Infinitphase vero.

Started by digi2t, December 30, 2012, 08:13:14 PM

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digi2t

In my never ending quest of creating huge veros, I've decided to take on the Infinitphase.

I guess I must be working up to the Ludwig  :icon_eek:. Anyway, this is what I have so far;

Schematic (PDF), http://prophecysound.com/products/infinitphase-mkii

As for the vero, it still hasn't passed the trace test yet, but I figured I would share what I have so far. I've made it to fit the same enclosure as the ones I've used for my Ludwig, Tau Phaser, and Ring Stinger. That's the G124MF, available at Newark; http://canada.newark.com/multicomp/g124mf/box-diecast-222x146x55mm/dp/55T2820 .

I decided to split the build into 3 boards. A power supply board, and the CV step board is piggy backed onto the main board, a la Gemini Dual Fuzz, using solid core copper wire stand-offs to transfer the power and ground. Here they are, like I said, still a work in progress.

The power board,


The main board (with CV step board piggy-backed),


BOM,


I haven't drawn up the wiring yet, since I'm still tracing. The phase LED's are 2x5mm square, and the LDR's are Waitrony KE10720's. The LDR's are set up in about a 20mm diameter circle. I'm guestimating this from this picture,


Yes... I am a twisted @#$%, but would you guys have me any other way?  :icon_twisted: I'll keep this updated as I progress. If anyone wishes to help me in proofing the vero vis-a-vis the schematic, they're more than welcome to join my terror spree. :icon_mrgreen: If anyone has one, and wishes to help out, please, don't be shy.
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SmoothAction

You've got to be kidding me. This is just evil. Extreme props.
"Never heard a man speak like this man before, never heard a man speak like this man before. All the days of my life ever since I've been born, never heard a man speak like this man before."

SmoothAction

I don't even know where to source vero that big. In New Mexico we call this "loco".  ;D
"Never heard a man speak like this man before, never heard a man speak like this man before. All the days of my life ever since I've been born, never heard a man speak like this man before."

Pyr0

You brave fool  ;D , I'll be watching this one with interest.

digi2t

Quote from: SmoothAction on December 30, 2012, 08:43:35 PM
I don't even know where to source vero that big. In New Mexico we call this "loco".  ;D

Best place for vero is Pixel Print Ltd. They have an Ebay store. They're located in British Columbia, Canada. They have the best prices on vero, anywhere, hands down. I bought a piece 11.5"x19.5" (23000 holes) from them, $16, $6 for the shipping.
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SmoothAction

Excellent. A 19x11" vero is just what I need to stay (in)sane. Keep us up to date on this. Thanks for the source on ridiculously huge vero board. :)
"Never heard a man speak like this man before, never heard a man speak like this man before. All the days of my life ever since I've been born, never heard a man speak like this man before."

Ronan

#6
I was having a look at the power supply schematic to check your power power supply vero, which looks good, and noticed there are two points for taking +/-15V from the supply. One pair are labelled +15VA and -15VA, I presume this means 15V Audio. If you look at the audio IC's (signal path and phaser stages), they are powered by the +/-15VA points. I guess the purpose of the diodes D105 to D108 is to prevent noise from the LFO stages affecting the audio stages. If you want to stay true to the schematic, you'll need to run these separate +/-15VA power rails.

Wow, looks like a mammoth build, I'm sure you will succeed. Looking forward to the video and sound clips! And a demonstration of how to drive it!

digi2t

Quote from: Ronan on December 31, 2012, 04:17:02 PM
I was having a look at the power supply schematic to check your power power supply vero, which looks good, and noticed there are two points for taking +/-15V from the supply. One pair are labelled +15VA and -15VA, I presume this means 15V Audio. If you look at the audio IC's (signal path and phaser stages), they are powered by the +/-15VA points. I guess the purpose of the diodes D105 to D108 is to prevent noise from the LFO stages affecting the audio stages. If you want to stay true to the schematic, you'll need to run these separate +/-15VA power rails.

Wow, looks like a mammoth build, I'm sure you will succeed. Looking forward to the video and sound clips! And a demonstration of how to drive it!

Ian, God bless your eyes. I hadn't noticed that, but then again, it's a handful of a circuit. Many thanks mate! I'll look over the circuits, and make the necessary adjustments. I'm not beneath running jumpers at this point, since I have to keep the whole thing inside of these dimensions.
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armdnrdy

I saw an old post where Mike from Prophecy unleashed the schematics for the Infinitphase and where he mentioned posting the board layouts.

