uziq
Member
+517|3794
4 months later, mixer estimated shipping in 7-10 days. then the wait for customs ... aaargh. probably 5-6 months, all told.

time to sell my current handmade UK rotary.
SuperJail Warden
Gone Forever
+652|4061
It would be karma if it lost like Dilbert's spring. Is that thing still moving between countries?
https://i.imgur.com/xsoGn9X.jpg
uziq
Member
+517|3794
no doubt some rare and endangered eel is coiled up in that thing at the bottom of the ocean, the last of its kind, trapped in a chinese finger-torture device intended for a man similarly afflicted by the yellow pestilence.

Last edited by uziq (2025-04-02 13:31:01)

Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,818|6448|eXtreme to the maX

SuperJail Warden wrote:

It would be karma if it lost like Dilbert's spring. Is that thing still moving between countries?
My spring went back to the supplier after Auspost decided they weren't going to accept deliveries from the US for three months.

The supplier could not contact me because my telco blocked their email, one of the employees had to use a personal email in the end.
Now they will never do business with Australia again.
Fuck Israel
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,818|6448|eXtreme to the maX

uziq wrote:

4 months later, mixer estimated shipping in 7-10 days. then the wait for customs ... aaargh. probably 5-6 months, all told.

time to sell my current handmade UK rotary.
The clue is in the 'handmade'.
Fuck Israel
uziq
Member
+517|3794
erm, when i first mentioned the mixer your first response was literally 'it's not complicated to make', lol. 'just buy a bunch of parts and assemble them'. it's taken 5-6 months because the company's reputation has exploded and they're fulfilling 35 orders at once.

the main UK workshop in this space, isonoe, have a 6-8 month lead time for that reason. i doubt the hand soldering takes more than a couple days' labour.

Last edited by uziq (2025-04-03 02:00:55)

Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,818|6448|eXtreme to the maX
I checked and thats not really what I said.

I don't know whats in this thing but I'm guessing the soldering is barely a few hours.
Fuck Israel
uziq
Member
+517|3794
it's a fully discrete design so i imagine there is a fair bit of soldering, not a single integrated chip design in the whole thing.

https://instagram.fbrs1-2.fna.fbcdn.net … sid=5a0a6d

https://instagram.fbrs1-2.fna.fbcdn.net … sid=5a0a6d

then, of course, every faceplate is custom designed and machined metal. the pots and moving parts are all from some aerospace-grade outfit in japan or someplace, i think. probably only one of about 2 places in the world still making those heavy-duty dials. then they hand assemble and solder the DC power supplies too, and then the wooden enclosure is made to order and comes from another local berlin supplier, etc ...

in any case, yes it's a very long time to wait and be out of pocket ~4k EUR.

Last edited by uziq (2025-04-03 02:35:34)

Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,818|6448|eXtreme to the maX
Well I guess the actual through-hole fromitz boards are machine soldered, but yeah thats a lot of wires to solder to pots, probably under half an hour though if its done efficiently.
I'm going to be kind and assume its not finished - will there be any cable ties and RTV to stabilise those wires?

For comparison this is what the control system for a submarine looks like.

https://i.imgur.com/GbHuTH1.jpeg

I think we made 20 sets.
Fuck Israel
uziq
Member
+517|3794
haha, yes it's an unfinished picture.

thankfully i'm not paying for a submarine. i doubt that company can afford to go 300% overbudget and rely on taxpayer largesse, either.
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,818|6448|eXtreme to the maX
Well thats a shame because they could have afforded to hire me then.
Fuck Israel
uziq
Member
+517|3794
you wouldn't enjoy the working conditions. workshop in an arty inner-city neighbourhood. lots of young and happy people around.
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,818|6448|eXtreme to the maX
Yeah probably not.
Fuck Israel
KEN-JENNINGS
I am all that is MOD!
+2,988|6974|949

Dilbert risking trade violations taking pics of chassis assemblies.

Please please tell me those blue post it notes are to deaignste the project and job? Looks like quality still has a few more to sign off on.

The funny thing is in both instances (Uzi's mixer and Dilbs sub controls) the product is expensive for the same reasons- highly engineered design moat, highly reliability, long-term sustainability of the platform, high mix/low volume manufacturing.

You guys have a lot in common when you talk product!
uziq
Member
+517|3794
i don’t doubt that there’s a huge premium on the boutique mixers market. they don’t do big numbers. up until very recently it was basically one guy doing everything. even now i think there’s only 2-3 people actually doing the guts and innards at the company.

it’s just that’s the way you have to go thesedays if you want to buy a consumer electronic device with maximum quality on all said innards. obviously any sort of mixer from a major global brand is going to have the cheapest possible components inside as they’re mass assembled in china or whatever - even the ones which sell themselves as having british designers or engineers or whatever.

from an electrical engineering perspective, of course an analog rotary mixer is going to be basic. that’s the entire point. all of these mixers take as their model a bozak design from like 1970s the loft in new york or something. simplicity is the whole point. you can even custom order mixers that do away with EQs, isolators, etc: just a straight signal path from the phono pre-amps out. more features equals more noise and capacitance to deal with, after all. these things are ultimately just pre-amps with a few extra bells and whistles. there’s probably a whole leap in technology between these boutique amps and the cutting-edge DAC i’ve got sat on my main desk to listen to digital music on.

the difference between me and dilbert is my hobbies are prosocial and lead me to mixing with people and having fun. this mixer is going to be taken to a lot of small venues and parties in tokyo, as well as being the centrepiece of the living room. dilbert machines buttplugs in a CAD hut at home. sad !!!
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,818|6448|eXtreme to the maX
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, boutique electronics is boutique electronics and its nice to have what you want.
A manufacturer can specify whatever quality of components they choose to, its not a huge deal. They tend to go as cheap as possible.

My buttplugs have a very select market and are highly sought afer thank you very much, I may retire and live off the income.
Fuck Israel
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,818|6448|eXtreme to the maX

KEN-JENNINGS wrote:

Dilbert risking trade violations taking pics of chassis assemblies.

Please please tell me those blue post it notes are to deaignste the project and job? Looks like quality still has a few more to sign off on.
First of all they're not post-its, that would be stupid, second they're batch cards, in this case the batch size is one.
Fuck Israel

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