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Gear / Technical Help => Battery Boxes, Preamps, Mixers, ADCs, and Processors => Topic started by: markrsmith on March 07, 2012, 11:56:13 AM
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Anybody know anything about these, or try them? Sounds interesting...
http://www.davelectronics.com/bg1.htm
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Anybody know anything about these, or try them? Sounds interesting...
http://www.davelectronics.com/bg1.htm
Nice preamps. AC power only
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paging freelunch.
he ran one for a while.
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So did 'Ray' :P ;D
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I owned one for many years. They have a very nice sound - clean, yet smooth and euphonic. They are extremely well built, have a nice range of pre features. They are cleaner and lower noise than the v3, especially at higher gains.
I ran mine in the field on a good invertor, an exeltech. I wasn't using it enough, so I sold it. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one again.
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I owned one for many years. They have a very nice sound - clean, yet smooth and euphonic. They are extremely well built, have a nice range of pre features. They are cleaner and lower noise than the v3, especially at higher gains.
I ran mine in the field on a good invertor, an exeltech. I wasn't using it enough, so I sold it. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one again.
did you ever find out what it was using for a DC rail post AC input? I wonder if they would do a custom job and ditch the AC>DC converter and just provide a plug.
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If I was looking for an AC powered clean stereo mic preamp. This one would be on my short list.
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ebay has had a few lately and made me wonder if anyone has tried this preamp.
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Wasn't the guy who made these a member of this board at some point?
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Mod it!
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I own two--and in the field when I want best results I regularly run one on an Exeltech inverter (and send to a Mytek 192 ADC). No complaints and for me, at least, worth the extra weight and hassle, but it won't be for everyone. I'm not aware that Mick was ever a member here, but I could be wrong. Sometime in the next six months I'm going to sell one of my BG1 units to put towards a BG8 for the really serious multichannel stuff.
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I'd love to hear a recording of these :)
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I'd love to hear a recording of these :)
Not sure how helpful this will be, but here's a link to two tracks I recorded with a DAV:
https://www.rapidshare.com/files/3343403998/DAV_Samples.zip
Both are acoustic examples. The first is a collegiate mixed choir, singing a cappella save for some percussion. I used a spaced pair of Senn 8040s (with APE balls) > DAV BG1 > Mytek192 as the main pair, and also had two spaced AT4050s in cardiod pattern as spots on the choir > DAV BG-1 > Tascam DR-680 (already clocked to the Mytek SPDIF input). The soloist and percussion were picked up solely by the main pair--no spots.
The second example is a collegiate men's a cappella ensemble of about 15 guys. I recorded them in two arcs, one in front, the other to the rear of a pair of AT4050s in Fig. of 8 pattern for a Blumlein configuration > DAV BG1 > Mytek 192. Just the two mics, no spots. Minimal processing in both cases.
Neither of these are presented as the epitome of great music or of great audio engineering, but may give you some idea of the DAV, though how you separate that from the mics, the rooms, etc., etc., I'm not sure. I do use the DAV with hobby popular music recording, too, but most often I run a matrix with the board, and usually the board gets a higher percentage in the final mix than the mics, so I don't know that that would really show much about the DAV.
Both files are mp3s at 320 cbr.
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It is a great pre. I owned one for awhile and used it with my Neumanns. With the 84s it sounded terrific. I also think it helped the ound of the 184s. I regret selling it. But, I am not recording as much classical anymore and couldn't justify having it sit around unused. They are very natural sounding. Plush over on Gearslutz swears by this pre.
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Sometime in the next six months I'm going to sell one of my BG1 units to put towards a BG8 for the really serious multichannel stuff.
Well, when that day arrives, PM me.
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I'll keep you in mind, but it may be towards the long end of that range, having just bought the Grace Decca Tree setup . . .
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Do you think it is possible and does it make any sense to use this preamp with consumer grade handheld recorders as Tascam dr-2d? I see people here use Grace v3 with sony m10. And Grace output is also hot according the homepage:
MAXIMUM OUTPUT LEVEL
Balanced
+25dBu
Unbalanced
+19dBu
SOS Dav bg1 review: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec03/articles/davelectronicsbg1.htm
"The output level is pretty high with intended peaks to +21dBu, so this is not the ideal preamp to match with semi-professional recorders. Operating at a lower output level, while obviously possible, is not recommended, as it will compromise the noise performance significantly. So, professional recorders and A-D converters only please!"
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"...This last point is an important one, because the output from the BG1 is seriously big by the time you've persuaded both the green and red lights to flicker! Don't even think about partnering this preamp with a domestic DAT or Minidisc recorder, or any semi-professional -10dBV recorder — even a lot of so-called professional equipment will struggle to deal with transient peaks which reach above +20dBu."
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If you don't want to turn down the ouput gain on the preamp to a level the recorder input can manage, you can insert pads after the hot output and send the signal along to most any recorder you like.
That's how many run Grace and other high output capable preamps into small recorders. But you don't have to do that.. I used to run the V3 analog out into an R-09 and just turned the mic gain way down. Signal barely registered a few lights on the V3 meters, but sounded more than fine with no noise problems. My R09's have been replaced by DR2d's and I only run the V3 digital out into other recorders these days, but I could run it into the DR2d. If I wanted to do that regularly, I'd use external pads or build some attenuating interconnects.
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Thank you for the reply.
If I buy an attenuator cable, how much should the attenuation be in this case (dr2d, davbg) in your opinion? -10, -15, -20bd or more? I record acoustic music and it can be loud but not as loud as rockbands on stadiums or something.
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The DR2d line-in accepts a max input level of ~+6dBu, so a -15dB attenuation should comfortably avoid any possibility of overloading it. I believe that is about the value others are using after the output a Grace V2 or V3.
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Ok many thanks!
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Why don't you just run less gain?
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Sometime in the next six months I'm going to sell one of my BG1 units to put towards a BG8 for the really serious multichannel stuff.
If you still have it, I would be interested in buying your BG1.
Thanks.
Jim