Ring Mod 1495?

[drewl]

Hello, a friend asked me to build him a ring modulator so I did a bunch of research and was considering the Maestro with the 1495 chip.
Any suffix/prefix so I can look up and see what a 1495 is?
I think we have 1496's at work.
Thanks, and sorry if this is a dumb question.....at least I didn't ask for RingMod schems!

[frequencycentral]

Hello, a friend asked me to build him a ring modulator so I did a bunch of research and was considering the Maestro with the 1495 chip.
Any suffix/prefix so I can look up and see what a 1495 is?
I think we have 1496's at work.
Thanks, and sorry if this is a dumb question.....at least I didn't ask for RingMod schems!

I've built a 1496 ring mod from Roland 100m modular system schematics - pretty excellent actually, and very high spec. It doesnt include an oscillator though, easy enough to add one.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

The MC1494 and MC1495 are (or were) both Motorola chips, hence the MC prefix.
neither are made by Motorola any more; the MC1495 was dropped totally (though, it seems that On-Semi are making them now! $10 at Jameco). The much more common 1496 is readily available, plenty of cheap Asian manufacturers.
Note that the MC1495 and MC1496 are quite different when you come to make a ring mod from them, they are not interchangeable at all.
I prefer the AD633 myself, much simpler to use as well.

[drewl]

MC- thanks, the same as LM- a 4 quadrant multiplier as opposed to the 1496 which is a modulator/demodulator.
Don't think we have 1495's, darn because we have a bunch of 1496's.....I'll have to look harder.
Thanks again.

[newperson]

Where can you get the AD633 chip for under 7 dollars?

thanks,

[Mark Hammer]

I'm not going to scold too harshly, because I'm guilty of the same crime myself....and uncomfortably often, too.  I too try to make my pedals for the smallest possible cost.  But, make a distinction between chips/devices you use a lot, and those you will likely only ever use once or twice.  Is $7 a lot for a "chip"?  You bet your bippy it is.  If someone was charging me $1.50 for a 4558, you can bet I'd be looking around for a different source, given how many of those I have need for.  But exactly how many ring modulators will you have in your life?  And considering how many you will have in your lifetime, and what they will cost you to build, the total expenditure will likely be on the order of $60 or less for even a couple of DIY projects.  If you were going to churn them out for customers, sure find the cheapest price.  But if it is a one-off for yourself, don't think in terms of normal chip prices; think in terms of pedal prices.  So, even when some chip comes with a $7, $10, or even $20 price-tag, make sure to remind yourself that you could be paying $40 or $80 for a 2nd hand commercial pedal that only does part of what you want, and that you're probably only going to be building this type of pedal once.

I have to give myself the same speech on a regular basis.

[newperson]

I understand 7 for one is not super crazy but i have to make a special order from an unknown place and will need to order maybe 3 of them to offset the shipping price.  do you have any suggestions of a company that might sell the AD633JN chip?

thanks,
paul.

[mac]

I agree with Mark. If you are going to build a pedal for yourself, you better use good pots, jacks, transistors, stomp switches, etc.

mac

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

Paul, Jameco & Digikey both have the AD633 at a shade under $10.
I have used AD633, MC1495, MC1496 and even LM13700 (check the LM13700 data sheet..)
I personally think the AD633 is the one, for ease of use & simplicity of circuitry.

[drewl]

So you're saying there's a ring mod that uses a 1496?
Or a 633....I have a bunch of both of those.

[newperson]

thanks for the info.  i also found futurlec.com to have them.  on a side note, would drewl like to trade a few for some 1/4 mono switchcraft enclosed jacks?

[drewl]

A few what?
I'm set with jacks for a while......someone gave me a dead mixer that has like 30 some real nice 1/4" jacks I've been harvesting.....as well as a bunch of other parts.

[frequencycentral]

So you're saying there's a ring mod that uses a 1496?

I've built a 1496 ring mod from Roland 100m modular system schematics - pretty excellent actually, and very high spec. It doesnt include an oscillator though, easy enough to add one.

Roland System 100m module 150 including 1496 ring mod: http://fa.utfs.org/diy/roland100m/schematicsshow18.html

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

Possibly clearer is the Digisound 11A ring modulator, you can find a schematic at http://www.digisound80.co.uk/digisound/modules/80-11/80-11.htm
Note that nearly all ring mod circuits you will find are designed for +15 and -15 regulated supplies - the standard for analog synthesisers.
Now you CAN get them to work on a 9v supply, by fiddling around with the biasing & some resistors.
But for a commercial unit, one usually goes for the +-15 dual supply, because although damned inconvenient, it improves the signal/noise ratio.

Another 1496 based design here: http://home.comcast.net/~sbernardi/elec/lockbox/lockbox_ringmod.gif Scott's stuff works.