Ahoy! Welcome to your new Depths Optical Vibe Machine! The Depths is our take on the classic optical vibe circuit. Now you can swab the decks with the same lush, pulsating, three-dimensional swirling sound you know and love, with some modern accouterments for all you land-lubbers out there.
The Depths is optimized for use with all kinds of instruments, pickups, and to play well with dirt, so nobody’s left waiting on shore. If it’s got a ¼” output, plug it in and get deep!
we don't care about the jumpers!!!!
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU
lol :D
DeleteIt's awesomely huge!
ReplyDeleteI love this pedal, thanks so much for this. Never tried anything with LDR's before.
ReplyDeleteOh god...
ReplyDeleteExcellent!! i build to Taggboard effects and your sounds is really good!!
ReplyDeleteguys led 5mm clear green works very nice!
ReplyDeleteLed white or red 5mm also, but colour green for me is THE LED!
What LDR did you use?
Deleteit's a super bright led or a regular one?
DeleteF+ck yeah!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou're awesome, guys
Thanks
Should I tilt the LDR's inward to face the led?
ReplyDeleteYes.
DeleteA little unclear about how to connect LDRs with the LED. I have a phaser pedal in which red LEDs are sandwiched in between 2 LDRs, then covered in black tape to light proof them. Is that how this should be done? Also should a second LED be used as a status indicator?
DeleteI´m so glad to see this layout. Thank you very much, so anxious to start with it!!
ReplyDeleteNice! Def gonna give this a go. Thanks for another awesome layout.
ReplyDeleteAwesome layout! thank you!!
ReplyDeleteWould it be possible to make a speed up / speed down footswitch mod like on a Leslie?
Easiest way to do that would probably be to use 2 different Rate pots and wire a switch between the pads on the board and the 2 pots. Kind of a pain since it's a dual-gang pot, but you'd just ground lugs 1 and 2 of both gangs/pots, then wire the lug 3 pads on the board to the middle 2 lugs of a DPDT (lugs 2 and 5 on the switch). Then wire the top 2 lugs of the DPDT (lugs 1 and 4) to the 2 lug 3s of one dual-gang, and the bottom 2 lugs of the DPDT (lugs 3 and 6) to the 2 lug 3s of the other dual-gang. Then you have control over fast and slow speeds and can select between them. Not sure how quickly the LFO would adjust to different rate settings, so there may not be a slower acceleration from one speed to the other. Definitely something to experiment with.
DeleteNicee! So... In this way, it looks like kinda the scheme of JHS Honeycomb deluxe... awesome!
DeleteTag this as verified. Just finished building it and try different transistors. I settled for 2n4401 on Q1 and 2n3906 on Q2. For the led i used green superbright. Thanks man, it's awesome!!!
ReplyDeleteSure you used a 2N3906? ;-) It's an PNP while the layout calls for a hi gain NPN like a MPSA18. Also verified it after some initial debugging. Tried a low current green LED and a superbright green LED. While the superbright gave me more usuabel range on the voice control I thinks its a tad too much. So maybe try a bigger pot value for the voice? Any schematic would be definetely helpfull to figure that out - but I've been too lazy so far to google it. :D
DeleteHere's the schematic.
Deletehttp://imgur.com/a/qZy30
Thank you very much! Looks like a bigger pot value might do it for my choice of LDRs and LED. :)
DeleteA small nota bene: The indicated 150nF cap should be 15nF (likewise in every univibe workalike). ;-)
ReplyDeletedoes it work with both? ir just with the 15nF?
DeleteWorking on!
ReplyDeleteFor dual rate options, I'm thinking to put a DPDT footswitch, to select from the board between both pins 3 in the potentiometers. Pins 2 and 1 of both dual-gang pots connected to board.
I'm right?
Correct!
DeleteNice.. thanks!
DeleteWhy not go further and implement a external µ-controller-based lfo that can do several waveforms and tap tempo. but that probably would end up in a total different beast...
DeleteYes, I was thinking in some kind of external multiple-options control too. But it will take off all the simplicity.
DeleteMaybe in the second build I'll left room for upgrades :D
Very true! Also you would have to simulate the non-perfect waveform of the original vibe. Haven't seen that done before. But should be doable.
DeleteThis site is marvelous! Greetings from Chile!
ReplyDeleteHow much power will be 9 or 18 volts, because the original is 9 - 18?
ReplyDeleteYou can use an 18v supply, assuming you build it with appropriately rated parts. But there isn't a charge pump built into the circuit or anything.
