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PROJECT NAME
CONVEX
BASED ON
Dinosaural OTC-201 Opticompressor
EFFECT TYPE
Optical compressor
PROJECT SUMMARY
An exceptionally rare and unique optical compressor designed by Dan Coggins of Lovetone fame.
This documentation is for the kit version of the project. If you purchased the PCB by itself, please
use the
PCB-only version
are completely different due to the specialized parts and assembly methods used in the kit.
CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR
BALANCE
DIRECT
BLEND
CONVEX
PARALLEL COMPRESSOR
IMPORTANT NOTE
of the documentation instead. The circuit is the same, but the instructions
BUILD DIFFICULTY
Intermediate
DOCUMENT VERSION
1.0.2 (2024-08-08)
9V
SUSTAIN
+3
0
-3
INPUT
1
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Related Manuals for aion CONVEX
Summary of Contents for aion CONVEX
- Page 1 This documentation is for the kit version of the project. If you purchased the PCB by itself, please use the PCB-only version of the documentation instead. The circuit is the same, but the instructions are completely different due to the specialized parts and assembly methods used in the kit. CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR...
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Page 2: Table Of Contents
22 Enclosure Layout: Main & Footswitch PCBs 23 Enclosure Layout: Input/Output PCB 24 Final Testing & Assembly 25 Schematic 26 Full Parts List 27 Troubleshooting Information 28 Support & Resale Terms 29 Legal Information & Document Revisions CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR... -
Page 3: Introduction
INTRODUCTION If this is your first pedal, welcome to the hobby and thank you for choosing Aion FX. You’ve just joined a community of over 100,000 people around the world with a passion for building homemade noise machines using obsolete electronics technology, and we’re glad to have you! If you’ve done this before, it’s great to see you again and we’re confident you’ll find this build experience... -
Page 4: Packing List
Electrolytic Capacitors NAME 10uF 100k 100uF 330k MLCC Capacitors NAME 330pF (marked “331”) Diodes 10n (marked “103”) NAME 100n (marked “104”) 1N5817 Transistors 1N914 NAME J113 or 2N4303 NAME 2N3906 TL072 2N5088 8-pin socket Vactrols NAME VTL5C4 CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR... - Page 5 3-strand wire assembly, 70mm Mounting nut, jack, 0.54" 4-strand wire assembly, 122mm Outer washer, jack, 0.6" 3-pin wire assembly header Lock washer, jack, 0.5" (thin) 4-pin wire assembly header Enclosure Enclosure screws PCB, main circuit PCB, footswitch PCB, input/output/DC CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR...
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Page 6: Tools Needed
The tip should used to tighten the dress nut to avoid lot of pedals! be no more than 0.1” (2.5mm) wide. scratching or denting it (which can happen with metal tools). CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR... -
Page 7: Component Identification
Some voltage regulators It’s recommended to use a also look like this. They may also look like this. razor blade to separate have more than 8 legs. these cleanly. WIRE ASSEMBLY WIRE ASSEMBLY HEADER DC JACK LED BEZEL CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR... -
Page 8: Hardware Identification
MOUNTING NUT DRESS NUT LOCK WASHER DIAMETER: 0.36” / 9.1mm DIAMETER: 0.375” / 9.5mm DIAMETER: 0.4” / 10.1mm FOOTSWITCH MOUNTING NUT DRESS NUT LOCK WASHER DIAMETER: 0.6” / 15.2mm DIAMETER: 0.77” / 19.6mm DIAMETER: 0.6” / 15.2mm CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR... -
Page 9: Overview
6. Transistors 7. Electrolytic capacitors Not all of these component types are included in each kit, so skip them if they aren’t applicable. Some types of film capacitors are taller than electrolytics, so those can be done last. CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR... -
Page 10: Resistors
Turn the board upside-down to keep the components held in place while you solder. Don’t try to do all of the resistors at once. You’ll want to stop periodically flip the board and solder everything, then cut the leads using the wire snippers to make room for more. CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR... -
Page 11: Diodes
1N914 1N914 1N914 1N914 Next, you’ll populate the diodes. Diodes are polarized, so make sure to identify the polarity band (which indicates the “cathode”, or negative side) and match the band to the footprint on the PCB. CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR... -
Page 12: Socket & Ic
ICs may have two different orientation marks: either a dot in the upper-left or a half-circle notch in the middle of the top side. Some ICs have both marks. This shows which way the IC should be rotated when inserting it into a socket (the socket also has a half-circle notch). CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR... -
Page 13: Transistors
