So, I tried running a new set of SP-CMC-4U's (with the 'low sensitivity' mod) through a Visivox preamp ($75 off eBay a few years ago) & battery box at the low gain setting, going line-in on an R09HR (input level @ 40 with peaks around -3, and not a lot of bouncing), and it really didn't work so well. This was a fairly loud rock show (at the Paradise in Boston), and we were right up front, but with the low sense option I wouldn't have expected this to be too much of a problem.
The waveform looks a little odd (dc offset?), but not really brickwalled, and yet there appears to be a great deal of distortion.
Audio example:
http://anthony.tibbs.ca/vhwf.wavI have not taken a multimeter to the battery box/preamp to verify, but this was a fresh 9V battery so I "assume" it's putting out the requisite power for the mics. Admittedly this is the first time I've taped with these mics, and my only other mics are much more sensitive CA omnis from 2004 or so that experience tells me would have been way out of their league with this loud concert.
At first guess, what went wrong here? This battery box/preamp is admittedly the most suspect, being something of an "unknown", though it has worked fine in other [quieter] situations without fail. Still... I gather the R-09HR should be fine, the mics seem to get good reviews (so long as you have the low sensitivity option), so...?
Ideas?
Topic: SP-CMC-4U (AT853-like) mics > Visivox pre-amp/battery box > R09HR (Read 2654 times)