ReplyDeleteI build it and it works fine, I used BC549Cs with HFE = 540
ReplyDeletethe only issue is that the LFO stops when the intensity pot is maxed, what is the element (component) that can control this attenuation ?
mine does that too and also when i bring it super slow
DeleteI fixed the problem, Q2 needs to be hi gain transistor , a found an NPN laying around with HFE =1400 (assuming Q1 has HFE =540)
Deleteworks perfectley with intensity pot maxed
MPSA13/KSP13 would be great
DeleteThe problem still exists!
Deleteit's OK... Q1=mspa18 nad Q2:bc517(darlington trans)
DeletePedal stops working if I put a bc517 into Q2 using correct pinout
DeleteAny other recommendations to get this working at max or min intensity?
Bc517 was the wrong way, didn't fix the issue though, throb still stops at max intensity
DeleteMPSA13 didn't fix it either
DeleteWhat kind of LDRs work well?
ReplyDeleteTry GL5549s.
DeleteThey need to be matched?
Deletecan i raplace the 5817 with an 4007?
ReplyDeleteYes.
DeleteI do not know why, but it did not work fine.
ReplyDeleteI have tried a lot of transistors: MPSA13, 2N4401, BC548, 2N3904 ... but not MPSA18.
That's the problem?
The led flashes, and when it blinks, the effect is weak.
A little unclear about how to connect LDRs with the LED. I have a phaser pedal in which red LEDs are sandwiched in between 2 LDRs, then covered in black tape to light proof them. Is that how this should be done? Also should a second LED be used as a status indicator?
ReplyDeleteYou can cover that network of LDRs and LED, but originals aren't, relying on the enclosure to keep things dark. And you can connect a 2nd LED for rate indication, but if you do that, I'd definitely advise to isolate the LDRs and the other LED.
DeleteHow you can add the LED for rate indicaion?
DeleteOh I see, I meant a second LED for the stomp switch indicator, but yeah I see that there is another position on the PCB for that one. Also I may just leave the LDRs and LED open in the dark enclosure since that is how it is intended, and see if that works. But thanks for the quick response, I'll let you know how it comes out!
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have a gut shot of this?
ReplyDeletedoes anybody knows which value are the LDRs? i've never worked with LDR's, until now
ReplyDeleteand, also: why did youu used 3 TL072 instead of a TL074 and a TL072?
DeleteRead the comments above for LDRs. I used 3 TL072s I needed to spread things out a little with a single-sided board. A TL074 is just 2 TL072s anyway.
DeleteTwo questions, what does the Throb control, because it builds this pedal but the control throb does not change anything, the other question and how to put a oscillating LED on the lfo for indication of effect and speed control? Thank You
ReplyDeleteI guess you can put a parallel LED to the blinking one... (?)
DeleteБлагодарю!) Все замечательно работает. Вместо MPSA18, стоят другие транзисторы с усилением 400 и все работает. Светодиод установил синий. Добра!)
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to add my two cents here. I have successfully built this vibe and it sounds and works great - clean and with distortion/fuzz. However, I had to do some debugging with my original assembly. My oscillator was not working correctly, so I checked the obvious possible issues: solder traces, voltages on the op amps, polarity, and voltages through the signal path. Everything was pretty good until I got to the three 1uF caps in the oscillator (under the rate pot on the layout). There was no voltage running through that section. The oscillator relies on these caps. In my case, I used three 1uF tantalums and one of them was bad. I swapped it out and the oscillator was functioning perfectly. Another recommendation that I had stumbled upon was to replace these three caps with something non-polarized, but I didn't end up needing to try it. I used a white LED with something like 1K-15M LDRs or something overkill like that. This pedal should also work in standard room lighting, but performs best in the enclosure. I used sockets for My IC's and have tested and can verify that TL072s, JRC4558s, and LM358s all work, with the TL072 sounding the best to me. Additionally, if you are interested in adding an LED indicator that shows the oscillator speed, then look into adding a transistor from the oscillator circuit in order to buffer the LED and avoid interfering with the LED/LDR signal. If you just attach a second LED to the + of the LED in the oscillator, they both will dim, causing the effect to underperform. I hope this helps.
ReplyDeleteall in the same position? just changing the IC in the socket?
DeleteHi, I was looking further to do these pedal but I am a beginner in electronics. What would be the vref in the op amps? in the schematic I see vref but I do not know where to connect them, I guess is just the voltage from the LED
ReplyDeleteVref is indicated by the gold trace in the PCB layout image.
