Neotek Elan II TT 24ch - Need help from the community.
antoine rocca
Hello Neotek community. I am a happy owner of a 24-channel Neotek Elan II Table Top console in my home project studio, mainly composed of classic vintage gear. I am based in Brussels, and I purchased the console directly from Mike Stoica in June 2009, shipping it to Belgium. I used it regularly for about five years, then had to work in the US and Mexico for a while. When I returned to Brussels, I had to pack and store my studio in 2017 due to a lack of proper space. I was finally able to rebuild the studio this year.
My studio is primarily a home studio, with many vintage synthesizers, classic keyboards, drum machines, and early digital outboard gear. Since producing music again over the past two months, I have been methodically checking what works well and what may need attention, such as a Prophet-5 Rev 2 voice with no filter applied, a missing voice on a Juno-106, or a buzzing power supply. After such a long storage period, I feel relatively lucky with the issues identified so far, but I am now facing a new one involving the Elan II console. The console was lightly used before being packed and stored and has never been serviced; it still looks almost new. However, I may now need the help of a technician for the first time. I have described the issue below as precisely as I could. I am not a technician myself, but Brussels has skilled professionals for maintaining consoles and studio equipment, and I would appreciate your advice in case I have overlooked something simple.
I am encountering a consistent harmonic, overdrive-like distortion on the Neotek console and would like to share a strictly factual diagnostic summary for feedback from experienced users and the designer. The issue has been confirmed with several sources (Sequential Prophet-5 Rev 3 and Rev 2, Roland Juno-106, with or without API 512c with pad engaged) and is fully repeatable. All input channels behave normally, and 24 Bus outputs and 6 Aux outputs are clean. The Mix Bus insert sends (L/R) are also clean when monitored directly, and external sources sound clean when monitored without passing through the console.
The distortion appears only on the Mix Bus L/R outputs and on the Speaker A/B/C outputs when monitoring the Mix Bus. The Mix Bus inserts are permanently patched, and disconnecting the insert loop entirely does not affect the behavior. Listening directly to the Mix Bus insert sends confirms that the signal is clean at that point, indicating that the distortion is not generated before or within the insert loop.
The distortion is strongly influenced by the Mix Bus master fader. With the master fader near 0 dB, the distortion is clearly audible, while lowering the master by approximately 20 to 30 dB removes the distortion completely. Compensating the listening level downstream does not cause the distortion to return. Routing the same signals to Group buses instead of the Mix L/R bus always results in a clean signal. Based on these observations, the distortion is exclusive to the Mix Bus L/R signal path, absent before the insert point, and dependent on the Mix Bus master level rather than on input gain.
Voilà !
If anyone was brave enough to read my message until here, thank you !
Any advices are welcome, I'm reading most of the messages here and I'm happy this group exists.
And my best wishes for you all,
Antoine
Ike Zimbel
~Ike Zimbel~
Wireless frequency coordination specialist.
Manufacturer's Representative
Radio Active Designs (Canada)
FCC:WRBX645
On Jan 4, 2026, at 5:43 PM, antoine rocca <mr.antoi...@gmail.com> wrote:
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Neotek" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neotekusers...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neotekusers/CAP2wBhZLeiRm3E85Ev05ikLVo7fn-%2Bc_mh9%2Bqu2WGZMz2JGXmg%40mail.gmail.com.
chris rival
Ike Zimbel
~Ike Zimbel~
Wireless frequency coordination specialist.
Manufacturer's Representative
Radio Active Designs (Canada)
FCC:WRBX645
On Jan 4, 2026, at 6:22 PM, chris rival <chrisr...@gmail.com> wrote:
Is the mix bus output normalled to anything ?
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neotekusers/5B1C70BC-CA57-4625-85D8-102164732F65%40comcast.net.
antoine rocca
Both Mix Bus outputs are wired to a patchbay and are not normalled by design. I took the time to check all 48 cables and dismantle the patchbay to make sure none of the cards were set to normalled mode; they were all in split mode.
That process helped me troubleshoot the problem. Two Apogee Quartet line inputs were connected to Mix Bus Out 1, and it turned out to be the source of the issue. When the Apogee Quartet is powered off, it generates strong distortion along with a drop in level and on the VU meter. As soon as the Quartet is powered on, the problem disappears.
I took some time to read about why this happens, as I was not aware that inputs on unpowered audio interfaces could create such issues in the signal path. Now I know, and thanks to you.
If you can share more about the theory behind this, I would be very grateful.
My best,
Antoine
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neotekusers/5B1C70BC-CA57-4625-85D8-102164732F65%40comcast.net.
Daniel Hooper
On a related note, I wanted to mention that my Neotek's noise floor is noticeably improved when any gear hooked up to its built-in patchbay is turned on. Once I discovered this I made a point of making sure this gear was turned on during recording even if it wasn't actually being used in the mix.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neotekusers/CAP2wBhZq5T%3Db19cZeba%2ByWB_6QqkCU%2BB4C76k_qGWqVMrFkDaQ%40mail.gmail.com.
Matt Syson
The output impedance of gear will change between being powered on and off as when off it 'floats' compared to when it is on the output stage presents a defined low impedance.
Gear inputs especially convertors tend to have 'catch diodes' that send overvoltages into the power rails of the input stage which would normally be 5 Volts to 15 Volts so not affecting the incoming line but when the gear is OFF the power rails are effectively zero volts so you are left with the forward conduction of the diodes and the low AC impedance of the supply rails. Feeding multi outputs was a thing in broadcast studios so the 'Distribution Amplifier' was used which allowed almost any abuse from short circuit to open circuit on any one of the outputs without disturbing the others. This was usually accomplished with an output stage capablre of maybe an Amp and then build out resistors of 300 Ohms or 50 Ohms to provide the real isolation.
Best
Matt S
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neotekusers/CAKX55%3DFvzm43O7FLpm%2B7Zis9%2BQfHGgqqKsPVRif5xvzGgwWiaQ%40mail.gmail.com.
