Post AzKJiANaXG7H1moFqS by cobalt@musicians.today
(DIR) More posts by cobalt@musicians.today
(DIR) Post #AzKJhdJBUbzASZUlto by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-11T15:12:47Z
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thread about fixing up two Midas Venice 320 mixers that I bought for a total of 200€!I also have an investor who's agreed to put 100€ towards it. if I get these in good working condition and can sell them for a good price, we'll split the profits
(DIR) Post #AzKJhesfe9xvKv6cqm by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-11T15:20:27Z
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even just taking all the knobs off so I can clean under them took THIRTY MINUTES just for the one mixer haha my fingers also hurtthe seller told me that these had been in use for a long time at a nightclub, and I can believe that based on the amount of grime on this thing. it's nasty lmao
(DIR) Post #AzKJhg1ZOYg6soHFMO by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-11T15:25:40Z
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in theory most these two should need is some contact cleaner in all of the pots and maybe some resoldering. should be an easy fix, just gonna take a while. the one with the green tape at the bottom right should actually be working, but the seller told me it keeps dropping one of the stereo channels
(DIR) Post #AzKJhh8hFXyOLCcS6i by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-11T15:27:58Z
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there's no way in hell that I'm gonna be assessing the working condition of these and touching all these knobs without giving them a good clean first, so I'm gonna do that before even powering them on
(DIR) Post #AzKJhiMugAwI9aHJuC by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-11T15:52:11Z
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I swang an extremely soft toothbrush around and blasted it with compressed air. it's not quite perfect yet but holy shit the difference is already night and day. gonna give it a more proper clean with isopropyl alcohol later, but this is definitely good enough for testing the condition
(DIR) Post #AzKJhjJ3C1RZ3tTkWW by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-11T17:08:46Z
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nope, even though I scrubbed with the toothbrush, the pots are still disgustingly sticky hahaI'll need to get some IPA tomorrow to really get at it. at least I can get the biggest crap off with the brushtried out all the mic inputs and phantom power, both of which seem to be fully functional
(DIR) Post #AzKJhkMHHVcSKBzqC0 by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-11T17:11:39Z
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there are two 4-pin sockets for 12V lamps at a maximum of 5 watts. wattage definitely isn't going to be a problem with modern LED lamps, but I'm pondering whether to get them in the first place. about 50USD per lamp. would they raise the resale value of the consoles by that much or more?
(DIR) Post #AzKJhlIPnM7jEVCGoK by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-11T18:28:28Z
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I just counted all the removable knobs, there are a total of 353 of them. combine that with the 144 connectors on the back (and multiply the total by two because there are two of them!), I REALLY hope I'm not gonna have to take these apart lmao
(DIR) Post #AzKJhluLWKSt88wYvw by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-12T12:12:23Z
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the power of the humble toothbrush and a can of compressed air lmaoI think the black schmutz is the same stuff that's on the pots, it's some kind of grease or oil or something. it's sticky and the toothbrush just kind of spreads it around. I can get rid of it tomorrow when I get some IPA
(DIR) Post #AzKJhmcIstcvKTVfRw by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-12T15:33:56Z
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I have NO idea how someone managed this, but the stalk on the channel 7 pot on one of the mixers was bent. no damage anywhere around it, it was just the stalk that was bent, and ONLY that. it's such precise damage that I wonder if someone hit it? gently bent it back with some pliers, good as new :)
(DIR) Post #AzKJhnEaaYFfFDQF7o by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-12T16:20:58Z
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I was able to test 262 connectors (plus all 48V phantoms) out of 272, and they all work perfectly on both mixers! for the rest I'll need a balanced 6.35mm cable which I wasn't able to buy today because all the music stores are closed. I highly doubt the rest are gonna pose any problems though
(DIR) Post #AzKJhnoORQtL2GApvs by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-12T16:28:36Z
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of course, I don't know if the external power supply connector works because I don't have one and they're expensive - several hundred euros expensive. there's no reason it shouldn't work though, it seems to be just taking the power from the PSU and putting it where the internal PSU would put it too
(DIR) Post #AzKJhoaFZVAlQgZ3Wi by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-12T16:46:08Z
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the drama in the Midas EPS 1200 ebay seller community situation is crazy
(DIR) Post #AzKJhpSUJqYe8twN4C by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-12T16:54:37Z
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it seems like these things are pretty rare, but not ONE THOUSAND US DOLLARS rare haha idk what kind of scam they're running herelast one sold in august for 240€ plus shipping
(DIR) Post #AzKJhqGTK0XYdvKHya by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-12T16:58:12Z
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it really does seem like all these mixers need is some isopropyl alcohol to get rid of all the dirt, grime, and tape residue and some contact cleaner in the pots. that's the only fault I could find with both of them is that the pots and buttons are oxidized. some more so, some less so
(DIR) Post #AzKJhr5sEtenDLNL60 by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-12T17:06:07Z
