(i) Should I turn on the phantom before or after I connect the mics? Does it matter? (assuming the master power of the UA5 is switched off prior to connection).
I recall reading recently that phantom power specs don't require the mics to be plugged in first, but...it's probably a good idea to plug the mics in first. Then power on the UA5. Then turn on phantom.
(ii) (Regarding Output) Should I be running from the RCA outs or the Optical/Spdif/Toslink to my recorder?
If your recorder accepts a digital input, you should run digital-out, optical or coax, depending on which your recorder accepts.
(iii) (Setup) I THOUGHT that my best setup using this rig would be to go "line in" (H320 is line in only/R1 has mic/line in). Is this right?
If possible, you want to run digital-out of the UA5 to a digital-in on the recorder. I think both the H320 and R-1 take analog inputs only. In which case it's probably best to run the analog (RCA) outputs from the UA5 to the R-1s line-in input.
Note: if you plan to use this gear for a while, best to get a recorder - like an H1xx - that accepts a digital input. Running the analog outs on the UA5 to a recorder with analog inputs has the following signal path: UA5 analog-input > UA5 ADC > UA5 DAC > UA5 analog-out > H320/R1 analog-in > H320/R1 ADC > HDD. In other words, the signal from the mics is converted to digital inside the UA5, converted back to analog inside the UA5, and then re-converted to digital again inside the H320/R1. It's not the end of the world, and will work fine for now, but you'll achieve better results if you run digital-out from the UA5 to a recorder that accepts digital-inputs.
(iv) (Slightly Off Topic) I always assumed that "line in" was "digital" and "Mic in" was "analogue". After reading a few topics here, I have become unsure as to what is correct.
Mic-in is an analog input one uses when running mics straight into the preamp/ADC/recorder. Line-in is also an analog input, but requires a stronger signal to achieve good levels on the ADC/recorder. Depending on whether one's using a preamp or not, and/or the gain structure of the ADC/recorder, one may run mic- or line-in. For example, it may make sense - depending on the gear used - to run mics into line-in, instead of mic-in. In this case, you're using the UA5 as a preamp (of sorts), so you should run line-in on the R-1.
Digital signals are typically either over coax or optical cables, and the format is usually S/PDIF. The UA5 outputs both an optical and coax S/PDIF.
(v) According to the UA5 FAQ http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,14389.0.html
The UA5 draws 450mA
< snip >
Is this figure running phantom power?
Yes.
Topic: UA5 Questions (Testing Upcoming). (Read 2941 times)