Topic: Questions about rig - pretty much wrapped up

[mgleason007]

Hopefully this is the right forum for this question...

My budget is $800.  $300 of this WILL be spent on a JB3.  I want to get an optical connection into this unit.  I've heard that I can either get a UA5 or an AD-20, but that the AD-20 doesn't sound all that great.  I will be taping at bonnaroo so I want something that will be decently portable and reasonably easy on batteries.  I also need some recommendations on mics.  I don't want to have to add a batt box so I need mics that will plug into one of these boxes.  I should have about $300 left for mics if I can find whatever box I end up getting for $200 used.

To recap:
After all of the great help I've been offered, and a little more money, I'll be going with AKG 480/CK61 > UA-5 > JB3.  Any other tips/suggestions are still very much welcome of course .  Thanks all for all of the help.

[Nick Culbreth]

fwiw if you don't have a battery box you will need to add a phantom power unit if you decide to go w/ the ad-20.

[Sean Gallemore]

add some oktavas to the ua-5 > jb3 chain.  Lot of people run it and seem to like it.  You'll be able to use the rest of money for odds and ends

[kev B]

Look on ebay for the JB3. You should be able to find a 20gig refurb for $179. I got mine for $170. I don't believe that you will find a new 20gig unit for retail. I run mine with a UA-5. So far, this set up is the perfect solution for me.

[mgleason007]

add some oktavas to the ua-5 > jb3 chain.  Lot of people run it and seem to like it.  You'll be able to use the rest of money for odds and ends

What will the digi-mod for the ua5 do for me?  If I don't need it for this setup, what are the benefits of it?

[kev B]

The UA5 is designed to run with a computer via USB. The digimod makes the UA5 a stand alone unit. The mod is easy to do yourself. THere are intructions in the archieves. You will still be able to use the UA5 with a computer, just not as a playback soundcard.

[Nick Culbreth]

The UA5 is designed to run with a computer via USB. The digimod makes the UA5 a stand alone unit. The mod is easy to do yourself. THere are intructions in the archieves. You will still be able to use the UA5 with a computer, just not as a playback soundcard.

if you do decide to go w/ the ua-5 the oade digimod is worth the extra expense over doing the mod yourself because it is covered by a warranty and you have the option of upgrading the pre later.  just my .02

[mgleason007]

I am more than likely going to go with the UA-5.  If I can't find it cheaper than $250 I will probably end up getting the mod from Oade.

[Ed.]

superlux microphones $140 they come with a mediocre tbar, mediocre windscreens, nice/small shockmounts, and a case.  you can hear some examples of them here at the bottom of the 2003 section and in the 2004 section.  i recorded these at local bars and whatnot, so they're not really the highest quality.

it should be easy to find a ua-5 for under $250, if you're patient you might be able to find one in the yard sell section in the future, i've seen ones for around $200 with batteries included.

jb3s can be found on ebay for under 200.

13ft mic stand - $50

if you buy your own cables from markertek and make them yourself, you can get them for around $50.

optical cable $3.00

toslink > mini adapter $.99

and you should still have around $200 for other misc, like batteries, a bag and all the other fun stuff.

*shrug*

ed

[mgleason007]

Thanks for your post .  The JB3 will be the 40 GB model (it will probably be pulling double-duty, and I will NEVER convert a full show to mp3 for listening).  My budget has changed and "the boss" (she won the lottery, gotta love that ) has said that she will give me more money for mics, so basically my $800 budget has turned into getting everything except for mics (and I have that all covered now-thanks a lot guys ).

I'm not sure exactly what my budget is for mics, but I need a recommendation for mics in the $800 range per pair.  If I can talk her into $1600 I'll be getting AKG ck480/61's

[Ed.]

damn, lucky bum

-note to self, start playing lottery.
-note to self, don't play lottery, just sell car.

[mgleason007]

damn, lucky bum

-note to self, start playing lottery.
-note to self, don't play lottery, just sell car.

Yeah I know.  Your post was still very helpful though.  Will a 13' stand be high enough?  I seem to remember some source infos listing 15' heights on their stands.  With this setup I will probably also try taping some bigger stuff like DMB, and I'd hate to run out of stand height (although I'd probably be able to clamp onto someone else's, but still).

[Ed.]

for me 13' is about 6' more than enuf cuz i usually tape in bars and clubs.  i dunno, totally up to you, there are definitely taller stands out there.  13' is still over 2x the height of me and you could always angle the mics up a bit at the stacks.

[Nick Culbreth]

Thanks for your post .  The JB3 will be the 40 GB model (it will probably be pulling double-duty, and I will NEVER convert a full show to mp3 for listening).  My budget has changed and "the boss" (she won the lottery, gotta love that ) has said that she will give me more money for mics, so basically my $800 budget has turned into getting everything except for mics (and I have that all covered now-thanks a lot guys ).

I'm not sure exactly what my budget is for mics, but I need a recommendation for mics in the $800 range per pair.  If I can talk her into $1600 I'll be getting AKG ck480/61's

you can find brand new 481s for well under $1600 - i think i paid $1300ish last spring for mine.  if you keep your eyes open and are willing to wait awhile you might be able to find some used 481s for around $800.

[mgleason007]

you can find brand new 481s for well under $1600 - i think i paid $1300ish last spring for mine.  if you keep your eyes open and are willing to wait awhile you might be able to find some used 481s for around $800.

With caps?  The best I found new is $1380 online with ck61 caps (didn't look very hard).  How high of a stand do you run at DMB?

[Nick Culbreth]

the prices you find online are going to be higher than if you call around and ask for quotes over the phone.  when i was buying sonicsense was the cheapest, don't know if that is still the case.  but then again i bought mine when the dollar was stronger so maybe akg prices have gone up as well.

i have two stands one bogen 3076 (17 ft.) and a bogen 3373 (7 ft.).  i use the 3076 for dmb and the 3373 for just about everything else.

[nickgregory]

Even for DMB, running 17 ft is overkill in my opinoin.  I prefer to run at about 11 ft, stack side, which for alot of the amphiteatres will put you about a foot above the subs and a foot below the stacks, which are angled down a bit.  I will then angle my mics up a couple of inches, running XY or DIN (depending on where I physically am in terms of the direction the stacks are pointing out).  This results in more of a natural sound in my opinion.  Running the stand up 17 ft, hugging the stack can produce a really harsh tape.

That being said, the bogen 17 footer is a great tool simply because the bottom is completely flat when it is compacted down, and this will allow me to stick it in between the seats and tape it to the seats without extending the legs and it is secure.

[silentmark]

nmculbreth, your atavar is scaring the hell outta me ...

[Nick Culbreth]

nmculbreth, your atavar is scaring the hell outta me ...

what... tino rawks!  

[mgleason007]

Thanks all for the help... and now that I'm at 50 posts +T's around