"Transform your audio with Transformers" Article

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suppositron
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Post by suppositron » Wed May 19, 2010 6:47 am

JimiB wrote:can't you just put them between the mic and the channel input?
Yes, you can.

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turtlejon1
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Post by turtlejon1 » Tue Jul 13, 2010 1:04 pm

hey ya'll!
i'm wondering if i will get the same effect from any of the pre made transformer boxes like the Rane LT22, or the art 8 ch one? could i swap out some of the xfmrs in it and have an 8 channel box with 4 different pairs? this might be an easy way to start...
-always thankful-

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Post by Allen Farmelo » Wed Jul 21, 2010 7:40 pm

I hadn't seen this Rane box before. It's does exactly what I describe doing in the article, though I know nothing about the transformers or how they sound. I can attest to the fact that getting a pair of transformers in a box already wired and mounted is a great thing, as finding the right solution for my own collection of oddball transformers still hasn't happened, and they still dangle somewhere behind my racks.

Great find, and thanks for posting it!
Allen
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Post by paulrichards7 » Sat Jul 24, 2010 12:49 pm

I was thinking about using one on an insert
This way you can drive it if you so wish
Now heres the question;
Obviously Ill use a TRS, now if I use balanced cable, can i use one wire for the send, one wire for the return, [/i]then split the ground wire?
Thanks
Paul

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Post by Nick Sevilla » Sat Jul 24, 2010 5:25 pm

paulrichards7 wrote:I was thinking about using one on an insert
This way you can drive it if you so wish
Now heres the question;
Obviously Ill use a TRS, now if I use balanced cable, can i use one wire for the send, one wire for the return, [/i]then split the ground wire?
Thanks
Paul
Hi Paul,

Only if the unit you are sending the signal to accepts unbalanced wiring.

Cheers
Howling at the neighbors. Hoping they have more mic cables.

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Post by paulrichards7 » Sat Jul 24, 2010 9:28 pm

Hi noeq, yes
It would be patched into insert!
Thanks
Paul

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nice trannys on ebay....

Post by Allen Farmelo » Mon Jan 31, 2011 1:38 pm

these would be ideal for doing a "Transfarmer" as I now call these units. I have some very small low-headroom Triads in my unit that are my favorite. Instant flavor change. These look quite similar in values and era. Pretty good price, too.

Allen

http://cgi.ebay.com/NOS-New-Old-Stock-T ... 500wt_1156
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Post by paulrichards7 » Sun Dec 22, 2013 10:35 am

Ive got a few transformers now from lundahl, triads to bbc
They all are different flavors
I made an insert cable with some crocodile clips and tried them out to see what they sounded like and have used them a bit in mixes
To compare the difference record the original sound back into computer
Match the original and transformed wave up, make sure they are at the same level, invert phase on one of them and play
You will her what the transofrmer is doing, or the difference :)

My next job is to put them into a rack and patch them into a patchbay

What i would like to do is have a bypass switch on front of rack for each one so I can quickly choose the right one for each purpose
What specific switches and wiring do i need for this?
Many Thanks
Paul

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Post by digitaldrummer » Sun Dec 22, 2013 1:00 pm

you might try a rotary switch with 4 tiers, or a couple of toggle or rotary switches that are 4PDT or 4P3T (for example) - that way you could wire one pair of input and output jacks and select different transformers.

it's a lot cheaper/easier to just wire separate 1/4" TRS ins/outs for each and patch it in.

Mike
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Post by paulrichards7 » Mon Dec 23, 2013 2:59 pm

Thanks digitaldrummer
Im, just looking for each transformer to have its own input and output but with a bypass switch on it :)

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Post by digitaldrummer » Mon Dec 23, 2013 6:33 pm

ahh, then a simple DPDT will probably work - one path to the transformer input, the other just shorts to the outputs (the bypass...).
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Post by paulrichards7 » Mon Jan 13, 2014 6:01 am

Thanks digitaldrummer
Sorry for late reply, got lost in the hundreds of emails lol
Ok great, Ill get to work on it
Cheers Paul

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Post by paulrichards7 » Sun Aug 17, 2014 11:02 am

I have already soldered in a few transformers to a patchbay so I can just plug em in when I feel like it
My question is :
I have picked up some Carnhill VTB2281(L01166)
Ive noticed on some pics that there's a resistor across some of the pins
What does this do and do I need to do it ?
Which pins ?
Is that what the Analogtone, tonewire are doing with a switch to change the sound characteristics ?
Thanks guys
Paul

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Re: "Transform your audio with Transformers" Article

Post by calaverasgrandes » Tue Apr 03, 2018 11:20 am

necro bump!
I have an old 16x4 PM1000 that was pretty destroyed when I got it. So I have been harvesting transformers from it for years.
I built a straight 1:1 x4 box a while ago but was not blown away by the difference in sound.
Though it did work out great for isolating buzzy lines!
Later I converted a PM180 from 6x2 into a 6x6 box. Adding direct outs for 4 of the input channels, and then using the remaining pair to drive the bejesus out of the output opamps/transformers.
This sounds very thick, but also very noisy. There are a lot of interesting sounds, but none of them were that elusive fat but also hifi.
Rather, it's fat, but lofi as fuck.
SInce then I've built a passive ringmod box, and a modular DI box, which knock the modular level down by significant number, then balances the signal. I feed this into one of my good mic pres so I get modular through a vibey mic pre.

But now I'm circling back to this idea of a transformer color box.
I think a lot of that retro hifi character is transformer input + single ended amplification + transformer output.
I think when I get my bench back together I'll try wiring up a mic transformer, straight to a 1:1 600ohm transformer.
I'm interested in how the mic transformers 'gain' into the 600 ohm isolation transformer will sound without gain in the middle.
It also is trivial to breadboard a little TL074 amp with a tiny bit of gain. Though then you get into negative feedback, linearity, etc.
??????? wrote: "everything sounds best right before it blows up."

JenniferT

Re: "Transform your audio with Transformers" Article

Post by JenniferT » Wed Jan 16, 2019 12:21 am

Agreed, I loved that article and the one from Tom Day.

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