The JLM console

[Chrisp123]

A while back I bought a Tangent 16 channel mixer to kickstart a project I had been mulling over for a while - how to make a DAW front end console that captures the joys of the JLM Baby Animal Dual preamp. The BAD has so many build options that tweak its sound, although I remain a firm favourite of the JLM1:4 input transformer with 99V opamps, but I had 2 channels worth of old (and heavy) AWA in and out transformers that I thought I'd match with some discrete hybrid opamps in 2 channels, 2 channels of Tamura GA2087s from a Yamaha 2000 console matched with Joe's Twenty 5 Twenty's, and 4 channels worth of Lundhal inputs matched with Joe's 990A opamps. With 8 channels of the 'Neve on steroids' 99V's, that should give me 16 BAD channels with 4 differing flavours as inputs to me DAW (complementing my Sebatron, Midas and Focusrite inputs).

So that was the idea. I've stripped out the Tangent channels and largely reusing the metalwork to give 48V, Pad, Phase, Gain, HPF, Impedance, 3 bus channels and a Pan control per channel, each with a 10 segment LED VU meter. Input is XLR, and each channel has transformer balanced direct outs as well as a TRS send and receive insert. I spray painted the metalwork and had a vinyl overlay made up for the new legends.

Bussing is L, R, Monitor and a pair of effect busses that can be switched to mid/side decoding, where the mid and side channels have send/return processing inserts prior to decoding.

I'm just about done refreshing and modding the master section, and I have one channel strip ready to install to test the thing out. Good times.

If there is any interest out there I am happy to post some photos. I don't recommend this path, though, I think I'm a bit crazy to try it - but if it works ....

[Joe Malone]

Hi Chris
Great to hear from you.
Be very cool to see some photos to check this beast out

[Chrisp123]

The Console

Console.jpeg

My channel strip

Strip.jpeg

The 3 daughter boards for GoBetween type switching, the 10 led meter and the socket connectors for IN, INSERT and DIRECT OUT

Dghter.jpeg

[Chrisp123]

The new MS selector and light

MS Decode.jpeg

Adding in JLMs for the Main LR outs as well

LR Tran.jpeg