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Universal Pad Board
Universal Pad Board
Sometimes you need a fixed attenuator when you are designing a sound system. Sometimes this is to force a microphone input to accept a line level signal, sometimes it is to get the clipping points of various devices in the system to line up correctly, and sometimes is just because. The Uneeda Audio Universal Pad Board is designed for all of these things and more. Its small, easy to build, and easy to mount (just one hole needed). It can be configured with all of the commonly used pad topologies: H, T, L, U, O, Pi, Bridged Tee. It can be configured for balanced or unbalanced circuits. You can solder the i/o connections or you can use screw terminals. Its all in how you stuff the board. Its beyond the scope of this manual to discuss what a pad does. If youre here already, then youve got this much figured out. If not, then refer to the following web page for that introduction: http://www.uneeda-audio.com/pads/ Youll find design information at the end of this document.
Selecting a Circuit
With so many circuits to choose from, whats a person to do? The circuit board could have been designed for only one or two circuits, but then there was always the possibility that someone would ask why the board didnt accommodate their pet circuit. It just made more sense to make the board applicable to all of the major circuits. The only circuit that the board doesnt handle directly is the Lattice pad, which is a variant of an O pad. With some creative forcing, you could manage even that configuration although it might take a bit of creativity and there are no pads dedicated to making this configuration work. That said, the H, U, and Bridged Tee configurations are probably most often used. All perform their task as designed. We wont argue sonics here. Table 1 shows the more common configurations and points out some of the important differences. Right off, see that the Bridged-Tee configuration only requires two different resistors and two that are always equal to the line impedance. Table 2 shows which resistors are stuffed for each pad configuration. Figures 3 through 10 are stuffing diagrams for each pad configuration.
Calculating Values
You can use the formulas and values from the Pads section of the Uneeda Audio website. For pads used in an all-matched (i.e. 600R input and output) system, refer to Table 4, at the end of this document. A spreadsheet program is probably the easiest way to do the math involved (which is really simpler than it looks), or you can use a calculator. With the K-factor table, a four-banger calculator will do the job.
Component Selection
We wont argue sonics here either. Thats a personal religious preference. The board was laid out with -watt resistors in mind. These could be carbon film 5% tolerance units, carbon composition units, or precision 1% metal film units. As calculated, the resistor values are guaranteed to come out in oddball values. Generally speaking, unless you own a resistor factory, you can just convert the values to the nearest standard value and youll be close enough. This is certainly not a case of sound vs no sound. There is a standard value conversion program available from the Uneeda Audio website. In the Olde Days, many pads were made using carbon composition resistors and a small hand grinder (i.e. a Dremel tool). Youd start with a resistor of lower than desired value and youd
Copyright 2008 by Uneeda Audio. All rights reserved. Revision A.1 Page 1
grind the body away until the ohmmeter read the magic number. A dab of varnish over the incision sealed things up against moisture.
Construction
Simple: 1. Decide on a configuration. 2. Calculate values. 3. Decide on resistor type. 4. Procure. 5. Figure out where things go. 6. Stuff parts. 7. Solder. 8. Swage the mounting standoff. 9. Installation.
Where Things Go
See Table 2.
Configuration
T and H U and L
Remarks
0 (sort-of)
Can work between asymmetrical impedances. The output resistor value is generally the pad output impedance, except at low values of attenuation. This configuration normally does not attempt to match the source. Only between equal impedances
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Stuff these parts R2, R5 R1, R9, R6 R2, R5, R3 R2, R7, R5, R3, R8 R4, R1, R6 R4, R6, R1, R9 R1, R5, R2, R3 R1, R9, R2, R3, R7, R8, R5
I/O pins 1, 3, 4 1, 2, 4 1, 3, 4 1, 2, 4 1, 3, 4 1, 2, 4 1, 3, 4 1, 2, 4
I/O Connections: Pin 1 is always signal hot . The balanced configurations use pins 1 and 2 for the signal connections. Unbalanced configurations use pin 1 for signal hot, pin 3 for ground. Use pin 4 for the cable shield, when needed.
