Posted this to skratchlounge but I was told you guys might wanna know too.
The American Audio QD5 MK2 is actually an ok mixer for the price, but the "decay" on the fader is far too long for crabs and double click flares etc (it's somewhere around 40ms). I spent the last couple days trying to see if that could be fixed. Turns out the answer is as simple as removing two capacitors.
- Remove the 9 screws along the top edge of the sides of the unit
- Lift the whole top assembly out, faceplate and all (unplugging any ribbon cables you need to)
- On the underside of the main PCB there is a smaller (EQ) PCB attached with plastic standoffs, detach that (again unplugging any cables you need)
- De-solder and remove capacitors C588 and C589 from the EQ board. They're both 2.2uF 50v.
- Re-attach the EQ board to the main PCB, plug all the ribbon cables back in, and reassemble the unit.
- That's it - the decay should be reduced to approximately 15ms. There don't seem to be any nasty popping or clicking noises when cutting and I haven't noticed any other problems (yet) so I think it's going to work.
This turns the QD5 from a crappy little budget mixer into a very nice scratch mixer, and very worth considering if you're broke (like I am). I'll let you know if anything breaks long term.
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