Topic: Greetings... my new mic preamp.

[bluegrass_brad]

Looks tight! +T

[bugg100]

Nice layout!  Is that a switch to turn off the meters?

Very exciting to see this come together.  I've been looking at your site previously (as well as Elliot Sound in Austraila) for pre-amp kits.

+T for listening to our feedback, pro or con!

Joe

[rowjimmy]

Very nice. I've been watching from the sidelines all along but, I'm very interested in what comes of this.

Love the knobs.

[ero3030]

the kind of lighting like the v2 the ad1000 is very simple to read and keeps u aware of whats going on.  would love to see something of that nature.  ed

[fivefishdiy]

bugg100

>>Is that a switch to turn off the meters?

Is that a *wanted* feature by most? I don't know yet... I know one of the switch will be for +48V phantom power.  The other (2) switch functions are still up in the air.

Some options:
a) Polarity Reverse
b) VU meter on/off 
c) Power on Switch

ero3030

Thanks for your input. Can you elaborate?

[Kindguy]

bugg100

>>Is that a switch to turn off the meters?

Is that a *wanted* feature by most? I don't know yet... I know one of the switch will be for +48V phantom power.  The other (2) switch functions are still up in the air.

Some options:
a) Polarity Reverse
b) VU meter on/off 
c) Power on Switch

ero3030

Thanks for your input. Can you elaborate?

Maybe
a) Phantom on off
b) High pass filter
c) -10 pad

[Todd R]

Wow, looks great!

IMO, a pad isn't too useful, unless there is some worry that loud/strong inputs would overload the preamp on the input side. 

Switches for power on, phantom power, and low cut (80Hz/6db) would be excellent.

If we can keep pushing you for refinements:  it would be nice if you could structure the VU meters so that the bottom couple LEDs were green, then a couple yellow, and then only one red LED (well 2 since stereo) for approaching clipping.  We will often be running our gear bags on the ground and looking down on them while standing, so it is helpful for the clip LED to really stand out from the other LEDs of the VU so that you can easily see it.

Thanks again for accepting all our input on this project!

[halleyscomet8]

i say minimize the front panel some. we don't need all the switches. i think 1 power switch and 1 phantom switch that works for both channels is all that is needed. i think the knobs look great, and could go either way with the need for lights.

[Scooter]

a phantom switch on the front panel is asking for trouble I think.  The ua-5 had that, and many a recording has been ruined by accidentally hitting that switch while trying to adj gain.

[eric.B]

a phantom switch on the front panel is asking for trouble I think.  The ua-5 had that, and many a recording has been ruined by accidentally hitting that switch while trying to adj gain.

IME with the grace v2 and grace v3, Ive never accidentally hit either one of the right or left phantom power switch..

[PH]

I like switches, as opposed to buttons.
Phantom switch is KEY, some users might want to use it for other reasons besides taping.
HF Rolloff switch is a good idea to me.
An on/off switch too.

So that's 3 switches total. Little silver metal switches that are hard to switch to prevent accidental changes.
I feel it must have the LED metering, it looks cool but more importantly...it allows you to maximize the preamp signal going to the A/D and recorder.

I like Todd's idea of the 3 color metering. The proto-design looks really promising. Can't wait to see and hear the real thing.

[fivefishdiy]

Todd R

If we can keep pushing you for refinements:  it would be nice if you could structure the VU meters so that the bottom couple LEDs were green, then a couple yellow, and then only one red LED (well 2 since stereo) for approaching clipping.  We will often be running our gear bags on the ground and looking down on them while standing, so it is helpful for the clip LED to really stand out from the other LEDs of the VU so that you can easily see it.

That's reasonable. I'll check if they offer the green and yellow colors for this kind of LED. These are ultra high-efficiency Red LEDs, and does not need much current to light up like the normal LEDs.

Scooter and Nashphil
I'm debating on this very aspect too. I earlier did some "eyeballing" of clearances if I use a toggle switch, and it's a possibility. 

The BIG difference is going to be added cost. 6 toggle switches is going to be more expensive than 6 mini-push button switches.

When it's time to design the daughter board, I'll be able to make the decision based on what fits inside the case.

My thinking is a "toggle" switch will be more at risk of being switch on/off rather than a push button switch when adjusting the knobs.  Adjusting the knobs are left-right movement, (the same as toggling switches).  Push button switches, you have to actually push in.... just my observation.

[Scooter]

I should clarify that the bad ua-5 switch that i refer to is a pushbutton type switch.  when i had a V2, i never had a prob with their toggle phantom switch. 

"Adjusting the knobs are left-right movement, (the same as toggling switches).  Push button switches, you have to actually push in.... just my observation."

true, but when you are "going in" for the level adjustment, you can easily depress one of those switches if it's in proximity to the gain knkobs

[fivefishdiy]

Touché   

Okay, no promises. I'll look into how this may affect pricing, and room availability inside the case.

[PH]

I was thinking 3 toggle switches total. One for phantom, one for rolloff, and one for power.
The phantom and rolloff switches could affect both channels. Can't see a need to have individual switches for each channel.

For the left right thing, you could have the toggles go up down or left right. Really small, hard to swtich toggles is what I'm thinking.