Topic: Help in configuring PFAs for Schoeps caps

[tedyun]

Hi all —

I emailed Jon this question, but I haven’t heard back, so I’m posting this up to the collective wisdom of TS.

I picked up Daftly’s MK5s and Nbox-P, and ordered a set of Nbobs to connect the caps to the Nbox.

I’m interested in picking up Naiant PFAs to give me some flexibility with the preamps. I haven’t really kept up with the whole PFA evolution, so I was wondering if you guys could help me configure it for my needs. This is what I think I should order — please comment and correct!

Input configuration: Switchcraft EN3 for Nbox
Amplifier: stereo standard
Barrel: extended stereo with polarization
Cable length: stereo multicore, 50 cm

In particular, do I have the Amplifier and Barrel options correct for Schoeps caps?

Thanks for any advice!

Ted

[MakersMarc]

I just checked my invoice for a kcy PFA for my 41s and it all looks right. Jon advised the stereo low noise option though, I believe.

[tedyun]

Thanks MakersMarc! I was wondering about that low-sensitivity option.

It's pretty amazing that for the price of the cable (~$500) and the PFAs (~$130), you can replace the bodies or the KCY alternative (eg cable + Lemosax, VMS 5U). Are there any comps with this setup vs caps + bodies?

[obaaron]

Congrats on the new rig Ted I love my schoeps rig

[tedyun]

Thanks Aaron!

I felt the need to get a low-pro rig. There's Terrapin Crossroads here that has a lot of good bands but they won't let anyone set up a stand. They used to be no-taping, but I've heard that recently it's more of a don't ask don't tell situation.

Also, I taped at Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz up here. It reminds me a lot of Winston's in OB, except the ceiling is really low. To get a good tape, I probably have to setup mics on stage and matrix it to mics pointed at the PAs. So having the MK5s is ideal for a low-pro omni setup on stage.

I love the Schoeps sound too! IMHO, I don't think you can get a more accurate mic. Back in the day, I briefly ran MK41s > KCY clone > Lemosax. I think your Gefells are my favorite hypercard though, but it definitely has a unique sound to it.

I thought you had Nbob's for Gefells? Or am I remembering that wrong?

[obaaron]

I have two sets of nbobs...The Gefell set which is 5' and terminates to 6-pin so I can go right into the Naiant AKG active configured Tinybox for stealth/low pro situations, or have a 10' extension cable that plugs into the AKG active configured PFA's to use with my other pres. Nick had to do some custom work on the cable to make it all play nice with my Naiant gear...but it does!  I also have the set that came with the MK4V's I picked up that terminate directly to PFA's with 15' cable.  All great products for sure!

[stevetoney]

Ted, first off how's it going?. Great to hear from you. 

About your config the only thing id suggest is considering longer cables to let you go  if you ever wanna...or if you sell and the next owner wants to use them that way. I have five footers btwn the nbox and my extension for that reason.

Peace out brother.

[tedyun]

Hi Steve -- things have been good! I'm working in the Bay Area now and have more opportunities to tape. The couple of times I've been out, I could have benefitted from a lower profile rig so I'm looking forward to this setup.

Longer cables sounds like a good idea. Maybe I'll hold off ordering the PFA until I get the Nbob cable and decide what I need.

[stevetoney]

Hi Steve -- things have been good! I'm working in the Bay Area now and have more opportunities to tape. The couple of times I've been out, I could have benefitted from a lower profile rig so I'm looking forward to this setup.

Longer cables sounds like a good idea. Maybe I'll hold off ordering the PFA until I get the Nbob cable and decide what I need.

Sorry man.  I was out at a show last night and had too much to drink.  Wasn't thinking straight.  What I have is 5 foot nbobs, not five foot PFAs.  What that allows me to do is run stealth straight from the nbox into the nbob's without the PFA(my nbox has a binder connector on it instead of the standard EIN connector or whatever it's called).  I then have a 15 foot long extension that I put between the PFA and the nbobs so that I can put my mics up on a stand for running open. 

