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Author Topic: Audient Mico?  (Read 10698 times)

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Offline carlbeck

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Audient Mico?
« on: February 04, 2014, 09:34:16 AM »
I'm surprised there hasn't been much talk about the audient Mico? Seems like it might be a good fit for what we do. Two clean channels, battery powered & an onboard ADC.
http://audient.com/products/mico-dual-microphone-preamplifier-reviews
I know you like, tape for people's approval and stuff, and wave your tapes around like they're your dick...  but even you can't actually think section tapes from philips sound good.  



Mics: Telefunken Elam 260, 61, 62, MBHO KA200, KA500 > Niant PFA's, AKG C34L-MS
Preamps: Grace Lunatec V2, Shure FP24
Decks: Tascam DR-2d, Zoom F8

Old rig: Recording: AKG C34 & AKG CK1X or CK2X > MK46 > 460 > Aeta Mix2000 > Sound Devices 702

Playback: Thorens TD125, Denon DVD-2900> Bel Canto DAC-1 > Audible Illusions 3B > Rogue Atlas >ZU Wax Shotgun> Hyperion 938
ALL TUBES BABY!!!

Offline carlbeck

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Re: Audient Mico?
« Reply #1 on: February 04, 2014, 05:38:35 PM »
Interesting, while it's certainly large & heavy it isn't unreasonable for us tapers who tape in the open. I had a Portico with a similar profile & it was manageable with the right bag. I also assumed the current draw might be a concern & found it interesting that it wasn't listed either. Overall it looks like a nice box but without any clue how it sounds I wouldn't be putting my hard earned money down.
I know you like, tape for people's approval and stuff, and wave your tapes around like they're your dick...  but even you can't actually think section tapes from philips sound good.  



Mics: Telefunken Elam 260, 61, 62, MBHO KA200, KA500 > Niant PFA's, AKG C34L-MS
Preamps: Grace Lunatec V2, Shure FP24
Decks: Tascam DR-2d, Zoom F8

Old rig: Recording: AKG C34 & AKG CK1X or CK2X > MK46 > 460 > Aeta Mix2000 > Sound Devices 702

Playback: Thorens TD125, Denon DVD-2900> Bel Canto DAC-1 > Audible Illusions 3B > Rogue Atlas >ZU Wax Shotgun> Hyperion 938
ALL TUBES BABY!!!

Offline Massive Dynamic

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Re: Audient Mico?
« Reply #2 on: February 04, 2014, 06:08:26 PM »
Naiant X-X > SP-SPSB-1 > M10
Superlux S502 > Denecke PS-2 > Hosa MIT-435 > M10

Offline carlbeck

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Re: Audient Mico?
« Reply #3 on: February 05, 2014, 07:15:09 AM »
Good reading in those links, I wonder if the latest firmware for the DR680 changes the digital input problem?
I know you like, tape for people's approval and stuff, and wave your tapes around like they're your dick...  but even you can't actually think section tapes from philips sound good.  



Mics: Telefunken Elam 260, 61, 62, MBHO KA200, KA500 > Niant PFA's, AKG C34L-MS
Preamps: Grace Lunatec V2, Shure FP24
Decks: Tascam DR-2d, Zoom F8

Old rig: Recording: AKG C34 & AKG CK1X or CK2X > MK46 > 460 > Aeta Mix2000 > Sound Devices 702

Playback: Thorens TD125, Denon DVD-2900> Bel Canto DAC-1 > Audible Illusions 3B > Rogue Atlas >ZU Wax Shotgun> Hyperion 938
ALL TUBES BABY!!!

Offline audBall

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Re: Audient Mico?
« Reply #4 on: February 05, 2014, 04:18:07 PM »
See MD's first link. The unit is actually not as large as described above.
mg m20.21.23 ■ akg ck61.62.63 »  nbob■naiant »  aercomp2 ■ v2-3 ■ sx-m2d2
dpa 4061 » mma-a.6000
d100 ■ r44ocm ■ f3

kirk97132

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Re: Audient Mico?
« Reply #5 on: February 06, 2014, 01:35:53 PM »
Good reading in those links, I wonder if the latest firmware for the DR680 changes the digital input problem?
Cannot be fixed by firmware...units are incompatible due to Tascam's decision of how to read incoming data stream

Offline dogmusic

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Re: Audient Mico?
« Reply #6 on: February 07, 2014, 09:17:46 AM »
I bought the Audient Mico in 2010 to use digital-in to my Sony D50, and I turned out to be the first user to alert Audient that the two units didn't work together digitally. They told me that they hadn't known there was a problem and could do nothing for me.

