brach

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Viewing 15 posts - 286 through 300 (of 421 total)
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  • in reply to: Works until I put the case together #13883
    brach
    Moderator

    Robin,
    It was good to meet you yesterday. I’m glad we were able to help you flash your Quaverato.
    It seems that now your Quaverato thinks the tap switch is being held down when you power it on. Make sure the tap foot switch wires aren’t twisted or connected somehow. We put this function on the this pedal so customers can see what software version they have on their microcontroller.
    Check those wires and let me know if you still can’t get it going.
    Good luck!
    -Brach

    in reply to: Voltage off / Some fireworks #13636
    brach
    Moderator

    The main thing is we need to figure out what caused R15 to explode. It could be dangerous to use the amp until we figure out what happened. If you are not 100% confident in your solder joints then please take out the board and re-solder them…it’s much better to be safe than dead…or have more components blow up. Also, try tightening your tube socket pins just to make sure everything is making good contact.
    All the current the amp uses goes through R15, so something in your amp must have been drawing a lot more current than it’s supposed to. It makes me think that something is shorted….like a bad solder joint or something.
    Are you sure that TP6 and TP9 are correct? The bias voltages on those parts of the circuit seem solid, so those test points should be higher. It concerns me that TP5 isn’t giving you a voltage…that’s pretty important to know what that voltage is. Like I said, try tightening your tube sockets, especially pins 8,4, and 9, and re-measure these voltages. Make sure you have the amp plugged into an 8 ohm load (speaker) at all times, even when you take these measurements.
    Let me know what you find.
    Good luck.
    -Brach

    in reply to: Control problems #13633
    brach
    Moderator

    Jake,
    If you are getting that voltage range on those pins as you adjust the pots it means that the pots are working correctly and giving the microcontroller the proper voltage. So by deduction, we can say that the microcontroller is damaged and not working correctly.
    Your microcontroller may be re-flashable, but it may have been damaged enough by static electricity that I can’t guarantee it will work. If you’d like to get a new microcontroller then contact us via email and let us know your serial number: info “at” zeppelindesignlabs “dot” com …we’ll let you know how to get one if that’s what you want to do.
    To prevent static electricity damage you need to make sure that you are grounded, and not at a different potential (voltage) difference than the thing you’re handling. In our lab we have ESD conductive wrist bands that keep us “electrically” connected to the AC mains ground. If you don’t have a ESD wrist band then just make sure you are touching something big and conductive (that is grounded) as you touch static sensitive parts to make sure that no voltage difference can build up on either you or the thing you are working on.
    Anyway, sorry about the trouble.
    Take care,
    -Brach

    in reply to: Control problems #13542
    brach
    Moderator

    Jake,
    Yes, it does sound like that may be a microcontroller issue. Just to make sure, what voltages are you getting on pin 25 of the microcontroller as you turn the multiplier knob? It should scroll between 0 and 5V if it is working properly. Let me know what you find out.
    -Brach

    in reply to: less highs when engaged… #13362
    brach
    Moderator

    Kevin,
    Yes, 104 should be .1uF…but you’re good either way.
    I’m glad you’re enjoying your Quaverato!
    Take care.
    -Brach

    in reply to: less highs when engaged… #13351
    brach
    Moderator

    Kevin,
    Yes, putting a buffer before the Quaverato is something that we’ve discovered does often help. This is because of it’s lower input impedance. One option, if you didn’t want to keep a buffer before it, would be to replace R2 and R3 with larger value resistors such as 220K or so. I’m sorry about the trouble this caused you…but i’m glad you figured out how to correct it with the buffer pedal. I have started telling other customers about this, but usually customers who have this issue have low frequency loss instead of high frequency loss, so it didn’t register with me that this could be your issue too. But anyway, i’m glad it’s sorted out.
    C16 is actually a .1uF cap (not 1uf), but a 1uF will work just as well for it’s application as a filter to keep the power rails clean.
    I hope your Quaverato gives you years of good service. Let me know if you have any more questions/issues.
    -Brach