With a five foot long nbob cable, a 15 foot long extension might seem like overkill, but not really.  The reason is that when I'm running open, if it starts to rain I need to get the junction point up underneath my umbrella so that it stays dry.  The only way to do that is to roll up the slack on the nbob so that the junction is up at the top of the stand.  You wouldn't be able to do that if your mics were, say 12 feet high if you extension was only 10 feet long.  I've tried wrapping tape around connector/junctions that are exposed to rain and, no matter how well I think I've got the cable/connectors wrapped, the connectors still get soaked if they're not up under the umbrella or down in a bag.

Sorry for any confusion my post last night might have caused.  Posting while drunk...not a good thing.

[tedyun]

I am wondering if it is straightforward to make my own extensions of various lengths if I get the EN3 connectors and 6 conductor wire. It looks like the jack into Datfly’s Nbox isn’t the regular EN3-female that Nick was using on the older boxes, so maybe I’ll contact Nick for advice.

Thanks Steve! And don’t drink and tape. Oh wait … that’s what makes it fun! Carry on…

Hi Steve -- things have been good! I'm working in the Bay Area now and have more opportunities to tape. The couple of times I've been out, I could have benefitted from a lower profile rig so I'm looking forward to this setup.

Longer cables sounds like a good idea. Maybe I'll hold off ordering the PFA until I get the Nbob cable and decide what I need.

Sorry man.  I was out at a show last night and had too much to drink.  Wasn't thinking straight.  What I have is 5 foot nbobs, not five foot PFAs.  What that allows me to do is run stealth straight from the nbox into the nbob's without the PFA(my nbox has a binder connector on it instead of the standard EIN connector or whatever it's called).  I then have a 15 foot long extension that I put between the PFA and the nbobs so that I can put my mics up on a stand for running open. 

With a five foot long nbob cable, a 15 foot long extension might seem like overkill, but not really.  The reason is that when I'm running open, if it starts to rain I need to get the junction point up underneath my umbrella so that it stays dry.  The only way to do that is to roll up the slack on the nbob so that the junction is up at the top of the stand.  You wouldn't be able to do that if your mics were, say 12 feet high if you extension was only 10 feet long.  I've tried wrapping tape around connector/junctions that are exposed to rain and, no matter how well I think I've got the cable/connectors wrapped, the connectors still get soaked if they're not up under the umbrella or down in a bag.

Sorry for any confusion my post last night might have caused.  Posting while drunk...not a good thing.

[jbell]

I don't think that specific Nbox has an EN3 input like others.  It had a 5pin minixlr, so you would need the PFA to have a male 5pin minixlr.  Everything else would be correct.  The low sensitivity also draws more power something to consider.  My PFA's don't have the low sensitivity or 60v option.  They sound and work great.  I would like to get a 60v set down the road.  I was an early adopter and have had my Schoeps PFA's since 2011 and they are the best bang for the buck IMO.  Awesome new rig!

[tedyun]

Thanks for pointing that out! Just looking at Datfly's Nbobs (that were sold to someone else along with the tinybox) it looks like it had a 6-pin mini XLR. I contacted Nick to clarify this. Hopefully he hasn't started making the cable yet.

It looks like the PFAs will have to be a custom job since I don't think Jon has that option. Maybe I better hold off on ordering until I get the Nbox and Nbob cable so I know exactly what to request.

Jon said that the low sensitivity and 60V options help in recording quieter sources.

I don't think that specific Nbox has an EN3 input like others.  It had a 5pin minixlr, so you would need the PFA to have a male 5pin minixlr.  Everything else would be correct.  The low sensitivity also draws more power something to consider.  My PFA's don't have the low sensitivity or 60v option.  They sound and work great.  I would like to get a 60v set down the road.  I was an early adopter and have had my Schoeps PFA's since 2011 and they are the best bang for the buck IMO.  Awesome new rig!

[yug du nord]

get the 60V option if available...  that is the standard spec for schoeps capsules.
nice small kick-ass rig man....  great job getting it together!

[tedyun]

Thanks Guy! It sounds like 60V is the way to go.

