Taperssection.com
Gear / Technical Help => Battery Boxes, Preamps, Mixers, ADCs, and Processors => Topic started by: travelinbeat on May 19, 2009, 12:07:47 AM
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So this thread has evolved into a different question than the one I started with, but is still related enough that I think it can stay attached. I am running audio into an R-09HR (no digi / opti-in). Considering that this device accepts only analogue signal, would I be better off running Mics (BSC-1's) > PS2 > CA ST-9100 or Mics (BCS-1's) > UA-5. An issue to consider is that by pulling an analogue signal from the UA-5, it will have already undergone one A/D conversion, and then when it is plugged in to the R-09HR that same signal will undergo yet another A/D conversion. So maybe there are a couple of questions:
1- What would sound better PS2 > 9100 or UA-5
2- If UA-5, then what, if any, mod would be best
3- Does anyone know of any mod's to the UA-5 that would allow one of the analogue outputs (headphones, perhaps) to bypass the A/D conversion of the device? Who might be able to help me out with such a mod?
Thanks in advance!!!!
I want to start to start off by saying that I'm new to open-taping... I'm a long-time stealth'er.
I bought some BSC1's recently and plan on powering them with a PS2, and boosting them with a CA ST-9100 Pre. At the same time, I have been trying to offload my HiMD MZ-RH10 (listed (http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,121199.0.html) in YS). A fella (non-TS member) contacted me offering a 1:1 trade for one of his homebrew pre's. Thing is I don't know him, and don't know pre's. I don't know much about power and whether it's easy or hard to make a pre. I'm attaching a link to his pictures as well as his spec's on the device. I am just wondering what you guys think about the situation... is it worth offloading my MD in order to get the combination power plus +26dB of a pre that he swears is solid and clean? Should I run from the whole ordeal?
Any and all opinions and insights are welcome, and thanks in advance!
http://picasaweb.google.com/strungup66/MicPreamp#
Gain= 26 db fixed setting
S/N = -88 db ( very very quiet )
Power =1 x 9 Volt battery*
input = XLR balanced , converted internal Balanced to Unbalanced for better shielding and noise rejection
Output = 1/4 inch stereo connector, use Headphone adapter (Supplied)for 1/8 inch
*- (may be 2x 9V's for the mic-powering model)
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Personally I would not be interested in a pre that had only one gain setting, no matter how quiet it was. The CA ST-9100 is pretty quiet itself and has much more flexibility in gain positions.
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Personally I would not be interested in a pre that had only one gain setting, no matter how quiet it was. The CA ST-9100 is pretty quiet itself and has much more flexibility in gain positions.
What he said.
Once you sold you Hi-MD, top up maybe ~$50 and you can get yourself a UA-5 wmod:
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,117531.0.html
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Personally I would not be interested in a pre that had only one gain setting, no matter how quiet it was. The CA ST-9100 is pretty quiet itself and has much more flexibility in gain positions.
What he said.
Once you sold you Hi-MD, top up maybe ~$50 and you can get yourself a UA-5 wmod:
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,117531.0.html
What's the deal with the UA-5's? do those provide phantom? What's the max gain?
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Once you sold you Hi-MD, top up maybe ~$50 and you can get yourself a UA-5 wmod:
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,117531.0.html
What's the deal with the UA-5's? do those provide phantom? What's the max gain?
P48 and +50dB gain, all-in-one :D:
http://www.core-sound.com/ua5-duo-usbpre-comparison.html
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Hole crap +50dB?!?! :o
That's the elephant gun of audio!
I think you've won me on one of these =)
Another quick question-- as I will be running from the UA-5 into an R-09HR (which does not any any digi-in), how should I pull an output signal?
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Another quick question-- as I will be running from the UA-5 into an R-09HR (which does not any any digi-in), how should I pull an output signal?
you have 2 choices there, either the 1/4" output jacks on the back or the (2) RCA jacks on the back can be used to output to your R09HR. Either cable would have to terminate to an 1/8" jack though
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The UA-5 into the R09hr is not a pass through and would go through a series of Digital conversion. Anlaog Mics > UA-5 Digi > UA-5 Alanog Out > R09HR Digi conversion (A>D>A>D). Not the purest conversion but a few folks do it and have no complaints. The UA-5 > H120 is sweet 16 bit digi recording rig and I still have mine for festivals with multiple stages. In fact I will be using that combo this weekend for the side stage and the Strange-Creek festival in Greenfield, Ma.
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You say it is not a pass through-- what does that mean?
I understand that I would not be using the UA5 to it's fullest capabilities with the R-09HR, but considering that there's no way to use any A/D with that unit, wouldn't I better off with a UA5 than a PS2 + ST-9100? The main advantages I'm seeing are a)significantly less gear, b) significantly more gain
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normal conversion is a>d the ua5 r09hr combo does it twice because of the analog out of the ua5. Not a huge problem except to the purists. Talk with chris at Busman about a warm vs transparent mod with his mics. I would think a transparent would be good but I am not real familiar with those mics.
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You say it is not a pass through-- what does that mean?
Exactly what he described. UA-5 does A>D>A, ie. it doesn't let the analog signal pass through without conversion between input and output.
I understand that I would not be using the UA5 to it's fullest capabilities with the R-09HR, but considering that there's no way to use any A/D with that unit, wouldn't I better off with a UA5 than a PS2 + ST-9100? The main advantages I'm seeing are a)significantly less gear, b) significantly more gain
Most of us power the UA-5 with a wally world DVD battery, so the cubic footprint/weight of my entire rig is still a lot bigger than your PS2>ST-9100. For stealth, I'd probably opt for PS2>ST-9100, but if you have balls and are willing to schlep a bit heavier gear, it can be done with the UA-5 too.
