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Offline Silver_Queen

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Battery box questions
« on: March 12, 2012, 03:47:37 AM »
Newbie here!

I've got a Sony M10 and I'll soon have a shiny new pair of Audio Technica omnis. I'll mainly be using these for amplified acoustic music, and I'm wondering about a couple of things.

I know I need a battery box, but should I shell out a few extra bucks for one with bass roll-off, or is that really only a concern for louder concerts? I've been reading a lot of discussions around here and I seem to have picked up conflicting information, but I could just be missing some of the more technical nuances. I was under the impression that roll-off runs the risk of leaving you with too little bass, but then someone else suggested using roll-off with omnis.

Secondly: Once I have all the necessary elements, should I plug into the mic input or the line-in? Again, what I've read in the M10 thread seems to suggest that I should use the mic input with just a battery box and the line-in with a preamp, but I could be getting that all wrong - and I'd really love to not overload my recorder.

Thanks!
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Offline George

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Re: Battery box questions
« Reply #1 on: March 12, 2012, 11:45:05 AM »
Which AT mikes?

I think the general rule is that bass roll off on a battery box or pre-amp is not worthwhile.  If there is too much bass, you can always reduce it in post with a program, such as Audacity.

My first thought is: Will your AT mikes be able to handle loud SPL's without distorting. 

To answer your second question, always plug into the line in.  I would recommend a pre-amp by the way so you can kick up the gain on it for quiet performances.
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Offline Silver_Queen

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Re: Battery box questions
« Reply #2 on: March 12, 2012, 12:00:38 PM »
The mics are MT350s from Sound Professionals. These: http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-BMC-12.

I don't have the money for a preamp right now, so I'm getting a battery box until I can save up for a Church preamp. My impression is that, powering the mics with the battery box, I shouldn't have much trouble with distortion unless the music is very loud. Is this incorrect?
"Life is about love, last minutes and lost evenings, about fire in our bellies and about furtive little feelings, and the aching amplitudes that set our needles all a-flickering, and they help us with remembering that the only thing that's left to do is live."

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Offline anr

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Re: Battery box questions
« Reply #3 on: March 12, 2012, 01:23:42 PM »
I've had an SPSB-2 Battery Box for many years and it is perfectly adequate.  It has switchable roll-off, which I never use.  I recommend getting the current SP equivalent, without roll-off. 

As for battery life, I can't begin to calculate it so just change it once a year whether it needs it or not.  I remove it between use. 


Offline LikeASong

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Re: Battery box questions
« Reply #4 on: March 12, 2012, 02:22:01 PM »
The mics are MT350s from Sound Professionals. These: http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-BMC-12.

I don't have the money for a preamp right now, so I'm getting a battery box until I can save up for a Church preamp. My impression is that, powering the mics with the battery box, I shouldn't have much trouble with distortion unless the music is very loud. Is this incorrect?

You wouldn't. The problem is that, if you're recording mainly acoustic music -which I read in your first post-, you'll probably need some extra gain (or your recordings will have too low levels), so a preamp would be desirable. Anyway, placing your mics close enough to the PA should get rid of the low leves and still you wouldn't have distortion :)
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Re: Battery box questions
« Reply #5 on: March 12, 2012, 03:45:28 PM »
Definitely get the battery box.  You probably won't always need it, but it is cheap (and small) insurance.  Personally, I would skip the roll-off.  Omnis do sometimes have a heavy bass presence, but recording acoustic music that probably won't be an issue.  Plus you can roll-off extra bass on the computer...

I would also recommend going mic-in.  Your mics have a pretty low sensitivity and the music won't be that loud, so you'll probably need the gain.  The M10 has a quiet internal pre, too, and your mics will overload before the M10's input does.

