i make recording studio electronics and provide special sound services with my big fat recording studio
completed . this custom kaimaitron 4 channel mic/instrument amplifier with internal /external source control room or headphone monitor section. built all of beaut fat handmade transistor amps into a 1960s brown leatherete portable case . also features a pretty awesome switchable germanium stage which can be sweet or stinging.
a new minifenkner contol room monitor ‘special’ dog. . this little guy has been borned inside a pretty tight upgrade budget so i found a suitable sized hammond industries cut folded & spotwelded chassis .. costs way less than my first ‘built like a hummer’ styling. . this little bugger still has the same super clear and fat transistor electronics as the luxury model of course . and… two. stereo headphone amps . all transistor superbness and very desirable functionality. get a little mini fenk so to hear everything! in your signal and throw it easily around your speaker systems - to test your balances and ease your mind.
classic set up . 1200s.pioneer mixer. and a monoman running the big mono kick ass speaker stacks.
ruggedtechniques . hal smith stevens has been visiting me for years now. he is always so enthusiastic and charming. and extremely talented. and one day we’ll get to work on a major major project together.
my god man ! dont hurt yourself with that contraption.
it might be a crazy musical technical adventure that is biblical. or it may even be a technical musical product thing that is functional AND biblical.
dont worry kind groom. we are completely trained for all complications.
he got formally hitched to a wonderful girl and threw a very special party at alberton. it was an awesome event for hal and kirsty .
yyeeaahh.
everybody had a great time and of course the good djs were impeccable
wot the blighty chaps . we have sullied this LP record surface with our party antics.
toby muir with his big monoman mono pa system out to play. … sounds rude actually .. but he was very well mannered about it all. the monoman unit contains a valve preamp - 4 system output distribution amplifiers - and a 4 way adjustable speaker amp xover amplifier splitta unit. all transistor circuits . its way expensive so forget about it. it does so much that we dont know what even to call it other than the monoman.
this custom motherboard has enough muscle and brains to activate 8 input channels and pick up 2 stereo busses and make some vu meters move to the music. its made from our neever all transistor operational amplifiers.this mother is the amplifying mind of the small mixer build on the bench this week getting loomed up ready for chassis insertion. i’m letter stamping a drilled up panel today while waiting for the last of the parts to arrive. the simple mixer design has 8 mono panorama abled channels and 2 further stereo inputs. the master gain is fine trim able and has a switchable external fx/eq/limiter inserting function. the mixer also has a bus interruptor function which splits the first 6 channels away to an alternate stereo buss amp which can be driven off to some other external processor, and then back to the main mix via one of the stereo inputs.
heres the word from mastering engineer and serato minion wrangler - zebulon bult .
Hi Greg,
thanks for lending me the TEN8TOR, I got excellent results out of it & I really can’t praise this EQ enough, it sounds wonderful!
Here is some feedback from my experience with it.
EKADEK GYRATOR TEN8TOR
I used the EQ in two different ways, tracking mono & stereo drum sounds/instruments. I did this from an MPC 3000, into an Apogee Duet 2.
I also recorded several stereo mixes through the TEN8TOR, I did this from an Apogee Duet 1 into an RME FF800 & also from an RME ADI 8 into a FF800.
Tracking
The results I got from tracking the drums were good. It was easy to add presence to all sounds, even if subtractive EQ’ing was necessary in some circumstances. I found it noticeably worthwhile to just track through it without gaining or reducing any particular frequency range, because it added warmth & presence. The filters sound smooth & rich but also clean & open, very musical.
Mix Bus
The mixes I was recording were coming straight out of Logic 9 & in this workflow, it really shined. It became clear to me that this EQ was nothing less than mastering grade & it had a special character. I did not use it in conjunction with my summing mixer, pultec EQ or compressor/limiter. I went straight from a stereo D/A, into the EQ, then back into the A/D. I found I was very quick in finding a no compromise mix adjustment. The TEN8TOR can add a subtle brilliance to a good mix but it also has the ability to make a rough mix sound more punchy & defined, also polished, without the obvious issue of major compromise. It’s obviously not intended to be a transparent fix your mix tool, but was surprising ly good at dealing with less than satisfactory material. The best possible scenario for this EQ is obviously a flat, well mixed track that allows you room to push it. It was a pleasure to use the TEN8TOR & I would love to have one permanently in my studio.
Pro’s:
Sections & their parameters are well spaced out with plenty of room to move.
Top quality switches and pots, large knobs that feel great to use
Thick and warm tone that is musical all the way through it’s range.
Low noise, even with hi gain, especially when you take into account that it’s unbalanced.
