The fourchannel audio mixer. All ofthe contol are denied, The noted Yogsle witch was Incorporated to. provide on extra” switch should it be required, It could serve as a power supply “ont” contol if dosed. VERY recording studio except the ‘very smallest has, on occasion, need for audio mixing facilities. Unfor- ‘most of the inexpensive mix- ing equipment that is commercially available is, at best, of amateur quali- {y while professional-type equipment is usually priced in direct proportion to its quality. ‘The problem faced by the author in building. the unit to be described was fone of small budget and the fact that the mixer was to be used with profes- sional-type recording equipment. The mixer could not be permitted to add materially to either the nolse level or istortion of the system. ‘Thus, such shorteuts as had to be made t0 keep the cost to a minimum, had to be taken leeping this performance re- quirement firmly in mind. ‘The Particular studio for which this unit was intended was that of a pro- ‘ducer of documentary motion pictures fand the facilities were designed for recording sound tracks by the “live- mix” method. "That is, the narrator's (or at times, two narrators’) voice would be recorded on, at most, two microphones while simultaneously the ‘musical score would be dubbed from dises or tape. A total of four channels were therefore required, two for ‘microphones and two for phonograph. ‘Under normal circumstances @ Pro: fessional type, four- channel mixer would have a total of nine transfor- mers up {0 the mixer stage, four in put transformers to the preamplifiers, four output transformers from the preamplifiers to the line-mixer poten- Hometers, and a line-to-grid tran former to the mixer stage. Two adai- tonal transformers would be required, between the mixer stage and the out: put of the “line” amplifier and an out= ut ‘transformer to line, making @ November, 1954 By JOHN S. CARROLL Construction details on a professional-type unit which uses only four audio transformers instead of the usual eleven. {otal of eleven audio transformers re- quired in the whole unit. In the mixer unit to be described ‘the total number of audio transfor ‘mers was reduced to four by resort- {ng to the following expedients. Tt was decided at the beginning that the Dhonograph channels would be fed by 4 pair of the new, high-Adelity crystal pickups, eliminating the need for pre- amplification for the two phono stages. ‘Thus, only two input transformers were required. With the preamplifiers and mixing amplifier on a single chassis, there appeared to be litle objection fo high- Independence mixing, especially since the associated power supply would be remotely placed. Using molded car- bon-clement potentiometers (Ohmite of Allen-Bradley types) cut, down on the slider noise and “frying” until it was virtually inaudible as. compared to ordinary broadcast radio-type vol- ume controls. In any ease, the mixing is done at a point in the circuit where ‘the signal levels are high and not too ‘much amplifeation follows the mixer Potentiometers. Many references in current audio terature point out that a mixer cir- cuit of this type tends to have some Interaction between the channel con- trols. Our experience with this unit indleates that this particular problem has perhaps been unduly exaggerated. If any interaction exists, it it £0 slight ‘as to be completely negligible. Some Variation in the noise level was found at a point about two-thirds of elock- ‘wise rotation of the master gain con- trol, This was eliminated by a slight ‘ireuit change whieh will be explained In detail Inter in this article. Interac tion between the channels is apparent ly completely eliminated by the iso- lation resistors connected in series with each of the potentiometers. ‘The basic cireult is the one recom- mended by United Transformer Com- pany for a portable remote broadcast amplifier. ‘The two phonograph chan- nels were added by simply paralleling them with the original two mixer po- tentlometers. Construction is straight forward but due to the very high gain of the unit certain precautions must be taken. For the lowest possible hum level, the ground points are placed a5 near’ the two inputs as possible. These, then, are the only two places where the ground connects to the chassis. A ground bus is used between these two points and the “B—" terminal and is ‘Completely insulated from the chassis ‘at all other points. All of the other grounds, including the condenser cans, fare insulated from the chassis and ‘connected to the ground bus. "The heater circuit is not grounded fat any point, The center tap of the 63 volt winding is returned to a tap fon the voltage divider across the power ‘supply. ‘This places a fairly high posi- tive bias on all heaters and prevents hhum due to heater-cathode leakage or heater emission. With these precau= tions it proved unnecessary to Use dc. ‘on the heaters of the preamplifier tubes. If any residual hum is present 87_Aespite this-precaution-it ‘minke ~stability due to the loops around the’ lation was suppressed by placing small "mized by increasing the value of the preamplifiers and, in this case, the phase-thifting condensers (50 to 100 ‘cathode bypass condensers, C. and Cu, i mata.) actoss either Rs or Ra, or both. to 100 xf. or higher. 