Figure 3. L Pad
Figure 4. U Pad
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Figure 5. T Pad
Figure 6. H Pad
Figure 7. Pi Pad
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Figure 8. O Pad
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Unbalanced Operation
The layout of the board allows keeping the low-side (usually grounded) of the signal off of the chassis ground. Its up to you to decide how youll treat this in your installation. Usually the simple thing to do is to insert the pad into the signal wiring, ignoring the connection labeled SHIELD. When you mount the pad board, the chassis ground connection connects to the pad boards ground plane and that should be sufficient.
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n(dB) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 14 15 16 18 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 80
r = 1/k 0.8913 0.7943 0.7079 0.6310 0.5623 0.5012 0.4467 0.3981 0.3548 0.3162 0.2512 0.1995 0.1778 0.1585 0.1259 0.1000 0.0562 0.0316 0.0178 0.0100 0.0056 0.0032 0.0018 0.0010 0.0006 0.0003 0.0001
k 1.1220 1.2589 1.4125 1.5849 1.7783 1.9953 2.2387 2.5119 2.8184 3.1623 3.9811 5.0119 5.6234 6.3096 7.9433 10.0000 17.7828 31.6228 56.2341 100.0000 177.8279 316.2278 562.3413 1000.0000 1778.2794 3162.2777 10000.0000
k-1 0.1220 0.2589 0.4125 0.5849 0.7783 0.9953 1.2387 1.5119 1.8184 2.1623 2.9811 4.0119 4.6234 5.3096 6.9433 9.0000 16.7828 30.6228 55.2341 99.0000 176.8279 315.2278 561.3413 999.0000 1777.2794 3161.2777 9999.0000
K2 1.2589 1.5849 1.9953 2.5119 3.1623 3.9811 5.0119 6 8 10 16 25 32 40 63 100 316 1000 3162 10000 31623 100000 316228 1000000 3162278 10000000 100000000
(k-1)/(k+1) 0.0575 0.1146 0.1710 0.2263 0.2801 0.3323 0.3825 0.4305 0.4762 0.5195 0.5985 0.6673 0.6980 0.7264 0.7764 0.8182 0.8935 0.9387 0.9651 0.9802 0.9888 0.9937 0.9964 0.9980 0.9989 0.9994 0.9998
(k+1)/(k-1) 17.3910 8.7242 5.8480 4.4194 3.5698 3.0095 2.6146 2.3229 2.0999 1.9250 1.6709 1.4985 1.4326 1.3767 1.2880 1.2222 1.1192 1.0653 1.0362 1.0202 1.0113 1.0063 1.0036 1.0020 1.0011 1.0006 1.0002
k/(k2-1) 4.3334 2.1524 1.4193 1.0483 0.8224 0.6693 0.5580 0.4731 0.4059 0.3514 0.2681 0.2078 0.1836 0.1626 0.1279 0.1010 0.0564 0.0317 0.0178 0.0100 0.0056 0.0032 0.0018 0.0010 0.0006 0.0003 0.0001
k2-1/k=k-r 0.2308 0.4646 0.7046 0.9539 1.2159 1.4941 1.7920 2.1138 2.4636 2.8460 3.7299 4.8123 5.4456 6.1511 7.8174 9.9000 17.7266 31.5912 56.2163 99.9900 177.8223 316.2246 562.3395 999.9990 1778.2788 3162.2773 9999.9999
k2+1/k2-1 8.7242 4.4194 3.0095 2.3229 1.9250 1.6709 1.4985 1.3767 1.2880 1.2222 1.1347 1.0829 1.0653 1.0515 1.0322 1.0202 1.0063 1.0020 1.0006 1.0002 1.0001 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000
