On 12/19/10 6:13 PM, Rodrigo Constanzo wrote:
> Is that circuit/design available outside of the school?
You'll find the basic circuit in Nic's book:
http://www.nicolascollins.com/handmade.htm
Richard Lerman has a variant of it on his website. There you'll find a
pdf you can download: http://www.west.asu.edu/rlerman/
> I'm curious about the use of a 386 as I wouldnt've thought that was a low
> noise IC.
>
Well, I don't think it is a low-noise IC, but it is simple to make and
cheap. For a quiet circuit, I guess you'd have to try and copy the K&K
and other manufacturers' designs.
> Something like the K&K would be ideal, but it is a bit pricey. A DIY version
> of something similar would be amazing I'm sure.
That's the trade-off I guess. It may be time to start Googling for quiet
op amps and other audio amp circuit designs.
All the best,
Eric
> On Sun, Dec 19, 2010 at 7:02 PM, Eric Leonardson<eric@ericleonardson.org>wrote:
>
>>
>> Starting last year my students and I in the Sound Dept. at SAIC have
>> been building our own preamps. Nicolas Collins and Robb Drinkwater
>> (Sound faculty at SAIC) developed the circuit. Made available as kits.
>> any student can purchase the amp kit for $5 from the Media Center
>> vending machine (along with batteries, CDRs, DV tapes, Arduino boards,
>> perf boards, and other useful items).
>>
>> Once assembled, the amp will also drive a small 8 ohm speaker if needed.
>> Like the mint-box buffer they run on a 9-volt batt. and have a high/low
>> gain switch for the input. The circuit differs from the mint-box buffer,
>> using a 386 op amp IC instead of a 2N5457 FET.
>>
>> The benefit of the preamp may not always be apparent as piezo materials
>> pick up high and mid-frequencies easily, but not in the low end. With my
>> Springboard, the sounds of bowed coil springs are nothing without the
>> very deep bass end of the frequency spectrum. Simply plugging it in to a
>> 1/4-inch input jack and boosting the gain for mic level was always risky
>> depending on the character of the PA mixer, where the mis-matched
>> impedance could make itself audibly and noticeable, i.e. very
>> disappointing. So, I found a preamp indispensable. However, for the
>> Springboard, since the late-90s, I've relied on a little K&K preamp
>> designed for the impedance of piezo pickups. It was very low-noise, and
>> worth every penny of the $90 I paid. The particular model I use is no
>> longer available, but K&K Sound Systems is still in business, and have
>> newer versions available: http://www.kksound.com/
>>
>> All the best,
>> Eric
>>
>>
>> On 12/18/10 4:20 PM, Rodrigo Constanzo wrote:
>>> On Sat, Dec 18, 2010 at 9:31 PM, Rodrigo Constanzo<
>>> rodrigo.constanzo@gmail.com<rodrigo.constanzo%40gmail.com>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Interesting. Those look like the same type of thing again, but with a
>>>> different protective "sleeve".
>>>>
>>>> Haas anyone made DIY preamps for their piezos?
>>>>
>>>> I've made one of these mint-box buffers:
>>>> http://www.scotthelmke.com/Mint-box-buffer.html
>>>>
>>>> But I have to say, I don't really hear much a difference with or without
>>>> it, so I don't know if the gain is not very hot on it or what.
>>>> I've also used a DIY version of a "Super Hard On" boost pedal, which has
>> a
>>>> super high input impedance.
>>>>
>>>> Rodrigo
>>>> http://www.rodrigoconstanzo.com
>>>>
>>>> On Sat, Dec 18, 2010 at 8:20 PM, Simon Whetham<simon@simonwhetham.co.uk<simon%40simonwhetham.co.uk>
>>> wrote:
>>>>> hi rodrigo
>>>>> what about these?? http://www.c-ducer.com/ great for the inside of
>> boats
>>>>> in the amazon! ;-)
>>>>> simon
>>>>>
>>>>> *Simon Whetham *
>>>>> www.simonwhetham.co.uk
>>>>> www.myspace.com/simonwhetham
>>>>>
>>>>> www.activecrossover.co.uk
>>>>>
>>>>> *Latest news: Arts Council England to fund 'Active Crossover 2011'
>>>>> exhibition tour*
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> out now:
>>>>> *'Grey Area'* with Paul Khimasia Morgan released by Con-V
>>>>> <http://con-v.org/cnvr22.html>*'The Clearing' *with Rebecca Joy Sharp
>>>>> released by Gruenrekorder<http://www.gruenrekorder.de/?page_id=2874>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>> To: oddmusic@yahoogroups.com<oddmusic%40yahoogroups.com>
>>>>> From: rodrigo.constanzo@gmail.com<rodrigo.constanzo%40gmail.com>
>>>>> Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2010 19:19:17 +0000
>>>>> Subject: [oddmusic] Film Piezos (EMI vs PUTW)?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> So I've been looking into buying some more Piezo Film pickups to use on
>>>>> different projects.
>>>>> I saw this improv trio recently, of which the guitarist had great tone,
>>>>> and
>>>>> SWORE by Pickup The World pickups.
>>>>>
>>>>> So I finally looked them up:
>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.pick-uptheworld.com/FAQ.html#one
>>>>>
>>>>> Now, from what I can tell from the pictures, it's Piezo film they're
>>>>> talking
>>>>> about.
>>>>> There's no big/clear pictures, but they mention an "outer wrap of
>> Kevlar".
>>>>> So I'm guessing it's the standard Piezo Film strips that EMI also
>> sells,
>>>>> but
>>>>> wrapped in a conductive/protective shield, then sold for a massive
>> markup.
>>>>> Has anyone purchased one of these?
>>>>> Has anyone fully shielded their piezo film pickups?
>>>>>
>>>>> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------
>>>
>>> Yahoo! Groups Links
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> --
>>
>> Eric Leonardson
>>
>> E-mail: eric@ericleonardson.org<eric%40ericleonardson.org> <mailto:
>> eric@ericleonardson.org<eric%40ericleonardson.org>>
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>>
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>>
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>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
--
Eric Leonardson
E-mail: eric@ericleonardson.org <mailto:eric@ericleonardson.org>
What's New: ericleonardson.org/whatsnew/
<http://ericleonardson.org/whatsnew/>
Plasticene: plasticene.blogspot.com/ <http://plasticene.blogspot.com/>
Auris: www.myspace.com/auristrio <http://www.myspace.com/auristrio>
World Listening Project: www.worldlisteningproject.org
<http://www.worldlisteningproject.org/>
Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology: mwsae.org <http://mwsae.org/>
Chicago Phonography: www.chicagophonography.org
<http://www.chicagophonography.org>
Delicious: delicious.com/eleon <http://delicious.com/eleon>
Twitter: twitter.com/eleona <http://twitter.com/eleona>
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