Topic: Church Audio UBB Issue

[aaronji]

I have to say, this thread kind of infuriates me, although that is informed by my own interactions with Mr. Church. How hard is it, when you are selling things to people, to take an extra two minutes to plug it into a test set and make sure it works? He is a real piece of work. At this point, I am a little hesitant to buy bespoke gear, because, when they get out of the game, it can be difficult to repair or replace. I have an Aerco; I love it, and Jerry made it for me, but, since his passing, I worry about its long term health. Same with, for example, Guy. I think if I went Schoeps, I would buy nBoxes, and I love Ted's cables, but otherwise I much prefer to buy from a manufacturer that might still be around 5 or 10 years from now.

[nulldogmas]

I have to say, this thread kind of infuriates me, although that is informed by my own interactions with Mr. Church. How hard is it, when you are selling things to people, to take an extra two minutes to plug it into a test set and make sure it works? He is a real piece of work. At this point, I am a little hesitant to buy bespoke gear, because, when they get out of the game, it can be difficult to repair or replace. I have an Aerco; I love it, and Jerry made it for me, but, since his passing, I worry about its long term health. Same with, for example, Guy. I think if I went Schoeps, I would buy nBoxes, and I love Ted's cables, but otherwise I much prefer to buy from a manufacturer that might still be around 5 or 10 years from now.

Is there a good alternative to Chris for a minimal battery box in the UBB style? If not, joeldotc may have a side hustle ahead of him...

[jefflester]

I have to say, this thread kind of infuriates me, although that is informed by my own interactions with Mr. Church. How hard is it, when you are selling things to people, to take an extra two minutes to plug it into a test set and make sure it works? He is a real piece of work. At this point, I am a little hesitant to buy bespoke gear, because, when they get out of the game, it can be difficult to repair or replace. I have an Aerco; I love it, and Jerry made it for me, but, since his passing, I worry about its long term health. Same with, for example, Guy. I think if I went Schoeps, I would buy nBoxes, and I love Ted's cables, but otherwise I much prefer to buy from a manufacturer that might still be around 5 or 10 years from now.

Is there a good alternative to Chris for a minimal battery box in the UBB style? If not, joeldotc may have a side hustle ahead of him...

https://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=195797.0

[nulldogmas]

Is there a good alternative to Chris for a minimal battery box in the UBB style? If not, joeldotc may have a side hustle ahead of him...

https://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=195797.0

Thanks — I meant someone building and selling them to people with minimal soldering iron skills, though.

[jefflester]

Is there a good alternative to Chris for a minimal battery box in the UBB style? If not, joeldotc may have a side hustle ahead of him...

https://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=195797.0

Thanks — I meant someone building and selling them to people with minimal soldering iron skills, though.

Yeah, giving him the recipe to go into business....

[nulldogmas]

Yeah, giving him the recipe to go into business....

I endorse that plan! I'll place a preorder, even.

[joeldotc]

Finally got the chance to check the UBB with a multimeter. It must just be really messed up on the inside. When I connect the battery straight to it, no power goes to the mic input jack, but there is 9 V going to the output cable.

When I do the reverse polarizing thing, 2.8 V gets to the mic input jack, but it's flowing backwards, and then the 9 V stays flowing to the output cable, but is also flowing backwards. So it's not just "wired backwards", there must be a resistor in the wrong spot or something.

This could explain why the recording looked like it was getting low power from the batteries (which I also tested, and they are fully charged + there were no issues with my jury rigging, it got full flow through it). By the way, the recording got salvaged by doing a phase rotation in my DAW - it sounds pretty good now. Gonna get a friend who is way better at mastering to do a proper phase rotation/repair in Izotope RX.

Weird stuff!

Anyways, this is going back off to Chris ASAP.

[nulldogmas]

Oy! Good luck with the repair - and good to know about the phase rotation trick, I have some dying-battery recordings I may try it on.

[capnhook]

Anyways, this is going back off to Chris ASAP.

Sorry for your loss

[DavidPuddy]

Finally got the chance to check the UBB with a multimeter. It must just be really messed up on the inside. When I connect the battery straight to it, no power goes to the mic input jack, but there is 9 V going to the output cable.

When I do the reverse polarizing thing, 2.8 V gets to the mic input jack, but it's flowing backwards, and then the 9 V stays flowing to the output cable, but is also flowing backwards. So it's not just "wired backwards", there must be a resistor in the wrong spot or something.

This could explain why the recording looked like it was getting low power from the batteries (which I also tested, and they are fully charged + there were no issues with my jury rigging, it got full flow through it). By the way, the recording got salvaged by doing a phase rotation in my DAW - it sounds pretty good now. Gonna get a friend who is way better at mastering to do a proper phase rotation/repair in Izotope RX.

Weird stuff!

Anyways, this is going back off to Chris ASAP.

Sounds like he wired the DC blocking capacitor in backwards, among other issues. 🤡

OP I have a homemade battery box I can loan (or sell) you while Chris takes his time doing what he does. PM me if interested.

[joeldotc]

Sounds like he wired the DC blocking capacitor in backwards, among other issues. 🤡

OP I have a homemade battery box I can loan (or sell) you while Chris takes his time doing what he does. PM me if interested.

I actually just got all the parts in to build my own! Thank you for the offer though

I’ve been trying to replicate the issue using a breadboard but I can’t figure it out - oh well. Gonna fire up the soldering station sometime this week.

[daspyknows]

Anyways, this is going back off to Chris ASAP.

Good luck.

Its time for a poll.  When do we think you get a replacement/repair?

A.  By June 2024
B.  Sometime in 2024
C.  2025
D.  2026
E.  2027 or later?

I would pick D

[DavidPuddy]

Anyways, this is going back off to Chris ASAP.

Good luck.

Its time for a poll.  When do we think you get a replacement/repair?

A.  By June 2024
B.  Sometime in 2024
C.  2025
D.  2026
E.  2027 or later?

I would pick D

You forgot to list

F: After vacation

[beatkilla]

Anyways, this is going back off to Chris ASAP.

Good luck.

Its time for a poll.  When do we think you get a replacement/repair?

A.  By June 2024
B.  Sometime in 2024
C.  2025
D.  2026
E.  2027 or later?

I would pick D

He still hasn’t fixed my faulty 9200 and it’s been since 2017😳

[joeldotc]

Haha - yeah, I'm not holding my breath.

He said "Ok once I get it I will send out a replacement. Or repair this one."

My vote is 2025.

He still hasn’t fixed my faulty 9200 and it’s been since 2017😳

That's crazy - not that it's unexpected for him - at least the BB only costs like $50 and is easy to DIY.

By the way, here is how that recording ended up - it got combined with a recording from my friend who was using the internal mics on the h4n pro, but the h4n recording was rolled off above 250 Hz, so it was just to add some more bass to the mix.

https://archive.org/details/gybe2024-02-28.CA14_H4n

The distortion of the mics makes it sound like they played super loud (particularly in the 4th and 5th tracks), but they actually played relatively quiet that night. Still sounds quite good imo.