It's a tough call. I mainly tape rock bands in small clubs to mid-size venues with the occasional arena/amphitheatre. When I had a Microtrack, I ran the 4060s through a short cable that had a 1/8" jack on one end and 2x 1/4" jacks on the other so I could use the TRS inputs. The Sound Professionals will custom make a cable like this, you just have to be sure to let them know which version of the Microtrack to wire it to, because the TRS inputs are designed differently. I made sure first to shut off the phantom power on the TRS, and then shove a small piece of plastic into the gap on that switch and tape over it so that it was physically impossible to accidentally turn on the phantom power without removing the piece of tape.
The 1/8" input on the Microtrack has plug-in power that cannot be turned off, so if you run 4060s through a battery box into the 1/8" input you'll probably get a distorted recording even if the show isn't extremely loud. I couldn't even run my old CSBs directly into my Mictrotrack 1/8" input without an attenuator, and those mics are much less sensitive than 4060s. I ran mine into the 1/4" TRS inputs and in the dozen or so shows I've taped with them so far there was only one that was so loud it was overloading my recorder. It was an unexpectedly loud show though. A song and a half into that show I activated the bass roll-off filter on the MMA6000 preamp as a last resort and the rest of the recording was saved. On playback, even in the first five minutes before I activated the roll-off there is only noticeable distortion in two or three places. At other shows, occasionally I have seen the clipping indicator light up but I haven't had any audible distortion in the recordings. If you get the 4061s, you could probably use the 1/8" input on the Microtrack. Though I would also note that in my experience the TRS inputs are much sturdier, and less likely to unplug accidentally or cause a pop or click in the recording due to shoving in a rough crowd.
With the 4060s, I haven't had to use the gain on the preamp at any of the shows I've done -- which is part of why I want to get one of the smaller battery boxes to use in stealth situations instead of the MMA6000. If you get the 4061s, perhaps you would want a preamp instead of just a battery box for singer/songwriter/jazz shows though. But on the Microtrack you can always turn up the levels there, though that's probably noisier than using an external preamp.
As for running them into your Deneke PS-2, DPA makes adapters that will enable the 406x mics to be powered from standard 48v xlr power supply. Search on google for DPA DAD6001... the problem is, new ones cost about $100 and you need two. If someone has a used pair that you can get cheap go for it, but otherwise (assuming the specs of the battery boxes are similar) I would say it is a better idea to spend $230 for the dedicated DPA power supply than to spend nearly that much just for adapters so you can use it with another power supply.
So... I guess to wrap things up it just depends on which option seems right for you. If you want to be absolutely positive that you're not going to ever run into distortion problem, 4061s are the best choice, but if you want a lower noise floor for quieter recordings, less need (or no need IMO) for a preamp at the medium to loud shows, but more risk of the occasional moment of distortion in very loud conditions, then 4060s are the way to go (especially if you might consider getting a more high-end recorder or an ADC to use the Microtrack as a bit bucket somewhere down the road).
Topic: csc into mt 2? (Read 3395 times)