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I lucked out, this is basically no work at all for ~1500€ profits. an "excellent" graded one went for 1200€ on reverb and a mint one went for 1650€. even the cut down 16-channel Venice 160 went for 900€I think I can get 1600€ for mine since they're thoroughly tested and I've just serviced them
(DIR) Post #AzKJhrkzm0YBGscBBw by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-12T17:21:36Z
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oh derp I have no idea why I skipped over the speaker outputs at the back. that's fixed now. so 266 out of 272 connectors tested and working!also forgor there are two headphone jacks at the front, both work perfectly so 270 out of 278 connectors (+2 for talkback mic inputs, I have no mic for them)
(DIR) Post #AzKJhsSFBD93R0qibQ by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-12T17:34:18Z
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recommendations on what to do with the knobs? let sit in IPA or dish soap for a while? idk how either reacts with this kind of plastic, they're all covered in that weird sticky oily gunk
(DIR) Post #AzKJhtNJl0naI1YIYy by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-12T18:37:52Z
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I'll test it on one of the gray topped white knobs since they seem to be the most abundant. I'm gonna leave it in very dilute dish soap water over night, see how that works out. no big deal if it destroys it, there are enough of these between the two mixers to make one complete one
(DIR) Post #AzKJhtzxRLhuDrd9n6 by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-12T18:39:51Z
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I'm thinking I'm gonna design 3D printable replacement knobs and sliders for the ones that are missing. I've never had 3D modeling experience so wish me luck lolcoincidentally, any tips any of y'all would like to give me? I'm armed with a caliper and I'm not afraid to use it
(DIR) Post #AzKJhujghKHqVh1g4O by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-13T05:30:14Z
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there's SOME difference but it didn't get all of it? at least the knob isn't sticky and gross anymore, but there's still some gunk looking stuff on it. I'll try repeating the experiment on another knob with the alcohol
(DIR) Post #AzKJhvYNeqpv2ukA5I by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-13T11:39:10Z
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dangit, I want to work on the mixers but the only thing I could do right now is clean the contacts using contact cleaner and clean all the surfaces using isopropyl alcohol but both of them require taking them outside and I don't want to take the chance that it starts raining while I'm working
(DIR) Post #AzKJhwOUX6WJeX7mJE by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-13T12:25:17Z
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like ehhh I COULD start figuring out the 3D models of the knobs but I don't really want to touch them any more than I absolutely have to before they're cleanedjust gonna have to hope that it's not gonna be completely overcast and on the verge of raining soon lol
(DIR) Post #AzKJhxDtRzdYDxApQe by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-14T13:12:22Z
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did a small experiment;left the leftmost ones in IPA and the middle ones in dish soap water for 14 hours, the rightmost ones are the uncleaned controls.conclusion: dish soap is definitely better than nothing but I think I can see a tiny bit less grime on the ones that were left in IPA
(DIR) Post #AzKJhxmdMpQTxhQZZw by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-14T13:40:59Z
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since the experiment was a success, I went ahead and filled the containers with IPA. just enough to cover the knobs and then somethese have been sitting for 8 hours now and the normally clear and refreshing looking IPA has been turned into a cloudy gray solution with particles floating around lmao
(DIR) Post #AzKJhyYqTZzUNDz4j2 by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-14T15:20:35Z
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wow it's even more apparent when you put a recently poured one next to the bottle that's been left for a whileI kind of want to put all the used IPA not back into the original bottles they came from but rather into regular soda bottles so I can see how murky it all is compared to normal water lol
(DIR) Post #AzKJhzKLcxzKkYD0lc by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-14T15:28:54Z
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had to go to the hardware store for the second time today because 2L was not enough for all of the knobs. everything else except the one I just poured has been sitting for ~9 hours now, and I'll clean them tonight. the bottle I just poured I'll clean tomorrow morning after letting it sit overnight
(DIR) Post #AzKJhzxLHzBEhUS9Y0 by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-15T09:58:56Z
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TIL food colouring is NOT IPA soluble lolalso: did I just combine two chemicals that I don't know what they do to each other? yes. should I have? absolutely not, for all I know I could've made mustard gas lmao
(DIR) Post #AzKJi0agvgeifWrZse by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-15T10:14:43Z
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that's all ~700 knobs cleaned! I went through each and every one individually checking for any residue and grime, took me around 4 hours lolI got around 99.9% of the dirt off, there were 5 or so knobs that had some like white paint or something on them that I had to scrape off with my fingernail
(DIR) Post #AzKJi1XXOtj9c2OZbU by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-15T13:12:45Z
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sprayed some contact cleaner into channel 32's controls, and now they no longer crackle :)I'm kind of apprehensive about the stuff though... when I sprayed it in and moved the pots around, the pots became noticeably "scratchier", as if they're physically grinding against something. is this normal?