I'm hoping this rig will give me more flexibility with placing the mics. Now it's just a matter of getting out and taping -- I don't have any excuses anymore

get the 60V option if available...  that is the standard spec for schoeps capsules.
nice small kick-ass rig man....  great job getting it together!

[jbell]

I agree with getting the 60v option.  That is a relatively new option and wasn't available when I bought mine .  My WSP Halloween shows are on etree using PFA> psp2 if your interested

Thanks Guy! It sounds like 60V is the way to go.

I'm hoping this rig will give me more flexibility with placing the mics. Now it's just a matter of getting out and taping -- I don't have any excuses anymore

get the 60V option if available...  that is the standard spec for schoeps capsules.
nice small kick-ass rig man....  great job getting it together!

[tedyun]

That's exactly the combo I was looking for! Thanks jbell, downloading now.

I agree with getting the 60v option.  That is a relatively new option and wasn't available when I bought mine .  My WSP Halloween shows are on etree using PFA> psp2 if your interested

Thanks Guy! It sounds like 60V is the way to go.

I'm hoping this rig will give me more flexibility with placing the mics. Now it's just a matter of getting out and taping -- I don't have any excuses anymore

get the 60V option if available...  that is the standard spec for schoeps capsules.
nice small kick-ass rig man....  great job getting it together!

[morst]

Also, I taped at Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz up here. It reminds me a lot of Winston's in OB, except the ceiling is really low. To get a good tape, I probably have to setup mics on stage and matrix it to mics pointed at the PAs. So having the MK5s is ideal for a low-pro omni setup on stage.

YES mics on stage works great at Moe's if you mix with a SBD.

https://archive.org/details/MotherHips2014-05-17
https://archive.org/details/MotherHips2015-01-16

[tedyun]

Nice! Are you able to get a patch there? I asked the FOB and I even had the band's permission, but he wouldn't let me patch. He did offer to download it onto a USB stick, but I didn't have one.

I wasn't sure if he never allows patches, or if it was because he didn't know me.

Hope to see you around the Bay Area!

Also, I taped at Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz up here. It reminds me a lot of Winston's in OB, except the ceiling is really low. To get a good tape, I probably have to setup mics on stage and matrix it to mics pointed at the PAs. So having the MK5s is ideal for a low-pro omni setup on stage.

YES mics on stage works great at Moe's if you mix with a SBD.

https://archive.org/details/MotherHips2014-05-17
https://archive.org/details/MotherHips2015-01-16

[obaaron]

yeah i carry a 64gb flash in my bag now for the new digital soundboards being used in a lot of venues

[tedyun]

I'm starting to carry around a flash drive on my key chain mostly for work. It'll come in handy next time at the shows!

No problems syncing in post?

yeah i carry a 64gb flash in my bag now for the new digital soundboards being used in a lot of venues

[obaaron]

nope...just align the two sources and a slight time stretch does the trick. check out the Charlie Hunter show in Kickdown that I did last month at UCSD....onstage akg ck1's with the sbd i got via flash drive. i was even offered the multi track files if i wanted but just had an 8gb drive so went with the 2 ch stereo mix. I figure now with the 64g drive ill have more opportunities to grab the multi channel files when avail.

[tedyun]

That sounds amazing Aaron! Nice job.

I'm going to start carrying around a larger flash drive!

nope...just align the two sources and a slight time stretch does the trick. check out the Charlie Hunter show in Kickdown that I did last month at UCSD....onstage akg ck1's with the sbd i got via flash drive. i was even offered the multi track files if i wanted but just had an 8gb drive so went with the 2 ch stereo mix. I figure now with the 64g drive ill have more opportunities to grab the multi channel files when avail.

[caymanreview]

ordering my schoeps pfa's today. had a few ?'s

i see someone mentioned the stereo low noise option.

I'm getting the ta3m for chopped schoeps kc, barrell- extended mono w/ polarization

any reason not to get the mono low noise amplifier over the mono standard?

[caymanreview]

Thanks Jon! Appreciate the reply. Putting an order through on your site now