1

TS500 Tape Simulator / Re: TS500 acting like an "expander"

« on: September 28, 2023, 01:42:03 PM »

Yeah, I can't use them on the mix / master bus for that reason.
It's really strange.

2

TS500 Tape Simulator / Re: TS500 acting like an "expander"

« on: February 25, 2023, 05:41:03 PM »

Hi,

Does anyone have a clue ?

Thanks,

Igor

3

TS500 Tape Simulator / Re: TS500 acting like an "expander"

« on: January 24, 2023, 12:43:02 PM »

The playlist is in public mode.
Sorry for the private mode.

4

TS500 Tape Simulator / Re: TS500 acting like an "expander"

« on: January 23, 2023, 12:00:00 PM »

The playlist was in "Private" mode.
It should work now.

5

TS500 Tape Simulator / TS500 acting like an "expander"

« on: January 16, 2023, 02:53:44 PM »

Hi, just in case my last message got unnoticed :

Hello again,

So I took the time to do a few comparison tests with my TS500 pair regarding this curious "expending" behavior.
I sent a drum track and a full mix to the TS500, and you can clearly hear the ambiance sounds "disapear".
Listen to the reverbs on the "Mix" track, and to the room sound on the "Drums" track.
I also recorded the flipped phase versions of the tracks (null test), and what reamains is mainly reverbs and ambiance.

https://soundcloud.com/igormoreno/sets/ts500-tests

The "tape effect" is often described as compression and saturation, but compression and saturation would make the ambiance sounds more obvious, right ?
This is more like an expander.

So my question is : Is this normal for the TS500 to act like that, or is there something wrong with mine ?

Thanks !

Igor

6

TS500 Tape Simulator / Re: Weird stereo effect

« on: January 10, 2023, 12:11:51 PM »

Hello again,

So I took the time to do a few comparison tests with my TS500 pair regarding this curious "expending" behavior.
I sent a drum track and a full mix to the TS500, and you can clearly hear the ambiance sounds "disapear".
Listen to the reverbs on the "Mix" track, and to the room sound on the "Drums" track.
I also recorded the flipped phase versions of the tracks (null test), and what reamains is mainly reverbs and ambiance.

https://soundcloud.com/igormoreno/sets/ts500-tests

The "tape effect" is often described as compression and saturation, but compression and saturation would make the ambiance sounds more obvious, right ?
This is more like an expander.

So my question is : Is this normal for the TS500 to act like that, or is there something wrong with mine ?

Thanks !

Igor

7

LA502 Optical Compressor / Re: Hissing LA502

« on: December 17, 2022, 05:37:10 PM »

OK, thanks, i'll try that !

8

LA502 Optical Compressor / Re: Hissing LA502

« on: December 16, 2022, 01:51:44 PM »

Hi,

One of the knobs screw broke, making the disassembly of the unit impossible...
Do you have any tip to remove the broken screw on the knob without making too much damage ?

Thanks,

Igor

9

LA502 Optical Compressor / Re: Hissing LA502

« on: December 05, 2022, 12:25:05 PM »

No, I did not know this modification.
I'll try it as soon as I have time.

Thanks !

Igor

10

LA502 Optical Compressor / Re: Hissing LA502

« on: December 02, 2022, 06:44:50 PM »

It's a REV 1.2.

11

LA502 Optical Compressor / Hissing LA502

« on: December 01, 2022, 04:30:02 PM »

Hi !
I've got LA502 I built years ago that I don't often use because of it's hiss, which can be too much depending on the sources.
Is there any way to atenuate the hiss ?

Thanks !

Igor

12

TS500 Tape Simulator / Re: Weird stereo effect

« on: August 01, 2022, 04:59:58 PM »

Hi,
Thank you for your answer.
Do you get the same effect I get when doing a null test with dry signal + TS500 phase flipped ?

13

TS500 Tape Simulator / Re: Weird stereo effect

« on: July 14, 2022, 05:32:08 PM »

OK, so I re-did the measurements with the 10kHz sine wave, but with the multimeter not set to "auto range" and the results I get are much closer to the reference numbers :

Unit 1    2,20          Unit 2      2,16V
Unit 1    3,76          Unit 2      3,7V
Unit 1     4,6           Unit 2      4,5V
Unit 1     4,6           Unit 2      4,5V

I don't really get the difference between the two multimeter modes, I'll try to check with another multimeter.

To bo continued... 

Thank !

Igor

14

TS500 Tape Simulator / Re: Weird stereo effect

« on: July 14, 2022, 12:19:48 PM »

This is the issue. The voltage should go from +12V to -13V on pin 8 and +15V to -13V on pin 9.

Sorry, I measured AC instead of DC...
I do get the right readings on U6 !

Just to add to the weird "disapearing ambiance" phenomena :
I recorded the output of the TS500 and did a null test with the dry version of the signal (drum track) and the result was ambiance only.

(TS500 = Less / no Ambiance         ///        Dry + TS500 Phase flipped = only Ambiance)

This is weird...

15

TS500 Tape Simulator / Re: Weird stereo effect

« on: July 13, 2022, 05:14:02 PM »

Hi,

Actually the level difference is only 12% which is normal, due to the pot tolerance of 20%.
I misunderstood your 1/1,5V "louder" for 50%.
Your values are in the ballpark except for the 10kHz.


Ok, nice.

Check the component value, direction and solder joints of:
R33, R34, C35 to C38,
R52 to 58, D8, D9, C62, C63.


Everything looks good and is on the right place. I did not reflow the solder joints, but I could try if you think the problem comes from here.
(but as both units sounds really close, I guess a random error would make them sound different ?)


