source for soundcraft 600 parts?

[crow]

I'd like to pick up some extra channels for my Soundcraft 600, as well as some fader knobs. Anyone know of a good source for stuff like this? There used to be a place in Nashville but they seem to have gone out of business. thanks!

Michael Crow

[Roboburger]

i have a search bookmarked on ebay for parts for mine... Ebay now has a "Saved Searches" function which will email you when someone starts an auction with a title that triggers it. kinda cool.

[crow]

so we're bitter rivals now, lurking on ebay, ready to pounce like panthers upon our precious modules? i'll get you, roboburger. sorry if "precious modules" sounds too racy.

[Dirk Funk]

I was searching for a long time for modules for my soundcraft 200. I ended finding a bunch of modules at Mr Marks Music in Nashville. He seemed to have quite a bit of random parts so it might be worth asking about it. His email is MarkHugh@aol.com

[Roboburger]

tellyawhat, crow- if I see yer ebay handle as a top bidder, I won't bid, and you do the same for me. it'd be a shame for the two of us to bid each other up.

my ebay handle is Roboburger, btw.

[crow]

that's awfully considerate of you, roboburger. i think it's a good plan, and it might not affect you much 'cause i get lazy about checkin' ebay. my ebay handle is mpcrow.

also, thanks dirk funk! it's good to not have to wait & see what washes up on the shores of lake eBay.

[Roboburger]

Sah Dah Tay.

[The Scum]

Hey,

I'm another 600 owner looking for a few spare modules. Maybe there are enough of us that we could buy a console on the cheap and part it out?

I've found some replacement fader caps at Mouser.com, made by Rean. They're not an exact match, but they work a lot better than the worn out old ones, that would come off in my hands.

Mouser also has exact replacement pushbutton switches from Alps. Under a dollar each in quantity.

Byron Jacquot

[crow]

thanks for the tips, the scum!

you ever swap out chips in yer 600?

it's good to find other folks with the same thang.

[The Scum]

you ever swap out chips in yer 600?

it's good to find other folks with the same thang.

I've only replaced chips as others have died. No upgrades yet. There are a couple of things that make me nervous about it: the power supply will need upgrading if I want to add too many high grade opamps, and the descriptions of "cleaner/faster" attributed to the opamp upgrades aren't exactly what I'm looking for. I think I'd rather have transformers on the I/O!

I'd like to see what I can do about crosstalk in the master module...Anything at the 2track inputs finds its way into the subgroups and auxes, as does the onboard oscillator. It might just be a matter of better grounding in there.

I did replace the little light bulbs in the VU meters with white LEDs.

Byron Jacquot

[crow]

Yeah, I should replace the bulbs in mine with bulbs. . . i was thinking about sending my master module to audio upgrades when I go on tour in the fall.

hey, byron, would you mind tellin' me what the mouser part # is for the switches? they're the "E-switches", right? are they any quieter than the pre-existing switches? mine love to click.

also, I would love to be able to get the led meters to monitor the channel gain instead of the tape returns. do you know anything about achieving this?

maybe we should all team up & buy one together. the logistics would be pretty nightmarish, I guess.

michael crow

[crow]

oh, yeah, byron, have you seen eddie ciletti's Soundcraft 200 grounding mod? That may help your crosstalk problem, and it doesn't seem too hard. i saw a caveat on rec.audio.pro that while it is compatible with the 600, it's a little harder b/c the ribbon cable is arranged differently. let's find out! someday. the mod is at

http://www.tangible-technology.com/articles/200b.html

-mc

[The Scum]

hey, byron, would you mind tellin' me what the mouser part # is for the switches? they're the "E-switches", right? are they any quieter than the pre-existing switches? mine love to click.

They're mouser part number 688-SPUJ190900 for the DPDT pushbuttons. They're made by Alps, $.87 in quantities of 25. They also have the 4-pole switches, but I didn't get any.

If your switches click much, it's time to start looking for DC offsets in the audio path, usually due to degraded electrolytic caps in the audio path.

also, I would love to be able to get the led meters to monitor the channel gain instead of the tape returns. do you know anything about achieving this?

Try disconnecting the lines from an putput strip that go the the meters (the schematics say Conn 3, probably only has 2 pins), and try tapping a channel, either from the insert point or direct out, and see what you get...I can't find schematics for the LED meters...the reverence levels may be WAY off!

maybe we should all team up & buy one together. the logistics would be pretty nightmarish, I guess.

If it were near one of the participants, they could pick it up, then distribute the components to the others. I'd take a couple spare input strips, patchbay cards and some new knob caps. A stereo strip or 2 would be cool, but I'd also want the back panel piece that matches 'em, too.

oh, yeah, byron, have you seen eddie ciletti's Soundcraft 200 grounding mod? That may help your crosstalk problem, and it doesn't seem too hard. i saw a caveat on rec.audio.pro that while it is compatible with the 600, it's a little harder b/c the ribbon cable is arranged differently.

I have an inkling that the crosstalk is mostly in the control room circuitry of my module. The mix outputs aren't subject to the crosstalk, but the control room ones are. It might be the radio-switch assembly. Does your board have similar crosstalk?

(how to recreate this: select 2 track A, and turn the oscillator on. Even with the oscillator volume all the way down, I can hear a little of it. Now press play on 2 track B, and it will be added to the melange...this happens even with the CR volume all the way down)

There are a couple of unstuffed spade lug points on the circuit boards, and the 600 uses the bottom rear extrusion as a star ground...I may experiment with them a little more sometime. Another complexity: the connectors on a 200 input strip are all near the top of the module...the 600 has a handful of twisted wires that run to the connectors and patchbay!

Byron Jacquot

[crow]

thanks for the part #, byron, as well as the clicking insight. I'm definitely several grades behind you in the electronics department.

Does your board have similar crosstalk?

(how to recreate this: select 2 track A, and turn the oscillator on. Even with the oscillator volume all the way down, I can hear a little of it. Now press play on 2 track B, and it will be added to the melange...this happens even with the CR volume all the way down)

Do you mean press "play" on what's hooked up to 2-tk B, or switch from 2-tk A to B? I tried different permutations, and while I could hear the oscillator everywhere (even w/ the control room level down), i never heard any mingling of 2-track signals. I just figured the oscillator was supposed to go everywhere. I use an outboard oscillator anyway. At any rate, I don't think mine has the same symptoms.

thanks,
michael crow