Any PAIA kit experience?

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Any PAIA kit experience?

Post by ¾ dead »

I finally pulled the trigger on the 9700 full system kit and a Fatman kit w/ rack panel.

I won't get into what finally motivated me to jump in after all the hemming and hawing. I just wonder if there's any good advice I should heed regarding these projects beforehand (not here yet, only ordered a few hours ago).

I have an older, secondhand PAIA vocoder built by someone else and it's really pretty awkward with its hardwired PS, which is free-floating and humongous, and everything's just exposed behind the rack panel. I haven't come up with a good longterm solution short of putting it into its own case and just tacking the transformer unit on top or something... It's difficult to describe without pictures.

Should I expect something similar with the Fatman-as-rack-unit? I know they come with wall warts you're expected to splice in, but are the guts also just free-balling behind a flat face plate?

I'm scared.
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Re: Any PAIA kit experience?

Post by crochambeau »

¾ dead wrote: Tue Feb 28, 2023 11:58 pmShould I expect something similar with the Fatman-as-rack-unit? I know they come with wall warts you're expected to splice in, but are the guts also just free-balling behind a flat face plate?
Yes, my Fatman was exactly as you described. Following the instructions resulted in a hard wired wall wart and naked ass end. I recall getting fed up with that and punching a hole to mount a power jack on the faceplate. Not the most elegant solution, but better than the PCB mounted wrecking ball in my opinion.

Since you build it, you have control over every aspect though. That said, purchasing metal work for rack units can run into stupid money fast.

Beyond that my advice is to triple check your wiring. I made a stupid goof on mine that made the filter sweep wrong (in a not useful way) for years, until, armed with more comfort about my abilities I decided to modify it, only to discover some stupid goof by my own hand.

Good luck, they are fun and educational kits. Worthwhile experience all around.
When in doubt, add resistance.

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Re: Any PAIA kit experience?

Post by ¾ dead »

Thanks a lot for the input. Honestly, my biggest anxiety about the whole prospect is that I'm hoping to do something I am not equipped to undertake. Not in terms of supplies or of being able to follow the directions, but just in terms of biting off more than I can chew in trying to jump from soldering contact mics (poorly) and doing some circuit bending to... this. As such, hindsight advice is greatly appreciated.

I suppose finding a cheap 3u-4u case that's deep enough would make a suitable enough compromise for housing the open-back stuff in one self-contained case. Esp. if it's deep enough for the vocoder supply to be anchored into the back with space left over for a power strip, or a front-panel rack mount switch or something so I don't have to mess with trying to put this stuff in my main rack. The vocoder seems really sketchy in there with all the exposed circuitry as it is. Without laying down cardboard on the underside it could and very probably would easily come into contact with the metal rack case below it, and the power supply not being anchored to anything in my my open-backed rack seems like a recipe for disaster.

I hate that the adapters have to be hardwired (same deal with a really old secondhand Blacet PS board I bought for the handful of non-PAIA frac modules I have), though I understand it keeps the price/part count down. But as long as everything can at least be powered up as a self-contained unit with a single power cord coming out the back, I can live with that. I suppose the original intent was for things to be done like that.
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Re: Any PAIA kit experience?

Post by crochambeau »

Since you're already going to have a hot soldering iron it would be a breeze to solder something this instead of the wall wart:

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Ko ... FgNA%3D%3D

As I recall, I was shipped an intact wall wart and was instructed to snip off the plug end, strip the wire, and solder that to the PCB. The above linked part is compatible with the standard barrel connector we typically use in musical instruments (the "Boss" type connector); you'd want to confirm that is the end on the shipped part before ordering, if they are still doing the same thing (it's been over 20 years since I built my Fatman, glad to see they are still in production). That said, you can also buy the male plugs and "repair" the wall wart end of your vocoder as well.

With respect to biting off more than you can chew, I wouldn't sweat it. Complete one thing at a time, practice improves skill and all that.

Feel free to cough up build pics etc. if you're after pointers.
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Re: Any PAIA kit experience?

Post by NoiseWiki »

Go slow and take your time, get a good soldering iron etc
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Re: Any PAIA kit experience?

Post by ¾ dead »

Good tip about finding a readymade adapter for the FM connection. Didn't realize you could buy them. I actually bought some barrel jacks after building a standalone FracRak case and a PS kit (never built the PS simply because the documentation regarding slight differences between Blacet, etc. vs. PAIA confused the fuck out of me, and I wanted power cables that weren't soldered direct to board as in the PAIA kit, but couldn't ever seem to find the parts I needed to make it how I wanted.

At any rate, I ended up with the secondhand 4-spot PS as a stand-in. Already have a DC plug mounted in the case, just never got around the modifying the blacet supply to take power in that way (more avoidance due to trepidation, mostly).
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Re: Any PAIA kit experience?

Post by ¾ dead »

PS: About the vocoder, I think it must be a fairly old iteration. The transformer box is really a hulking thing with on/off switch and terminals to link to the PCB with a standard cord to plug into the wall coming out of it.

Seems like too much for me to mess with, and I sort of don't want to mess with the "legacy" of such a design. As long as I can find a suitable case to strap it in back of, I'll be satisfied on that end, though one of these days, I really should take a look at the whole assembly. Its operation is rather... quirky.
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Re: Any PAIA kit experience?

Post by NoiseWiki »

¾ dead wrote: Thu Mar 02, 2023 11:57 pm PS: About the vocoder, I think it must be a fairly old iteration. The transformer box is really a hulking thing with on/off switch and terminals to link to the PCB with a standard cord to plug into the wall coming out of it.

Seems like too much for me to mess with, and I sort of don't want to mess with the "legacy" of such a design. As long as I can find a suitable case to strap it in back of, I'll be satisfied on that end, though one of these days, I really should take a look at the whole assembly. Its operation is rather... quirky.
My preferred way of dealing with hardwired power cords is to buy one of these and cut off the female end to replace the original cable. Then I can plug in whatever length I need

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