I would take a close look at the gain pot. Check the solder joints, but also measure the pot with a DMM.
Ike

Sent from my iPhone

On 2010-02-05, at 8:11 PM, Jared <[email protected]> wrote:

Hi everyone

Ok I finally had some time to look at my misbehaving mic pre, and now I'm even more confused.

So after digging in a bit deeper this is what I've discovered.

Fist problem distorted noise with no input (peak light flashing) replacing the TL074 seemed to make a slight improvement. But the signal was still distorted but not as bad. So I reflowed some solder, I replaced the 100 ohm resistors feeding the chip, and the ones feeding the transistors, no change. Then I swapped the transistors from a spare channel no change. This was about the time I realized that the gain pot was not affecting the signal. It seemed to have fixed gain (It may have been this way I don't think swapping the transistors did this). By turning the pot its full range it only mad a slight change in sound the last 10% of its travel the sound got darker and that was all that i could hear changing. All of my testing has been with me talking into a 57 so not very scientific, and I may not be hearing something more obvious.

Looking at this circuit is confusing me so I think I need someone with some real knowledge to help guide away from replacing every component in the mic pre.

I have attached a copy of the schematic.

Sorry for the long post
thanks,
Jared
(612)802-3150


-----Original Message-----
From: Ike Zimbel <[email protected]>
Sent: Jan 26, 2010 2:55 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: NEOTEK:  Mic pre transistors

Hi Matt,
   All of the documentation that I have seen says "factory selected"
on the 2SB737's, which are the only one of these transistors that I have
seen (or at least noticed) in a Neotek mic pre. Incidentally, I have
never seen one fail in a mic pre yet. Jared, I agree with Matt that you should check all of the other components 1st, both for soldering issues
and value. Have the caps been done?
best,
Ike

On 1/26/2010 12:36 PM, Matt Syson wrote:
Hi Jared
All or some of these transistors are approaching obsolete but should
be obtainable by post from the internet.
I would suggest getting a bag of them (they are not expensive) then
you can match them using a multimeter for similar Hfe.
(note, don't hold them for long as the finger temperature affects gain!).
You could simply fit one and it will work but distortion would be
reduced by matching. I don't suppose Neotek matched them originally
though.
It may be worth running the multimeter over the whole circuit
comparing it to others (DC conditions) as there may be something else
amiss.
Matt S

Jared wrote:
Hello everyone

I'm having a problem with a series 1 mic pre (just the mic pre, line
in is fine). I'm getting a lot of noise and extremely distorted
signal. Everything looks fine visually. I swapped the chip and that
didn't fix it. My next thought was that it could be caused by a bad
transistor on the front end of the circuit. So I did a little looking
and now I'm a bit confused.
It seems that I need either of these transistors: 2SAB737, 2SA991, or
2SA1084

I'm sure their are others but this is what is in my console and the
2SA1084 was written in some of the documentation that I have. Does
anyone have a lead on where these can be sourced or other replacement options? Also what is the best way to match them? Can it be a simple
DMM hFE test?

Also maybe I'm going down the wrong path, any other thoughts about
what could be causing this?

Sorry for the long post,

Thanks,
Jared
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--
Ike Zimbel
Zimbel Audio Productions Ltd.
Toronto
416-720-0887

"Studio House Calls". Authorized Warranty service for Allen& Heath, Clear-Com, Drawmer, Soundcraft, SPL and Yamaha. Repairs and upgrades to analog audio equipment including: AMEK, dbx, Neve, Neotek, MCI, Soundcraft and more. Ask about our RF Frequency co- ordination services!
www.zimbelaudio.com

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