Hey! I’m trying to use the idea of the dirty video mixer as a main control panel for different synths. Idea is that I’m able to plug them all into this so I can turn them off and on easily.
Does anyone know if it’s possible to build a dirty video mixer with a VGA and A/V input?
It’s almost certainly possible to build one, lots of dirty mixer build guides are available online, but a device that can accommodate several different inputs which can be switched between easily via panel interface kind of just sounds like a regular video mixer?
The ‘dirty’ part of a classic Karl Klomp-style circuit largely alludes to the use of simple passive components mashing two or more signals together without much control, so you might want to provide some more details or examples of your goals for the project to get a better idea of how complex the circuit would need to be.
Simplicity is my main thing, I understood the dirty video mixer to be the cheapest/easiest way to mix signals
It is… one thing about some regular video mixers is they can have a Time Base Corrector inside which helps stabilize the video signal.
However, if you want to keep things cheap and easy you could probably build something fairly inexpensive by using VGA to AV convertors a video switcher, and a dirty mixer… but your signal may drop occasionally. (For example you may get a blue screen or no signal)
I like pictures, so I hope this helps…
VGA to AV Convertors can look like this:
or this:
Sometimes they are black or silver but the insides are the same. Just search for “VGA to RCA adapter” or “VGA to AV Converter”
Then you could use a video switcher if you want to be able to mix more than one signal. They look like this:
This one can have up to 4 video sources you can buy some with more or less video sources (2 or 8) depending on what you need. If you’re ok with 4 video sources just search " 4-Way AV Switch RCA Switcher 4 in 1 Out Composite Video" If you need more or less change the number.
If you had 2 of these you could actually mix 4 video sources with 4 other video sources.
Here is a diagram on how to connect everything using 4 video sources, 2 two channel video switchers and 1 dirty mixer:
Hope this helps!
It does! I’ve been playing around with connection schematics but I like yours best. I’ll model that for the project I’m working on, thank you!