(DIR) Post #AzKJi2MaL6YoAMHLAe by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-15T13:32:02Z
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I did let the cleaner dry completely before powering the mixer on. I'm gonna leave it be for a while while occasionally rotating the pots a bit to see if that helps with the scratchiness. I don't want to use anything lubricating on it because apparently that is a no-no
(DIR) Post #AzKJi3LChj39CMdkem by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-15T15:18:47Z
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what's weird is that this didn't happen with the buttons or the volume slider, they're completely unaffected and work like new now. it's not too big of a deal if the stiffness doesn't go away because it works perfectly, it just feels a little "off" to turn the pots, it's not completely smooth
(DIR) Post #AzKJi487lqBJe5WouO by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-15T15:21:39Z
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of course the best solution would be to rip out all the pots and buttons and replace them with new ones but fuck me there are around 350 of them on just one mixer haha
(DIR) Post #AzKJi4rr1olFvuvLBg by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-15T17:06:02Z
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I asked around and no, the pots turning scratchy is NOT an intended side-effect. I think I'll have to take the front panel off and spray the pots more directly because the gap between the face plate and the pot is probably 0.5mm so I don't think the contact cleaner actually got in properly
(DIR) Post #AzKJi5fU3ISaPq8yXo by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-16T16:48:57Z
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waow this thing is even more beautiful from the inside,,, it's a hell of a job (took me maybe 5 hours to get to this point from fully assembled) and then you get inside and find out you also gotta disassemble all the protections for the pots so you can finally spray the contact cleaner in there lmao
(DIR) Post #AzKJi6RhA31apMhTgu by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-16T17:20:26Z
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✨ glamour shots ✨also: why did they patch these black wires between all the PCBs? grounding?
(DIR) Post #AzKJi7QfVLnVsTEAjI by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-16T19:10:39Z
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I really wish I had some kind of dedicated work space for these lmaoI have to constantly step over the parts which risks me accidentally stepping on them every time
(DIR) Post #AzKJi8AOlKNSAIch0a by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-17T07:33:55Z
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now that the mixer is in pieces, I can finally move the PCBs off my floor and up to my desk. much more ergonomic!however... the pots are those "sealed" types. good news: probably means no dust or dirt in there, just oxidization. bad news: I have to disassemble them all individually to spray them 🙃
(DIR) Post #AzKJi8si6Zp4NjM54q by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-17T07:40:14Z
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I sprayed some cleaner in there, enough for it to penetrate a bit of the way up the shaft of the pot. apparently that's what was causing the grinding feeling when I sprayed them earlier through the front plate. I sprayed it and blew compressed air into the shaft gap, and now it's noticeably better
(DIR) Post #AzKJi9XTf0QsQAQdcW by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-17T07:41:45Z
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this is also confirmed by me letting the pots sit over night, which evaporated the cleaner and in the morning the pots were feeling smooth again.I don't trust that spraying them through the front plate actually did anything though because of the tiny gap, so I still have to disassemble all of them
(DIR) Post #AzKJiANaXG7H1moFqS by cobalt@musicians.today
2025-10-18T07:32:49Z
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I REALLY need a better way to track screws and small objects lol
(DIR) Post #AzKJlmHI5QAxR7aO80 by kaia@brotka.st
2025-10-18T07:36:35.826868Z
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@cobalt saw tech use crepe tape in the shape of board with orientation sharpied on it. then he stuck screws on the appropriate positions