Clarinot Env Control Circuit Daughterboard (Schem & Vero)

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bow_and_error
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Post by bow_and_error »

I'm a big fan of Doug Deeper's Mid-Fi Electronics stuff. Especially the amazing Clari(not), for which I've owned production versions as well as making a few of them myself. His envelope control circuit is so simple, yet can make sounds that range anywhere from spastic brain-hemorrhaging space farts to subtle, dynamically controlled tape wobble.

I've been building some other PT2399 delays and have noticed how different some of the filtering, buffering, and feedback sections of the circuit can be from project to project. I thought it would be cool to have a daughterboard module that could easily add the Clari(not)'s envelope control to other delays to see how it would fit on other "HiFi" or tape-voiced delay circuits.

This is probably my 2nd or 3rd ever vero layout from a schematic, so I basically have no idea what I'm doing :whappen: But I wanted to see if y'all could spot any errors or help me improve the schematic or layout before I start building a few of them up:

Schematic:
Image
Veroboard Layout:
Image
Link to album if these don't show up right:


Another envelope controlled delay that caught my ear is the Snazzy FX Wow & Flutter. And although it isn't completely traced, I did find a schematic by u/raindog in another thread, but it didn't look like anybody had built it or verified it. I adapted to a more readable format with the hopes of turning it into a daughterboard as well:

FSB Thread:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=26945&p=259666&hilit=snazzy#p256987

My Schematic:
Image

I have a basic understanding of the Clari(not)'s vactrol and how it can be used to control pin 6 of the PT2399, but this circuit snippet uses part of an MC14007UBCP instead, which I don't really know anything about. I looked in some old school desk references like Hoebeek's Digital IC Equivalents & the Harris Semiconductors Integrated Circuits Data Book (from way back in 1975). They seem to equate the CD4007 & the MC14007 as Dual Complementary Pair Plus Inverters, but from different manufacturers. Would the CD4007 be a substitute in this application?

I may take a stab at a vero layout for the Wow & Flutter envelope control, so if anybody has tips on how to most efficiently lay out certain parts of the circuit, I'd really appreciate it!

-mike

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bow_and_error
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Post by bow_and_error »

I'm fabbing a few of the vero Clari(not) daughterboards today, so hopefully I'll have an update this weekend about how well they function & whether or not the idea is practical. I've made a few vactrols to try as well, with different colors/size/brightness LEDs. It seems most folks prefer a yellow LED, while there is not as much variation in the LDR. I made a crude testing rig to help me get the dark & light resistances of all my different LDRs:
Image

For the Wow & Flutter envelope control circuit, it looks like the MC14007 is just the Motorola version of the CD4007, so I won't have to order ICs after all. Also, someone suggested that I send the 2x unused GATE pins on the 4007 to ground so they aren't "flapping around". Here's an updated version w/that change:
Image

BTW, does anyone know how to resize these embedded photos so they are smaller? On other forums they show up as a thumbnail or at least not gargantuan.

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Post by heaterman »

Hey!

I guess the 4007 is overkill, uses too much space. I hae to check the pinout, but i guess it just acts as a variable resistor.
you can accomplisch the same (or almost) with a npn transistor: output from the rectifier goes to the base through a resistor (100k-1M or so) collector goes to the depht pot lug2 and emitter to ground through a 1k resistor.

both circuits are basicly very simple half-wave rectifiers (envelope followers) i gues you could use either one, it won't matter because grate accuracy isn't important in that situation. I would choose the version from the clarinot for the purpose to affect the delay time of a pt2399 just because it has less parts.

what's the benefit of the snazzy envelope, besides the rise and fall controls? (they could be added to the clari not envelope, by the way)

just my thoughts...

cheers

david

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Post by Scruffie »

The 4007 is 3 pairs of complementary MOSFET's, the Snazzy is using one as a variable resistor but you could hook up the spare 2 sets as inverters and use them as input and output buffers or whatever you wanted inverters for.

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Post by soulsonic »

bow_and_error wrote:BTW, does anyone know how to resize these embedded photos so they are smaller? On other forums they show up as a thumbnail or at least not gargantuan.
Upload them as attachments instead of embedding and it will give a reasonable sized preview. This also ensures that the images will live here forever and not disappear when Imgur decides to go the way of Photobucket! Look at all the broken image links we have in old threads because of people embedding instead of uploading.
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Post by soulsonic »

Also, I'm totally in love with envelope control PT2399 delay madness. I designed one probably 10 years ago, and finally got around to getting it off the breadboard and into a working unit. Love how crazy it sounds... like a broken tape machine or dying computer. I'm using a 2N3904 for the variable resistance element. Very chaotic. :horsey:
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Post by ppluis0 »

soulsonic wrote:I'm using a 2N3904 for the variable resistance element.
Hi Soulsonic,

Can you post a diagram about how to implement an NPN transistor modulating the pin 6 of a delay chip ?
I'm thinking about this same approach was employed in the Dark Echo delay build some time ago by Jack Deville (a model actually discontinued and still not disclosed here at FSB...)

Cheers,
Jose

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Post by soulsonic »

This is what I got. It works. Sounds a bit weird, but that's the point, right? :lol:
You can play with values to get it to do what you want. Low output pickups might want more gain available in the opamp stage.
Env1.JPG
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Post by heaterman »

Hey Soulsonic!

Have you tried a small resistor (like between 100R an 1k) after the rectifier Diodes and a bigger cap value for C3? This would even out the ripples. The higher the cap value, the less ripples but also more decay.

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Post by soulsonic »

heaterman wrote:Hey Soulsonic!

Have you tried a small resistor (like between 100R an 1k) after the rectifier Diodes and a bigger cap value for C3? This would even out the ripples. The higher the cap value, the less ripples but also more decay.
I actually think the last time I built this there was a resistor there, like 10k or something (I don't have that schematic with me at the moment to check). I've used different cap values too, but this is my starting point. Large caps give it a very slow attack, which can be interesting.
I generally WANT the ripples, though. That's what makes it sound interesting.

(EDIT: Yes, I just checked the PCB art I drew for it...definitely has a resistor in series with the Base of the transistor, after the diodes and before the cap)
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