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Author Topic: SP-PREAMP and Sony D50 - Which level to adjust?  (Read 8922 times)

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Offline (Evan)

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SP-PREAMP and Sony D50 - Which level to adjust?
« on: March 01, 2009, 09:37:44 PM »
So I'm just got an SP-PREAMP for my Sony D50, and I was wondering which unit I should use for adjusting the recording level? Should I put the D50 on maximum, and adjust the level with the preamp? Or put the preamp level on maximum and adjust it with the D50?

Also, I'm going to be using the "Low" option most of the time on the preamp, but there may be times when I just use it as a battery box. So I would ask the same question for that case. Adjust level on D50 or preamp?

Thanks!

Offline jlykos

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Re: SP-PREAMP and Sony D50 - Which level to adjust?
« Reply #1 on: March 02, 2009, 12:55:05 AM »
I would put the external preamp at the minimum and run line-in to the D50.  Adjust the D50 levels accordingly.  I am not familiar with the SP preamps, but if they have individual gain controls for the left and right mics, you may want to slightly adjust the gain on the preamp so that one channel is 0 and the other is +1 or something like that to equalize the levels if they are uneven.
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Re: SP-PREAMP and Sony D50 - Which level to adjust?
« Reply #2 on: March 02, 2009, 03:19:04 AM »
Well the way the SP pre's work is that there's three gain switches. High, low, and no gain. Then there's a knob that controls the output of the preamp...I don't think the knob controls the gain at all.

Offline jlykos

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Re: SP-PREAMP and Sony D50 - Which level to adjust?
« Reply #3 on: March 02, 2009, 12:02:21 PM »
In that case, use the preamp as a battery box and run it with no gain, line-in to the D50 and adjust the levels on the D50.  That is what I do with my current rig; the PSP-2 is used more like a really nice-sounding battery box than to supply gain.  With my mics and setup, I will start the show with the level set on 4 on the D50 and then adjust upwards or downwards from there.
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Offline Church-Audio

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Re: SP-PREAMP and Sony D50 - Which level to adjust?
« Reply #4 on: March 02, 2009, 12:07:22 PM »
Well the way the SP pre's work is that there's three gain switches. High, low, and no gain. Then there's a knob that controls the output of the preamp...I don't think the knob controls the gain at all.

That preamp should be run at the middle setting for loud stuff. And the volume at max.

Chris
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Offline illconditioned

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Re: SP-PREAMP and Sony D50 - Which level to adjust?
« Reply #5 on: March 02, 2009, 12:36:15 PM »
So I'm just got an SP-PREAMP for my Sony D50, and I was wondering which unit I should use for adjusting the recording level? Should I put the D50 on maximum, and adjust the level with the preamp? Or put the preamp level on maximum and adjust it with the D50?

Also, I'm going to be using the "Low" option most of the time on the preamp, but there may be times when I just use it as a battery box. So I would ask the same question for that case. Adjust level on D50 or preamp?

Thanks!
What mics are you using?  I would never put a preamp in front of the D50.  The internal preamp is great, and "less is more", so don't add anything to the signal chain.  My best recordings are made with mics directly into the recorder (plug in power).

  Richard
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Offline Church-Audio

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Re: SP-PREAMP and Sony D50 - Which level to adjust?
« Reply #6 on: March 02, 2009, 01:04:51 PM »
So I'm just got an SP-PREAMP for my Sony D50, and I was wondering which unit I should use for adjusting the recording level? Should I put the D50 on maximum, and adjust the level with the preamp? Or put the preamp level on maximum and adjust it with the D50?

Also, I'm going to be using the "Low" option most of the time on the preamp, but there may be times when I just use it as a battery box. So I would ask the same question for that case. Adjust level on D50 or preamp?

Thanks!
What mics are you using?  I would never put a preamp in front of the D50.  The internal preamp is great, and "less is more", so don't add anything to the signal chain.  My best recordings are made with mics directly into the recorder (plug in power).

  Richard


The internal preamp is about as good as the R09HR.
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Offline (Evan)

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Re: SP-PREAMP and Sony D50 - Which level to adjust?
« Reply #7 on: March 02, 2009, 01:09:23 PM »
What mics are you using?  I would never put a preamp in front of the D50.  The internal preamp is great, and "less is more", so don't add anything to the signal chain.  My best recordings are made with mics directly into the recorder (plug in power).

  Richard


I'm using AT943's. I was under the impression that the preamp would handle higher levels better than the mic input of the D50....

Offline Church-Audio

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Re: SP-PREAMP and Sony D50 - Which level to adjust?
« Reply #8 on: March 02, 2009, 01:15:29 PM »
What mics are you using?  I would never put a preamp in front of the D50.  The internal preamp is great, and "less is more", so don't add anything to the signal chain.  My best recordings are made with mics directly into the recorder (plug in power).

  Richard


I'm using AT943's. I was under the impression that the preamp would handle higher levels better than the mic input of the D50....

That depends on the amount of gain you need. The more gain you need the less headroom you have.
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Offline (Evan)

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Re: SP-PREAMP and Sony D50 - Which level to adjust?
« Reply #9 on: March 02, 2009, 01:35:47 PM »
I was planning on using the LOW setting to record live musical theatre.

Offline Church-Audio

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Re: SP-PREAMP and Sony D50 - Which level to adjust?
« Reply #10 on: March 02, 2009, 01:36:43 PM »
I was planning on using the LOW setting to record live musical theatre.

What mics are you using?
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Re: SP-PREAMP and Sony D50 - Which level to adjust?
« Reply #11 on: March 02, 2009, 01:42:29 PM »

Offline Church-Audio

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Re: SP-PREAMP and Sony D50 - Which level to adjust?
« Reply #12 on: March 02, 2009, 01:50:45 PM »
What mics are you using?

AT943's

Ok well they are not a very sensitive mic.. You will need about 20 db from a preamp and the rest you can get from your D50. Try that.

Chris
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Re: SP-PREAMP and Sony D50 - Which level to adjust?
« Reply #13 on: March 02, 2009, 03:10:08 PM »
So set the preamp to the low (which is around 20db), then turn the output all the way up and adjust with D50?

Offline Belexes

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Re: SP-PREAMP and Sony D50 - Which level to adjust?
« Reply #14 on: March 02, 2009, 09:33:31 PM »
So I'm just got an SP-PREAMP for my Sony D50, and I was wondering which unit I should use for adjusting the recording level? Should I put the D50 on maximum, and adjust the level with the preamp? Or put the preamp level on maximum and adjust it with the D50?

Also, I'm going to be using the "Low" option most of the time on the preamp, but there may be times when I just use it as a battery box. So I would ask the same question for that case. Adjust level on D50 or preamp?

Thanks!
What mics are you using?  I would never put a preamp in front of the D50.  The internal preamp is great, and "less is more", so don't add anything to the signal chain.  My best recordings are made with mics directly into the recorder (plug in power).

  Richard


But isn't the line input have less S/N than the mic input? I am running a 9100 before the D50 and going line-in. (CA-14 mics or AT853s)
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