Topic: Neumann km184's and attenuation?

[aberg]

see last post....

[RebelRebel]

Using any piece of equipment outside of its design envelope is asking for problems.
from Mastering Webboard:
E=IXR
Volts times amps equal watts. Drop the voltage, assuming wattage is constant, what happens to the amperage?

They may perform, but probably not anywhere near to spec...loss of sensitivity, degredation of SNR, etc.

[aberg]

Using any piece of equipment outside of its design envelope is asking for problems.
from Mastering Webboard:
E=IXR
Volts times amps equal watts. Drop the voltage, assuming wattage is constant, what happens to the amperage?

They may perform, but probably not anywhere near to spec...loss of sensitivity, degredation of SNR, etc.

That's what I figured. Good to know before the first real run.

[RebelRebel]

Oops, wrong formula.(not from me, I dont know jack about this stuff)

V = I x R

V = Voltage
I = Current
R = Resistance

[aberg]

Actually, that formula is the same.. In electrical engineering, Voltage is often denoted by 'E', known as Electrical Potential, and the X was just the mulitiplication sign... so E=IXR is the same as V = I x R.

+t, though for the help!

[RebelRebel]

Actually, that formula is the same.. In electrical engineering, Voltage is often denoted by 'E', known as Electrical Potential, and the X was just the mulitiplication sign... so E=IXR is the same as V = I x R.

+t, though for the help!

No problem. I like taking questions to other places, it helps me learn a lot, which I need.

[aberg]

Speaking of these neumann's, I've noticed (and read that others also have noticed) that they are a fairly high-output mic, capable of overloading the input stage of some pre's... I've heard that some mp-2 users have had to turn the gain knobs all the way down, and still get a hot signal.

Before I run into these sorts of problems, I want to get some attenuators... is it worthwhile getting the switching ones with different attenuation settings? or if I was to get a pair with a fixed dB attenuation, what is a good amount? 10db, 20db?

Thanks for the help.

[RebelRebel]

I asked the same thing when I got my MK221s. I was told 10db would be adequate in most cases. Then again, my mixer  my recorder (and mics)  all have 10db Pads. Are km184s really that hot???I ran them once, didnt notice anything out of the ordinary, in terms of them being overly hot..

edit..they dont have pads , do they??maybe the 20db attenuators would be a good idea..or one with 10db and 20db..better to be safe than sorry. I hosed a recording a couple weeks ago because of overloading ...not subtle either...completly FUBAR. The SHURE ones were reccomended to me.

http://www.shure.com/accessories/a15as.asp

[pigiron]

For what it's worth:

The 184's were running kinda hot for me on both the mini-me and the 722, but each box allowed lowering the gain... so I did.

Just checked the mini-me docs and don't see a number, but the 722 specs say that setting it up for lower gain drops it 15dB (from 25-70dB to 10-55dB). Not a whole lot of hours on the 722 yet, but at that setting I seem to run the knob around half way at a rock show... give or take.

Hope this helps.

[aberg]

For what it's worth:

The 184's were running kinda hot for me on both the mini-me and the 722, but each box allowed lowering the gain... so I did.

Just checked the mini-me docs and don't see a number, but the 722 specs say that setting it up for lower gain drops it 15dB (from 25-70dB to 10-55dB). Not a whole lot of hours on the 722 yet, but at that setting I seem to run the knob around half way at a rock show... give or take.

Hope this helps.

That's a good benchmark. I think the mp-2 has a gain range of 16-66db, so with a 15db attenuator, that will give 1-51db, which is probably ideal. I'll try and grab a pair of 15db attenuators.

[aberg]

Ran the 184's into the mp-2 the other night without attenuators (they haven't arrived yet). In a smallish club, FOB, I had to keep the gain set all the way down to its min. setting (which for the mp-2 is 16db)... that gave me perfect levels actually, but I might find myself in louder situations, so I'm glad I opted to get a set of attenuators, which should be arriving any day now.

[Mike Sarnovsky]

If you run a mod-sbm1 or something behind the mp-2, it's a VERY nice way to avoid attenuators and make your tapes sound even better!  I ran 184 ->mp-2 -> mod-sbm for YEARS and I was able to use the mod-sbm for level control while gain on the mp-2 was zero.  Worked perfectly!

[aberg]

If you run a mod-sbm1 or something behind the mp-2, it's a VERY nice way to avoid attenuators and make your tapes sound even better!  I ran 184 ->mp-2 -> mod-sbm for YEARS and I was able to use the mod-sbm for level control while gain on the mp-2 was zero.  Worked perfectly!

That's essentially what I was doing with the R-1... at this point, sbm1's are losing value so I don't see them as a good investment. I also don't require an external ADC unit as the internal ADC of the R-1 is great.

[pigiron]

so.... what'ca think about 184's?

[Gordon]

I ran mine last ngiht for the first time and am very happy.  as for running hot I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.  hell I think my 480's run hotter.