Waveulator ME Saturator Construction Information

[dagoose]

GR20, all good! It was indeed the 7805 regulator acting up.

[mediatechnology]

Great! Glad you found it with the GR-20.

I'm wondering if R48 could be made 30K (was 49R9) to make the 10K pot span 0 to -2.5V for 0 to +3 dB make-up gain.

I owe us all assembly instructions for the GR20. That's been on my list for over a month now.

[dagoose]

I got it up and running! Sounds great so far.
I might need to do some small tweaks here and there, but so far I'm really happy with it
I had some brandnew cinemag transformers laying around for years, finally I have use for it. They are on the input and can be bypassed.
They sound really really clean, maybe a bit to clean.
The LED meter has some scratches on it, so I will replace those I hate these things.
For some reason I wanted it to be gold. I think that worked out nicely and kitschy.







And for those wanting the logo, here you go!

[mediatechnology]

Nice job!

I love the gold panel and the way the knob's reflection provides a glow around the dial.
I realize that a 12 step switch starting from 0 naturally "goes to 11" but I can't help - particularly with the Waveulator - to crack up laughing as I think of Spinal Tap.

Is the meter running on bar or dot mode from the +15V rail?
If in bar does the 7805 need heatsinking?

Thanks for that logo!

[dagoose]

Thanks
Yes, the gold looks cool for some reason. Normally I'm not a fan of such shiny things, but it just begged for it.

The 7805 is running on the 24v line (with a diode in series wuith some bypass caps) from the meanwell modules pre-regulators (lm317/337).
I was afraid that it would run warm since it had to go from (just under) 24 to 5v, but all good. I also think it's stays cool enough because in practice only like 2 or max 3 leds (so like 1dB) would light up anyway. More then 2dB of GR is not something I would use in pratice. Maybe on some material, but I just racked it up so I don't know for sure yet.

I had to make some mods for the onboard bypass relay since i also had to power the relays for the hard bypass and cinemag bypass which are 12v relays in series, so 24v. I removed the 24v regulator and other parts around it and have it running on 24v directly. The 24v comes from the meanwell (IRM20-24) module which also powers the 7805.

Stepped switches was some work. I ended up using all 10k linear switches with some added resistors here and there (need to check out what I did use in the end). The log for the threshold just didn't work, it was way to course for mastering. Now it's just working in a small range.
Same for ratio, 10k lin with added resitors so that it's only working in a really small range. We are talking mastering, it's subtle (most of the times).

And yes, they go to 11! hahahaha! Actually, I did build a varimu compressor years ago, that even goes louder, it goes to 11 and a half, which is 0.5 louder. loud is good!

[mediatechnology]

Thanks Jeffrey!

[gp6669]

Finally got around to building mine, still working on wiring it up but finished the panel over the weekend. The second ‘input trafo’ label should be labeled output but I can live with it, lol.

I recently grabbed an Omtech Polar 350 laser engraver (50w C02) and used it for the panel markings. The laser vaporizes andonized aluminum, leaving a really clean mark that requires no additional cleaning or steps after the panel has been engraved (aside from drilling).

Im using a pair of Altec/Peerless 15095’s for the input transformers and a pair of UTC A-20’s on the output but left enough room in the case of either needs to be swapped.

Regarding the pot tapers and DaGooses comments, I may add 2 additional toggle switches to flip between linear and log tapers on the threshold and ratio controls, still contemplating that though.

Anyways, here it is

[mediatechnology]

Very nice!
The laser engraving is very clean-looking. The graphic turned out well.
I can't tell from the pic: Does the aluminum underneath look like bare shiny aluminum or does it have an "etched" oxidized crystalline-like texture?

[gp6669]

It’s bare and shiny, completely even with the panel. It tripped me out the first time I used this material. Ive always had to do a lot more work to bring elements out after it’s engraved (infill, multiple washes, etc), it’s done the moment it comes out of the laser.