ReplyDeletethanks, I am very new with diy stompboxes, in the 3pdt diagram shown in these website, the anode of the LED goes to the DC adapter but here it has its own path in the pcb, that means that I should ignore the diagram and just put the anode in the PCB and the cathode yo ground? thanks a lot
Deletehello, I have mounted this circuit with pcb with all the materials of the same values and with everything well welded and no visible fault, the subject matter is that the interior Led oscillates and responds to all the pots but the signal comes out clean without effect, no It oscillates according to the LED it does.
ReplyDeletewhat can be the problem so that the oscillation that marks the led does not leave ??
thanks and regards
Nice vibe effect. Sounds great. Used 4.7n and 10n in parallel (didn't have a 15n) instead of 150n capacitor. For the LED used clear bright green. I don't think you need to be too fussy about LDR's. I just used what I had in stock. No idea of the specs.
ReplyDeleteExcellent site.
Thank you
Hi there effects layouts,
ReplyDeleteI have a very basic question/problem. I have built the circuit as depicted above, with no part substitutions. Meaning that for Q1 & 2 I used the MPSA18s, a 1N5817 Diode, a red led & GL5549 LDRs, and the 150 nf mylar capacitor (*I did not use a 15nf cap for the 150nf). My question is, will this circuit work using all the originally specified parts? When engaged, I only get an effect when I crank up the rate and/or level controls, and then it just sounds like distorted wobbly overdrive. Using the other controls I can alter it somewhat, but I'm guessing this is not what effect is supposed to do. So should I have used different components, like the 15nf cap for the 150? Different transistors? Does the color of the central led matter? My circuit looks good, no shorts, can anyone suggest a course of action?
Thanks
Definitely try switching that 150n cap to 15n. Other than that, everything else should be good to go.
DeleteHey I did switch it to a 15n cap. Not much of a change. I'm running the effect on a clean channel, but all that comes out is a really distorted and weakly overdriven sound, but I can hear the modulation occurring. That is the pots are effecting the led's pulsing, and the distorted output is being modulated, just not in a nice way...I'm wondering if the transistors are bad or improperly biased? Not sure what's wrong, but I made 2 other pedals from this site and they both worked like a charm.
DeleteI'm going to go over the whole circuit with a DMM, would you happen to have the correct voltages for the chips and transistors?
DeleteHey everyone, I found the problem using an audio probe, the 100pf cap. It distorted and was partly shorting out the circuit. The thing simply didn't work. I alligator clipped in a 150nf cap I had laying around and bam, suddenly the effect sprang into existence! And may I say this pedal is amazing, just loving it! Has anyone else had this problem tho? The component wasn't defective, it just doesn't work properly in this circuit. Not sure if it's just my build or what, but possibly this will help out someone else who finds themselves in such a predicament.
DeleteWhat did u use finally? 15nf or 150nf? What diffrences were between them
DeleteHere are my current issues:
ReplyDelete1. The main LED, coming from the 3PDT, is always on. Whether I have bypass on or the effect is activated.
2.My Throb pot appears to do absolutely nothing. I've confirmed the pot works.
3. I get a pulsing hum noise when activated.
I used components exactly as specified on this build. I've confirmed no unwanted connections or bad solder joints with a multimeter.
Any ideas as to what can be happening?
1- check your 3pdt switch
Delete2- I recomend to use a green superbright led... it will help...
The throb stops when intensity pot is maxed,
ReplyDeleteis there a fix for that yet
I 've build this stuff many times, tried all transistors, tweaks etc, ended up with that when intensity pot is maxed oscillation stops. so I put a 6k8 resistor from voice lug 3 to the led terminal. and Flashing never stops.
DeleteRG
6k8 from voice 3 to gnd? Didn’t help, still stops at slow speeds
DeleteOriginal apparently does it too, so not to worry,
ReplyDeleteChanging the Voice setting changes how high you can go with the Intensity before losing the vibe effect when using low Rate settings - i.e. the higher the Voice setting, the less you can push the Intensity before losing the effect.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletei needs Earthquaker Devices Sea Machine thank you
ReplyDeleteDo you think this would fit into 1590b?
ReplyDeleteNo, but I also wanted it to fit a 1590b, so I forced it in to one:
Deletehttps://www.reddit.com/r/diypedals/comments/eotyzg/i_made_a_pcb_layout_for_eqd_the_depths_univibe/
Which are the transistors?
ReplyDeleteOh sorry, just found on layout 😅
DeleteI can't get any mpsa18.... Npn with 400 hfe will work?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI built one on 2020/02 and works perfectly!! TY
ReplyDeleteMy build only worked briefly and then stopped vibrating again!! The internal LED stay lit all the time the power is connected, even with the effect bypassed (don't know if it is supposed to be like that), and most important, it doesn't oscillate! Except for two times when i'm fiddling with the knobs, and one brief moment while testing with the guitar plugged. I don't know what happened, just playing with the knobs (I believe the level or the throb at the time) and then it worked. The LED started blinking and even being responsive to the controls, so I closed the lid and went to the amp to test it, but there it won't work again, except for a second or so.