Did he ever posts the layouts?
I just designed a new fuzz circuit! It almost sounds a little different than the last fifty fuzz circuits I designed! ;)

pinkjimiphoton

dino....you sick son of a gun.....

:icon_eek: :icon_eek: :icon_eek: :icon_eek: :icon_eek: :icon_eek: :icon_eek: :icon_eek: :icon_eek: :icon_eek:

:icon_twisted: :icon_twisted: :icon_twisted: :icon_twisted: :icon_twisted: :icon_twisted: :icon_twisted: :icon_twisted:

<3
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garcho

etch a pcb, for god's sakes, man!

way to go Dino, DIY for the pure joy of it, that's what make life meaningful. that, and phasers.  ;)
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digi2t

Quote from: garcho on December 31, 2012, 10:41:15 PM
etch a pcb, for god's sakes, man!

way to go Dino, DIY for the pure joy of it, that's what make life meaningful. that, and phasers.  ;)

I wish I could, but apart from the fact that I don't have a PCB layout, I'm not smart enough to create one (yet!), and I don't have the capacity or experience to etch. So, vero is my friend.

I've updated the veros above. I redrew the rails to reflect what Ian pointed out, and I found some errors. It just needs a final trace through, and BOM verification, and I'm off to the next step... inventory assesment, and/or ordering.

I'm sticking wings on this sucker, and throwin' it off a cliff!  :icon_twisted:
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digi2t

Alright, I've fine-toothed it, and everything is going where it should. Drawings are updated, but...

I have a question. Where the 8 LDR circle is concerned, let's say in a clockwise fashion, following the schematic, should they be arranged in an alternating fashion (1,5,2,6,3,7,4,8) or in series (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)? Does it make a difference? Am I making any sense? :icon_rolleyes:

The reason why I ask is because I would like to add a 4/8 stage switch, but I'm worried that if I wire all the LDR's in series, then I'll have two LDR's in between LED's in 4 stage mode (4 LDR's in a half the circle). I'm thinking that alternating will give me 4 LDR's facing the 4 LED's in 4 stage mode (4 LDR's in a circle). Is my line of thinking correct?

If it does need to be alternating, then I'll leave everything as is, delete the present jumpers, and just re-jumper. I heard some 4 stage clips, and it does a mean Univibe, so I would like to maximize the units flexibility. 
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armdnrdy

#13
If you add the 4/8 switch you'll be taking 4 phase stages out of the audio path. It won't matter what order the LED/LDR section is in. You can still fire on all 8 LDRs.

If you look at a JFET phaser 4/8 switch circuit you'll see the phase stages that are taken "out of the loop" still have their JFETs gates connected to the LFO. Same thing applies to this circuit.

At the risk of telling you something that you may already know, you should make the last four phase sections the "4". Switch out the first four, that way you'll have the four sections that go to the feedback circuit. Here's how I configured the 4/8 switching in the Jet Phaser circuit.

http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/diyuser/Jet+Phaser+with+mods.pdf.html


Good luck with your build!
I wish someone had a layout for this beast!!
I just designed a new fuzz circuit! It almost sounds a little different than the last fifty fuzz circuits I designed! ;)

Ronan

I agree with Larry, I would think that the 8 x LDR's should get the same amount of light, and it wouldn't matter where they were positioned. Might be an idea to leave the legs a bit longer on the LDR's so you can adjust them in or out (or rotate) to get a reasonable match on the resistances for various currents through the series LED's. It wouldn't hurt to possibly install the LED's/LDR's first up so you can run various currents through the series LED's, and measure the resistance of each of the 8 LDR's, to try to get some sort of rough match, I'm not sure how you'll do that in pitch darkness though.

I went through pages 4 and 5 of the schem with a highlighter, and couldn't find any problems, which is good. I think just put a link across C416 and leave C414 open (page 4, at the bottom). On the schematic, the feedback network around U401/B, the IC in the upper left corner of page 4, looks unusual. It's the audio input stage and uses a non-inverting opamp with feedback to the inverting input via a parallel 390k resistor and 100n cap. Never seen that before. Someone here may know the theory behind it though.

I'll try to get through pages 2 and 3 tonight or early tomorrow. One suggestion, if its not too late, is running separate grounds for the audio and LFO stages, i.e. one ground wire from the power supply board to go with the +/-15VA rails to feed the U400/U500 audio opamps, and another separate ground wire to go with the +/-15V rails to feed the U200/U300 LFO/LED driver opamps. This would keep help keep all the LED current and associated voltage transients separate from the audio opamp power rails. It may not make any difference, but is probably good practice, so if you've already prepared the vero, don't worry about it. I guess the main concern would be the 4 x LED's shining on the LDR's, sharing the same ground as the audio op-amps. But, its all just speculation until the circuit gets powered up.