So, I ended up using it line-in to my D50, and I think it sounds good: smooth and clean and quiet.

The size of the Mico didn't matter to me because it was for a permanent installation recording my acoustic piano at home.

My mics are Beyer MC930's which are a little dark, but the piano is a little bright, so it works.

Not sure if this will help you or not, but I did a comparison of the D50 vs. M10 line-in awhile back using the Mico. It's just a snippet of acoustic piano so it's probably not what you'd be using the Mico for.

The recording chain was Beyer MC930's > Audient Mico line-out split > Sony D50 & M10.

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=148596.0
"The ear is much more than a mere appendage on the side of the head." - Catherine Parker Anthony, Structure and Function of the Human Body (1972)

"That's metaphysically absurd, man! How can I know what you hear?" - Firesign Theatre

kirk97132

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Re: Audient Mico?
« Reply #7 on: February 08, 2014, 02:27:56 AM »
I bought the Audient Mico in 2010 to use digital-in to my Sony D50, and I turned out to be the first user to alert Audient that the two units didn't work together digitally. They told me that they hadn't known there was a problem and could do nothing for me.

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=148596.0
And I also believe that another Tascam portable unit with SPDIF in has this same issue.  It is not really a "fault of the Mico.  Rather the Mico is putting out a true Pro SPDIF signal and the recorders cannot read that signal correctly.  Without double checking my facts I think it has to do with the fact that they are reading the headers not the actual incoming data stream.  As far as I know only Sound Devices made a change to one of their preamps to correct the conflict once they became aware of the situation.

Offline dogmusic

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Re: Audient Mico?
« Reply #8 on: February 08, 2014, 08:39:46 AM »
And I also believe that another Tascam portable unit with SPDIF in has this same issue.  It is not really a "fault of the Mico.  Rather the Mico is putting out a true Pro SPDIF signal and the recorders cannot read that signal correctly.  Without double checking my facts I think it has to do with the fact that they are reading the headers not the actual incoming data stream. 


Yes, I think that's true about the headers. The TASCAM DR100MKii has the same issue, and I think also the TASCAM DR680, but I'm not sure. If so, it's surprising that the 680 would not read a true Pro SPDIF signal.

I'm not sure if this is a "fault" of the Mico, but I haven't heard that the Sony D50 has a problem with reading incoming digital data from any other unit.


As far as I know only Sound Devices made a change to one of their preamps to correct the conflict once they became aware of the situation.


Sound Devices modified their USBPre2, and I think Grace made a correction to the Lunatec V3.
"The ear is much more than a mere appendage on the side of the head." - Catherine Parker Anthony, Structure and Function of the Human Body (1972)

"That's metaphysically absurd, man! How can I know what you hear?" - Firesign Theatre

kirk97132

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Re: Audient Mico?
« Reply #9 on: February 08, 2014, 11:34:39 AM »
There's not a "pro" SPDIF standard, there is SPDIF and there is AES; they differ in headers while the format is otherwise the same.  Another potential issue with SPDIF is it can be encoded as copy-protected or not, which a receiving device could decide to obey or ignore.  The receiving device can also decide whether or not to accept one or the other; they haven't violated any standard if they choose to have a SPDIF input that is programmed to reject AES and copy-protected SPDIF.  On the other hand, they could also choose to accept any of those.