What are the DC voltages on U6 pins8 and pin9 for the last 4 settings of the test (10kHz)?

DC Voltages are 0VDC on the last 4 settings on both units.

Thanks !

Igor

16

TS500 Tape Simulator / Re: Weird stereo effect

« on: July 11, 2022, 06:21:43 PM »

This doesn't sound right. How did you test?

I followed the measurement procedure, sending the different sine waves and measuring on output XLR betwenn pins 2 and 3.
I used the same 500 extender, same rack slot.

For what settings and pot position?




input signal = sine 1kHz, 0.4VAC                 TAPE SAT on left                              9.2V        Unit 1   10,6 V              Unit 2     9,3V
(on input XLR between pins 2&3)                TAPE SAT on center                           7.4V       Unit 1     8,27V             Unit 2      7,4V
BIAS on right                                            TAPE SAT on right                              7.1V       Unit 1    7,56V             Unit 2       7,08 V


Input signal = sine 40 Hz – 0.25VAC              SPEED on 7.5'                                9.4V        Unit 1    10,5V               Unit 2    9,9V
TAPE SAT on left                                            SPEED on 15'                                8.5V        Unit 1     9,7V               Unit 2    9,10V
BIAS on center                                              SPEED on 30'                                 7.5V        Unit 1    8,5V               Unit 2    7,95V


Input signal = sine 60 Hz – 0.25VAC                  SPEED on 7.5'                            7.5V          Unit 1    8V                 Unit 2    7,7V
TAPE SAT on left                                              SPEED on 15'                             9.3V           Unit 1    10,4V            Unit 2    10,06V
BIAS on center                                                SPEED on 30'                              8.7V           Unit 1    9,9V             Unti 2    9,46V


Input signal = sine 80 Hz – 0.25VAC                    SPEED on 7.5'                          5.4V              Unit 1    5,7V               Unit 2    5,5V
TAPE SAT on left                                                 SPEED on 15'                           7.9V             Unit 1    8,5V               Unit 2   8,1V
BIAS on center                                                     SPEED on 30'                         9.3V              Unit 1    10,6V            Unit 2   10V
Both pots on 10                                                   BIAS on right                          6.1V              Unit 1   7V                 Unit 2   6,75V


Input signal = sine 10kHz – 0.25VAC             SPEED on 7.5'                                 2.5V            Unit 1   1,34V          Unit 2      1,32V
TAPE SAT on left                                          SPEED on 15'                                  4.1V            Unit 1    2,3V            Unit 2      2,2V
BIAS on left                                                 SPEED on 30'                                  5.1V            Unit 1   2,7V             Unit 2      2,7V
Both pots on 10                                            SPEED on 7.5' and BIAS on right      5.1V            Unit 1   2,75             Unit 2      2,7V


Thanks !

17

TS500 Tape Simulator / Weird stereo effect

« on: July 08, 2022, 10:10:21 PM »

Hi,

I finally measured my two TS500.
They sound identical, altough one of the units is 1/1,5V "louder" than the other on most measurements.
With the 10kHz sine wave, both units measure 50% less than the reference voltage.  (??)

What is weird though, is that when engaging the units, the ambiance of the sounds seems to disapear.
For exemple, with a drum track, it almost act like a transient designer : Kick and snare become louder, but all the details of the room microphones or overhead are getting lost somwhere. As if it were "mono-ing" the signal.
It's visible on the waveform : when level matched, transients keep the same level, but sustained sounds are way lower.

Is it normal behavior ? It does not seem to be the case on the exemples I found on the internet.

Thanks for your insight !

18

TS500 Tape Simulator / Re: High Distortion

« on: April 26, 2022, 10:58:15 AM »

Hi,

Thank you for the fast shipping of the resistor (and for your patience) !
Everything works as expected now !

I now have quite a big difference in level between my two TS500.
I'll take the time to go through the testing procedure, and I'll create a new post if needed.

Thanks again,

Igor

19

TS500 Tape Simulator / Re: High Distortion

« on: April 06, 2022, 04:06:27 PM »

Hi,

Thank you for your reactivity !
So I've just checked my TS-500, and .......... R20 is missing ! (I don't know how I did not see it before...)

I searched in the packaging, and did not find any reminding resistor, so either I lost it, or it was missing in the first place.

I'm just concerned the absence of R20 may have damage some components in the cirtcuit (nothing smoked or smelled like burned component, though)

Would you mind sendind a 180k resistor ? I would happily pay for the stamp, etc.

Thanks again,

Igor

20

TS500 Tape Simulator / Re: High Distortion

« on: April 05, 2022, 01:33:33 PM »

Hi,

So I finally found the time to test my TS500.

Here are the results :

TP1 = 0V
TP2 = 0V
U2 Pin 1 = 0V
TP3 = 10,38V
TP4 = 10,39 V
TP5 = 10,60 V
U11 Pin 1 = -10,60V
TP7 = 0V

Any idea ?

Thanks,

Igor

21

TS500 Tape Simulator / Re: High Distortion

« on: December 20, 2021, 02:01:03 PM »

Hi,

I've checked every solder joint and reflowed a few suspicious ones, but the problem is still there.

At low drive settings, the signal is gated (on a drums track for exemple, only the highest peaks pass through.)
At higher drive setitngs, the gate effect disapear, but the distortion is so high, the signal is completely destroyed.

Any idea ?

Thanks,

Igor

22

TS500 Tape Simulator / High Distortion

« on: December 16, 2021, 07:44:03 PM »

Hi,

I've just finished my second TS500 (the first one worked at first try).
I have very high, almost gate-like distortion when the unit is on. On bypass, the signal is just fine.
What can I do to check the unit and solve this mystery ?

Thanks !

Igor