7 Tf the builder wishes to add an In order to insure minimum distor- equalizer to the unit, this may: be ton, feedback is used around the pre- amplifiers, around the mixer amplifier stage, and around the output stage. ittehere r be Baaetere ‘Rat Rar ta.00 at, 2 sete “(Gre arto or tii) Be"350 aim Srnec Tetntrage tne Single pate to pao pall Tar 3600 om Up ee ‘rll conde CORE aot) Racpe ebm, Hy bore 10th rams usb ites to 300 ohm Bea a tm en Tine (OTC HAL 3524000 obey Pn ren Tetbeoer nen 10-0200 ». @ 0 may 63 Bo 3000 ohm, 3 wee E00 ohm, 2, re Be, Re"300,00 cm inal pot SR} menabn Ine oer pot 1S, hay ar™100600 or rem Becta ea ne Roma2000 him Ye meee Raa300 ohm Yaaro Gu Ge Oo C30 nde 5 v ke cond. ELST Sd, 400s cond VELSYSGT be Ye—t24U7 mabe RADIO & TELEVISION NEWSchannel potentiometers and the master "gain control. This was eliminated by feeding the combined output of: the foe ise, ptenionamapeclg the grid of the mixgr-equilizer stage and by placing the master gain control in the grid circuit of the output stage. ‘A double potentiometer is used to con- ‘tol the push-pull grids simultancously, as shown in the alternative schematic. ‘The output of the unit was designed to feed either a tape recording setup with a 500-600-ohm line bridging input orig 16 mm film recorder with a 50- ‘olf line input. To avoid complicated switching of the output transformer Secondary taps, a simple matching pad ‘was placed on a switch on the output, so that switehing from “tape” to “Alm” automatically adjusts the output im- pedance, It is evident that this pad ‘causes a loss of output level of about 16 db; however, the film recorder in Question had ample gain and the loss ‘was not important. Using the pad pet- mitted the vu meter to work across @ 500-ohm line at all times. In addition, the pad has the effect of terminating the line, even when the output is dis- ‘connected. Thus, rehearsals can be run ‘while feeding only a bridging monitar amplifier having a 20,000-ohm input. ‘The vu meter can be switched off during preliminary set-ups so that a¢- ‘eldental jolts while moving the micro- phone will not damage the needle, The ‘3600-ohm resistor in series with the meter is the standard calibrating 1. sistor usually used with vu meters. If variation in output level is required, or changes in meter range are desirable, this resistor can be replaced by "7500/3900-ohm variable pad to extend the meter scale. Such pads are avail- able from the manufacturer of sich meters In thls asticle great emphasis has been placed on instability and the causes and cures for it. This may come 1s a surprise to those audiophiles who are not aceustomed to the extremely. high-gain circuits used in recording work. The tube complement is based fon the use of low-noise types through- fut, If 6J7's are used Instead of 1620's, it may be necessary to select the quiet; fest from a number of tubes. The same thing applies to the I2AUT if sub stituted for the 12AY7 in the mixcr Stage. The output stage should, in fany case, be a 12AY7. ‘The 12AX7 is not a good substitute due to its higher ‘mu nd plate resistance. The over-all gain of the unit is such that the thermal agitation noise of the first stage sets the limit on following am: plifteation. If all recommendations are followed, this hiss should be stronger than any other ‘noise, residual hum, ete, ‘The power supply, which is not shown in the photographs, should be Duilt on a separate chassis and the November, 1954 Rect vow ol unit. Nete partcully the typeof Jocks ond plugs that were im the construction of is walt Is important that oll of these components be of the shielded type to prevest ham pick “The jacks end plugs ore. hem lett eight Mic. 1, Mle: 2. power cable connector. ar righ. top) 90 aad 500 abe output, (or same rule that applies to the mixer followed here. Ground the chastis at only one point and do not ground the center tap of the heater eireult.. The power supply should be kept as far from the mixer unit as possible. If this is not feasible, it may be necessary to use triple-shielded input transfor- Tf the power supply can be isolated ‘the power transformer lead shown as shielded and grounded ean be omitted. ‘Many transformers are made today ‘without this shield. Should your unit not come so equipped, you can ignore this requirement —if the power supply is isolated, Just a fow final suggestions regard- ing the construction before you Whip out your soldering iron and start to build this unit. In the Interests of economy and to avold purchasing tn needed components, decide at the start whether for your purpose the original Cireuit, shown in the schematic, is to be used or whether one or both of the alternate circuits are to be -Incor- porated. Some of the parts specified In the original diagram will be omitted If one of the alternate circuits is used and ice versa. ‘Another point which eannot be em- hasized too strongly is the matter of Under chassis viow of miter, Wiring is erial so check cuthor's suggestions ott) Phone I, Phone 2. end tape playback Inpats grounding discussed earlier, If fare seeking trouble-free from this unit, it is imperative t the author's suggestions be foll the letter Tt goes without saying that i ti application, at least, quality. formers will have to be used. builder will find that compromises; too expensive in. the long. Fun t@ afforded, Just keep in mind that this ireult incorporates only four audio transformers which are doing the duty ff the eleven units ‘normally eneotne tered in commercial versions of four | channel audio. mixers. ‘This is one instance when “bargain” transformers will prove to be no bar gain and the prospective builder will {do well to stick to quality components. ‘The transformers specified in the parts lst are recommended by the author as they have proved entirely Satisfactory in this application. Use units of similar quality for best re- sults ‘While all of these precautions may sound like undue “fussing” to the nov- Jeo builder of audio gear, they are being handed along as “gospel” by one Who has been through the mill. Good Tuck in building this unit. Tt is, well worth the effort 4