The Mico has AES XLR as well as coax and optical SPDIF.  Technically, the AES and SPDIF outs should have different headers, but that would be somewhat of a pain to implement.  It is much simpler to have one choice for the headers and then just use three different buffers for the three outputs.  If they implemented the latter solution, that could be the source of compatibility problems--it's not correct to label a low-level coax or optical AES-format output as SPDIF.
I have the exchange from Sound Devices somewhere as to what the DR-680 was doing regarding reading the data stream.  I was drafted as a beta tester for the 680 mostly because I happened to be the first one to contact them with the issue. If you guys really want Sound Devices exchange with me regarding this problem I will dig it up.  Jon, I see that I used the word "Pro" inaccurately and without finding the exact info and reviewing it, all I am sure of is that the issue(in my case for a DR-680) was about reading headers.  I don't know exactly what I did with that info so unless y'all ask for it, I'm just gonna leave it as the Mico is a great sounding preamp, you cannot use the SPDIF with a DR-680(and some others too).  I am not sure if the AES signal is compatible with the 680 since it does accept SPDIF & AES.  This issue is something that neither manufacturer is ready to solve currently. 

stevetoney

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Re: Audient Mico?
« Reply #10 on: February 08, 2014, 01:03:21 PM »
I think you guys may not be quite nailing the issue.  There was an issue discussed back a couple of years ago with the Sony D50.  The issue is with the version of the SPDIF standard that Sony implemented with the D50.  I'll never be able to explain it properly.  There are threads from maybe about 2 years ago where ToddR has explained it in great detail.  It has to do with how Sony tweeked the 24bit SPDIF standard some years after it was initially implemented...and how the 's /p' in spdif is sony phillips and they were the guys that were developing the standard.  They put out the D50 years after other manufacturers had released other 24bit SPDIF gear with the different (earlier) SPDIF version.  But since Sony chose to use the updated standard on the D50, that meant the D50 didn't have backwards compatibility for SPDIF synching with gear that had used the previous standard.  So, for example, the Mytek ADC192, AD2K, mini-me, and V3 all would not synch with the D50 because the SPDIFs weren't the same.  To their credit, once this was discovered, Grace Designs started offering a free chip upgrade for the V3 that addresses this issue, but apparently it's not a real big deal because Sony seems to have been the only recorder manufacturer that used this later standard on one of their products.  (Please don't hold me to everything I've said above...I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but this is the basic story.)

So, the above issue is unique to the D50 and Sony's insistence of using the newer standard on their own digital recorder.  No word yet if they did the same thing on the D100, but if they listened to their consumers, they'd have moved back to using the same standard everyone else has used so that the D100 will work with the older ADC's.

It sounds to me like the issue with the Audient Mico is the same...or stating it more concisely the Audient Mico doesn't have an issue...it's just that it doesn't synch with the D50 because of the D50's SPDIF.
« Last Edit: February 08, 2014, 01:34:46 PM by tonedeaf »

kirk97132

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Re: Audient Mico?
« Reply #11 on: February 08, 2014, 10:45:46 PM »
SO here ia what I have found so far:

FROM SOUND DEVICES:
Some devices determine sample rate by actually measuring the rate of incoming samples (7-Series, USBPre, etc) and other devices determine sample rate by reading embedded data in the S/PDIF stream (DR-680, PCM-D50, etc). The USBPre 2 wasn't sending out this embedded data. I just got done testing a beta version of firmware for the USBPre 2 that behaves properly with the PCM-D50 (i.e. the PCM-D50 in record-pause will show the proper sample rate and bit depth of signal being fed from the USBPre 2).

FRON TASCAM TECH SUPPORT:
the Tascam is looking for codec in the header information that is no there.  It was something to do with the "c" bits and sample rate information that the header supplies.

Offline axomxa

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Re: Audient Mico?
« Reply #12 on: February 22, 2014, 11:31:34 AM »
I have been in the market for a second option to the V3 and was starting to look at the Mico.  Ironically my only two recorders presently are the D50 and 680 so unless I want to run line in I should probably consider SD usbpre (or other separates maybe including the AD2K).  Anyway footprint is less important and from what I am reading the Mico is not the most convenient in the footprint dept but the sound quality is worth it.  Decisions, decisions to make before festi season  8)     
Mics: MBHO 603 (KA200N, matched pair) / AKG C460B (ck63, a60/ck1, NBob/PFA actives) / Senn MS14P (MKE 4012 supercards & 4010 cards) / AKG SE300B (ck91 & ck92)
Mic Cables: 15' 3 channel GAKable / 15' custom Star Quad / 12' Mogami
Pres/ADC:  Grace V3 / Denecke PS2 > Denecke AD20
Recorders: Tascam DR-680 (Busman mod) / Tascam D70 / Sony PCM-D50

