gtfields13
Active member
I have finished the last new build from my first batch of printed cases. This is the Boyle's¬Law, based upon the Keeley Compressor Deluxe, using the AionFX Aurora Deluxe PCB. (¬ = "not" math symbol).
This one took a trip to the Troubleshooting forum first, where @Nic was sharp-eyed enough to point out that I pulled out a tried-and-repeated mistake, installing an electrolytic capacitor backwards. It didn't take me long to replace that capacitor, and the pedal worked fine afterwards.
This is another build that won't have a demo until I can corral a local guitar playing friend to help me out. My chords are fine for a fuzz, but this would just "highlight" my skills. In my hands, I can definitely feel the compression effect, all the controls are pretty intuitive, but still want to compare this to my DAW compressors. If the point is to have a transparent (that is, not obvious) effect this sounds good; in all the settings I think I only found one combination of picked articulation and settings that caused a brief touch of a "wah" sound.
For the build, I did opt for NE5532AP op amps instead of the RC4558P that are the usual chips for this build. I didn't swap out any other components, so it's a very vanilla build. I don't think I could make this much better unless I adapted it to balanced signals which could take advantage of a quieter Op Amp. For guitars, I think the primary source of noise is from the instrument. As a keyboard effect, where I have some gear with balanced output, I can see where improvement could be audible.
The build was easy for me - it's a moderately high parts count like my Argand Plane phaser, but nothing weird other than keeping track of putting the right part in the right place (with the right orientation!). I tried a slightly different routing for the power leads, using an "innie" style with in-line connector that is hidden under the PCB.
I think the graphic is my favorite so far - the visual merging the Phido theme with a compressor came pretty quickly to me. The controls and graphic printed well, but I didn't setup the text properly for printing legibly on a light colored lid. I just need reproduce the settings of the poem title and I think it will be perfect next time.
And for the name. A compressor's controls map pretty naturally to basic gas-phase physics, with the Boyle's Law relationship of pressure to volume covering exactly what this does. Except that in Physics, more pressure = less volume. So this is a step beyond - it's Boyle's (Not) Law, where more pressure = more volume!
Even thought I've cleared a batch of new pedals, and have duplicate cases on hand to build the 2nd version of each of the first five Phido Sound pedals, somehow my PCB count went up by 8 today. I need to get busy on my case designs to start rolling out more pedals, and am getting closer to my ideas for implementing some of my own custom pedal variations.
If you read this far - thank you - I read your reports and love all the creativity I see here.
This one took a trip to the Troubleshooting forum first, where @Nic was sharp-eyed enough to point out that I pulled out a tried-and-repeated mistake, installing an electrolytic capacitor backwards. It didn't take me long to replace that capacitor, and the pedal worked fine afterwards.
This is another build that won't have a demo until I can corral a local guitar playing friend to help me out. My chords are fine for a fuzz, but this would just "highlight" my skills. In my hands, I can definitely feel the compression effect, all the controls are pretty intuitive, but still want to compare this to my DAW compressors. If the point is to have a transparent (that is, not obvious) effect this sounds good; in all the settings I think I only found one combination of picked articulation and settings that caused a brief touch of a "wah" sound.
For the build, I did opt for NE5532AP op amps instead of the RC4558P that are the usual chips for this build. I didn't swap out any other components, so it's a very vanilla build. I don't think I could make this much better unless I adapted it to balanced signals which could take advantage of a quieter Op Amp. For guitars, I think the primary source of noise is from the instrument. As a keyboard effect, where I have some gear with balanced output, I can see where improvement could be audible.
The build was easy for me - it's a moderately high parts count like my Argand Plane phaser, but nothing weird other than keeping track of putting the right part in the right place (with the right orientation!). I tried a slightly different routing for the power leads, using an "innie" style with in-line connector that is hidden under the PCB.
I think the graphic is my favorite so far - the visual merging the Phido theme with a compressor came pretty quickly to me. The controls and graphic printed well, but I didn't setup the text properly for printing legibly on a light colored lid. I just need reproduce the settings of the poem title and I think it will be perfect next time.
And for the name. A compressor's controls map pretty naturally to basic gas-phase physics, with the Boyle's Law relationship of pressure to volume covering exactly what this does. Except that in Physics, more pressure = less volume. So this is a step beyond - it's Boyle's (Not) Law, where more pressure = more volume!
Even thought I've cleared a batch of new pedals, and have duplicate cases on hand to build the 2nd version of each of the first five Phido Sound pedals, somehow my PCB count went up by 8 today. I need to get busy on my case designs to start rolling out more pedals, and am getting closer to my ideas for implementing some of my own custom pedal variations.
If you read this far - thank you - I read your reports and love all the creativity I see here.
