Aria Sinsonido preamp repair

[Logarhythm]

I was thinking more that if there were too many constant peaks at high amplitude it was unpleasant and grating. In which case negative units would imply something very strange that I can't quite think of an analogy for..

If high amplitude events drag the LUFS rating up and are unpleasant/grating, then these are surely the tiresome bits of this traumatic "real life" concept - work, bills, supermarkets full of angry sunburned people etc.
Thus negative units significantly reduce the total LUFS figure - sort of akin to sorting out the gain structure to find more sensible headroom and space for proper dynamic range. In this "real life" thing, these events are therefore rejuvenating and allow proper context for these otherwise unpleasant peaks, so I guess things like time pottering on the DAW, playing an instrument (with the possible exception of bagpipes), a nice picnic etc contribute a reduction in the overall LUFS value?
It's rather tenuous (turns out "real life" may not be quite as simple as audio signals ), but it's worth persevering with if it provides (pseudo)scientific justification for the more fun things

[Dr R]

...significantly reduce the total LUFS figure - sort of akin to sorting out the gain structure to find more sensible headroom and space for proper dynamic range. In this "real life" thing, these events are therefore rejuvenating and allow proper context for these otherwise unpleasant peaks, so I guess things like time pottering on the DAW, playing an instrument (with the possible exception of bagpipes), a nice picnic etc contribute a reduction in the overall LUFS value?

I think you have hit on something fundamental there. A nice picnic with friends should have low peak stress, and so contribute little to the integrated LUFS. But if in order to achieve it we have to deal with screaming kids, broken cars and wasps this is the equivalent of too much gain (and probably bad eq but we can work on that later), leading too excessive peaks.
Taking the analogy further, messing about on this subject in a forum is low peak, and reduces overall LUFS. Were Paul White to ask for these ramblings to be turned into a publishable thousand word column by Wednesday, that would require a huge gain increase,which would have to be followed by suitable calming activities.
Or something like that.

[Dr R]

IT'S ALIVE It also fights back ...

Finally pushed real life out of the way for long enough to reconnect the board and the bass. Hooked it all up and did a quick test with everything electrically connected but not put back - excellent. Placed the board properly, put the pots and covers back on, tuned the bass to record some tests - and discovered an intermittent break in the connection to the output socket. My fault entirely so replaced the cable and retested. All good - hooray!

This is a very short recording to demonstrate the range of sound. This is recorded with a stereo headphone jack sending L&R directly to the two inputs of a ZoomH4N. Output on the guitar was about 3/4 max, gain on the Zoom almost nothing

https://soundcloud.com/richard-rose-374426498/ariabasstonecomparison

The first scale is with the tone control set to maximum bass (ie max treble roll-off). It sounds like a bass guitar, and you can clearly hear the stereo separation with lower notes on the left of the image and higher to the right. The second scale is with the tone control set to max treble. You can hear there is a lot more HF, and clearly hear sound of my fingers sliding across every string. The two notes at the end are open strings, with max treble and max bass.
Prior to the repair it sounded like the full treble version, but worse ("pentatonic tinnitus" was one description). Post repair I reckon there is a pretty reasonable guitar there, and with the option to take two outputs and EQ them separately you could make all sorts of funkiness. Clean strings would help too.

My playing is very beginner level (as you can hear), so I roped in my son this afternoon to play a better demonstration for this forum, and to play it though an amp as well. He tuned up, and the tuning peg on the A-string promptly snapped!
All very frustrating, but Amazon have a set which one reviewer bought specifically for the same guitar when his snapped, so all repairable.

Most importantly: Huge thanks to everyone who has responded on this forum, and especially to Folderol for his time and effort (including multiple PMs to ask intelligent questions and respond to dumb ones). Another round of applause to that man.

Rich

[Hugh Robjohns]

Excellent news, and to mr F for his detective work.

[Martin Walker]

Indeed - three cheers for Folderol! Hip hip?

Hooray!!

Martin

[Folderol]

Awww shucks
This has been a very enjoyable challenge, and I'm delighted it worked out so well. It certainly sounds good, and there is always an element of doubt when working entirely on test instruments.

Just a final suggestion for Dr R. Maybe print out the schematic on something like A5, then fold it up and tuck it in the compartment.

[Dr R]

Awww shucks
Just a final suggestion for Dr R. Maybe print out the schematic on something like A5, then fold it up and tuck it in the compartment.

Already done so - and backed up the PDF file on OneDrive in the 'Music Tech' folder

My daughter asked what the estimated total time spent by everyone on this was, since March when I first borrowed the bass. Before I could answer my wife replied "They are all middle-aged men who like fixing things. Just be glad they don't buy motorbikes" Sounds good to me!

Rich

[Drew Stephenson]

Some of us have motorbikes as well...

[Martin Walker]

My daughter asked what the estimated total time spent by everyone on this was, since March when I first borrowed the bass. Before I could answer my wife replied "They are all middle-aged men who like fixing things. Just be glad they don't buy motorbikes" Sounds good to me!

[Mathovani_music]

Dear Sirs,

I have Aria Pro Sinsonido. My problem is one of the the electret condenser microphone inside of the pickups was dead for the low strings. I've tries to replace with the other spare parts, but I lost the low frequency.
Perhaps, you can help me, where could I find the original spare parts of the electret condenser mic 6 x 5 mm.
Or does anyone have any idea where could I find the original pickups replacement for aria pro bass sinsonido silent bass.
Thank you.

Regards,
Mathovani

[Dr R]

Hi Matthovani_music,

This is a ridiculously late reply to your post, but there's an off-chance you may read it and it may help.

Try the forums at Basschat.co.uk. There is a huge amount of tech knowledge there, and while I doubt many have seen a Sinsonido (other than a few who have played mine at a meet-up), there will be lots of knowledge on piezo pickups. I am more active there than here in the last couple of years, so if you do wander over I'll say hello.

Rich.

[Sam Spoons]

Some of us have motorbikes as well...

And others just wish they (still) did

[Folderol]

Hi Matthovani_music,

This is a ridiculously late reply to your post, but there's an off-chance you may read it and it may help.

Try the forums at Basschat.co.uk. There is a huge amount of tech knowledge there, and while I doubt many have seen a Sinsonido (other than a few who have played mine at a meet-up), there will be lots of knowledge on piezo pickups. I am more active there than here in the last couple of years, so if you do wander over I'll say hello.

Rich.

How are you getting on with that these days?
Getting enough practice to improve?

[jonrom66]

A quick unrelated question. Seeing that the battery life of this pre amp is very short, what is the best way of conserving battery life? Disattach battery everytime after use? Or simply take away the ear plug jack after every use? Thanks

[Wonks]

Plugging in a headphone jack or output jack into the socket should switch the power, so removing the headphone jack plug should switch the power off.

[Dr R]

Er, hello again! Yes it has been a very, very, very, long time since I was active on SOS.

The reason for posting is that this thread popped up as a reference on BassChat (where I do hang out a bit more).
https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/475832 ... 1519_menu . Good to see the SOS forums are still a go-to resource for things.

I stood back from FOH and recording, which is why I’m not here often. I do read the magazine occasionally though (proper print version if Smith's has it).
In answer to Folderol's question from a year ago, I practiced a lot and now play competently in church, pretty much exclusively on 5 string. I don't practice as much as I need to though, so I'm not where I want to be.

The Aria still gets played by my friend, though not often these days as he bought a lovely Ibanez.

Hope everyone here is keeping well.

Rich

[Hugh Robjohns]

Thanks for the update. Glad things are going well.