#64

Yeah the 500 series, i grew up with it!

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Oh not that 500? I’ll see myself out…

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#65

Since we’re talking Colour, and hence DIYRE: I don’t have a ton of familiarity with preamps, but I will say, having owned a DIYRE Preamp and the Hairball Audio Lola, I definitely preferred the Lola (which makes sense given the extra cost). I built both, but the DIYRE was supposed to be clean wire with gain so it was obviously a much simpler build. The EQP5 from DIYRE is excellent. I have more or less permanently hooked up the vintage out, but I sort of want to use a blank panel as a switch, because I found the modern output to be better in some instances (much cleaner with less coloration, and for cases where I just wanted to use it as nice passive EQ and not a pultec clone, it seems like a better choice). Love the colour palette modules, and found the louder than liftoff 1176 clone to be great, as well as the Bart HRK stuff. The actual colour modules have been hit or miss depending on what I’m working on, but they are certainly fun.

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#66

Thank you for your thoughts! You’ve given me something to think about and I appreciate hearing your perspective - I’ll have to think through what I want out of this setup and how it fits together with the rest of my gear :slight_smile:

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#67

A question about powering things. I know lunchboxes have different options (cable for i/o, and merging buttons, stuff like that) but if you could start over with 500 what’s a good beginning lunchbox?

I’m inclined to like these two, though I’d like to stay below $300 for power:

I actually really like the SIMPLE TRS i/o on the back of this two-space one - I might get it for the one 500 module I’m thinking of right now and just keep as a spare power supply for when I grow beyond two:

There’s only four modules in 500 I really see myself getting - is it foolish to think of a Neve branded lunchbox? Obviously half the price is in the name itself - or would this be a smart “buy it once” option?

I just don’t know what power concerns to have with 500 at all. I care very little about DAW implementation - all of this would be used analog with no computer, just want input and output for each module.

TLDR: What’s a good starter case and what sorts of power considerations? And apologies if that’s already discussed upstream in this thread, I didn’t see it if so. Thanks for any thoughts!

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#68

Yes, seconding the lola, it’s really a wonderful preamp. I’ve never tried it with electronic instruments, though, just with microphones (I don’t own one but one of my collaborators does and we’d never hesitate to mic anything with it!)

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#69

I think any of these are good. Basically you’ll want to decide if you want to go small or go big. If there’s really only two things you want in 500 get the small one. If you know that, realistically, you’re going to expand then get the big one.

For power, the main issues I think of are: does it have enough? and Where is the power transformer?

I started with a BAE 6 slot lunchbox because the power transformer is in an entirely different box away from the unit. Then I expanded to their 19” rack mount which, due to the power being located elsewhere, has 11 slots. (Then I got another BAE lunchbox, then the Cranborne 8 slot ADAT… I guess I have a 500 problem).

The value for lunchboxes is mobility (location recording/mixing), space constraints (no rack), budget constraints (no empty slots begging to be filled).

Resale value of 500 chassis is unlikely to be majorly influenced by the brand name. Go with a brand you trust for service, support, and workmanship.

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#70

Power with 500 series has been tricky, since there is a nominal “standard” spec (which all “VPR alliance” modules need to conform to) that determines the maximum amperage draw, but there are some interesting modules that are not VPR compliant and draw more power. There’s certainly been plenty of situations over the years where people found that their rack either wouldn’t work when a particular module was installed, or that when it was filled up all the modules were noisier than expected. If you look at the amperage draw of the modules you have in mind, and they’re all on the low-ish side, I imagine it’d be less likely to matter quite as much. Regulation (within the rack/power supply) is more critical here than in eurorack world, and some of the more expensive racks provide per-slot regulated power (which should isolate the bad vibes from one module interfering with neighboring ones), but that costs more. Of the ones I’ve used that are currently on the market, the API racks have been reliable*, the WesAudio and Cranborne and BAE ones are excellent too.

*totally reliable with VPR-compliant modules, but might have problems with the non-compliant high power draw ones

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#71

For a starter case I would highly recommend the Radial Six-Pack

Price is nice, used even better, and it has DB25. Eventually add a Redco TT Patchbay and you are golden.

Great for setting up a 2 channel mastering / warming chain. Made in Canada, rock solid.

HOTEDIT:

also would highly recommend any of the CAPI products (preamps etc)if you are DIY inclined. Also their 11 space 500 rack kit is a great deal.

5 Likes
#72

As painful as it is, I think paying for a good case is worth it for 500 series. I snagged the RND R6 because the connectivity and the power meter. It’s just nice to know how much “power headroom” there is especially when swapping out colour modules. I think it’d be something bugging me in the back of my mind if I didn’t know.