    in reply to: less highs when engaged… #13298
    brach
    Moderator

    Only adjust the dip switches if you want to change where the crossover frequency is. Use the high and low trim pots to adjust the relative volume of each frequency band. In your case, you’ll need to adjust the trim pots until you like the sound. The original settings in the manual are just starting points…you’ll have to adjust them by ear once the solder jumpers are connected. Since your high frequency content is lower in volume then try turning the high trim pot up (clockwise) 2 or 3 turns. If you need more highs then, thy turning down (counter clockwise) the low trim pot 1.5 or 2 turns. Keep playing around with it until you like what you hear. It’s helpful to keep track of how many turns you adjust each trim pot so you can come back to the original setting for reference.
    Good luck.
    -Brach

    in reply to: Knob Flakiness #13246
    brach
    Moderator

    Jared,
    I’m sorry to leave you hanging…I got caught up in the renovation project in our warehouse for the past few days.
    I’ll contact you via email about what to do with your chip.
    -Brach

    in reply to: LPF/HPF Settings and EQ Issues #13092
    brach
    Moderator

    tlp,
    The point of calibration mode is to individually adjust each filter side (high and low). In this mode only one or the other filter side is working at at time depending on how the harmonic mix knob is set. It sounds like the low side is working properly…being that you get a woolly tone when the harmonic mix knob is set to the “low” side. Is the high side of the filter working when the harmonic mix knob is set to the “high” side? If the high side isn’t letting signal through then that would explain the woolly tone.
    If both sides are working then adjust the trim pots until the brightness comes back and the woollyness is diminished.
    What did you mean when you said “the issue persists when engaging the tremolo”? Are you getting a woolly tone when the pedal is bypassed as well as engaged…or do you mean just when the depth knob is up?
    -Brach

    in reply to: FAQ: WHAT is next? #13073
    brach
    Moderator

    Ted,
    Thanks so much for your kind words. I’m really glad you had a fun time building the Quaverato.
    We do have several more product ideas in the works…and all of our products are offered as kits, as well as pre-built. Thanks for the ideas. I am actually playing around with the feasibility of a couple of those ideas. Our design requirements are a little different than most boutique builders because all of our products not only have to sound great, meet a budget, and have a desirable feature set; they also have to be simple enough to be built as a kit by our customers. The first part, and a big part, of every design is just devising a way to meet all those requirements. So the design process can be kind of tedious and it can take a while. A lot of the ideas we have for products don’t end up making it past the first step because we find out it’s not possible to meet one or more of the design requirements. That’s why we try to keep the products we are developing under the radar until we release them.
    But anyway, thanks again for the kind words…it’s very encouraging.
    Take care and keep in touch (sign up on our mailing list)…we’ll be releasing new products soon.
    -Brach

    in reply to: Reverb as volume boost #13069
    brach
    Moderator

    Peter,
    Try setting your Flashback delay to buffered mode, instead of true bypass. A buffered pedal driving the Quaverato tends to work better because of the input impedance and the internal filter circuits. Another thing you could try while the Quaverato is in the pedal chain is to adjust the HIGH and LOW trim pots to settings that sound more natural. But I think you’ll find that driving it with a buffered pedal will help.
    Good luck.
    -Brach

    in reply to: Knob Flakiness #13068
    brach
    Moderator

    JG,
    I’m sorry to hear you are having trouble with your Quaverato.
    First of all, are you getting a voltage between 0 and 5v on pins 23 and 24 as you turn the rate and depth pots? If so, the problem is probably that your microcontroller got damaged by static electricity in assembly.
    We have seen these microcontrollers get damaged by static electricity in such a way that some of the functions stop working properly. But it is hard to say, in this case, if the static only damaged some of the flash memory or has caused more permanent damage. Re-flashing the device very well may solve the issue, but unless you already have access to a USBtiny then I would suggest on getting a new pre-flashed microcontroller. Use our contact page to email us with your serial number and mention this issue and we’ll get back to you about a microcontroller replacement. But we can’t guarantee that this will solve the issue because we had no quality control over the way this pedal was built…but from my experience this will probably solve the problem.
    Once again, sorry for your troubles.
    -Brach

