Topic: Best battery box / mini preamp?

[TheImplodingVoice]

Battery boxes is an area of amplification I know the least about.
I have Sound Professionals binaural microphones from 1999.
They are the larger, old design. I use them as spaced omnis.
Years ago, I purchased the Sound Professionals battery box with the optional low end cut settings.

Honestly, I am disappointed in the quality, and seek a battery box or mini preamp that is as clean and open as possible.
Cost is not an issue. The preamp / box only needs to properly power the microphones, and I would like to maintain the quality of these microphones into the recording device.

Please inform me on what I need to know before making a decision. I prefer a professional preamp.

Thank you!

[F.O.Bean]

I have used the church audio 9100 preamp and its a very clean record what you hear preamp. They can be found used for around $100 too

[TheImplodingVoice]

Thank you!
Are they higher quality than the DPA preamps / boxes, or just different?

I have used the church audio 9100 preamp and its a very clean record what you hear preamp. They can be found used for around $100 too

[F.O.Bean]

Just different. They take mini XLR or mini inputs and have mini outputs

[John Willett]

Battery boxes is an area of amplification I know the least about.
I have Sound Professionals binaural microphones from 1999.
They are the larger, old design. I use them as spaced omnis.
Years ago, I purchased the Sound Professionals battery box with the optional low end cut settings.

Honestly, I am disappointed in the quality, and seek a battery box or mini preamp that is as clean and open as possible.
Cost is not an issue. The preamp / box only needs to properly power the microphones, and I would like to maintain the quality of these microphones into the recording device.

Please inform me on what I need to know before making a decision. I prefer a professional preamp.

Thank you!

The AETA MIXY is an excellent little device and works for 10 hours or so on a single charge.

A friend said to me, after trying it, that the pre-amps are "Sonosax quality".

Outputs analogue and/or digital in 24/96 quality.

Alternatively for an analogue only stereo mic. pre-amp. of excellent quality, there is the Nagra EMP.
 

[bombdiggity]

I'll put in a vote for the Tinybox.  Excellent sound and value and the ultimate in configurability/adaptability.  It will run anything I own into anything I own or could buy.  It replaced the SPBB I started with for plug-in power mics.  Over 10 hours for plug-in power and around 5 hours phantom. 

[jagraham]

If you get any of the CA STC preamps and need the mini XLRs keep in mind it is a special order, the STC-9200 and 9000 come standard with 1/8" miniplug.

I've used the STC-9000 and STC-9200, both are great quality for what they are. I think they are the same in terms of signal quality but you would have to verify that with Chris. The main difference is that the STC-9200 has more gain options.

Just curious - how did you determine that the quality issue was with the preamp and not the mics or recorder?

[Church-Audio]

Battery boxes is an area of amplification I know the least about.
I have Sound Professionals binaural microphones from 1999.
They are the larger, old design. I use them as spaced omnis.
Years ago, I purchased the Sound Professionals battery box with the optional low end cut settings.

Honestly, I am disappointed in the quality, and seek a battery box or mini preamp that is as clean and open as possible.
Cost is not an issue. The preamp / box only needs to properly power the microphones, and I would like to maintain the quality of these microphones into the recording device.

Please inform me on what I need to know before making a decision. I prefer a professional preamp.

Thank you!

I doubt the problem was with the battery box. It might be an issue of gain or lack of gain because a battery box has none. Or it could be a deficiency in the mics them selves for your exact application. What is your exact application for mics and or a preamp? Because I assure you the battery box in question is certainly no better or worse than any other commercially available battery box including mine.

[bombdiggity]

Just curious - how did you determine that the quality issue was with the preamp and not the mics or recorder?

There is that... 

Binaurals are by nature omni pattern, which will rarely sound "clean" unless you are quite close to the source, though they should seem "open" anywhere. 

A pre-amp should help if you have issues with the noise floor and are not able to go line-in with the sources you record.  On the other hand really quiet sources will reveal the self noise of the mics. 

If the perceived issue/s are not about getting line levels or getting too much noise (which may also be the mics), then you may be looking at the wrong part of the chain. 