Total bypass and band bypass
Peak and Shelf Equalization
Con’s: (ekadek : fair enuff that zeb didnt like some stuff. thats ok . but its my blog so i’ll chime in if i want.) The back panel lacks rigidity when connecting & removing cable jacks. (fixed that.one screw – thanks for pointing that out 
Stepped pots for filters restrict the ability to make real time filter changes (yes – the steps mite sound a bit odd. the special filter electronics are such fine tuned up resistor sets. u cant make a 6 gang pot that does the 6 different values and curves for under about a bazzillion $ each ) Unbalanced, more susceptible to noise.( transformer balanced is good . transformers just make it cost more) Low to Hi frequencies from right to left, this took a little while to get use too. (fair enough – i like it that way tho - when u turn it on its side, it becomes a perfect XXL extra huge large format console channelstrip . 4 – 8 – even 16 of these babies in a big desk. so cool and expensive. my fantastic console dream . and it encourages/requires a different intell approach – method – style – what have you. its fresh. )
thanks zeb. the gyrator ten8tor has gotten 100% raving reviews so far. we are in love. theres just one left for sale now. and we are in prep for a second limited run version two after christmas.
it was nathan’s jazz dream. to make a great record in one weekend. wild jazz quartet music recorded thoroughly old jazz school. big fat nuemann mikes all up the place. single mike on the drums. love that. fat 3/4 bass. stinking big steinway concert grand for gods sake. and sax. just … such a good sound. so expansive and expensive. recorded live mixed on york streets neve direct to my ampex 300/351 1/2″ stereo tape deck . the 300 was made to have a robot human stand in front of it pushing the buttons. so i was tape op. i didnt have a close monitor at all and have dreamt/drawn up this ultimate rebuild for my mr ampex. the massiveman.
the build is going well. i got a meal of metalwork till im stuffed full of metalwork to eat until all the metal cabinets/panel fully worked and finished. and then we quickly place the boards and the controls. wire the wires and hey. fat eqs. stereo ready to wear .
in order to eventually switch around the hi lo filter frequencies and bass and treble frequencies in the process of finding more magic, these switches must be pre-made special ready to neatly wire from the front panel of control back a wee bit into the circuit boards. and i couldnt resist making a smiley face from them once this part of the work was finished. ! counting the two switches currently fitted to the prototype chassis - thats 24 x 6 pole-5 position switches all prepared with various coded looms.a total of about 864 (24 switches at 36 connections each) little X$@# freqin wires. zen times are good times of course.
the metalwork will be the next fun thing once the cutting and folding is finished … again. a mistake’s been made and it’s been sent back for a redo.
heres news of the all new ekadek prototype of this luxury equalizer. igor’s been ages eagle designing and stuffing the operational amps and mothers with the pretty components… while ive been gathering all the stock and full function experimenting. we’re making enough boards to be for a pair of mono control units and 4 more units of the full stereo control teneightor gyrator luxury model. full single knob stereo control 6 variable band eq.
the design is a chain of six stages all transistor amplifiers arranged as filters and frequency specific boost cut elements. in circuit order. low.f filter 27hz.47hz.82hz.150hz.270hz - hi.f filter 18khz.12khz.8khz.5k6hz.3k9hz – Hi.F eq is 5 treble frequency shelving/peaking boosting/cutting action 15khz.10khz.6k8hz.4k7hz.3k3hz. first midrange eq is 23 position sweeping type boosting/cutting 70hz thru 1k3hz – second midrange is constant sweeping boosting/cutting gyrator circuit bent with turbo boost switch and resonating hi Q switch. 250hz thru 6khz. finally the bass eq is low frequency shelving/peaking boosting/cutting action 33hz.56hz.100hz.180hz.330hz. you just dont need more than that. the whole thing sounds awesome and fat with seemingly miles of headroom and signal adjustment scope . the top end has that gorgeous expensive clear brittle sound . the bottom end is a bodifull weight and the low low low end is bigbig clean and clear. boost to ridiculous ultra lowness. the two midrange stages are surprising and inspirational with their fine accuracy and schwhooshiness. woof. almost dangerous. all the switching is click/bump free so as to make dubb/dump playing the eq easy and bang free fun. mono units are sold. 2 stereo models are sold. 2 stereo models are for sale.
BBC NEEVER 8 microphone amplifiing machine * 8 separate microphone amplifiers * all transistor two stage blocks* xlr inputs- individual switched 48v phantom – 12db mic pad – phase change – lundahl input transformers – neve 538 preamp stages with feedback gain controls – channel volume level controls – BBC am7/11 output stages. floating balanced xlr outputs.
simple – tough – best quality – and a compact 2 RU size. its been a while in the making this one , as igor and I have been tied to commissioned builds. and our development work on the the new gyrator teneightor five stage equaliser
this old pilot oscillator unit is useless. i got it from an auction with some other treasure and boat anchors. it’s perfect for a mixer. 8 channels. volume. pan. mute. the neve b535 board will be the pick up amp. its going to be very simple. fat & clear. the all transistor neve boards are stunning. i’ll add a control room monitor section and twin microphone/instrument preamp. quite the complete juicy front and back end in one beaut box. the two upper photos are of a mock layout and of the new panel ready for clear coating.
