SSlmixed.com Forum
Tech discussion => 4K,6K,8K Series => Topic started by: Rick Carson on October 08, 2012, 10:12:18 PM
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Hello, my name is Rick Carson, I'm glad to have found this forum and will hopefully be making a home here:)
Our studio recently became the proud owners of a SSL 6040. It used to live in Studio Nine at NBC Burbank. It was the desk that the Fresh Prince of Bell Air was mixed on.
We are having a lot of issues and after spending 10k on tech time already it is now my turn it get my hands dirty.
The first issue I'd like to figure out is the master status switches. We had out whole master section recapped by our techs about two weeks ago so I'm pretty confused as to why these went out.
They went out over night last night and I don't really know where to start. Its logic switching so if it wasn't just recapped I'd probably start there.
The next issue is the groups. They don't work. I was told I was missing a cable or that I needed to connect something. It's pretty obnoxious.
Also we are have an issue with hum coming from the monitors. We have tried the usual solutions. Are there any good methods for trouble shooting a ground loop?
Thanks for your help everyone!
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Do you have the service manual and a scope?
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I have a few scans that came from the person I bought the desk from and I do have a scope.
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Regarding groups: The first 4 buckets have a small ribbon cable on the underside of the lower bus card. This picks up the bus information and assigns it that destination. If these, or any are missing, the bank of eight busses are not active.
The destinations are marked on the PCB 1-8, 9-16, 17-24, 25-32
Look for S10E on the diagram:
(http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/sin-tech/Ribbondestinations.jpg)
Quick inspection under the console will be needed.
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Hey just checked it out they are connected.
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Yeah, If you bought a working console, it would be strange for them to be missing. Are you sure you're sending the signal correctly to the matrix?
This would differ depending on the Master Status of the console.
In Mix: the small fader feeds the Matrix, Large feeds the Quad.
Mix+Float: Small fader is disconnected, and nothing feeds the Quad.
In Record: the large fader feeds the Matrix, small fader the Quad bus
Record +VCA to monitor: small fader feed the Matrix, Large feeds Quad bus
If something is actually disconnected, it's well worth asking your Tech for a description.
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I'm pretty sure I have my routing correct. Take for example I'm in record mode with vca to mon. I pull the mic pre up on the small fader. If I press ready group and direct I hear absolutely nothing on the monitor path and my metering goes away.
If I'm in mix and I press ready group and direct. I don't get post fader metering I get no audio no meters.
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Mmmm.. doesn't Direct button bypass the Matrix altogether, to give a shorter signal path
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If I'm not mistaken I'm pretty sure that it routes it directly to the group amp on the channel itself. I don't think it's the matrix that has a problem I believe it is te link that brings the buss feed back on the ready group.
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'direct' skips the group amp completely, and routes the signal directly to the group/tape send output. group trim won't work, but the signal should still show up on the meter in 'ready group'. if you try to route to a group through the matrix, and direct is pressed on the that groups channel, it won't work - direct overwrites the matrix.
did you check if the S10Es are connected to the right buckets? the numbers are etched into the pcb.
the logic card could also cause some weirdness, but not to all channels.
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I am not clear on what you mean by Master Status switching is not working, can you elaborate? If it was working before and then stopped, I would first start looking to see if all of the cabling is seated and there are no bent pins. You could also try re-seating the Logic cards in the 651. Typically when recapping a console, just the electrolytic caps in the audio path are replaced. Shouldn't have much of anything to do with the logic at all but who knows, it depends on the tech.
S10 I believe just routes the Group signal to the SubGroup input of the SL611, dealing only with internal routing. When you are using the routing matrix and not getting a signal to a group, can you route it to the mix bus and hear it? It seems that the only thing that would not allow a group output to pass a signal would be a daughter card issue on the SL611, and assuming that every channel in the desk is experiencing the same problem is highly unlikely. I would trouble shoot this channel by channel before digging into it to deep and looking elsewhere.
Hum on your monitors could be several thing. Proper grounding would be the first thing to check out. VU Meters or Plasma? Ripple or AC voltage on your DC Supply rails could be another cause. A good practice to follow (especially if you are running all on 120VAC) is to have the console power supplies and your monitoring on the same leg in your breaker box. I have seen some strange noise issues when installing consoles in houses or facilities with no tech. power.
Hope this helps,
V
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So we were able to figure out the master status switches and the dl split but the noise issues are still a big problem. Are room was built by Westlake and we have a grounding rod going to our breaker panel. I have had the console hooked up to the same outlet as the monitoring chain and this seems to give me the most noise if I move the console power to the outlet with my converters I get way less noise. The weird thing is though I get around 20db more noise from my mini outs than I do the main out pot. I am just trying to get the ns-10's good on the mini pot first and then worry about the Westlake mains.
Thanks for all the help everyone. I know it's been a while since I posted but we just had the power supply services in hopes of fixing this and a few other issues. It fixed the other issues but not this one.
Thanks again,
Rick
Oh and plasma meters,
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So today I had a weird thig happen. I had the right channel of all stereo channels drop down about 6 db anyone know the cause or cure?
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Hey Rick, we don't know your exact console layout, so assume you have a bucket with stereo channels?
I would power cycle this, especially if the mono channels are performing well to LF/RF
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Hey!
I power cycled down and reconnected the dl's and it came back.
My left vu meter is out I have been able to get it to work intermittently. Any place I should start to fix it?
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Hi, great!!
Regarding the Left meter, worth reseating the 10 way ribbon at the meter end, and also maybe at the distribution end also.
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Hey Thanks again, I just tried it at the meter end and there was no change where exactly is the distribution end located at.
Thanks a ton,
Rick Carson
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depending on the console, it maybe under the table on the Patchbay, or maybe at the back of the console behind one of the panels.
It looks like this:
(http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u485/jiml6570/SSL%204%20and%206K%20PCB%20assemblies/IMG_1437.jpg)
You should also swap Left and Right ribbons at the meter end to rule out any problems, depending on the age the Console/meter card, will go from a Zener Diode pair protecting the movement, to a buffered card with a TL072 op-amp.