Coupling caps  (33uf) are Elna SILMIC II which are the best sounding i could find that were reasonably priced ( i tried Panasonic FM, and Nichicon KZ MUZE series which are also very good)  all other caps here are Panasonic FM series because bang for the buck they are very good.

I have some channels i’ve done with WIMA bypass caps on the electrolytics so the highs can pass through more easily through the smaller value film caps that are in parrellel with the much larger electrolytic caps ( 220 uf and 470 uf values) . The bypass caps are the little red ones on the back side of the board. There was just enough room on the back side of the PC board for the WIMA film caps. The sonic result is exactly what i wanted. Much punchier and faster transients. For overheads and vocals ( and horns) there is no comparison to the stock channels ( even after they are fully re-capped)

These are much more open sounding. But still has that analog air when compared to straight digital.

My goal was simple in concept, i needed a higher fidelity EQ and channel, and was actually looking for an outboard EQ for this….but as we all know the recall ability of the S12  is of paramount importance to work flow, so i thought ”why not modify some S12 channels to a good outboard EQ’s specifications?”.

Easier said/thought  then done!

Now I have what i want. Killer fidelity, recall-ability with no compromise. It took a lot of research on which caps to bypass, a lot of trial and error of finding the caps that sound the best and took some time to pull off but in the end it is worth it. Also i have changed out many of the 5532 and mc33078 chips to the excellent LME49720 chips with great results, again by actually trying and testing them in different parts of the circuit to find were they are best used. I have tried many other IC’s in the channels as well ( AD8599, TI1612, TI1642 ), but found the IC’s are not the big problem in the S12 to get the best performance.

I am set up right now to make more of these channels ( i’ve done over 24 channels of them myself, not all with the WIMA film bypass caps though) so if anyone is interested i can Modify your channels for you.

If you would like to hear the difference between the original channels and my modified channels you can send me a file or two and i can pump your files ( maybe overheads or vocals ) and match your exact EQ settings and and send you back an original channel vs the mod channel files so you can hear it for yourself! I have lynx aurora 16 convertors BTW for reference. I also have some S12 channels for sale which i can sell in guaranteed working original condition, or : Fully recapped, Fully recapped with Eq mod or the , Fully recapped, EQ mod and Film Bypass caps on all main electrolytic caps. I have very reasonable prices. Contact me if you are interested.

Thanks all!

Shawn Sullivan

http://www.mediafire.com/?6tr4s9uf2t46u

This Mod requires no changes to power supplies and is very easy to perform. I ordered the 8 pin dip package version of the Burson audio Dual op amp. The replacement chips are actually discrete little pc boards (and not chips at all) and use matched  transistors and 1% resistors.

The people at Burson have an amazing product here and have gone way above the call of duty each time i’ve interacted with them/I’m very impressed by their customer support.

http://bursonaudio.com/DIY_HD_Opamp.htm

You can literally just pull out the 5532 chips in your Summing cards and plug these into the existing chip socket (noting the little notch out on the chip socket and just putting it in the same way…. Incredibly easy) . Since the sockets are laying vertically however they have a tendency of wanting to let gravity have its way and want to just fall out of the sockets. I didnt like the idea of a socket going into another socket sonically either, So i opted to unsolder and remove the original chip sockets from the summing card and simply solder the (much nicer milled socket) burson Op amps directly onto the pc bord. Problem solved. Whole console sounds better. and we can brag about our discreet modded output of our console.

Incredibly affordable, great sound, super easy to do. Had to share it with you guys. Also note… i doubled the capacitance value of the original caps ( 220 uf to 470uf) and added a very high quality 1 uf poly film cap on top of each cap ( >400 Volts per microsec which is 40 times faster than a fast audio chip!) that allows the highs to pass through a little cleaner. The caps did make an additional difference for the better and was more of a pain in the butt to do then the swapping the chips.

Make sure you have a good solder sucker and a really small tip, temperature controlled soldering iron handy for this job. Or just call a good tech like Gwyen who does if you are uncomfortable with this.

Next project (which Jo is involved with as well) is getting a custom 16 channel passive discreet summing box finished with remote controlled (custom motorized 5 gang pot) parallel master buss. My wallet shivers everytime i think about it LOL.

With love and respect for my S12 brothers!

Shawn

I had been switching my console on by individually switching each power supply “on” which was getting vary annoying as well. And then I’d have to go to a sub breaker box and turn it on and off to stop Harrison’s “fans on forever” mode from happening. That is, even when the power supplies are switched off…. the fans keep running.

So ….I made a power distribution box with solid state relays which have “zero switching” AC. that is, they switch on when the AC is in its zero position of the alternating wave after it receives a little DC control voltage (3-32 volts DC) . So no spark or surge when switching on.

You can use a little flip switch, or any kind of switch to control sending the dc current to the SSR (solid state relay+ I have the + side of the dc control voltage ( I used a 12 volt supply i had lying around) going to a thermal switch, which is just a fancy thermostat (got it for $25 bucks on ebay) which is set to be a normally closed connection or “NC”  in normal operation. When the temperature rises above whatever temperature I set as a threshold (I have it set to 82 degrees F for now) then the connection becomes normally open or “NO” in “alarm mode”.

You can literally have an alarm go off as well if the the temperature is exceeded.

Basically now I have thermal protection, and one large AC cable instead of 7-8 AC cables (cut down about 40ft of AC cables!!).  I have routed the single large AC cable forward away from all the audio connections to the floor in front of the racks. A safe way of turning on everything related to the console with no sparking, arching and having to turn on individual racks. Zero crossing ac switching that is basically impossible with a regular relay or by switching everything with all the amperage present on a large mechanical switch. I also wired up a AC feed to a switched outlet for the Mac IIVX computer and Geffen extender box (sends video and ADB/keyboard/mouse of the Mac IIvx up to 500 ft over CAT5 cable)  so it also gets switch power via the SSR.

Thats it!

All this was done for about $145 U.S.D. worth of parts. Which just for the thermal control alone would’ve been worth it. Relays are $25 each … i could’ve used only one but opted to use a separate phase for the control surface and computer related things and kept all audio related stuff on its own phase.

Shawn