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Author Topic: Aerco MP-2 preamp - Part 2  (Read 142655 times)

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Offline twoodruff

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Re: Aerco MP-2 preamp - Part 2
« Reply #105 on: June 01, 2012, 12:31:41 AM »
I want an MP-2 too :( ;D

trade you one for your sax, if you just want to try one.
No Mics
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Offline yug du nord

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Re: Aerco MP-2 preamp - Part 2
« Reply #106 on: June 01, 2012, 09:15:09 AM »
which tekkeon are people using?

the 9volt DVD batteries work great too.
.....got a blank space where my mind should be.....

Offline acidjack

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Re: Aerco MP-2 preamp - Part 2
« Reply #107 on: June 01, 2012, 03:35:38 PM »
which tekkeon are people using?

I've used the 3350 & 3450 with it. No issues really because it accepts variable voltages.

Yup. Jerry also claims it can even accept either polarity (i.e., an R-44 DVD batt cable or a normal one)
Mics: Schoeps MK4V, MK41V, MK5, MK22> CMC6, KCY 250/5, KC5, NBob; MBHO MBP603/KA200N, AT 3031, DPA 4061 w/ d:vice, Naiant X-X, AT 853c, shotgun, Nak300
Pres/Power: Aerco MP2, tinybox v2  [KCY], CA-UBB
Decks: Sound Devices MixPre 6, Zoom F8, M10, D50

My recordings on nyctaper.com: http://www.nyctaper.com/?tag=acidjack | LMA: http://www.archive.org/bookmarks/acidjack | twitter: http://www.twitter.com/acidjacknyc | Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/acidjacknyc

Online aaronji

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Re: Aerco MP-2 preamp - Part 2
« Reply #108 on: June 06, 2012, 08:32:17 AM »
I contacted Jerry about not being able to fit 3 9 volts in my aerco correctly.  I sent it back to him and he found the screws that were used for the xlr's were too long and got in the way of the main board causing the open space for the batteries to be too small.  He fixed it very quickly and when I got it back he also enclosed a check to cover my end of the shipping.  Everything is good now.  I also had Ted make a power cable for my tekkeon.  He modified a straight cable into a right angle cable and it will work fine.  Now I have both options for powering the aerco.  I'll run it for Kimock next Friday for the first time.

Jerry seems like a pretty good guy.  It's nice to hear that he fixed your problem so quickly!  When I got my Aerco, he quoted me a shipping price that ended up being about half of the actual cost (and it was a lot).  He didn't even mention the increase, let alone ask for more money; I only noticed it when I got the package...I basically had to force him to take some more cash (he felt that he should honor his quote, whereas I, having dealt with a bunch of these international shipments, expect some fluctuations with shipping costs)...

Offline F.O.Bean

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Re: Aerco MP-2 preamp - Part 2
« Reply #109 on: June 07, 2012, 08:08:55 PM »
I want an MP-2 too :( ;D

trade you one for your sax, if you just want to try one.

Cant do it, sorry Trey! I just love my mk41>Sax sound :)
Schoeps MK 4V & MK 41V ->
Schoeps 250|0 KCY's (x2) ->
Naiant +60v|Low Noise PFA's (x2) ->
DarkTrain Right Angle Stubby XLR's (x3) ->
Sound Devices MixPre-6 & MixPre-3

http://www.archive.org/bookmarks/diskobean
http://www.archive.org/bookmarks/Bean420
http://bt.etree.org/mytorrents.php
http://www.mediafire.com/folder/j9eu80jpuaubz/Recordings

Offline drewski1986

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Re: Aerco MP-2 preamp - Part 2
« Reply #110 on: June 20, 2012, 11:47:11 AM »
still learning how to use this preamp.  brickwalled at phish last night.  Gonna turn it down a bit tonight.  I wish it had an overload light on it.

Offline acidjack

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Re: Aerco MP-2 preamp - Part 2
« Reply #111 on: June 20, 2012, 12:43:49 PM »
still learning how to use this preamp.  brickwalled at phish last night.  Gonna turn it down a bit tonight.  I wish it had an overload light on it.

Anecdotally, I'd very careful ever going over 20dB gain, and consider using 10. When I run it at 20 for most shows, I have to turn the R-44 input gain to 9 o'clock (i.e., pretty far down).

But yes, an overload light would be nice.
Mics: Schoeps MK4V, MK41V, MK5, MK22> CMC6, KCY 250/5, KC5, NBob; MBHO MBP603/KA200N, AT 3031, DPA 4061 w/ d:vice, Naiant X-X, AT 853c, shotgun, Nak300
Pres/Power: Aerco MP2, tinybox v2  [KCY], CA-UBB
Decks: Sound Devices MixPre 6, Zoom F8, M10, D50

My recordings on nyctaper.com: http://www.nyctaper.com/?tag=acidjack | LMA: http://www.archive.org/bookmarks/acidjack | twitter: http://www.twitter.com/acidjacknyc | Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/acidjacknyc

Online aaronji

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Re: Aerco MP-2 preamp - Part 2
« Reply #112 on: June 20, 2012, 02:01:40 PM »
It's probably worth measuring how much gain you are actually adding at each step of the way too.  I forget the exact explanation (I'll try to find the e-mail), but Jerry told me that the pots have uneven gain steps.  Close together at the low end and further apart at the high end.  The markings on the front are for the switches.  I did measure this when I first got mine; I'll try to find that too...

