One of the best trends in recording equipment in the last decade has been the emergence of the API 500 series “Lunchbox” format. The Lunchbox and other 500 series racks can provide power and house 6 to 11 modules in a single 3RU chassis. These racks are great for DIYers like me who love to build electronics but don’t have the time, skills, or tools to build their own racks.
Of course, DIYers have found ways to have fun with the 500 series. Eisen Audio’s DIY500 was the first module on the scene. Provides a printed circuit board, faceplate, and other hardware needed to build a DOA (API, Twin Servo, et al) based microphone preamplifier with input/output transformer.
Next to arrive were the vintage API-style ClassicAPI preamps. Created by a 1976 API console owner with a penchant for authenticity, the VP25/VP26 and VP312 are precise clones of the original API circuitry. ClassicAPI has also worked with other manufacturers to replicate the original API iron and opamps. All of this makes the VPxx the closest thing on the market to a true vintage API preamp, closer even to what API offers today.
A couple of years ago, some DIYers started talking about creating a DIY-specific modular system. The result is 51x, a format with the 500-series form factor but with added +/-24v power rails. And last year, the 51x Alliance introduced the 51x Alliance 511 Rack, an 11-space, 3RU, DIY rack with the option of a 2RU power supply. Now the DIY community has their own modular rack with a strong power supply and the correct voltages to power Neve preamps, a John Hardy DOA, etc.
Since the big announcement of Alliances, the community has exploded with new modules for the format. Some, like Don’s Classics Neve clone, Igor’s SSL bus compressor, and Classic API’s VP312DI have already been released. Others are on the way: [silent:arts] posted pictures of an optical composition based on the D-AOC and Igor intends to release a kit for a 1176-style compressor. Jeff Steiger of ClassicAPI has even started work on a 500/51x series console (!!! ) with the first draft of a “second stage” fader and filter unit already announced. It’s a great time to do it yourself!
