ADM Mixers and Consoles of the 1970s and 1980s

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• Hi Chris:

  ADM was owned by Bob Bloom. Bob started out in the 60's making what were essentially solid-state channel strips (mic preamp, fader and maybe primitive EQ on a single circuit board) and he also made complete boards. Fine Recording was an early customer. When Studio B was converted to 8-track in 1967, Bloom made the one-off console. The tape machine was probably an Ampex AG-440-8, but the studio was later converted (briefly) to Scully's short-lived 12-track format. Studio B was also the place for which JBL developed the monitor speaker that became their best-selling L-100 (see previous Preservation Sound posting for details and links).

  Good shots of a Scully 12-track here:
  http://www.sonicraft.com/Analog_To_Digital_Transfer_Gear.html#2
  (I can't say enough about the quality of Steve Puntollilo's restorations and his studio).

  Anyway, ADM also made the board for the conversion of Fine Recording Studio A (Ballroom) to 16-track in 1969:
  https://www.preservationsound.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/ADM-Fine_Recording_Console_sm.jpg

  ADM did most of their 70's and 80's business in the broadcast field, so that's why bits and pieces show up on eBay all the time, a lot of boards were sold. They also did some business in Hollywood and overseas.

  Their early-era channel-assign automation, which used a stepper-relay system similar to telephony, was patented. Also their Slidex curly-q mechanical/electrical fader. They had other patents.

  ADM mic preamps from the mid-70s onward feature their own discrete op-amp as the first gain stage. Their EQ modules have an American sound, precise and with good headroom. They used UTC ouncer transformers in their boards, with well-designed and quiet padding available to prevent overloads. The general build on the boards was tank-like, which is why so many modules and other parts survived decades of daily abuse in the broadcast field only to be re-sold on eBay.

  ADM's corporate name was Audio Designs and Manufacturing Inc. at first and ADM Technology, Inc. in its later years. It was based in Michigan from at least the late 60's onward, maybe all along.

  Ironically, if ADM were still around, I bet they'd be an active player in what API and Rupert Neve Designs and others play in now -- medium-format boards with analog front ends and digital integration with a DAW. I think you get a great combo in that MO -- high-quality analog mic preamps and EQs plus the ability to mix channels and/or stems outside of the DAW and use the analog gear on the stems and master busses. Being old-school, of course I also favor NOT using anything resembling auto-tune, beat-alignment, etc (use that money to pay for music lessons and learn how to play together). Nice job with the ADM eye candy.

  -- Tom Fine

  • Hello again Tom/Chris:

    I just found (in my archives from ADM) a (5") reel tape in a A&R Recording box! Will dub it soon.

    TomC

• I'm not quite sure who I am addressing this to, however, I was just pointed to this web site by a co-worker and it certainly brings back memories. Didn't know anyting like this existed. Chris, I don't know who you are but would be interested in learning, the Photos shown were taken for the most part by a pro photographer in ADM's conference room. Tom, some how I believe you are Bob Fine's son. If so, it's great to meet you he was my mentor, I knew him since I was a pre-teen.

  • Hi Bob. Welcome. You can learn more about me by clicking thru the 'studio' link at the top of the page; this will direct you to my commercial site. I am a recording engineer/television composer/educator/equipment builder, ex-(about a million other things). I'll let Tom speak for himself...

  • Bob, AWESOME to see you here. I just stumbled on this site as someone was asking me about our early days in the mid-70s to early-80s and the console we had. I don't know if you remember, but we purchased a 24x16x16 that you were showing at the NAB in Vegas around 1975. We drove a U-Haul from Fresno, CA to pick up the console after the show. I will tell you that this console sounded AMAZING until we finally moved to a Harrison in 1983. To be honest, the ADM sounded so much fatter than the Harrison. Wish I had pictures of those days....

    • Why is it so hard to believe a 5" tape box from A&R?

      Chuck Irwin

  • Hello Bob. I am a huge fan of your 1540 Eqs that I had years ago and wish I still Had. Literally everything sounded better through them, period...single tracks /instruments or mixes. My only wish was that sometimes I wanted a 1db increment instead of 2. I wish you would consider a new release of that EQ, maybe with a selectable 1-2 db??? I think you would sell many!! Or work with someone to release a faithful plugin, except I think I would always wish for the real hardware. Just thought... I miss your 1540's and I'm looking for some more to replace the ones I shouldn't have sold. Thanks!!! Rafe

    • Hey Rafe, I have many 1540's.
      Please contact me if your still interested in them.

