Topic: LEMOSAX - How do you run yours?

[NOLAfishwater]

trying to get a gauge. I run it on low gain in the 11:00 position. For Panic I ran it at 1:00 and feel like I could have pushed it hotter. Also my power supply can send 16V or 19V, does it sound better at a higher voltage?

[orechall]

while I dont own a lemosax I run mine wide open on low gain using two 9v batts.  I tend to push around 38db of gain if I need a few more I add it on the 744.  keep in mind thats with the dpa's.

[dennisrtyler]

yeah with the schoeps you don't need to run it past about 2:00 for a rock show.

[bhadella]

I've ran Jimbo's lemosax with my Neumanns on low gain and would run it scorching hot into a V3.  The V3 would clip before the lemosax would clip.  Low stuff would be around 1:00 (or 22-23 dbs) while quieter stuff would be in the 5:00 (38 dbs) range. 

[timP]

i tend to run it between 1>2 on the dial.... but I have only used it at loud shows so far (Mule/DBT)

but I've wondered that same thing Louie. Really love this little box

[shaggy]

Schoeps MK4V for rock shows - low gain, 20-25dB (around 12 o'clock).
Schoeps MK4V for classical/acoustic - high gain, 35-40dB (again, around 12 o'clock).

AK50 for rock is a touch hotter, maybe 30dB for rock (1 o'clock).

Typically run it into a mod SBM at 2-4 on the dial.

[NOLAfishwater]

So I ran the Lemosax tonight at LoGain in the 2 PM location. Didn't show that it was clipping at all, however when I got home and am looking at the waves, they appear to have brickwalled. It has never happened to me. WTF. Anyone care to explain. So fucking weird. The only thing I can think of is that I had it in the middle gain setting. not Hi or Lo. Definitely user error somewhere.

Top: MK41>KC5>CMC6>ACM V3
Bottom: MK5 Card>KCY>Lemosax

[jmerin]

I run my lemo sax at Low gain 20 db.

[K.C.]

nola,
from the user manual:

GAIN SELECTOR
The gain switch has three positions. The center position ensures the 0dB gain
(unity gain). In this case, the output level is equal to the input level. This could be of
help when the SX-M2 is used as an impedance adapter, or a balanced line driver.
The "LO" gain position allows 6dB to 40dB gain, and the "HI" gain position, 20dB to
76dB.

i always ran mine on lo, set between 11 & 1 o'clock, depending on how loud or
how close i was... onstage stuff was sometimes around 9-10 o'clock...

[NOLAfishwater]

I think I must have been running it too hot, but the OVD light wasn't flashing even though it was brickwalling. Weird.

[Todd R]

What was the full chain?  MK5>Lemosax to MT? R44? V3?  That might narrow down what happened.

[NOLAfishwater]

What was the full chain?  MK5>Lemosax to MT? R44? V3?  That might narrow down what happened.

MK5 Card>KCY>Lemosax>KindKable Interconnects>R-44

I just did a test in my living room and confirmed that even though the OVD lights (which indicate clipping) were not coming on, I was still brickwalling. I must have been running it too hot at the 2:00 position. It was really loud in there. I set the levels by reducing the gain until the OVD lights were no longer flashing. Was using a 19V external battery pack to power it.

[bluntforcetrauma]

I set mine at 10 o clock  LOW gain and the edirol gain at 6-7 and still had 2 clips for Van halen.  For Govt Mule i had it set at 10 o clock Low gain and edirol around 7-8 and it ran fine no clips and thats at the beacon on NYE.

Is it best to run the sax at the highest level without clipping or just get enough juice flowing to the mics and boost in post when recording 24 bit?

[shaggy]

I think I must have been running it too hot, but the OVD light wasn't flashing even though it was brickwalling. Weird.

I find this odd too.  I have owned a SX-M2 (NakCM301/3/4, KM140 & 481/3) and a Lemosax (MK4V and AK50) and only brickwalled it once when I ran the batteries down too low!  Brickwalling will occur if the voltage drops too low.

You sure that the power supply is putting out 19V?  I know when the voltage drops to 12.5V strange shit starts to happen.  High noise floor, distortion (brickwalling), low output....

[Todd R]

Yeah, I was wondering about the batteries too.  The R44 can take a hot signal, so it shouldn't be that.

I looked up the specs on the 'sax.  No info on how hot a signal it can take on the input, but it can put out 20dbu on the output.  There shouldn't be anyway you'd be overloading the output capabilities of the lemosax using low gain at 2:00 -- I can't imagine with the SPLs at a show and using the mk5 that you'd even get to 6-8dbu on the output.

That leaves overloading the lemosax on the inputs (seems unlikely, unless this happens all the time with schoeps>lemosax combo) or starving the mics for power.  If you can try out the caps on someone else's cmc6 bodies + preamp (in a high SPL environment), you could rule out the mk5's themselves.  At that point, it seems the options are bad batteries (hopefully) or a DC-DC powering circuit gone bad in the lemosax