Topic: Phantom powered mics>cables>?>Microtrack II

[manitouman]

Just throwing this out there. I'm looking for something really small, not for stealthing but just to serve as an additional rig in the bag.

The Denecke PS2? It has to power the mics and send a digital signal via S/PDIF to the MTII. Is there anything available for that? I could use the TRS inputs on the MTII if I had to but would prefer a digital signal. My TRS cable is too bulky compared to a nice and neat S/PDIF coax cable.

Thanks!

[Sunday Driver]

The Denecke PS-2 does not output a digital signal. It only supplies phantom power. It was meant to be used with an AD-20, which outputs a 20 bit signal.

[manitouman]

The Denecke PS-2 does not output a digital signal. It only supplies phantom power. It was meant to be used with an AD-20, which outputs a 20 bit signal.

That's the other variable I forgot to mention....capable of 24 bit. Thanks for the info! Looks like I'll need something like a Grace V3 or UA-5, huh?

[Brian Skalinder]

The UA5 is fairly small, as far as combo pre/ADCs go.  And the T+ mod sounds mighty fine!  (And there's one in the YS now at a stunningly low price.)

[sunjan]

That's the other variable I forgot to mention....capable of 24 bit. Thanks for the info! Looks like I'll need something like a Grace V3 or UA-5, huh?

Well, there are smaller options out there.
You could pair up the PS2 with this:
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,117977.0.html

Not "taper tested" yet, but you could be brave and take the leap for 50 bucks!
It would be nice to get a report if you go ahead with it... 

[Chuck]

If you are serious about this, get the T+ mod UA-5 in the YS. It is ridiculously cheap and sounds very good. It's the best bang for the buck out there, right now. If I had the $$ I'd buy it.

[manitouman]

If you are serious about this, get the T+ mod UA-5 in the YS. It is ridiculously cheap and sounds very good. It's the best bang for the buck out there, right now. If I had the $$ I'd buy it.

I've had a UA-5 before and yes they are good boxes. I had the W+Mod in my early days. This is a great price but I wonder how much it would cost me to get the coax fixed. That's the only thing that keeps me from inquiring about it.

On another note, it would be more weight to add to the bag. I was trying to find something much smaller. I wonder if that TS(something something) could do the trick. That pre someone was building from scratch in another thread.

[Brian Skalinder]

This is a great price but I wonder how much it would cost me to get the coax fixed. That's the only thing that keeps me from inquiring about it.

Ahhhh...didn't realize it had a bad coax.  It's probably just a bad solder joint on the RCA connector, but...you probably wouldn't know for sure until you got it in-hand.

[sunjan]

On another note, it would be more weight to add to the bag. I was trying to find something much smaller. I wonder if that TS(something something) could do the trick. That pre someone was building from scratch in another thread.

The Fivefish project seems to be on hold indefinitely, due to the financial crisis and other concerns.

I have to highlight the tiny form factor of the DCT-4 that I mentioned above:
Dimensions:     57 (W), x 45.5 (D), x 23.5 (H)mm
Weight: 30 gram
Just over the size of a matchbox!

If you went ahead and tested this in a taper setting, you'd be doing a great service to the taper  community, and if the results are OK, your back will thank you when you carry it around to future gigs. 

[manitouman]

On another note, it would be more weight to add to the bag. I was trying to find something much smaller. I wonder if that TS(something something) could do the trick. That pre someone was building from scratch in another thread.

The Fivefish project seems to be on hold indefinitely, due to the financial crisis and other concerns.

I have to highlight the tiny form factor of the DCT-4 that I mentioned above:
Dimensions:     57 (W), x 45.5 (D), x 23.5 (H)mm
Weight: 30 gram
Just over the size of a matchbox!

If you went ahead and tested this in a taper setting, you'd be doing a great service to the taper  community, and if the results are OK, your back will thank you when you carry it around to future gigs. 

So I would need this in addition to the phantom power, such as that Denecke deal, huh? I wouldn't mind trying it out just to see how it does. But we'll see how the funds are looking.

Thanks for the suggestion!

[sunjan]

So I would need this in addition to the phantom power, such as that Denecke deal, huh?

Exactly. The obvious difference between DCT-4 and other ADCs here (like the AD20) is that DCT-4 doesn't add any gain.
So you either need a fairly hot signal from the mics, or figure out where you should apply the gain stage elsewhere.

I never worked with an MT, so I'm not sure how hot the signal must be going digi-in. Maybe it won't be a huge issue?!

[DSatz]

Just in reference to the Denecke AD-20, if it really has full 20-bit performance then it is about as good as you're going to get in this class of equipment, even if 24-bit is your preferred recording medium. 24-bit PCM is a terrific, super-wide-dynamic-range data format but no A/D converters IN THE WORLD are capable of 24-bit performance and the noise and level settings prior to the recorder are rarely optimal in live recording, so a considerable amount of the medium's potential always goes unused. The very best, multi-multi-thousand-dollar rack-mount studio units are only ca. 21 bits under optimal conditions, which is to say, in a laboratory setting where the incoming analog signals are as nearly noise-free and as predictable and controllable as it is possible to make them. In other words, even that 21-bit level of performance depends on everything which you and I don't have at our live recordings.

Main thing is, once you get even two bits beyond 16, you have enough dynamic range "cushion" to make a good 16-bit transfer every time, even if your levels were set conservatively at the concert; or you can push the recording levels up to nearly 0 and get a recording that is so quiet, its noise floor is well below the noise floor of your listening environment at all frequencies; or you can split the difference to your heart's content.

But believe me, if all venue/microphone/preamp/converter combinations had the dynamic range equivalent of 20 bits, things would be remarkably better than they generally are today. 20 bits is nothing to sneeze at, and the "24-bit" equipment at commodity prices is often not much better than honest 16-bit equipment in its real-world dynamic range performance, especially given the quality of analog signals which are the best we can feed in under the given conditions, and the limitations of a (frankly) cheap recorder's analog circuitry.

At some point, when one part of your setup is already 100 times better than the rest of your setup, you have to admit that raising that figure to 400 or 800 isn't going to help things any--that if you want to make significant improvement, you need to improve the thing which is the weakest link in the chain, not the strongest.

--best regards