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly makes the LED blink???? Where should I check?
Sounds like your LFO is locking up. The LFO is what makes the LED pulse. Here's the schematic for reference:
Deletehttps://i.imgur.com/8R4keTO.png
The LFO portion of the circuit is the top 3rd of the circuit board, and the portion of the schematic not directly tied to the audio path (which is all opamps, while the LFO is transistor-based).
Agreed, the sound is coming out perfectly fine and that area of the board had already caught my attention. Reading voltages around, I noticed that there's zero volts in that segment between the three 1uF caps. Is that normal??
DeleteWhat's bugging me is that I cannot find any discontinuity or shorts there.
Worth noting is that I replaced the MPSA18 with 2N5088's, but I don't think it would cause this.
Any ideas?
I’ve tried every suggestion here, nothing fixes it for me
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI have a problem with this build: the output volume is very high and I have to turn the volume knob back to approx 20 percent to get unity volume. What may cause this high volume? The tl072 output stage, or too bright led, or the high gain of the mpsa18? Can I reduce the gain with the emitter resistor?
ReplyDeleteI got strange noise with mpsa18 so I changed for BC549B (inverted pinout)hfe around 400. 15nf cap instead 150nf. bright white led 3mm. Works nice!
ReplyDeleteI’ve wanted to build this one for some time. I couldn’t be happier with the result!!! Thank you!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHi! can I use separate LED for each LDR?
ReplyDeleteI gave this one a go and really took my time. Unfortunately it seems like the tl072 on the right side is overheating for some reason. I can’t spot anything wrong and I’m not sure what causes it. I had this happen to another pedal too that is currently in the “figure it out later” bin. Any ideas for me? Would a short cause this type of issue?
ReplyDeletetesta com outro tl072. caso não funcione, reveja todo o circuito e faça uma limpeza na placa!
DeleteI got it working! Thanks for the reply. I had to use a different tl072 and flip it around. I didn't notice the orientation was different initially. Newbie mistake!
DeleteI'm very much satisfied with the result and really enjoying this pedal... this is my 4th built from Effects Layout (TS808 / Green Russian / Blues Driver / The Depths ) I'm working now on my 5th which is Sovereign ... thank you so much for sharing all of your works Effects Layout.... from the Philippines :-)
ReplyDeleteHi!
ReplyDeleteCould share the schematic circuit, please?
I breadboarded it from the schematics, but found that I needed to move the 15K resistor in the LFO part to come between the 9V input and the voice potentiometer. Otherwise too much power came from the 9V to the voice pot and the LED was constantly on since the LFO voltage was lower. Move the 15K resistor solved the issue. Have you had similar issues? I have most likely made a mistake elsewhere, though I cannot see - staring myself blind.
ReplyDeleteSounds great, but I have a POP problem. I tried adding 1M resistor to the input and output jacks between tip and ground, but it didn't help
ReplyDeletei succeeded Use the device according to the schematic values and it works. Thanks from Thailand.
ReplyDeleteTengo un problema, cuando enciendo el pedal, la señal sale sumamente distorsionada, casi como un fuzz. Tiene el efecto incorporado pero sale con este sonido roto. El potenciometro de threb no hace absolutamente nada como puedo solucionar lo de la señal distorsionada?
ReplyDeleteHi! today i came back to this project. I used bright green led, mpsa 18. So, if you want to make it working good, you should to pick up resistor 47k between base-collector Q2. After that you will get normal working oscillator, rate & voice pots. In my case i took resistor 150k. Throb.. just adding more lows.
ReplyDeleteHi, also had problem with oscillation stopping - I put trimpod instead of 47K resistor between B and C of Q2(mpsa18 in my case) aaand problem is gone ;) bigger resistor should do the job too.
ReplyDeleteVoice problem in my case was wrong LED. I end up with 3mm green ultrabright.
I also used 15nF instead of 150nF.
Just built the depths! Awesome sounds and very vibery!
ReplyDeleteHere is my solution to unfreeze the lfo: i used mpsa18 with 600 hfe, change the 47k res collector to base of q2 with 150 k res and lastly solder a 3.3k on lug 3 intensity knob. Hope this might guyz.
working! very nice vibe. I use: in Q1 bc548, in Q2 bc558, the 2 inverted. R base of Q2 replace by 150k and add R of 3.9k in current pin 3. nice project
ReplyDelete