Flatline Compressor Layout

mictester · Post by **mictester** » 31 Oct 2010, 22:46

I needed a couple of quick opto=compressors, and decided to try the Hollis Flatline circuit. I was pleasantly surprised by the results, and did a small PCB that's easy to put together.

You don't need any mojo components, and the thing is very quiet with plenty of squish and sustain. The attack of notes isn't squeezed too much because of the response time of the LDR. It's possible to make it distort, but you have to push it really hard. If you buy all the parts new, they'll only cost you a Fiver!

mictester · Post by **mictester** » 31 Oct 2010, 23:00

Sorry people - just noticed two shorts on the board (I'm not used to this DIY Layout Creator). Just fixed it all:

Corrected

: Flatline.gif (5.53 KiB) Viewed 2578 times

There you go!

mictester · Post by **mictester** » 31 Oct 2010, 23:27

Word of warning - the track PnP layout is from the component side, so needs to be reversed before exposure!

frequencycentral · Post by **frequencycentral** » 01 Nov 2010, 00:15

Re - spect!

frequencycentral · Post by **frequencycentral** » 01 Nov 2010, 00:55

^^^

You will see that each syllable of Re - spect in the above post is a link to to the layouts you copied yours from. Respect is important.

mictester · Post by **mictester** » 01 Nov 2010, 06:07

frequencycentral wrote:^^^

You will see that each syllable of Re - spect in the above post is a link to to the layouts you copied yours from. Respect is important.

Similar, but not the same! It wasn't copied from anywhere - I laid it out to fit the pre-drilled boxes and offcuts of pre-sensitised board I had. I got all the resistors flat to the board, and (just) had enough room for a genuine Vactrol on one of them. I'm really impressed with the way these things sound.

One change I tried (I was running out of germanium diodes) was to use BAT41 Schottky Diodes in the bridge. These work pretty well except that the onset of compression is more abrupt. This isn't really audible, though.

frequencycentral · Post by **frequencycentral** » 01 Nov 2010, 07:37

mictester wrote:
frequencycentral wrote:^^^

You will see that each syllable of Re - spect in the above post is a link to to the layouts you copied yours from. Respect is important.
Similar, but not the same! It wasn't copied from anywhere - I laid it out to fit the pre-drilled boxes and offcuts of pre-sensitised board I had. I got all the resistors flat to the board, and (just) had enough room for a genuine Vactrol on one of them. I'm really impressed with the way these things sound.

One change I tried (I was running out of germanium diodes) was to use BAT41 Schottky Diodes in the bridge. These work pretty well except that the onset of compression is more abrupt. This isn't really audible, though.

HAHAHAHA! Dude you can't be serious. EVERY part number is the same. Every one. The chances of that are astronamical. You copied previous layouts and altered them very slightly. I know it, you know it, everyone who reads this post will also know it. At least have the decency to respect your sources, like I did. To do otherwise is plagarism. Not the first time you've been accused of that. Not that any of this matters in the greater scheme of things. But dude, get real.

WhiteKeyHole · Post by **WhiteKeyHole** » 01 Nov 2010, 08:03

frequencycentral wrote:I know it.

IvIark · Post by **IvIark** » 01 Nov 2010, 18:21

culturejam · Post by **culturejam** » 01 Nov 2010, 18:54

EPIC BURN

frequencycentral · Post by **frequencycentral** » 01 Nov 2010, 19:48

mictester wrote:
frequencycentral wrote: HAHAHAHA! Dude you can't be serious. EVERY part number is the same. Every one. The chances of that are astronamical. You copied previous layouts and altered them very slightly. I know it, you know it, everyone who reads this post will also know it. At least have the decency to respect your sources, like I did. To do otherwise is plagarism. Not the first time you've been accused of that. Not that any of this matters in the greater scheme of things. But dude, get real.
The layout was originally done some months ago - using EasyPC - and given to me by a colleague. I have no reason to doubt his originality - all I did was take the unpublishable DOS-based EasyPC file and translate it to DIY Layout Creator. I also shrank the board a bit - so that I could get them to fit into the boxes I use. The BOM was as provided with the EasyPC file.

Rick - I don't know what problem you think that you have with me, but I'd be pleased if you'd keep your cynical comments to yourself. If you want me to leave FSB, that's fine. There are other fora around that do as good a job as this one used to - I'll go elsewhere.

Incidentally - how much do you make from pedals and the toy amplifiers each year? My last tax return shows design royalties of just over £18,000 for a year. I don't just play at this crap - it finances my holidays!

Now, I'm off to a well-known North London recording studio to put my voice on tape for a friend's band. I still play a bit too....

Bye.

Christiaan

frequencycentral · Post by **frequencycentral** » 01 Nov 2010, 19:54

^^^ Just received via FSB personal messaging.

Ok, lets examine the evidence.

MarkM’s layout, first posted in his gallery on 12/17/2006:

My layout, adapted from MarkM’s layout (and acknowledged as such), first posted on FSB on 30 Oct 2010, 15:49. I increased the width with respect to MarkM’s layout, spotted his incorrectly oriented polarity protection diode error, and his C3 value error, increased the pad spacing of all the diodes and any standing resistors:

mictester’s layout, posted on FSB on 01 Nov 2010 01:00:

To these eye, the evolution from one layout to the next is so obvious it hurts. My respect to MarkM, the father of this little family of layouts.

IvIark · Post by **IvIark** » 01 Nov 2010, 20:05

Hides-His-Eyes · Post by **Hides-His-Eyes** » 01 Nov 2010, 20:13

This whole thread is a giant

frequencycentral · Post by **frequencycentral** » 01 Nov 2010, 20:28

Christiaan - of course I don't want you to leave FSB. But I do think it's important to respect and acknowledge your sources: nanos gigantium humeris insidentes!

IvIark · Post by **IvIark** » 01 Nov 2010, 20:58

No more so than when gus queried the origin of the silicon Tonebender scheme, and quite appropriate or else anyone could lay claim to any design safe in the knowledge that any questioning about it will be moved to another thread.

IvIark · Post by **IvIark** » 01 Nov 2010, 21:17

So it doesn't matter to you, but it may matter to other people including the person who did the original layout. Personally I'd prefer it if someone who it didn't matter to, didn't get to decide what parts of threads should be be kept and which should be moved.

culturejam · Post by **culturejam** » 01 Nov 2010, 21:23

Personally, I don't classify something as "catfight" material until it meets either of two criteria:

1) Distracts from the analysis and/or reverse engineering of a circuit

2) Devolves to personal insults

But if one of the other mods wants to trim this up, I wouldn't get fired up over it.

IvIark · Post by **IvIark** » 01 Nov 2010, 21:30

Let's put it this way, the only bit that should be for the catfight is since you arrived.

culturejam · Post by **culturejam** » 01 Nov 2010, 23:02

Ibo, I sent you a pm to try to help explain things.