[TheImplodingVoice]

Thank you to everyone for your replies 
These microphones are excellent and clear, with the proper powering.
I'll now begin my search for the proper preamplifier.

[adrianf74]

It all depends on what you want to spend.  I've run the Church Audio 9100, Ugly, 9200, Ugly II and Naiant TinyBox.   

I've had some cellphone interference picked up on the 9100.  I've heard of others who've had that happen with a TinyBox as well.   It just depends on what your future plans are.   

[TheImplodingVoice]

Thank you for the info about cell phone interference. Cost is not the priority. I want the highest quality components that will power these little microphones. I'd like to have an option to send them out 1/4" or XLR left and right to a good portable recording deck. Left and Right outputs is desirable for a recorder with separate L and R inputs. If no such box / preamp exists, I'll split to L and R with a Y-cable.

So, the priority is quality, not size or cost.
Thank you again.

It all depends on what you want to spend.  I've run the Church Audio 9100, Ugly, 9200, Ugly II and Naiant TinyBox.   

I've had some cellphone interference picked up on the 9100.  I've heard of others who've had that happen with a TinyBox as well.   It just depends on what your future plans are.

[Gutbucket]

Batteryboxes provide mic powering only, and no gain (gain=amplification).  They are very simple devices and outside of build-quality differences and the specific voltage they send to the mics, assuming they work, there is little difference between them, either sonically or electrically.

Preamps provide both power and gain.  It is the gain stage where you may hear some minor differences between the different preamps which are most are applicable here.  A bigger difference is the form factor, inputs, controls, powering.. all the practical stuff, not the sound so much.

Which you need depends on what you record, how you record it, and your other gear.  If you tell us more about what you are recording, we can better direct you.

[TheImplodingVoice]

I will record some individual classical instruments, so I need gain / amplification.
I'll send the signal to any portable recorder I can, whether it's 1/8" stereo, 1/4" L and R, or XLR inputs. I have the SD 722 but i can also use little Sony decks.

Batteryboxes provide mic powering only, and no gain (gain=amplification).  They are very simple devices and outside of build-quality differences and the specific voltage they send to the mics, assuming they work, there is little difference between them, either sonically or electrically.

Preamps provide both power and gain.  It is the gain stage where you may hear some minor differences between the different preamps which are most are applicable here.  A bigger difference is the form factor, inputs, controls, powering.. all the practical stuff, not the sound so much.

Which you need depends on what you record, how you record it, and your other gear.  If you tell us more about what you are recording, we can better direct you.

[Gutbucket]

Apologies if you already know much of this, but those mics require low voltage powering sometimes called Plug In Power (PIP).  So you'll want a preamp that provides that, rather than (or more rarely but in a few cases in addition to) 48volt Phantom powering unless you plan to use a phantom power adapter to convert the P48V to ~9V-PIP between the preamp and mics.

The Church Audio and Niant gear is nitch gear built and sold by members on this forum and is popular around here. Like much of the SP gear it is specifically designed for small format location recording with low voltage mics and battery powering.  Either will provide clean, "transparent and color-free" gain that will work for what you are doing and will have 3.3mm TRS input jacks (or mini-XLR) if that is what your mics are terminated with.  The DPA low voltage battery boxes and preamp would work but are designed specifically for their miniature mics and have only DPA microdot connector inputs, so your SP mics won't plug straight into them.

You stated that you are happy with the SP binaurals, but since you also use and presumably like the DPA 4021s, you might seriously consider the DPA 4060 miniature omnis.  They are very small, perform excellently, have lower self-noise, higher max SPL and will make a much larger sonic difference than the preamp.  I use them to record classical ensembles frequently with either the DPA preamp or Church Audio preamps both of which perform well.  To my ear, they are the best miniature omni I know of for classical recording and a significant upgrade over the SP binaurals.  There are no where near as costly as the 4000 series mics, but they do cost significantly more than most other small omnis like the SPs.  To me the quality difference is well worth it.  They are often provided with mounting clips for mounting directly to violins and other instruments and used professionally for close mic'ing orchestra instruments.  I use them only for stereo and surround mic'ing however.