Hello, I am Michael, a newbie here. I have a studio in Austin, TX, and I keep trying to add to my eclectic mix of analogue and digital gear. Hope I am in the proper forun. I just bought a channel strip from a Trident Fleximix as well as a strip from a Yamaha PM-1000 and a Yamaha PM-1000 power supply. I want to build a sidecar box to house them with room for two more strips. The power supply should handle thses and more I believe. The Yamaha hook-up should be pretty straight forward I would think since it is to the same PS. Anything to take into consideration in hooking up the Trident to this power supply? The seller suggests that the Trident be recapped and is including new caps and two resistors the he suggest replacing as well. I believe this is a pretty strightforward process.

I will probably build the case out of wood with an aluminum face plate. Is it necessary that the units be totally encased in a metal case? If so that is no problem, but I will still place the chasis in c custon box.

Anyone out there with suggestions, diagrams, cautions, etc. for the hookup of these I would be very grateful. Look forward to learning and participating here.

Michael Hickman
Broken Arrow Studio

You may be in for a real Frankenstein rack there. I know for a fact that the Yamaha channels want +40 volts DC to operate. That's an oddball voltage for a modular preamp. It only wants a positive voltage too, unlike some amps (like API) that want a positive and negative power rail. I have no idea what the modern Trident stuff runs at, but I'd be surprised if it was 40 volts. So you may have big problems running both units off the same supply.

You can put such things in a box made of just about any material you want, so don't sweat that.

You should UTFS at the TapeOp message board for racking tips for the PM1000 strip. There is a ton of good advice and experience over there with racking those strips. They aren't half bad sounding when done well, though that EQ can get kooky in a hurry. One minor issue you will have if you only have the channel strip and the P/S is that you will not have an output transformer, so the output will be unbalanced. You can run it that way, or get yourself a proper output traffo from someone like Cinemag. The wiring might be slightly different too, depending on how you want to change that strip (like get rid of the aux's, and add an output control instead of the fader and stuff like that).

I think there are also some threads there about the Trident Flex-Mix stuff, but not much. You MUST find out what kind of power requirements those need before even thinking about racking them with the Yamaha stuff...

Well I have already pretty much decided to rack them separately. The trident has its 'A Range' Transformer intact with the strip. One reply that I got on another forum was that the Trident requires " the Trident is all IC and probably runs on 15 to 18 volt rails, in which case it will need a separate supply." Another response on the Yamaha was"The PM1000 runs on +44V. And +48V needed for the phantom power" the yamaha has its transformer as well and I also purchased a working PS from a PM-1000, so that should be pretty straightforward. I will check out the TapeOp board thanks.

Michael
Broken Arrow Studios

There are some sellers on ebay that try to convince people that racking raw mixer modules is easy. And it's not that hard, but if you've never done it before it can be tricky. There's lots to consider. Everything you mentioned above.

I wonder if the guy that sold you the PM module even mentioned the output tranny?

Probably not.

I wonder if the guy that sold you the PM module even mentioned the output tranny?

Probably not.

As I stated, both strips have their output transformers intact according to the photos I have seen of them. This guy has excellent feedback and thousands of sales of all types of gear, so I am hoping for the best when they arrive. He has racked four of the tridents that he uses in his studio and is supplying schematics and PS suggestions for the Trident.

He has not done any of the PM-1000, but many people have that I have seen so far.

nowhereman wrote:

I wonder if the guy that sold you the PM module even mentioned the output tranny?

Probably not.

As I stated, both strips have their output transformers intact according to the photos I have seen of them. This guy has excellent feedback and thousands of sales of all types of gear, so I am hoping for the best when they arrive. He has racked four of the tridents that he uses in his studio and is supplying schematics and PS suggestions for the Trident.

He has not done any of the PM-1000, but many people have that I have seen so far.

Easy Holmes. I'm not saying that your boy misrepresented your purchase. Just that there are some sellers who do.

If you've never done it before then your in for an educational experience. It's definitely a good thing to learn and you can save some money and stock your studio with good sounding stuff at the same time.

I've racked 3 different projects. First I racked 8 Quad Eight CA227a's. That was a bitch. Then I racked an RCA BA-31 that was easy. Then I racked 4 Ward Beck M441M's. That was pretty easy. Each one has been different.

Good luck.

The output transformers for a PM1000 were not mounted on the channel strip, they were affixed to the console frame. There will be a mic input transformer on the strip. If you don't have a loose traffo along with your PM1000 strip, you don't have an output traffo.

Like Otisroom said, not trying to drag down your seller. Lotta sellers just don't know the details of what some racking jobs require. Many don't even know much about the gear, just trying to make a buck by getting more for the parts than the sum might bring. Just sayin'. Make sure you close this deal with your eyes open, and full knowledge of what you'd like to accomplish...

djimbe wrote:Like Otisroom said, not trying to drag down your seller. Lotta sellers just don't know the details of what some racking jobs require. Many don't even know much about the gear, just trying to make a buck by getting more for the parts than the sum might bring. Just sayin'. Make sure you close this deal with your eyes open, and full knowledge of what you'd like to accomplish...

I definitely see a lot of Calrec stuff sold on ebay that won't work without parts that aren't included in the auction. Cringeworthy.

Easy Holmes. I'm not saying that your boy misrepresented your purchase. Just that there are some sellers who do.

If you've never done it before then your in for an educational experience. It's definitely a good thing to learn and you can save some money and stock your studio with good sounding stuff at the same time.

Good luck.

No harm, no foul, this is my first project, and I am learning. I have access to a metal and wood shop where I am a designer, so the case part is a piece of cake.

The output transformers for a PM1000 were not mounted on the channel strip, they were affixed to the console frame. There will be a mic input transformer on the strip. If you don't have a loose traffo along with your PM1000 strip, you don't have an output traffo.

I do have a schematic of the Yamaha, so I am assuming I can find an output transformer that will work if I need one. I do appreciate everyone's expertise and info in this endeavor.

Michael
Broken Arrow Studio

Several different output transformers will work fine with PM1000 channels. I used Cinemag CMOQ-2S iron for the pair I racked for a guy. Those are the same output traffos that Seventh Circle Audio suggests for their A12 preamp card. I have a pair of A12's and like them a whole bunch. Those amps are patterned after the API 312, which I also have a pair of and LOVE. Some of the API's originally came with Reichenbach iron, and the son of the original founder of Reichenbach is running Cinemag. So you see how the circle kinda closes on itself. The Cinemags are about $26/each, custom wound when you order. Get 'em in about 2 weeks. Great service from Cinemag...