Offline Craig T

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Re: Aerco MP-2 preamp - Part 2
« Reply #113 on: June 20, 2012, 04:29:20 PM »
still learning how to use this preamp.  brickwalled at phish last night.  Gonna turn it down a bit tonight.  I wish it had an overload light on it.

Brickwalled the recorder's input or overloaded the Aerco?  You may have had plenty of headroom left on the Aerco but still brickwalled your recorder's input - in this case an overload light on th Aerco doesn't help you.  What's the rig?
Schoeps cmc6/4v / Line Audio CM3, OM1 / ADK A51 / Church Audio CA-14
Naiant Tinybox v2.2 / NBox(P) / Church Audio ST9200 / CA-UGLY
Sony PCM-M10 / Tascam DR-70D / Zoom F3 / Zoom F6

Offline drewski1986

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Re: Aerco MP-2 preamp - Part 2
« Reply #114 on: June 21, 2012, 08:22:53 AM »
I'm running neumann ak 40/50's > aerco > (ocm) R-44.  Last night I ran it at about 25 and still had slight brickwalling.  I have a single variable gain pot on my aerco as well as a balance knob.  It looks to me as if the right channel is worse than the left.  I am thinking that I am overloading the pre since I never saw the overload indicators on the R-44 light up.  Trying to figure out how to post a screen shot of the wav files in audacity but haven't figured it out yet.  Forgot to add that the R-44 was one click up from the bottom (outer knob -2, inner knob at 12:00)
« Last Edit: June 21, 2012, 08:27:06 AM by drewski1986 »

Offline it-goes-to-eleven

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Re: Aerco MP-2 preamp - Part 2
« Reply #115 on: June 21, 2012, 09:42:59 AM »
What was the show/material?  How loud was it?

I am surprised you would have this issue with the Aerco.  I've run my Aerco in pretty crazy-loud situations on stage, etc.

Offline drewski1986

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Re: Aerco MP-2 preamp - Part 2
« Reply #116 on: June 21, 2012, 10:04:41 AM »
Phish shows the last two nights.  It was loud.

Offline bhadella

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Re: Aerco MP-2 preamp - Part 2
« Reply #117 on: June 21, 2012, 10:14:50 AM »
If your connecting the rca outputs of the MP-2 to the XLR inputs of the R44, you will need to increase the gain on the R44 (-8 db would be a good start) to insure that the R44 and MP-2 will clip (or be in the tapers world definition of unity) at the same levels.   A typical  consumer rca signal is 10-14 db lower than full XLR signal (like that which the R44 can receive). 
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Offline acidjack

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Re: Aerco MP-2 preamp - Part 2
« Reply #118 on: June 21, 2012, 11:50:42 AM »
If your connecting the rca outputs of the MP-2 to the XLR inputs of the R44, you will need to increase the gain on the R44 (-8 db would be a good start) to insure that the R44 and MP-2 will clip (or be in the tapers world definition of unity) at the same levels.   A typical  consumer rca signal is 10-14 db lower than full XLR signal (like that which the R44 can receive).

I'm not sure what you mean by "increase" the gain on the -44?

When I run the Aerco for any kind of rock music, I basically have three options:

10dB gain/R-44 at its default 12 o'clock or maybe down at 10 or 11 o'clock to get not-too-hot levels (I don't recall without looking at it what these gain settings are, but any -44 owners will know what I mean).
20dB gain/R-44 at 9 o'clock or 8 o'clock to get not-too-hot levels
30dB gain pretty much only if it's acoustic or less-amplified stuff.  For example, I've recorded a few shows at Joe's Pub in NYC, like The Wandering, where I ran the Aerco up to +30dB into the M10 with the M10 at 4 on the level knob, yielding levels that peaked around -6dB.

I can't imagine adding yet more gain to the R-44 on its end; your levels would go way over.  Also, I would think the point of running the MP-2 would be to get gain from the pre and not the -44, so wouldn't the better method be to turn DOWN the -44 until you get decent levels?
Mics: Schoeps MK4V, MK41V, MK5, MK22> CMC6, KCY 250/5, KC5, NBob; MBHO MBP603/KA200N, AT 3031, DPA 4061 w/ d:vice, Naiant X-X, AT 853c, shotgun, Nak300
Pres/Power: Aerco MP2, tinybox v2  [KCY], CA-UBB
Decks: Sound Devices MixPre 6, Zoom F8, M10, D50

My recordings on nyctaper.com: http://www.nyctaper.com/?tag=acidjack | LMA: http://www.archive.org/bookmarks/acidjack | twitter: http://www.twitter.com/acidjacknyc | Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/acidjacknyc

Offline drewski1986

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Re: Aerco MP-2 preamp - Part 2
« Reply #119 on: June 21, 2012, 11:52:59 AM »
Thanks for all of the input.  I am not really up on the technical details of this hobby.  After looking at the waveforms closer, I don't think I did brickwall.  My levels came out much lower than usual.  I have been running a V3 and seem to be able to dial that pre in pretty easily.  Still learning with the aerco.  Anyway, I amplified my wav files about 5 db and I can see that there are peaks above what I thought was brickwalling.  Again, I could be using the wrong terms here and I apologize for my ignorance.  I am going to try to raise the R-44 to -8 as suggested and see how that works out.  Thanks again for all of the knowledge.

 

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