  • Hi Bob,
    Gary Rubin, from Pioneer Recording and had one of your first Boards at our Studio in Detroit. Actually helped you assemble and solder the circuit boards at your place on Wyoming across from Mumford High School for Special Recording and My own studio's boards. Hope you are well.

• I have racked up several sets of ADM preamp and EQ modules for clients, and have always been impressed with the quality.

  I would LOVE to hear more from Bob Bloom regarding the history of ADM!

  Best,

  Brian

  • I knew Bob from the begining of ADM in Detroit. We were good friends back then, last saw him at an event at Wabeek Country Club. Also used to visit him at his larger facilities when he moved. He also loved to fly his own plane. I owned Pioneer Recording Studio in Detroit in the 60's and 70's. I know Bob had a serious accident while flying.

• Really great to see Bob Bloom commenting here. I knew Bob briefly during a painful episode in ADM Technology's history. I'll save the story for my memoir. But, thanks for posting these pictures!

• Hope this is within PS etiquette guidelines ;-)

  I bought a couple of ADM modules off of ebay and unfortunately the guy never got me the schematics for them - so if any one might be able to offer a suggestion on finding them, much much appreciated!

  I will add that they seem really well-built and made for abusive situations. Wish I had more of their stuff, especially pre-amps or eq modules!

  Here are the ones I have:

  Fader: (black face plate) Slidex Linear Attenuator. A484-"x"-1. P/N: 3-010-3668. Has panning card ("pan in" button and pan pot), says "ADM Pan 1".

  Buss Selector: (black face plate) BSA 40x Series Buss Selector / Preselector (8 in, 4 out)

  Chris, if this post isn't cool for you, no worries - delete! I am just pretty much out of options on finding schemos for this stuff and your readers are certainly some real pros, so thought i'd try...

  Cheers,
  Steve

  • hey steve. nah this is exactly what these comments are for... I hope someone here can help ya out... Have you tried this dude on eBay: cqdx4u

    I've bought schems from him before, he charged a fee but it was well reasonable.

    good luck. c/

• Oh yeah - I've seen his stuff - hard to miss that TG12345 he's got for sale when you're trolling for analog mixers! I will drop him a line about the schemos.

  Thanks Chris!

• Back in the 70's, I was doing shows at the University of Houston at Clear Lake theater.
  They had a ADM four channel quad with a main over head and stage monitor channel.
  I did some "creative" shows with it.

  In the early 80's, I went to a NAB convention in Dallas. AMD had a display board set up. They were serving coffee and soft drinks. The rep would start talking about the mixer and the, , , pour his drink in the fader. Of course with the way the faders were designed, there was no damage. It was a very impressive demo.

  Great mixers, just very expensive.

  • That's the Slidex patented faders. The fader was a mechanical device, operating an assembly that turned a pot mounted away from the spillage zone. The pot controlled a VCA, which controlled the actual attenuation for the channel. Another ADM patented thing was their early channel-assign automation, which was based on the concept of stepped relays used in the telephone dialing system.

    Back in the 70s, all high-quality professional consoles cost $$$$$.

    -- Tom Fine

• Thanks for the info, Gents! Glad to have even a small part of history with these units.

  I checked with cqdx4u but he said he's not sure he had the schematics for these.

  I am wondering if there are "similar" modules with more readily available schemos that i could gleen some details from...

  Even just the Panning card has over 16 connection pins...doubt i can reverse engineer these guys!

• Hey Steve,

  Not sure if you are still looking....

  I have a whole bunch of schematics from a 1979 broadcast ADM console.

  Which modules do you need?

  • Looking for schematics for ADM 780 pre & 1540 EQ (615) 243 8442

  • Dear Mike,

    i was searching schematic for input modules of mixing console ADM RFE/RL and i just find you here. I would be very glad and thankfull, if you could help me to get schematic or any information about this modules.

    Thank you very much.

    Best regards,

    Ivo

• Glad to see this preserved here. It was certainly a most exciting time in Analog Audio history.

  I was a Design Engineer at Audio Designs / ADM from 1977 through 1983 (with a minor sabbatical!), working on the designs of many of these systems pictured here.

  I worked through the original 770 era designs through the later 780/1540/320 designs and the digitally (6502) controlled analog consoles for Glen Glenn / Todd-AO Hollywood.

  Thomas Chrapkiewicz
  Detroit, Michigan, USA

  • Hi Thomas. thanks for getting in touch. if you have any cool factory photos, schematics, etc., that you can add to the pile here, LMK!

  • Could really use schematic for the 780 ADM pre much thanks, (615) 243 8442

  • What transformers did the 780 use on the input?