hi guys,
I just received a brand new CA9200 3wire preamp (this one:
http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=163130.0) and I tested it on the filed yesterday night for BRMC + The Killers
well as soon as I transferred the recordings on my pc and opened the files something seemed strange in the waveforms. they seem to be almost perfectly aligned on a precise level (around -5/-6db...that is the level that my R09HR was showing on its vu meter on the screen). these waveforms are really different from all my previous recordings. here's a couple of screenshots of a recording made last week at the same venue, same taping spot (15-20mt from side stage stacks), same audio stacks (it's a common venue that hosts multiple summer shows). As you can see the waveform of the recording made with AT853 > 3Wire BBox (my standard rig from 2006 to yesterday) shows much more dynamic. The AT853 > CA9200 seems somewhat flat.
Some infos:
with my classic AT853 > 3W Bbox > R09HR i usually set edirol's level from 60 to 75 depending on the sound volume I get from the stacks from my taping spot
considering that R09HR unity gain is supposed to be around +35db I set it that way yesterday and I setup CA9200 @ +30db. As i explained before the levels on the edirol were not going over -5/-6db, my usual goal/safe zone.
I was using a brand new DURACELL PROCELL 9V battery on the CA9200. HPF swith was OFF. 4.7k Mod Switch was ON.
R09HR: Limiter/AGC switch > OFF
I need to understand what happened to know if it's a bad thing (first of all) and if so...to avoid it in the future. Chris told me to set CA9200 at +15db instead of +30db and that I slightly overloaded my input but I set it at +30 because when I set it at +15db I was only getting around -12db on my edirol's levels and it's a bit too low. How can I know if I'm overloading my input if the levels on the recorder's display are ok? is it a blind game?
hope someone can make some light on this for me
AT853 > 3WBBox > R09HR (Line-IN) screenshot >>
http://www.mlk.altervista.org/3wbox.pngAT853 > CA9200 > R09HR (Line-IN) screenshot >>
http://www.mlk.altervista.org/ca9200.pngfinally a link to a sample of one of the recordings (raw/unedited):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/k8jfs5ht2kjljx8/killers_sample_ca9200.mp3thanks in advance
@chris: it's not that I do not trust you, it's just that I need to understand this thing very well before using this preamp for future gigs without overloading risk