It's all looking good Dino.

digi2t

Ian, thanks a bunch for riding shotgun with me on this one. Another pair of eyes is great on something this big.

QuoteMight be an idea to leave the legs a bit longer on the LDR's so you can adjust them in or out (or rotate) to get a reasonable match

Yeah, learned that from the Talking Pedal project. Noted.

QuoteI think just put a link across C416 and leave C414 open (page 4, at the bottom).

Yup, that`s the plan for now.

QuoteIt's the audio input stage and uses a non-inverting opamp with feedback to the inverting input via a parallel 390k resistor and 100n cap.

Could it be to make it more «guitar friendly»?  :icon_rolleyes:

QuoteOne suggestion, if its not too late, is running separate grounds for the audio and LFO stages,

Not too late. No vero cut yet. How does taking a wire from one side of the power board, along with the 15V`s, and another from the other end with the 15VA`s sound? I`ll seperate out the grounds on the main board then. I`m wondering if it will really make a difference though, since all grounds are shown coming from the same source (star) in the schematic. Food for thought.

I looked at the vero last night, and at worst, I could remove the feed jumpers from the op amps to the LDR`s, and reroute in an alternating fashion if I find that the 4 stage doesn`t blow my skirt up.

Inventory and parts ordering tonight. Cutting and prepping the veros on the weekend.

armdnrdy - thanks a bunch for the info. Just what this noob needs brother, much appreciated. All duly noted.


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cathexis

Great job! I'll be watching this one for sure!

Ronan

Quote from: digi2t on January 03, 2013, 12:16:18 PMHow does taking a wire from one side of the power board, along with the 15V`s, and another from the other end with the 15VA`s sound? I`ll seperate out the grounds on the main board then. I`m wondering if it will really make a difference though, since all grounds are shown coming from the same source (star) in the schematic. Food for thought.

That sounds good. I think separate grounds are implied on the power supply schematic (now that I look more closely) by the two ground symbols at the "star ground point" being an inverted triangle and a traditional ground symbol. The triangle is used for the audio circuits (pages 4 and 5), and the traditional ground symbol is used on the the LFO circuits (page 2 and 3).

Whether it will make any difference or not, is anyone's guess...you'd have to build it and see :)

I can't find any errors on page 2 or 3 either. Looks like you've done a very good job (or I've done a bad one!) That is zero errors found, remarkable!

Nearly forgot, there is trace cut under R327 near the 2N3904 tranny. Very hard to see, and easy to overlook when you do all the trace cuts.

armdnrdy

#18
 I would have to agree with Ian. There are two separate ground paths.

Just because they end up at the same place (star ground) doesn't mean you can run one ground for all. If you look how analog and digital grounds are run, they are kept separate and then joined at the ground input/power filtering point.
The same type of stategy would apply here. Since the two grounds are separating the LFO section from the "Phase" and "Audio" sections, I would run the grounds as per schematic to ensure that you don't have issues later. (This separation of grounds was taken directly from the Bi Phase schematic.)

You don't want to have to do this build twice!  ;)
I just designed a new fuzz circuit! It almost sounds a little different than the last fifty fuzz circuits I designed! ;)

digi2t

#19
OK guys, I always try to be a "measure twice, cut once" kind of guy, and I agree with the seperate grounds. I'll take one ground off one side of the power board, and the other off the other side. That'll keep things nice and neat as well. I'll have to update the vero to reflect the different grounds.

QuoteNearly forgot, there is trace cut under R327 near the 2N3904 tranny. Very hard to see, and easy to overlook when you do all the trace cuts.

Noted. I moved the trace to the right one hole, so it's more visible now. Besides, it's in line with other cuts nearby now, which is a tactic that I always try to employ. It makes marking the cuts on the vero a bit easier.

QuoteI can't find any errors on page 2 or 3 either. Looks like you've done a very good job (or I've done a bad one!) That is zero errors found, remarkable!

Phttt! Easy with the compliments there buddy. It took 6 tracings/correction runs to get to here. This is my toughest vero to date. I thought the Honey Fuzz was something, but this one has more twists and turns than a Chinese dragon. Oh yeah, make that 7 counting the grounds redraw.


One day, when I really lose my mind, I'll probably crank out a Ludwig vero. When that day comes, someone PLEASE come and put me out of my misery.  :icon_lol:

EDIT: Veros have been updated to reflect seperate grounds, and the moved cut. Hopefully I didn't botch something else in the process! :icon_mrgreen: Enclosure and parts ordered. Houston, we have ignition....
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