Offline Silver_Queen

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Re: Battery box questions
« Reply #6 on: March 13, 2012, 08:41:01 PM »
Thanks for the clarifications, y'all! It's been a huge help. My mics and battery box are on their way and I'm very excited.  ;D
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Offline ScoobieKW

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Re: Battery box questions
« Reply #7 on: March 14, 2012, 02:04:49 AM »
Definitely get the battery box.  You probably won't always need it, but it is cheap (and small) insurance.  Personally, I would skip the roll-off.  Omnis do sometimes have a heavy bass presence, but recording acoustic music that probably won't be an issue.  Plus you can roll-off extra bass on the computer...

I would also recommend going mic-in.  Your mics have a pretty low sensitivity and the music won't be that loud, so you'll probably need the gain.  The M10 has a quiet internal pre, too, and your mics will overload before the M10's input does.

Remember, with a battery box you will want to choose "No" when the M10 asks you about Plug In Power (screen comes up when you plug into the red mic input)
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Offline Drgiggles1

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Re: Battery box questions
« Reply #8 on: March 15, 2012, 11:31:57 PM »
Also if your battery box requires a cable to the M10 do yourself a favor and order a custom right angle gold tip mini star quad cable from Ted here who makes them. Top notch cable. I think he also makes tech flex cables (not sure if that's exact) and am not familiar with them but other members here use them. Cheap cables have crappy coatings on the plugs and the wiring tend to fawk up causing channel loss and or static eventually.
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Re: Battery box questions
« Reply #9 on: March 17, 2012, 02:29:56 AM »
Also, did we see if your mics qualify for the 4.7 mod on the SP's ??? Without the mod, your mics WILL eventually distort ;) And when I had CA14s and a 9100 preamp/Battery Box, I would MAINLY run my CA14 Cards>Sound Pro Battery Box>MIC-IN>M10. I only ran the 9100 a few times because I never really needed it ;)
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Offline Silver_Queen

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Re: Battery box questions
« Reply #10 on: March 17, 2012, 01:25:03 PM »
I don't think they qualify, but I thought mine already had a low enough sensitivity that they wouldn't need it. I've done a little bit of testing since I got them, and so far even when my M10 tells me the signal is going over, it sounds fine. If anything, I'm thinking I need a preamp because the sound I'm getting is little bit weaker/with more white noise than I expected.
"Life is about love, last minutes and lost evenings, about fire in our bellies and about furtive little feelings, and the aching amplitudes that set our needles all a-flickering, and they help us with remembering that the only thing that's left to do is live."

 - Frank Turner, 'I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous'

SP-BMC-12 > CA 9000 > M10 (Glen Hansard-approved!)

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Re: Battery box questions
« Reply #11 on: March 17, 2012, 05:35:16 PM »
^^^ Is that mic- or line-in?

Offline Silver_Queen

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Re: Battery box questions
« Reply #12 on: March 17, 2012, 07:48:38 PM »
Mic-in. Line-in I don't get nearly enough gain.
"Life is about love, last minutes and lost evenings, about fire in our bellies and about furtive little feelings, and the aching amplitudes that set our needles all a-flickering, and they help us with remembering that the only thing that's left to do is live."

 - Frank Turner, 'I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous'

SP-BMC-12 > CA 9000 > M10 (Glen Hansard-approved!)

Offline anr

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Re: Battery box questions
« Reply #13 on: March 18, 2012, 02:14:37 AM »
Mic-in. Line-in I don't get nearly enough gain.


I'm glad people are saying Mic-in.  Some while ago I posted on the M10 thread that I didn't get enough gain going Line-In and the feeling was there was something wrong with my device. 

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Re: Battery box questions
« Reply #14 on: March 18, 2012, 03:42:15 PM »
Mic-in. Line-in I don't get nearly enough gain.

What were the SPLs like for your test recordings?  Similar to the levels you would expect at the shows you want to tape? 

To increase your gain, you could either move closer to the source, use more sensitive mics, or use a pre-amp.  Or some combination of those. 

The white noise is probably from the mics themselves; if that's the case, using a pre might not help much and you might want to consider more sensitive (and quieter) mics...

 

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