Synthesis Technology

5U E580 Sampling Mini-Delay

I built a 5U format E580 Sampling Mini-Delay module.  The DIY PCB comes with the potentiometers and switch installed.  There is some discussion of the DIY PCB on the Muffwiggler DIY kits for E560 Deflector Shield and E580 Mini-Delay forum.  I chose to remove the potentiometer and switch. The mounting holes for the potentiometer tabs require a lot of heat but they come off nicely.  I find that removing the switch is more difficult.  Here is the PCB ready to add front panel control and jack connectors.

Power consumption measured 100 mA on the +15V and 20 mA on the -15V supply.

 

 

Construction

There are no mounting holes in the PCB so I chose to drill them in the four corners.  There is a full inner ground plane and a partial +3.3V plane so you need to be very careful not to short them together by drilling and use nylon hardware.  I would not recommend this unless you are very experienced with multi-layer PCB modification.  You could instead use several of the potentiometer tab pads for mounting the PCB.

I notched 4 of the MTA connectors to clear some of the SMT parts.  I went ahead and installed the top row left MTA even though it is not used.  There is insufficient room next to JP2 for an MTA connector so I used a FCI connector instead for the delay control.

 

It is nice to only have to mount one PCB.  I made a bracket out of 0.050" aluminum and wired up all of the panel controls and jacks.  This module came out very clean and sounds great.  It is easy to overdrive with the feedback control so the input attenuator is a very nice feature.

 

 

5U Panel Design

I used small knobs and added an input attenuator and four CV attenuators on a grid similar to my E340 and E350 panel designs.  I chose to change the Offset nomenclature to Tap to make it more consistent between jacks and controls.

 

DJB-E580 FrontPanelExpress design file

 

 

These are three of my earlier design concepts.  The left design uses a larger knob and is similar in appearance to my Jurgen Haible Frequency shifter.  The middle design moves the large knob to the top and places the small knobs on a grid.  The right design shifts the outer columns of knobs up a half-space.

                    

 

 

back