The full gain isn't really needed unless you go for unamplified acoustic shows, depending on how hot your mics are.
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You say it is not a pass through-- what does that mean?
Exactly what he described. UA-5 does A>D>A, ie. it doesn't let the analog signal pass through without conversion between input and output.
I understand that I would not be using the UA5 to it's fullest capabilities with the R-09HR, but considering that there's no way to use any A/D with that unit, wouldn't I better off with a UA5 than a PS2 + ST-9100? The main advantages I'm seeing are a)significantly less gear, b) significantly more gain
Most of us power the UA-5 with a wally world DVD battery, so the cubic footprint/weight of my entire rig is still a lot bigger than your PS2>ST-9100. For stealth, I'd probably opt for PS2>ST-9100, but if you have balls and are willing to schlep a bit heavier gear, it can be done with the UA-5 too.
The full gain isn't really needed unless you go for unamplified acoustic shows, depending on how hot your mics are.
Is the doubling of an A/D process quite audible? Would I stand to increase, decrease, or break even with regard to quality by replacing PS-2 > 9100 with a UA-5?
I probably won't be using any of this for stealth. My stealth setup involves CA-14's and CAFS-OMNI's with a CA-UGLY o 9100 and the R-09HR. All of the PS2 / UA-5 business will be for my BSC-1's and any other XLR-based open mics that I may pick up a little farther down the road.
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I want to start to start off by saying that I'm new to open-taping... I'm a long-time stealth'er.
I bought some BSC1's recently and plan on powering them with a PS2, and boosting them with a CA ST-9100 Pre. At the same time, I have been trying to offload my HiMD MZ-RH10 (listed (http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,121199.0.html) in YS). A fella (non-TS member) contacted me offering a 1:1 trade for one of his homebrew pre's. Thing is I don't know him, and don't know pre's. I don't know much about power and whether it's easy or hard to make a pre. I'm attaching a link to his pictures as well as his spec's on the device. I am just wondering what you guys think about the situation... is it worth offloading my MD in order to get the combination power plus +26dB of a pre that he swears is solid and clean? Should I run from the whole ordeal?
Any and all opinions and insights are welcome, and thanks in advance!
http://picasaweb.google.com/strungup66/MicPreamp#
Gain= 26 db fixed setting
S/N = -88 db ( very very quiet )
Power =1 x 9 Volt battery*
input = XLR balanced , converted internal Balanced to Unbalanced for better shielding and noise rejection
Output = 1/4 inch stereo connector, use Headphone adapter (Supplied)for 1/8 inch
*- (may be 2x 9V's for the mic-powering model)
This preamp is a single transistor preamp with horrible signal to noise ratio he claims 88 I would suspect its much worse. It looks like a kit preamp you can buy for $8 at any electronic store. He does however seem to know how to repair a 57 LESPAUL very well :)
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Is the doubling of an A/D process quite audible? Would I stand to increase, decrease, or break even with regard to quality by replacing PS-2 > 9100 with a UA-5?
Very good question. Compared to a digimod UA5, maybe PS2>9100 would come out on top?
But if you put the combo next to a Oade or Busman mod UA5, perhaps the improved component quality would make it a winner?
I don't think any A/B listening test was ever done, using the analog out of the UA5.
If you rename the top subject and solicit opinions, I'm sure others here could say more.
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I want to start to start off by saying that I'm new to open-taping... I'm a long-time stealth'er.
I bought some BSC1's recently and plan on powering them with a PS2, and boosting them with a CA ST-9100 Pre. At the same time, I have been trying to offload my HiMD MZ-RH10 (listed (http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,121199.0.html) in YS). A fella (non-TS member) contacted me offering a 1:1 trade for one of his homebrew pre's. Thing is I don't know him, and don't know pre's. I don't know much about power and whether it's easy or hard to make a pre. I'm attaching a link to his pictures as well as his spec's on the device. I am just wondering what you guys think about the situation... is it worth offloading my MD in order to get the combination power plus +26dB of a pre that he swears is solid and clean? Should I run from the whole ordeal?
Any and all opinions and insights are welcome, and thanks in advance!
http://picasaweb.google.com/strungup66/MicPreamp#
Gain= 26 db fixed setting
S/N = -88 db ( very very quiet )
Power =1 x 9 Volt battery*
input = XLR balanced , converted internal Balanced to Unbalanced for better shielding and noise rejection
Output = 1/4 inch stereo connector, use Headphone adapter (Supplied)for 1/8 inch
*- (may be 2x 9V's for the mic-powering model)
This preamp is a single transistor preamp with horrible signal to noise ratio he claims 88 I would suspect its much worse. It looks like a kit preamp you can buy for $8 at any electronic store. He does however seem to know how to repair a 57 LESPAUL very well :)
Is this the Visivox guy? I know he was selling some cheap preamps awhile back. I think he used some kind of kit (from an electronics store?) and just chopped the boards and put them in a case.
Richard
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bumpity bump for the new OP
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A fella (non-TS member) contacted me offering a 1:1 trade for one of his homebrew pre's.
http://picasaweb.google.com/strungup66/MicPreamp#
This preamp is a single transistor preamp with horrible signal to noise ratio he claims 88 I would suspect its much worse. It looks like a kit preamp you can buy for $8 at any electronic store. He does however seem to know how to repair a 57 LESPAUL very well :)
Is this the Visivox guy?
Nope, this fella lives in Japan. I found the original post, no takers! Go figure... ;D
http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=22468&pid=143240&mode=threaded&start=#entry143240