Since these are just used as buffers and don’t need to be selected for gain, sockets are not necessary. You can just solder them directly to the board. Bend the outer leads to hold it in place on the board. Then, solder them and clip the leads. CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR... -
Page 14: Capacitors (Non-Polarized)
Note: C3 and C6 (330pF MLCC) are always blue. C15 (10n MLCC) is yellow and will have the value written on the attached cardboard. The remaining yellow capacitor is C18 (100n). It can be hard to read the codes since they’re so small, so it’s easier to identify them by color. CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR... -
Page 15: Wire Headers
They do fit pretty tightly in the holes, though, so press firmly. There’s also a 4-pin header on the I/O board that we will do in a later step. CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR... -
Page 16: Capacitors (Polarized)
The longer leg is positive and fits in the square pad. These are the last of the on-board components. Now is the time to go back to page 12 and insert the ICs into the sockets. CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR... -
Page 17: Vactrols
With the label side face-up, rotate each vactrol so that the “+” marking aligns with the square hole in the upper-right. Since the LED side and LDR side have different spacing between the leads, it should be clear which way to align it, but verify the orientation before soldering. CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR... -
Page 18: Footswitch Pcb
BLUE MARKING Once all three wire assemblies are soldered, set the footswitch PCB aside. We’ll solder the actual footswitch and LED in a later step. CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR... -
Page 19: Input/Output Pcb
PCB. There’s not a lot of clearance between the bottom of this board and the top of the main PCB once everything is in place, and you don’t want the pins to short against anything on accident. CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR... -
Page 20: Enclosure Layout: Panel Mounts
You’ll need to hold the bezel in place when OUTER WASHER tightening the nut. Be aware that the bezel is fairly MOUNTING NUT sharp. Try using a rubber band for grip instead of just pressing your finger against the bottom. CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR... -
Page 21: Enclosure Layout: Panel Mounts (Cont.)
MOUNTING NUT LOCK WASHER MOUNTING NUT The dress nut acts as a mounting nut, unlike the footswitch dress nut. Use flat- BEZEL & LED nose pliers on the flat sides of the nut to tighten securely. FOOTSWITCH 125B CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR... -
Page 22: Enclosure Layout: Main & Footswitch Pcbs
However, Aion FX projects are designed to be extremely easy to remove from the enclosure for troubleshooting, with no desoldering required—so with these kits, it’s actually much easier to “box it before you rock it”. -
Page 23: Enclosure Layout: Input/Output Pcb
Note the use of two mounting nuts on each of the jacks, one inside and one outside. The inner nut acts as a spacer to set the DC jack flush with the outside of the enclosure. The inner nuts should be threaded as far down as they can go. MOUNTING NUT OUTER WASHER LOCK WASHER MOUNTING NUT 125B CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR... -
Page 24: Final Testing & Assembly
Be careful not to over-tighten or you may damage the set screw. But if it’s not tight enough, the knob will be more likely to fall off or lose its alignment with the markings on the enclosure. Last, just close the panel on the back using the four screws. That’s it! CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR... -
Page 25: Schematic
180R 330pF PN4303 EFFECT OUT TL072P IC1B IC1A 180R TL072P 220n TO FX GND TO PCB IN 10uF FROM BUFFER OUT SW1A 10uF TO INPUT JACK SW1B TO OUTPUT JACK FROM EFFECT OUT SW1C 330pF SW1D BYP_GND CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR... -
Page 26: Full Parts List
10uF electro 33n (0.033) 100n MLCC Potentiometers Switches Vactrols PART VALUE PART VALUE PART VALUE PART VALUE TL072 Sustain 100kB Level SPDT VACT_1 VTL5C4 on-off-on Balance 10kA Mode SPDT VACT_2 VTL5C4 on-on Bypass 3PDT stomp TB/Buf 4PDT slide CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR... -
Page 27: Troubleshooting Information
Note that IC pins are labeled counter-clockwise from the upper-left, as shown in the diagram to the right. VOLTAGE VOLTAGE VOLTAGE 4.72V 8.95V 9.45V 4.72V 6.65V 9.36V 4.72V 3.53V 4.68V VOLTAGE VOLTAGE 4.71V 4.71V 1.25V 8.95V 6.74V 9.45V VOLTAGE 7.86V 6.74V CONVEX PARALLEL COMPRESSOR... - Page 28 “goop” the PCB or otherwise obscure the source. In other words: you don’t have to go out of your way to advertise the fact that you use Aion FX kits, but please don’t go out of your way to hide it.
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Page 29: Legal Information
These kits are intended to be built by the customer. Aion FX is not responsible for language that may be used by the customer in the marketing or resale of the finished product.
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