k-1/k=1-r 0.1087 0.2057 0.2921 0.3690 0.4377 0.4988 0.5533 0.6019 0.6452 0.6838 0.7488 0.8005 0.8222 0.8415 0.8741 0.9000 0.9438 0.9684 0.9822 0.9900 0.9944 0.9968 0.9982 0.9990 0.9994 0.9997 0.9999
k/k-1=1/1-r 9.1955 4.8621 3.4240 2.7097 2.2849 2.0048 1.8073 1.6614 1.5499 1.4625 1.3354 1.2493 1.2163 1.1883 1.1440 1.1111 1.0596 1.0327 1.0181 1.0101 1.0057 1.0032 1.0018 1.0010 1.0006 1.0003 1.0001
1/k-1 8.1955 3.8621 2.4240 1.7097 1.2849 1.0048 0.8073 0.6614 0.5499 0.4625 0.3354 0.2493 0.2163 0.1883 0.1440 0.1111 0.0596 0.0327 0.0181 0.0101 0.0057 0.0032 0.0018 0.0010 0.0006 0.0003 0.0001
n(dB) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 14 15 16 18 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 80
Table 3. K-Factors
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Where Zi = Zo
K 1 R2 = Z K 1 R5 = Z K 1
Where Zi > Zo
Where Zi<Zo K 1 R2 = Z K 1 R5 = Z K 1
Z KS 1 R2 = i S K Z 1 R5 = i S K S Zi s= Zo Where Zi > Zo
Z KS 1 R1 = R9 = (0.5) i S K Z 1 R6 = i S K S s= Zi Zo
Z1 Z 2 R2
Where Zi = Zo U (balanced Z K 1 R1 = R9 = L) 2 K 1 R6 = Z K 1
Where Zi < Zo R1 = R9 = Z K 1 2 K
1 R6 = Z K 1
R6 =
Z1 Z 2 R2
Zi Zi + 1 Loss = 20log Zo Zo
Where Zi = Zo = Z K 1 R2 = R3 = Z K + 1
k R5 = 2 Z 2 k 1
Where Zi Zo
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Where Zi = Zo H (Balanced k 1 R2 = R3 = Z T) k + 1
k R5 = 2Z 2 k 1
Where Zi Zo
K 2 + 1 k Ra = Zi 2 K 1 2 ZiZo k 2 1 then R2 = R7 = Ra K 2 +1 k Rb = Zo 2 K 1 2 ZiZo k 2 1 then R3 = R8 = Rb k R5 = 2 ZiZo 2 k 1 Balanced Bridged T
Z R2 = R3 = R7 = R8 = 2 Z R1 = R9 = (k 1) 2
1 R5 = Z k 1
BT
Unbalanced Bridged T R2 = R3 = Z R1 = Z (k 1)
1 R5 = Z k 1
PI
Where Zi = Zo = Z k + 1 R4 = R6 = Z k 1
2 Z k 1 R1= 2 k
Where Zi Zo and s= Z 1Z 2 R1 = 2 k 2 1 k
Zi k 2 1 then R4 = Zi 2 Zo k 2ks + 1
k 2 1 R4 = Zi k 2 k 2 +1 s
Where Zi Zo: Design for the unbalanced case (PI) R R1 = R9 = 1 Where R1 is the value calculated for the PI pad. 2
Where Zi = Zo = Z: Design for unbalanced case (PI). O (Balanced R R1 = R9 = 1 Where R1 is the value calculated for the PI pad. PI) 2
Microphones Pick Zin > Kr (Z mic ) Kr is the bridging ratio, typically 5. It should
approximate the preamps input impedance.
R6 (k 1) 2
R6 (k 1) 2 Check: Zin = R1 + R1 + R6
R1 =
R6 and recomputed.
Line Level Sources Pick R6 = Zout = 604R it can be some other value too.
This should be a value that the source can drive. If it is too low, then choose a higher value for if not, the pads input impedance will be too low.
Check: K k r
Table 5. Pad Value Calculations for Voltage based Systems (Bridging) Revision History A.1 birth
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