    in reply to: High levels of static in sound #12678
    brach
    Moderator

    Nate,
    The schematic is at the end of the assembly manual (did you put your Macchiato together without the manual?).
    The noise of the audio amp can be dependent on the impedance of what it’s driving. It’s designed to drive low impedance loads, like speakers, not high impedance loads like a guitar amp or something, although it does fine in that capacity in most applications. So that might be causing some of the noise. From my experience, I’ve had to be mindful of the gain structure of the Macchiato and what it’s plugged into. Try keeping the volume very low on the Macchiato and boosting the input on what it’s plugged into…or vice versa if that doesn’t work. It all depends on how the impedance of the 2 devices match. But i’ve had good luck getting the noise floor low enough for recording by playing around with these levels.

    You asked about getting more of a line level rather than headphone level. There’s not much difference. Headphone level can just supply more current, but can usually get to around the same voltage level into higher impedances. But if you want, you can replace the the amp IC with a buffer (to reduce the noise caused by the amp IC). Disconnect pins 3 and 5 from the amp IC and hook in a unity gain buffer (either an opamp or emitter follower or something). You may want to disconnect R20 and R22 also if you don’t want those filters tainting the signal. You’ll want to remove the speaker too, so that the low impedance doesn’t strain the buffer.
    -Brach

    in reply to: High levels of static in sound #11879
    brach
    Moderator

    Are you talking about distortion or static (as in crackles you hear when your radio isn’t tuned to a particular station)?
    Have you tried it with an external power supply to ensure that the problem isn’t with the battery (that may be low in charge)?
    There is a noise floor on the Macchiato, but it should be very low compared to the audio signal you get; and you should get basically no sound when the volume is all the way down. If you are getting some sound with the volume down then that means the problem is with one of the components after the volume pot. Go through the schematic and just check to make sure all the components after the volume pot are correct and installed properly. The problem is most likely the LM386 audio amp or associated components.
    -Brach

    in reply to: Several problems. #11777
    brach
    Moderator

    Thank you for the pictures. I don’t know why you said your solder joints “aren’t pretty”. To me, for the most part, they look like the solder joints in the manual. Do you have a very high standard for what solder joints should look like?
    Your board is very neat and clean, so that rules out many possibilities of what the problem could be.
    Your pedal should only exhibit this behavior when the power is applied and you hold down one of the foot switches. What’s supposed to happen is when you apply power as you hold down the bypass switch for 3 seconds it should toggle the power-on state…either bypassed when powered on or engaged when powered on. Also, with the tap switch…when you hold the tap switch down for 3 seconds while you power it on, the green led should flash the software version. The weird thing is that your pedal is doing both these things while the power is already on. It appears that your pedal is constantly in a state of reset or something.
    The first thing to do is re-seat your microcontroller to make sure it’s making good contact with the socket pins. Take it out of the socket and very firmly press it back in until the bottom of the IC is resting on top of the socket.
    Also check the voltage of pin 1 of the microcontroller to make sure it is actually staying a 5V at all times.
    You can also double check to make sure that the microcontroller pins and all of the pins on the ISP socket don’t have any tiny strands of solder shorting any of the pins together….re-flow them if in doubt.
    You can also check to make sure the wiring from the foot switches are not shorting to ground accidentally. Use your multimeter 200 ohm setting (since you don’t have a continuity tester on your meter) to measure the resistance between microcontroller pin 3 and the round pad of the bypass switch port. Also measure across the microcontroller pin 4 and the round pad of the tap switch port. You should get a very, very low resistance…close to 0.
    If all these things look good then your microcontroller might need to be re-flashed.
    Let me know what you find.
    Good luck.
    -Brach

Viewing 15 posts - 286 through 300 (of 421 total)