^ Thank you gentlemen. I read all of your posts above. I will keep coming back to this thread for my reference.
Is something like this possible? An MK41 matched pair with XLR outputs straight into a Roland R-26? Utilising the phantom power provided by the R-26? How would that sound for a high grade stealth rig?
Is that possible? I think I would like to end up going with a simple 3 piece set up. A pair of stealthy matched XLR's straight into an R-26. But with MK41's. I realise it's expensive but it seems like it would deliver pretty high grade audio (if the taping situation is good of course).
Schoeps and other capsule mics are a two-piece system. The capsules themselves do not have XLR connections. The capsules do connect to amplifier bodies (specifically the Schoeps CMC 6 Ug) that have an XLR end that a phantom power supplying deck could run. In that configuration you have "pencil mics" that are fairly small (maybe 6" long) but not the same profile as capsules on the end of a cable.
As noted just above if you are willing to drop the interchangability of the capsules Schoeps' CCM series miniturizes the amplifier and attaches it to the capsule followed by essentially a built in cable that will run to a recorder supplying phantom power. So their CCM41 or CCM4 would essentially plug (with the proper specialized cables) directly into a recorder supplying phantom power with all the rest taken care of.
All the other systems are different ways of replacing the amplifier bodies with an alternative lower profile setup. Many ways are suggested here but essentially the tinybox or Nbox or something else at the other end of an active cable replaces the bodies.
To be precise the conventional setup (for me) is:
Schoeps MK4V capsules mounted on CMC6Ug bodies > standard XLR cables > Oade Concert Modded Edirol R-44 (which supplies phantom power) with an external DVD battery attached since the R-44 doesn't run too long on the 4 AA's inside it.
This is decidedly not low profile though I have run this 007.
My lower profile option is:
Schoeps MK4V capsules mounted on CMC6Ug bodies > standard XLR cables > Tinybox > mini adapter cable > Sony PCM M-10
There are a number of ways this section of it:
Schoeps MK4V capsule mounted on CMC6Ug bodies > standard XLR cables
could be switched to something involving only the capsules attached to active cables terminating to this:
Tinybox > mini adapter cable > Sony PCM M-10 (or the Tinybox could be switched to an Nbox, etc.)
Theoretically where you're lowering your profile is getting the capsules directly on cables.
My low pro setup is:
SP-CMC-25's > Tinybox > mini adapter cable > Sony PCM M-10
I don't need to 007 enough for it to have been worth it to me to invest in all the active components...
One thought to consider is the 41 capsules vs. the 4 capsules. They definitely sound different. The 41's a tighter pattern/less ambient/open. If you run at the back of large halls they may be the better choice. If you run close in small rooms to my ear they're not. There may also be the further consideration of the V vs. non-V options in either series. As mentioned I run 4V's. I'm not sure if the V's may be a little more challenging to mount in a 007 situation (opinions/methods vary). The typical 007 mount does not actually orient the mics properly which doesn't seem to matter much, though I'm sure one could hear the difference in a true direct comparison to V's mounted vertically. However in 007 you are generally compromising your positioning/mounting to some degree almost regardless.
If you're seriously considering Schoeps spend some time here:
http://www.schoeps.de/en/products learning more about their options straight from the source. They offer their own products to accomplish the same things but those have tended to be more costly than the third party versions (Nboxes and Tinyboxes and alternative cable makers). With the exchange rate these days the marginal cost difference may not be much. Sometimes used of any/all of this turns up in the YS as well.
The other question not addressed here is what sort of battery life the R-26 has when phantom powering mics? I have no idea. You might end up in a situation where you need an external battery (which is another brick). An advantage to a pre-amp is that the low profile options have a battery of their own inside which lowers the drain on the battery in the deck.