Transplanting a DS-5 into a 1U rackmount chassis

[rainydaze]

Has anyone successfully transplanted a DS-5 into a 1U rackmount chassis?  If so, I'd appreciate insights from your experience.  I was thinking it would be easy enough to fabricate some rack ears because the housing seems to be necessary to eliminate 60-cycle hum, but it is just slightly too large to fit into a 1U space.

[JimmyJ]

Welcome Darren,

As you've discovered, the DS-5 is too large to fit into a single rack space but there are a couple ways to go if you really want to mount it in a rack.  The first (obviously) would be if you could spare 2 rack spaces, or even a space and a half.  If so, you could mount the DS-5 to a single space rack shelf, like this:
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Hammond-Manufacturing/RASV190110BK1?qs=sGAEpiMZZMvOWWXixTdnLtIX33xfTh7X95Me1etNwEt%252bILeVhSxKBQ%3d%3d

If you take the rubber feet off your DS-5 and get longer versions of those same bolts (same diameter and thread) you can drill holes in the shelf, run the bolts through the shelf, through the rubber feet, and into the DS-5...  If you were to go this way, I would recommend mounting the DS-5 back a bit from the front, or even sideways, so you could leave your 5-pin cable attached and stuffed into that extra space...  Just a thought.

The next thing to do would be to really build yourself a single space PSU by buying a case like this:
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Hammond-Manufacturing/RM1U1908VBK?qs=%2fha2pyFaduiNwbNY1lUOxyzuwICRUuBBknKWIJx2CXBAf%252bhNNXwMyA%3d%3d

You could then use all the internal components of the DS-5 to build your own DS-5R.  The difficulty is ... you need to find a way to drill and or punch all the necessary holes in the front panel for the jacks and the rear for power / fuse, etc...  That's a bit of work!


Jimmy J

[edwin]

The next thing to do would be to really build yourself a single space PSU by buying a case like this:
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Hammond-Manufacturing/RM1U1908VBK?qs=%2fha2pyFaduiNwbNY1lUOxyzuwICRUuBBknKWIJx2CXBAf%252bhNNXwMyA%3d%3d

You could then use all the internal components of the DS-5 to build your own DS-5R.  The difficulty is ... you need to find a way to drill and or punch all the necessary holes in the front panel for the jacks and the rear for power / fuse, etc...  That's a bit of work!


Jimmy J

Not that hard to do with a drill for the 1/4" holes and a Greenlee punch for the XLR. I've built a few of them into various boxes. But yeah, the box is the hardest part.

[edwin]

Has anyone successfully transplanted a DS-5 into a 1U rackmount chassis?  If so, I'd appreciate insights from your experience.  I was thinking it would be easy enough to fabricate some rack ears because the housing seems to be necessary to eliminate 60-cycle hum, but it is just slightly too large to fit into a 1U space.

What vintage is your DS-5? I might be willing to work something out in trade for my DS-5R. I'm not using it that much now that I've got an IN-2.

[rainydaze]

Hello Edwin,

Sorry for the late reply.  This thread slipped off my radar screen.  My DS-5 was purchased new with a bass from Alembic in 2018.  I'd love to work out a trade.

Thanks,

Darren (rainydaze)