Topic: ua-5 as ad-only

[shayne]

I have a t+ mod ua-5 currently that I am really happy with, but my question is this could the ua-5 be used as a ad converter only if I wanted to feed an analog signal from another pre but still make use of the the dig out. Is this just uneccesary bulking of equipment? Thanks for any and all help.
Shayne

[Teen Wolf Blitzer]

You can do it but you probably don't want to. 

The UA5 doesn't have analog passthrough.

[shaggy]

You can do it but you probably don't want to. 

The UA5 doesn't have analog passthrough.

Not sure if that answered his question.  No real pass thru without A>D>A but the RCA ins op-amps are modded in the Oade + mods.

I asked Doug specifically if there would be a difference at that point if I went W+ or T+ thru the analog-ins; he said there would be a flavor difference.  He was purposefully not answering specifics but I suspect that there is a gain stage shared by the two inputs that is partially responsible for the different flavors.

I have used a Sonosax in front of a T+ (Schoeps and AKG483), definitely retained the T flavor.  It is low noise input, meaning if cranked up, you cannot hear noise until the last 10 degrees at the end of the dial. 

[shayne]

Thanks Shaggy, That answers my question, I was thinking aerco infront of the t+ua-5.
Shayne

[BradM]

I have a similar question, but with the discussion of the various Oade mods (about which I know almost nothing), I'll ask it my way and hope it's not a duplicate.

Back before I got my Nomad JB3, I used to use a Sharp MD-MT15S minidisc recorder. After getting the JB3, I stopped using it, and figured that I'd eventually get around to processing the MDs I had accumulated but not transferred; a while back, I started through the stack of them, and found that the MD-MT15S was toast, so I gave up.

I just got my hands on another MD-MT15S, both to process the MDs, and to serve as a backup (in case the JB3 has problems) or alternate recorder (in situations where I have access to another source, like a soundboard).

For processing the accumulated MDs, I'm wondering whether it'd be better to run the line-out of the MD-MT15S into the back-panel RCA ins of the UA-5, then the optical out of the UA-5 to my JB3 (and then from the JB3 to the PC over SB1394 after the transfer is done), or just run the line-out of the MD-MT15S into the line-in of my (Creative Soundblaster Audigy) sound card.

As far as I know my UA-5 has only the Oade "digi-mod," not the W+ or T+ or other mods. I'm thinking that the A>D conversion on the UA-5 will be better than what the Soundblaster provides, but I'm not sure. On the other hand, it looks like the RCA ins on the UA-5 are controlled by only a single level knob, which means I won't be able to "tweak" the left/right balance during the transfer, which I can do if I go right into the sound card (some of the MDs were done with mics that were a little mismatched); on the other other hand, I suppose I could do the transfer using MD-MT15S > UA-5 > JB3, then figure out how to balance the channels using Audacity, which would be a useful skill to have.

Any info or tips would be appreciated. Thanks!

Aloha,
Brad

[SmokinJoe]

For processing the accumulated MDs, I'm wondering whether it'd be better to run the line-out of the MD-MT15S into the back-panel RCA ins of the UA-5, then the optical out of the UA-5 to my JB3 (and then from the JB3 to the PC over SB1394 after the transfer is done), or just run the line-out of the MD-MT15S into the line-in of my (Creative Soundblaster Audigy) sound card.

As far as I know my UA-5 has only the Oade "digi-mod," not the W+ or T+ or other mods. I'm thinking that the A>D conversion on the UA-5 will be better than what the Soundblaster provides, but I'm not sure. On the other hand, it looks like the RCA ins on the UA-5 are controlled by only a single level knob, which means I won't be able to "tweak" the left/right balance during the transfer, which I can do if I go right into the sound card (some of the MDs were done with mics that were a little mismatched); on the other other hand, I suppose I could do the transfer using MD-MT15S > UA-5 > JB3, then figure out how to balance the channels using Audacity, which would be a useful skill to have.

On a UA-5 (that doesn't have the Oade + mod) the XLR jacks on the front are combination XLR/1/4" phone plugs.  I would try running MD out > 1/4" phone plugs > optical > JB3.  Then you have that "balance" adjustability.  I'm not saying it's the best way to go, but I'd try it.

[BradM]

On a UA-5 (that doesn't have the Oade + mod) the XLR jacks on the front are combination XLR/1/4" phone plugs.  I would try running MD out > 1/4" phone plugs > optical > JB3.  Then you have that "balance" adjustability.  I'm not saying it's the best way to go, but I'd try it.

I thought of that, but wondered if the line-level output might be too much for the mic inputs;  I can back off the MD output simply by turning down the volume on the MD recorder, as the line-out jack is really just the headphone-out jack, and I can also turn down the gains on the UA-5 mic channels, but it'll take some fiddling. Thanks!

Aloha,
Brad

[Sparge Master]

I am trying to find information on the mods for UA-5 any of you know what they mean and what they do?
W+ d+ T+

Thanks,
Dumbass

[Brian Skalinder]

I am trying to find information on the mods for UA-5 any of you know what they mean and what they do?

There's a description of each in the UA5 FAQ:  TS Knowledge Base | Archive | Pres, ADCs, Processors

[Sparge Master]

I am trying to find information on the mods for UA-5 any of you know what they mean and what they do?

There's a description of each in the UA5 FAQ:  TS Knowledge Base | Archive | Pres, ADCs, Processors

Thanks. I love you in a heterosexual ort of way of course.

[Kindguy]

For processing the accumulated MDs, I'm wondering whether it'd be better to run the line-out of the MD-MT15S into the back-panel RCA ins of the UA-5, then the optical out of the UA-5 to my JB3 (and then from the JB3 to the PC over SB1394 after the transfer is done), or just run the line-out of the MD-MT15S into the line-in of my (Creative Soundblaster Audigy) sound card.

As far as I know my UA-5 has only the Oade "digi-mod," not the W+ or T+ or other mods. I'm thinking that the A>D conversion on the UA-5 will be better than what the Soundblaster provides, but I'm not sure. On the other hand, it looks like the RCA ins on the UA-5 are controlled by only a single level knob, which means I won't be able to "tweak" the left/right balance during the transfer, which I can do if I go right into the sound card (some of the MDs were done with mics that were a little mismatched); on the other other hand, I suppose I could do the transfer using MD-MT15S > UA-5 > JB3, then figure out how to balance the channels using Audacity, which would be a useful skill to have.

On a UA-5 (that doesn't have the Oade + mod) the XLR jacks on the front are combination XLR/1/4" phone plugs.  I would try running MD out > 1/4" phone plugs > optical > JB3.  Then you have that "balance" adjustability.  I'm not saying it's the best way to go, but I'd try it.

Pretty sure the 1/4" phone plugs are disabled on the oade mods. I tried running 148>UA-5 through the rear rca's. Huge PITA