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#73

Thank you so much, @Gahlord @makamqore @alley_cam and @hankyates !

This is all so helpful, particularly with the product links!

@hankyates mentioning the Neve power consumption might be the right way for me to go. I had similar anxieties with eurorack which was calmed with a Joranalogue Test 3:

The Test 3 lets me know peaks and average mA on each rail and I feel very comfortable with my eurorack stuff now. It’s amazing how variant the actual power consumption is on something compared to its modular grid info.

Having something like that integrated into the box itself would be very useful! Most of what I’m looking to purchase will be pultec and neve, too. Will probably get a Neve 10 space and mellow out with it for five years of 500 series purchases, particularly to what @makamqore is saying about power draw, too.

I like the i/o on the back of the Radial!

The most urgent interest in 500 is a good de-esser for vocals. Seems there are two terrific ones in 500, the DBX 520 and the Empirical Labs DerrEsser 500. I’m liking the ‘set and forget’ aspect of the 520 - it’s listed at 75 mA, so I figure any power supply that can do 125 mA should be good headroom for the one single module. Will probably go cheap with the two-space bento just to get my introduction to the format and then upgrade to the Neve boxes later.

In terms of “what could GO WRONG” - here’s a funny single space unit on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Alctron-single-power-supply-studio

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I’m not going to get that one, ha, but in terms of DIY can you just buy a power connector and TRS i/o for a single 75mA module like the DBX?

Thanks all, this was really helpful.

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#74

not having any first hand experience maybe I should just keep quiet on it, but I feel like if you want pretty straight forward, and especially dbx stuff, I’ve seen good deals pop up here and there on dbx 900 series racks. not nearly as many options and the patchbay wiring isn’t as fancy as modern lunchboxes… but if you hunt around might be possible to pick up a rack with quite a few modules for the price of a good 500 case.

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#75

@slowsounds: Yeah, I don’t know anything about the DBX 900 format beyond what I’ve been learning about the 520 being based on it. It looks like a 1990s power standard of some sort? I do see a few DBX boxes loaded with modules. Have you worked with the 900 stuff? (Sorry if this derails the conversation)

#76

Vintage King and Heritage Audio are also worth checking, depending on routing needs.
The HA offers a 4 units version.

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#77

Having gone feet-first into an api “system” years ago in exchange for Waves plugins modeled after the modules and thinking about getting back into 500 stuff, I came across these:

As the link suggests, the module is a diy kit, but has an either api or Neve sound, (afaik, there’s no audio examples) but with a Cranborne transformer; $350 for the kit. Looks promising.

#78

I’m glad this thread started because I have some things 500 series related I’ve been noodling about. Specifically The Louder than Liftoff Chroma: https://store.louderthanliftoff.com/products/chroma

I don’t believe in free lunches. The API 512c/512v is $895/$995 respectively. The Neve 1073 is $995. The Chroma which claims to have both of these circuits internally is $649. Something doesn’t add up.

When comparing the units by just looking at them we have:

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vs

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So one would think it has to be more than just paying for the name. All have SMD’s. I’d love to be wrong about this and say that the Chroma has made the classics obsolete, but my inner skeptic is pretty noisy.

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#79

Looks like the Colour Module for the API or Neve sound has another output transformer and is separate.

So no API and Neve at the same time. Would have to switch modules.

#80

Damn that Neve module is jam packed full of relays. I’m sure that’s not the only reason for the price disparities but those aren’t the cheapest as far as components go.

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#81

It also looks like the stepped potentiometer is way more expensive than the one used on the louder than liftoff stuff. Louder than liftoff stuff, generally, cuts down expensive mechanical stuff to the bare minimum. I really love their 1176 colour clone.

#82

stepped potentiometers are indeed super expensive. i had one go on my Heritage 1073/500 and opened the thing up… damn… that’s quite a knob inside… and i had to send it off to get repaired. was beyond my skill set.

while i’m at it… i’ll also throw in a nod to the Heritage stuff… i have both a pair of their triple wide 1073/500s that i use on my piano and a pair of 1073jr EQs in my desk.

the 360hz on a 1073 is one of the most lush sounds you can dial in…

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#83

I have a pair of LTL Chromas that I use for makeup gain to re-amplify my mix after analog summing with a Rolls Folcrom. I really like them. Awesome gain staging and tone control options - it is very well thought out. I use the Mass Drivr colour module in them, and it does have a switchable N or A circuit option built in. With the API line driver colour module you can cascade from Neve to API at variable mix and gain amounts and then attenuate the output.

Edit: The pots are stepped in tiny, rock solid increments on the Chromas. I have a pair and match them for stereo use and have zero issues.

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