Crack resistance check problems (First build) [resolved]

[jerfries]

Hello friends.

Upon completion of the Crack kit I'm having problems with the readings at terminals 1, 2, 4, and 5. They are reading straight 0. Every single other reading, (and all the tests prior to this) have been good. The only other * reading according to the manual is at terminal 13, and that behaves as I would expect, wandering in some 10kOhm range or so.

I tried resoldering some of the more suspicious looking joints before/around/after these terminals, but truthfully nothing looks any more out of place on the circuit surrounding those terminals than any other place. Apart from a few things on guitars, this is my first time soldering, so... brace yourself for the pictures I'm about to post. The first one is obviously of the area directly in question. The second one is an overall view but I'm not sure it will be any help in diagnosing really.

Hopefully this is a problem that is logical to figure out!

Regards,
-Jeremy

[Paul Birkeland]

Terminals 2 and 3 wire to terminal 13, so I would double check that terminal 13 is OK.  Also be sure you're not seeing "OL" rather than a zero.

[jerfries]

Terminals 2 and 3 wire to terminal 13, so I would double check that terminal 13 is OK.  Also be sure you're not seeing "OL" rather than a zero.

You're an absolute wizard. First off, it was saying OL, you're right. Second off, I went to inspect terminal 13 and visually I thought the solder looked fine but I didn't like how the wire was sitting so I was going to redo it anyway... when I went to apply a bit of pressure to the wire as I was just about to grab the soldering iron with the other hand the wire just pulled right out. Fixed that, and now all the values 1, 2, 4, and 5 behave expectedly.

Onto the voltage tests!

[Paul Birkeland]

I would also double check the solder joint where the black wires meet at the headphone jack.  It's super common to have a loose wire there as well.

[jerfries]

I would also double check the solder joint where the black wires meet at the headphone jack.  It's super common to have a loose wire there as well.

I checked this out, all seemed to be fine. Passed all the voltage tests, and have spent about 15 minutes listening so far. Sounds incredible. The most punchy and aggressive I've ever heard the album I checked out. Lacking a bit on the low end, but not a big concern. Maybe the speedball mod addresses that a bit? I'll work on installing that sometime this summer yet. It's hard to tell because it's my first time using the turntable (and really, I have not much vinyl experience at all), phono preamp, and crack all at the same time. I'll try using the crack in my old setup from PC to schiit magni/modi to get a better comparison with only one part of the chain altered.