Daphon E20PH Phaser ---What is this a clone of?

[moritz]

Hi folks!

I'm assuming these Daphon pedals are all clones of well known stompboxes, so does anyone happen to know what their phaser is a clone of? I have one of these (model E20PH -the metal enclosure version), and while the sound is not too bad, I wouldn't mind tinkering with it a bit to see what I can get out of it. I could try and trace out the schem, but thought I'd ask first if anyone knew what the original circuit was already...

On a side note, these metal bodied Daphon pedals are surprisingly well made, especially considering their budget price tag:

• Boss-ish style body (although more heavy-duty than a Boss);
• pots and jacks are mounted on the enclosure rather than the PCB;
• PCB has good ol' fashioned, full-sized components. NO surface mount!
• in the phaser, all four IC's are JRC 4558D chips (for all those 4558 worshipers out there );
• overall, it appears to be well assembled;
• plus it has nice aluminium knobs.

I haven't examined any of the plastic ones (which use the same enclosures as the Ibanez soundtank series) first hand, but I'd probably avoid them as the price for the metal ones is not much more and they seem to be a lot more pedal for the money. These things would be a modders dream as they're a quality starting point, and if you screw it up completely, it's not like you've ruined an expensive pedal.

Anyway, back to the topic, any help would be much appreciated! Thanks!

mb

[moritz]

*bump*... 

[trevize]

post a picture of the interior

[moritz]

Unfortunately I don't have access to a digital camera at the moment... when I do though, i'll post some pics.

[Seljer]

does it have any LDRs/optocouplers? or JFETs and other transistors? or something else alltogether?

[Dirk_Hendrik]

The "No surface mount"  is  an interesting remark. It suggests that SMD would be inferior. However, so far I haven't seen any complaints on thet issue with the MXR EVH phaser

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

The "No surface mount"  is  an interesting remark. It suggests that SMD would be inferior. However, so far I haven't seen any complaints on thet issue with the MXR EVH phaser

Surface mount may not always be convenient for home construction or one-offs, but if it is done right, it's going to be equal or better compared to through-hole. Robots rule 

[moritz]

The "No surface mount"  is  an interesting remark. It suggests that SMD would be inferior. However, so far I haven't seen any complaints on thet issue with the MXR EVH phaser

Actually, I don't have anything against surface mount in its own right... it's just that it is really inconvenient when it comes to modifying circuits, as often is the case with stompboxes. 

[jonathan perez]

Robots rule 

THEY DO, DONT THEY??!?!?! 

i didnt know the EVH phase 90 was SMD...i had one, SOUNDED GREAT!

[moritz]

does it have any LDRs/optocouplers? or JFETs and other transistors? or something else alltogether?

Had another peek inside... there are 8 transistors:

3 of K30A, which according to www.datasheetarchive.com are similar to 2N3821, 2SK40, and BFS70, so I believe these are JFETs.

5 of C1815, which appear to be NPN transistors "designed for use in driver stage of AF amplifier general purpose amplification".

There are no LDRs/optocouplers... There are three control pots for "Rate" (B1M), "Res" (B10k), and "Depth" (B100k). Appart from the above mentioned transistors and the four jrc 4558D chips, the rest comprises caps, resistors, one trim pot (200k) and six diodes (half of which I believe are zeners).

Again, if anyone knows any phaser circuits off the top of their head which may follow a similar architecture as this one, it'd be much appreciated!

[Mark Hammer]

The 2SK30A is one of the more common FETs used as the variable-resistance element in many phasers, including some earlier Roland/Boss units.  The presence of only 3 is somewhat puzzling.  Are you sure there aren't 4 of them?

I doubt whether the Daphon pedal is a "clone" of anything.  Use of JFET-based phase-shift stages is pretty darn common.  A bit like calling a Peavey amp a "clone" of a Vox if it used a pair of EL84s.

[moritz]

The 2SK30A is one of the more common FETs used as the variable-resistance element in many phasers, including some earlier Roland/Boss units.  The presence of only 3 is somewhat puzzling.  Are you sure there aren't 4 of them?

I doubt whether the Daphon pedal is a "clone" of anything.  Use of JFET-based phase-shift stages is pretty darn common.  A bit like calling a Peavey amp a "clone" of a Vox if it used a pair of EL84s.

Whoops! sorry, I mixed them up... There are actually 5 of the K30As and 3 of the C1815s...

The reason I thought it might be a clone is that these are cheap-to-purchase (despite the good construction) Chinese made pedals, and as is often the case with such companies, to make a profit they tend to rely on existing designs rather than investing a lot on R&D. For example, I've heard numerous and varying reports that Daphon's overdrive pedal is more or less a clone of either a TS9 or an SD-1.

[Barcode80]

yes, well, almost every OD is a variation on the OD250 by DOD or the ts9, including the MXR dist +, the sd-1, etc. if it aint broke....

[MartyMart]

For example, I've heard numerous and varying reports that Daphon's overdrive pedal is more or less a clone of either a TS9 or an SD-1.

Yup, the Daphon OD is 99% TS-9 ...... of course !!!

MM

[Mark Hammer]

Whoops! sorry, I mixed them up... There are actually 5 of the K30As and 3 of the C1815s...

Makes more sense now.  Four K30s for the phase shift stages, and one for switching.