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I designed the SC3 in March 1997, it’s actually identical to the SC2.2 in electronics except that it was designed to interface with the digital equipment of the time; some engineers wanted to use the digital in and out facility that it has. The digital circuitry was designed by my old friend Steve Dove using the best available ‘crystal’ chipset of the time. The SC3 has transformer inputs working in ‘current mode’ as my modern circuits do. It also has a particularly ‘hefty’ output stage, so it can operate perfectly in any environment. All these early optical compressors have tiny variations in the way they sound and I agree that the SC3 does have a happy gain structure that makes it impossible to sound bad!
There were only about 30 of the SC3 made so they are quite rare….. hang on to it!
Hi Nick, NO! leave the knobs alone. The problem with those (and it is often a problem) is that you have to release the liners of the XLR connectors. This needs a fine flat-blade screwdriver giving the locke in the XLR connectors 1/4 turn anti-clocwise which releases them.
It’s not easy!
😳 😳 😥 It usually takes me some time!!!
There’s no active circuitry after the fader on an 828 so it must be a connection to the fader, the fader itself, or something immediately after the fader. My first guess is that it’s the fader…. I would offer one, but I’ve literally just run out of spares for the 828.
Another possibility is that the busrails connecting the channels have come adrift, but my best guess is that it’s the fader. You will have to check it with a multimeter.
I must advise against replacing components unless you are sure that they are faulty. The 828 has proved to be very reliable and if you are getting a good signal on PFL, then there is nothing wrong with the channel.
There are a number of places that sell 60mm faders, the problem is always the mounting of the fader knob; in manufacture we actually cut down the shaft of a standard fader to fit the knob that we used at the time.
For others reading this, I do offer a ‘service’ for 828 Mk1 and Mk 2 (The above one is most likely a Mk 2 as there’s an op amp on the board.)
Hi Al, Yes just drop me a note by email (
[email protected] ) and I will give you details where to send it.I’m going to be a bit rough on you… Individual channel outs are always a post fader feed and they don’t affect the main stereo bus output. You should know this.
The output is post mic amp, post EQ and post fader. The stereo output is unaffected.
The purpose originally was to be able to take a feed from each channel to a multi-track machine and use the stereo out just as a real-time monitor. Of course, that was before the introduction of ProTools!
Nowadays, like everyone else, I record individual tracks (using my BRICK2 wherever possible!) and mix down using an old 828S, the perfect analogue mixdown.
Yes, that’s right. The 1.05 and the 1.07 were exactly the same circuit, just slightly different printed circuit layouts. The volume control on the back was a variation to the 1.07. There were some slight changes to the output stage but all the compressors were identical.
I have not heard of any comments about not liking the output control knob! The very early 1.05 compressors did not have output control. I fitted output controls on all compressors after the 1.07. I can assure you that in terms of compression, there is absolutely no difference between the 1.05 and the 1.07. The compression sound of all the early compressors right up to the last 2.2 was always the same. There were very minor variations on the range of attack and release times but they were basically all the same.
Sorry to hear that you had to retire….. I have tried that a couple of times but it doesn’t seem to work! My calendar tells me I’m 80 but I refuse to believe any of it.
I think the reason that the C2 was never popular is that to get a compressor like that in a little 1/2 rack 1U box is daft…. it looks too cheap.
I would love to bring it back…. I actually have a large stock of the correct opto devices which are now not obtainable; but who will buy it? And the cost of producing a little unit like that in the UK is outrageous….. I suppose I could have it made in China, where we have our Orbitsound loudspeaker electronics made, they are very good. I must think about it. Right now I’m concentrating on updating the website and getting the BRICK2 out the door; that has been an exciting time getting it made here in the UK.
The story behind ‘dark’ is that I was searching for the subtle sounds that compressors are capable of back when we were making the SC2 and I found that by altering the timing shape of the release, the sound became somehow ‘darker’, so I put a switch in to switch from the original SC2 to the slightly darker sound. The C2 is definitely the most under-rated equipment ever! It’s a superb compressor using the same opto devices as the original SC2 so it has the same sound as the best of the SC2s, the release circuit is not quite the same as the SC2V4 but quite honestly there is no difference in performance, it still has the ‘dark’ sound that makes these compressors unique.
The chap who set up ‘Tweed Audio’ used to work for me at ‘Alice’. It’s very likely that the units you have were made at the same factory; Kelso is a small town and as far as I know that was the only audio electronics factory. BTW, the new BRICK2 is now a reality…. I have them in stock.
Hi Al! I do remember selling one or two into Singapore…. I spent some time there installing systems in hotel ballrooms in the 80s.
The compression behaviour that you describe sounds right, that’s how they do behave, but the VU performance is odd.
My advice, as usual in these circumstances, is if it is useable, then use it, if the VU problem is too much then send it to me and I will fix it…. although there were some ‘Bricks’ that were problematic because of corrosion on the main PC board. But, even if the VU is slamming, if it’s not distorting badly, then use it. I always recommend pushing these things hard!
As for info, there’s not much available. I do have the original circuit sketches for most of these early Bricks.
But well done in finding one!!
Thanks for your post Dave. It’s strange how rumours start and grow with time!
The VC3 went through a few variations over the years we produced it. The early ones had a conventional mic amp very similar to the one used in all the professional consoles of the time, followed by the optical compressor that I designed for the original VC1 ‘Brick’ and then the enhancer which was again my design. These were VC3, VC3 V2 (1998) and the VC3 V3 (1999). The V2 and V3 were minor changes to the enhancer design.
Later we dropped the enhancer and changed the design to incorporate an EQ as many customers asked for it. At about the same time we started to use a manufacturing sub-contractor in Kelso, and this is where the ‘Neve’ connection came from, but the design and quality were always the same. At about the same time we introduced a version with gold lettering, just for a short time.
The VC3Q was the name of the version with EQ.
The last ones we made used a slightly different mic amp design and were called the VC3QCS (2000) and MQ3CS (2001).
There were no changes at all to the compressor design, they were all the same.
I hope that sheds some light!
That sounds very much like a failure of one of the input capacitors. These are high quality low-leakage caps as they have to withstand the phantom power voltage. It’s unusal for them to fail but it has been known. The capacitors are (should be) labelled C10 and C11.
If you would like to email me at
[email protected] I will email you the circuit diagram.I’m not guaranteeing that the fault is there; if necessary I can fix it for you. The cost of a repair to a VC3 is £25 plus the cost of parts and return.
Hi Jason, Hey, the 2008 is a lot more than just a ‘posher version of the 828’!!The faders on it alone cost a fortune at the time! I do have one of my own here; one of the batch we made as general studio/production mixers for the BBC.
If your ‘channel out’ sockets are tip/ring/sleeve types then it would be relatively easy to access a point immediately after the mic amp and before the EQ section.
The bad news is that I don’t have circuit details of the 2008, but if you have a look at where the last IC in the input stage goes to the EQ in/out switch, then you could break the circuit here coming out via say 200 ohm resistor to the jack socket ring, and directly back from the tip to the EQ switch.
I suggest checking the DC voltage from the output of the mic amp to chassis ground as on some models we used a single-rail system which means that the audio stands at about 12V above chassis ground in which case you would need series capacitors of say 47uF on the mic amp output and at least 4.7uF on the EQ input.
I hasten to add that all that was from memory…. but I will have a look over the next few days and if I was wildly out I will be in touch.