Topic: AKG 480 ?

[Cobiwan]

I've got some new/used mics and ran KDTU last night. I had to put -10 pad on bc the mini me was overloading at lowest setting. The markings next to the switches on the body of the 480s are somewhat worn off. What should they be set at? Thanks for your input.

[willndmb]

With the cap up, the switch is db on the left and he on he right
The db I personally keep at 0 (middle) but if you needed to go down to -10 then you have to
The other I have used "line" and 70 (middle) I never noticed a difference and think I actually have had it on 70 for a long time now.
150 is the bottom

[hi and lo]

Left switch is dB. +6 (top) , 0, -10 (bottom)
Right switch is LC. 0 (top), 70, 150 (bottom)

I haven't run my 480s too many times, but they seem to be pretty sensitive.

Do you know what gain structure your mini-me is set to? You may want to switch the microphone gain jumpers from their standard position to the low-gain setting. If you've already done this, then yes, you should probably use the -10dB  pad on the mics to avoid overloading.

[Cobiwan]

Looks like jumpers are set all the way to front of unit. I should place them towards the back of unit yes?

[hi and lo]

I believe so. The manual states it as:

Each jumper connects the frontmost and center pin for high gain (factory default) or the center
and rearmost pin for reduced gain.

[Cobiwan]

Thanks, wouldn't have thought to look there. I set them to the back side. Should be set to go now!

[DSatz]

The pad switch on a condenser microphone is there to protect the microphone's own electronics from overloading. In an emergency you can also use it if your preamp is overloading, but it's a bad long-term solution for that problem. Nearly always, the inherent noise level of the microphone is the same regardless of the switch setting--so if you engage the pad, the signal decreases by 10 dB but the noise level remains the same. So the noise increases 10 dB relative to the signal.

A much better solution (as long as the microphone isn't near its overload point due to high sound pressure levels, wind noise or inadequate powering) is to use resistive pads at the inputs of the preamp. Some preamps have a "low sensitivity" switch for this purpose, or internal jumpers. If not, then various brands of in-line resistive pads are available (they're not very expensive), which should be placed right at the inputs of the preamp, and the mike cables should then be plugged into them. They don't interfere with phantom powering, and they reduce the microphones' inherent noise to the same degree as they reduce the signals, thus preserving the signal-to-noise ratio of the recording.

--best regards