Photography rig:
Canon 60D, EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

LMA tapes:   https://archive.org/search.php?query=crupi%20AND%20collection%3Aetree&sort=-publicdate
Etree tapes:  http://bt.etree.org/?searchsss=axomxa&cat=0

Offline carlbeck

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Re: Audient Mico?
« Reply #13 on: February 23, 2014, 12:28:14 PM »
Get it! Then we can see it in Team NE  ;D
I know you like, tape for people's approval and stuff, and wave your tapes around like they're your dick...  but even you can't actually think section tapes from philips sound good.  



Mics: Telefunken Elam 260, 61, 62, MBHO KA200, KA500 > Niant PFA's, AKG C34L-MS
Preamps: Grace Lunatec V2, Shure FP24
Decks: Tascam DR-2d, Zoom F8

Old rig: Recording: AKG C34 & AKG CK1X or CK2X > MK46 > 460 > Aeta Mix2000 > Sound Devices 702

Playback: Thorens TD125, Denon DVD-2900> Bel Canto DAC-1 > Audible Illusions 3B > Rogue Atlas >ZU Wax Shotgun> Hyperion 938
ALL TUBES BABY!!!

Offline Hypnocracy

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Re: Audient Mico?
« Reply #14 on: February 23, 2014, 10:18:56 PM »
I keep thinking I'll hear of someone using the Focusrite Standalone Pre-A/D boxes...they are powered by 12v DC...they can be had for less than a modified UA5 in the yard and I bet with 8 years of development they sound at least as good...

http://us.focusrite.com/firewire-audio-interfaces/saffire-pro-24/specifications


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kirk97132

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Re: Audient Mico?
« Reply #15 on: February 24, 2014, 03:11:56 PM »
I keep thinking I'll hear of someone using the Focusrite Standalone Pre-A/D boxes...they are powered by 12v DC...they can be had for less than a modified UA5 in the yard and I bet with 8 years of development they sound at least as good...

http://us.focusrite.com/firewire-audio-interfaces/saffire-pro-24/specifications



Don't the focusrite units require you to set them up via a computer first?  Thought they work something like that.  Which means you could not do any changes in the field.  IE: change from 24 to 16 bit

Offline jeenash

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Re: Audient Mico?
« Reply #16 on: June 16, 2015, 03:57:46 PM »
I just picked one of these up already knowing it wasn't able to pass a digi signal to a DR100MKII. It was a good deal so I gave it a try. I decided to test it out digi-in anyway. It would not pass a signal set at 96 or 48k but it does indeed pass a SPDIF signal at 44.1. Kind of weird but it worked. Any of you techies have an explanation?

Offline JimmieC

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Re: Audient Mico?
« Reply #17 on: June 17, 2015, 09:38:23 AM »
Yes you have to manually set the source bit and sample rate on the receiving Tascam MKII.
OH Grown
Mic:AKG C460B(CK61)/HM1000(CK32/CK47), Naiant Couplings/PFA, ADK-TL; Preamp:Lunatec V2, Naiant Littlebox v1.5; Rec:Tascam DA-P1/DR-100mkii/DR-680; Cable:GAKcables; Bar:Shure A27M, Robb Bar 23-cm, it-goes-to-eleven DINa Active Bar, GAK 3' Bar; Mount:Shure A53M, Audix MC-MICRO; Clamp:AKG K&M 237, Photek Grip Clamp w/Manfrotto 042; Stand: Manfrotto Alu Master 3 Riser 12' AC Stand/122B, Lowel Full Pole; Battery:18000mah Universal Lithium Battery; Playback:laptop>Schiit Modi>Yamaha HTR5890>Klipsch Synergy F2. My recordings on LMA

 

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