Mixing dry/wet signals

Started by thunderaxe, September 09, 2024, 07:09:31 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

thunderaxe

hi all, first time posting here.

i want to understand the best way to create a wet/dry blend pot.

my quest started with the CE-2 -- my original thought was that i wanted to be able to control the intensity of the chorus effect by mixing between dry and chorus, but then figured why not go all the way and mix from 100% wet at the far left, to 50/50 mix (standard chorus) in the middle, to 100% vibrato on the far right.

the standard fixed chorus mixing seems pretty straightforward:
(from the electrosmash CE-2 analysis page)



as the description says, the ratio between the two resistors determines the mix, and so i figured intuitively that the way to blend between the two would be something like this:



with the wiper in the middle, it retains more or less the exact same circuit as before, with each signal getting 50K resistance (a slight shift from 47K but i figure that can't hurt) and then moving it to either side shifts it to 0/100K and 100K/0.

but then it turns out i'm not the first person to have this idea, and the walrus audio julia is pretty much exactly this plus a couple of extra options. the relevant part of the circuit with the wet/dry blend, however, looks like this:



can someone explain to me why that is? how does this work? is it better than my simpler idea? if so, why and how?

many thanks in advance!

m4268588

#1

Make the VR B100k smaller so that not volume drops too much at 50/50.

thunderaxe

Quote from: m4268588 on September 09, 2024, 10:59:09 PM
Make the VR B100k smaller so that not volume drops too much at 50/50.

can you explain why? sorry, i'm new to this and figuring out the correct pot and resistor values is still a bit of a mystery to me. i imagine that figuring it out has something to do with ohm's law but i don't know how to apply it.

m4268588

#3
Even if you reduce the VR value by method I shown, the volume will drop slightly. In case of VR = 2K, it will be 49.5/49.5.

The following method is 89/89.
Quote from: thunderaxe on September 09, 2024, 07:09:31 PM

Detailed explanations in languages other than Japanese are available for a fee.

antonis

#4
I think OP needs a further (no fee :icon_lol: ) elaboration, so:



@thunderaxe: Consider TP as the reference point of a resistive voltage divider with R1 upper resistor and R2//R3 lower resistor..
(the later occurs 'cause signal from TP is splitted to GND through R2 and to Virtual GND through R3..)

So, signal voltage at TP is Vin X (R2//R3) / [R1 + (R2//R3)] (following standard voltage divider formula)
TP voltage is further amplified by op-amp following standard inverting configuration Gain formula (R4/R3)..

Now, replace R38, R36, R34 & BLEND pot lug 3-wiper in your schematic with R4, R3, R2 & R1 respectively  et voila .. :icon_wink:

P.S.
You can (and have to) consider VREF as AC ground for signal frequecies.. :icon_wink:

"I'm getting older while being taught all the time" Solon the Athenian..
"I don't mind  being taught all the time but I do mind a lot getting old" Antonis the Thessalonian..

merlinb

#5
The load on the pot needs to be much larger than the pot resistance to minimise volume change. With these values the change should be imperceptible, but you will need to increase C14 in the CE-2 schematic to about 330n since the cap is now loaded by a 5k pot instead of 47k.


idy

Quotecan someone explain to me why that is? how does this work? is it better than my simpler idea? if so, why and how?
the second example, at the extremes, sends one of the two signals to (AC) ground, ref. So with that version, you will get no wet or no dry. Other versions will leave some of the other signal in your mix.

ElectricDruid

The second example is best explained by R.G.

http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/panner.pdf

It's a very useful circuit.

m4268588

Quote from: idy on September 10, 2024, 08:35:10 PM
Quotecan someone explain to me why that is? how does this work? is it better than my simpler idea? if so, why and how?
Other versions will leave some of the other signal in your mix.
This will not happen if the signal source impedance is low enough.

m4268588

#9
There have been some discoveries about the second method.

It seems that not possible to lower the volume at midpoint of the potentiometer. It will always be 50/50 or more.
The choice of resistance value for VR is limited and must be less than to a certain extent.
The NFB resistor (47k) cannot be changed, and the VR selection is limited, so what can be selected without inconvenience is the remaining series resistor. The equation to select them is very complicated.

Auto calculators may be in demand.

EDIT:
Full implementation is not yet there.
https://mrotqch.web.fc2.com/bin/Bal_Mix_Calc.html

ElectricDruid

#10
Quote from: m4268588 on September 12, 2024, 02:19:56 AMIt seems that not possible to lower the volume at midpoint of the potentiometer. It will always be 50/50 or more.
The choice of resistance value for VR is limited and must be less than to a certain extent.
The NFB resistor (47k) cannot be changed, and the VR selection is limited, so what can be selected without inconvenience is the remaining series resistor. The equation to select them is very complicated.

Sorry, but I don't think much of this is true.

Depending on the resistor and pot values, you can make the volume change in the centre. The *point* of the circuit is that it provides "constant power" panning, so it's usually set up to be nice and flat, but it doesn't have to be.If you change the values to level out the voltage sum, the power sum finishes up with a dip in the middle. And vice versa.
The VR value can be changed. Obviously altering it has consequences for the circuit, so you have to change other values too, if you want things to work the same.
The NFB resistor is the *easiest* thing to change, since it essentially just sets the overall gain of the whole thing and *doesn't* interact with anything else.
Selecting the components is not complicated and doesn't require solving that gigantic mess you posted. The only equation you need is a simple voltage divider with two parallel resistors for the bottom resistance. That's not so bad!

The part where we agree is perhaps on the use of tools. I wrote a PHP script to plot the voltage and power outputs for given resistors/pot values (example shown below). LTspice would be another way. Doing it by hand is certainly possible but somewhat tedious and since we live in an age of technology it makes sense to use it.




ElectricDruid

I found my notes about this:
QuoteThe typical 1/sqrt(2)=0.707 value for the pot gives you a "constant power" pan. This is -3dB in the centre. This gives a slight volume hump if fed with corellated signals (or identical signals) of 3dB.
   
Decreasing the ratio (making the pot small wrt the resistors) flattens the voltage sum curve, which is better for corellated signals. By the time you get to Pot = 0.1 x R, you're very close to the ideal "constant volume" pan curve of -6dB in the centre (we reach -5.26dB). The price you pay is that the signal level drops a lot, so the make-up gain (and consequently noise) increases. We need x12 gain, +21.5dB in this situation. Ouch!
   
Going the other way and increasing the ratio (say, Pot = 2 x R) gives you a curve where even the power sum has a hump in the centre. I'm not sure what this would be good for. It's a pan law of -1.5dB, which I don't think I've ever seen.
This analysis assumes all four resistors are equal (like in RG's paper) but that doesn't have to be the case, and you can tweak it a bit further by using separate values for the resistor pairs before and after the pot.