darn box shouldn't be a mystery.

a kit for a rack that would hold 6 or more and cost less than the other available options (shouldn't be hard?) would sell many, methinks.

[calaverasgrandes]

or even, shudder, a kit that would hold 4 in a 2 space rack.

The powersupply would actually be the cheapest part. Getting the rack together to fit right and have the right connectors inside would probably be the expensive part.

[Smitty]

or even, shudder twice, one that would hold 2 units horizontally in a 1U rackspace.

aside from having to turn one's head to read the markings, why has nobody done this?

[A-Barr]

Yep, you guys seem to be saying stuff that goes along with my experiences, the electrical stuff is easy if you have some experience, the real hard part is all the metalwork.

I had success with this dealio:

http://www.markertek.com/Product.asp?ba ... rch=0&off=

Combined with some of these dealio's:

http://www.markertek.com/ProdList.asp?c ... ch=0&off=0

It's a 2U rack unit that hosts any 5 little sub-panels on the front, you can get them with XLR cutouts (very handy putting these on the front) and other cutouts for pots and switches and the like.

I was lucky enough to find a couple Melcor (early API) preamp cards on ebay and a power supply at a surplus store and racked them up for a grand total of maybe 400 or 500, all parts included. But it would obviously be very tricky to mount those API panels in one of these. However, an API pre is basically 2 transformers and an opamp, you can get the opamps from Seventh Circle Audio or whoever and transformers from cinemag, llundahl, Jensen, etc for probably like 150 to 200/channel.

Necessity may be the mother of invention, but expensive studio gear is the mother of DIY.

[Smitty]

Necessity may be the mother of invention, but expensive studio gear is the mother of DIY.

that's my favorite quote in a while...

good solution... do you happen to have pics? i'm a visual learner.

i'm pretty stoked about the possibility of these Eisen Audio kits i've been reading about. they're a great option for DIYing the modules... if there was a tried and true rigup for the enclosure...

i'd be a lot less nervous picking up a 500 series module here or there if i didn't have to lay out $500+ to even get it to work off the bat.

[calaverasgrandes]

just did some homework on the API website. Wow the card edge connector is a pretty crazy set up.
http://www.apiaudio.com/b512c.html
its a 30 "pin" connector, but seems they are using a single side so its only 15 "pins". But out of those pins some are used for one thing with one card, another thing with a differnt card. The only dimension they give is .156 spaced edge connector. Nothing about thickness of cards or anything else. I guess I gotta hope somebody can look in their partially populated lunchbox or rack and see a part# molded into the edge connector. It cant be anything to obscure, this stuff tends to be standard parts.
What I am hoping is to get is something like
http://dkc3.digikey.com/PDF/T072/P1943.pdf
I know its not the exact right size but they have literally hundreds of different guys like this.

i had a crazy idea, if the left hand "pins" are unused, I could use them for other stuff. Like other homemade cards that have differing voltage requirements (eg the 7th circle stuff)

[rollmottle]

with purchase of 4 500 series modules, Vintage King will give you the Lunchbox for free. you also get a break on the price of the modules when you buy in quantity.

cheaper than you think.

[calaverasgrandes]

with purchase of 4 500 series modules, Vintage King will give you the Lunchbox for free. you also get a break on the price of the modules when you buy in quantity.

cheaper than you think.

actually I am cheaper than you think!
If I could afford to put up enough for 4 new modules I wouldnt be looking at the DIY ones.

[FNM]

or even, shudder twice, one that would hold 2 units horizontally in a 1U rackspace.

aside from having to turn one's head to read the markings, why has nobody done this?

Someone just did.

http://vintageking.com/New-Brands/A-Des ... 00-HR-Rack

[calaverasgrandes]

well I spent way too mcuh time on the net today. Apparently a few guys make racks/lunchboxes besides API. But, using Brent Averill as an example, they are actually more, not less, expensive than the API version. Go figure. Having never owned any API am I missing something? Do their pres rule, but their racks suck?
I mean as soon as I am finished my PM1000 frankenstein I want to start making some 500 series-es.
How many pre's does this guy need?
Well I rarely use more than 2 at a time. But I hate to eq. So I prefer to use funny mics and funny pres to make it dark or bright or thick or thin.

[A-Barr]

I would say buy the card and work it out from there. You can always use jumper cables to the in and out connections and a rat shack power supply, it ain't pretty but it's worked for me!

[edanderson]

or even, shudder twice, one that would hold 2 units horizontally in a 1U rackspace.

aside from having to turn one's head to read the markings, why has nobody done this?

Someone just did.

http://vintageking.com/New-Brands/A-Des ... 00-HR-Rack

actually, API already made and discontinued their 1RU 2 slot rack, and Avedis Audio has been making their R52 1RU 2 slot rack for a while.

ed