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META42 balance control

post #1 of 10
4/10/03 at 1:27pm
Thread Starter 
I'd like to be able to adjust the channel balance in my META42. The easiest way I can think of to do this is just to use two single potentiometers instead of one dual for the volume control. Does anyone know a better way?
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post #2 of 10
4/10/03 at 2:09pm
Perhaps if you used a dual pot and hooked up one channel in reverse of the other... I don't know if that would work or not, but it should. Pots are just variable resistors, and resistors allow power flow both ways, so maybe it would work...
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post #3 of 10
4/10/03 at 5:19pm
There are many places online where you can find out how to wire up a genuine balance control. But these are for correcting for room interaction issues with speakers. That doesn't happen with headphones.

If your recordings are heavily out of balance, the best way to cope with this is by adding crossfeed, since it will blend the channels a bit. You can add as many steps of blending as you like by adding more R1 values to the modified Linkwitz circuit.

If it's your ears or headphones that are out of balance, you could modify the gain of each channel to be different.
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post #4 of 10
4/10/03 at 5:45pm
In theory, choosing your resistors based on one 'volume control' pot at 50k ain series with another reverse-wired 'balance control' at much less(say, 5k) would probably work, like ktpg said. Since there is always a minimum of 2.5k of resistance on each channel, you might need to adjust the gain. Because changing one from 2.5k to 0k(or whatever the value of the output resistor is) is a much, much greater percentage difference than changing one from 2.5k to 5k, at max volume, it in effect boosts one channel a large amount(), while changing the other a relatively small amount(less than 3db down).

If what I have said doesn't make sense, I apologize.

BTW, the only real reason for a balance control is if your ears aren't properly matched.
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post #5 of 10
4/10/03 at 6:44pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for these suggestions! I'm sorry I didn't make it clear at the outset that my ears are apparently not quite matched - I don't usually notice except with headphones, and that is why I'm looking for some sort of balance control.

I like the 'reverse wired' potentiometer idea, maybe I'll breadboard this to see how it works.

This is another advantage to building your own equipment - you can customize it for you own special needs.
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post #6 of 10
4/10/03 at 9:06pm
remember that if you reverse wire a pot, it has to be separate from the volume control-one dual pot for volume control, one dual pot for balance. if you use two single pots then you can just use them as separate volume controls for each channel.

if only you are using the amp, i think that tangent's suggestion to mod the gain of each channel to get the ballance set for your ears is the best way to go.
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post #7 of 10
4/11/03 at 5:11am
I have two possible solutions for you:
1) The usual balance control (20K stereo reversed tapers) in front of a 50-100K log taper volume control.
2) A pair of Noble 50K mono stepped log taper pots.
I have the parts on hand. Let me know via PM if you're interested and we'll discuss.
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post #8 of 10
4/11/03 at 12:45pm
Here's an idea. Wire up the volume control normally, but then add a second pot for your more sensitive ear. Could be a trimmer pot hidden in the enclosure. When you're testing it, you can adjust the volume on the one side with a screwdriver, then forget about the trimmer pot. This way you'd have control over the balance but still be able to use a single knob to adjust volume.
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post #9 of 10
4/11/03 at 12:48pm
problem with that is you have to pop your amp open if you want to adjust it, but if you're keeping the levels constant, stereth idea is great, keeps the panel clean and avoids accidental alteration...

g
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post #10 of 10
4/11/03 at 12:57pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by stereth
Here's an idea. Wire up the volume control normally, but then add a second pot for your more sensitive ear. Could be a trimmer pot hidden in the enclosure. When you're testing it, you can adjust the volume on the one side with a screwdriver, then forget about the trimmer pot. This way you'd have control over the balance but still be able to use a single knob to adjust volume.
Another good idea, thanks stereth!
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