Simple mute switch for Etherwave Plus

After reading some posts about using a simple switch on the Etherwave Standard to mute the output by shorting the audio leads  I thought I would attempt the same on my Etherwave Plus.  The immediate problem with this approach is that it also mutes the headphone output which I don't want. 

I would like to come up with muting solution that would both mute/unmute just the audio output while also switching the headphones mode from pitch preview to normal.

An ideal solution would be something like a DPDT switch (ON-ON) that would mute the audio output while setting the headphone output to normal.  Then when flipped the other way would unmute the audio and set the headphones to pitch preview mode.  Does this seem doable with just a switch and no additional circuitry? If so can someone provide some guidance on the best way to approach this?

Thanks.

zoogie said: "I would like to come up with muting solution that would both mute/unmute just the audio output while also switching the headphones mode from pitch preview to normal."

Hey zoogie where are you located?

Don't quite understand your meaning of what pitch preview to normal means?

A pitch preview usually has a constant low volume sound in the earpiece unless using a special circuit that quiets the sound completely when the main amp volume increases.

Christopher

The Etherwave Plus come with pitch preview built in.  There is a jumper on the back of the from panel circuit board that controls how the headphone output is controlled.  One position is for normal output and the other is pitch preview where the volume antenna has no affect.

I would like to come up with a single switch solution that would control this setting while at the same time muting and unmuting the audio output.  My idea is that when you want to mute the audio you may still want to be able to play with headphones so you want the volume to work normally.  Then when unmuted you may still want to use a single ear-bud for pitch preview.  Seems to me that this could be combined into one single switch.

I already know how to control the headphone mode with a SPDT switch.  What I don't know is how to best mute the audio output without also muting the headphone output.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Hey it reached 80 degrees on the Pechanga Rez today!  Obama is actually golfing nearby.

As often as people mention an EtherWave Standard Pitch Preview I just figured there was a “How to Do” outlined somewhere by someone. So what configuration is everyone using?

I misunderstood what you wanted, will add my thoughts to a future webpage.

PS: My EWS-Tube/Valve marriage experiment is working but the sound is not there yet, it is a beautiful whistle with natural brightness, not Clara's sound as in previous samples. 0-:

Christopher   

zoogie, the pitch-preview/audio switch, instead of the jumper, is a easy one, as you figured out. what i don't get is, what do you need a mute switch for? why not muting the amp instead? i have a two channel amp with a footswitch, on one channel the volume is turned full down, so i can easily switch between loud or silent. maybe i'm missing something? (didn't even know, that shorting the audio leads, mutes the headphone? have to check that one.)

xtheremin8, I was referring to and old post here: http://www.thereminworld.com/forums/t/28933 where Thierry said, "bisem, when without LED, you wire the switch in parallel to the audio output, making a short circuit between the yellow and the green wire when closed."   On my Plus, the headphone and audio jacks are electrically connected so when I tried shorting one they were both shorted.  I like your footswitch approach unfortunately I am dealing with a different sound system for amplification and can't apply that solution.  I was thinking that I could use a switch to break the ground on the audio jack to mute it perhaps?  Since I am already going to install a switch to flip between the pitch-preview and normal headphone output I thought I could kill two birds with one DPDT switch by using the other side of the switch to mute the audio output.  This makes sense to me because I would only use pitch preview when the audio was unmuted and normal headphone functionality when muted. 

Hope that makes sense.

zoogie,  the mr.mute switch, i think thierry explains it for the ew standard? when you plug a cable into the audio out and taking the signal to ground, like a volume pot does, that reduces also the headphone out? i'll have to check that tomorrow. but i guess the solution is around J8 on the plus board.

meanwhile, i found the notes for the headphone tweak, a switch for preview or normal. that's easy: on the plus board, look at jumper J6 below J8. middle pin of j6 goes to the middle pin of a SPST switch. or one half of a DPST. the remaing two pins of J6 to the two remaining pins of the switch. 

For now I have connected one side of the switch in series with the "tip" lead to the audio output.  This seems to work for cutting the audio output.  I do hear a little bleed-through when I crank up the volume on the amplifier but its well with in "normal" background noise so not a big issue.  So for now I've got things working the way I want.  I have one side of the switch connected to the 3-pin header for enabling/disabling pitch preview and the other side of the switch breaking the audio output.

For my purposes, this combination is perfect.  Muting the audio while still providing normal headphones function works for me as I have no reason to have both active at the same time.  On the other hand, I like having pitch preview available when ever the audio is unmuted.  So one switch does the job nicely.