Topic: JB3 Newbie

[BlackLab]

Just bought one on EBAy and was wondering if I need a 'digital signal converter'? Any microphone recommendations woul dbe much appreciated (for stealth)
Thanks!

[Ray76]

Just bought one on EBAy and was wondering if I need a 'digital signal converter'? Any microphone recommendations woul dbe much appreciated (for stealth)
Thanks!

well, it depends. Some think the one built into the jb3(though not many) does ok, and others say it definitely isnt. as far as stealth mics go, www.soundprofessionals.com have a nice line of mics/battery boxes that can be used with the jb3, as does http://www.dpamicrophones.com/ both of those companies are popular here, and i am sure that reading through the threads here will give you all the info you need(other than your own ears) for begginer/stealth mic suggestions. There is a ton of info here. Use it to your advantage. Welcome. +T

Ray

[BlackLab]

thanks!

[Brian Skalinder]

Just bought one on EBAy and was wondering if I need a 'digital signal converter'?

Depends on whether you use an outboard ADC, and whether the ADC outputs the optical signal required by the JB3.

Any microphone recommendations woul dbe much appreciated (for stealth)

Budget?

[BlackLab]

Any microphone recommendations woul dbe much appreciated (for stealth)

Budget?

I am on a tight budget unfortunately - something less expenseive but reasonable performance

[F.O.Bean]

we would still neeed a budget, there are small mics that range from 150-3500 dollars a pair

[BlackLab]

for sure less than $200

[Humbug]

(Mostly) acoustic, lower volume rock, clearly mixed gigs: Core Sound Binaurals: $230-260

http://www.core-sound.com/

(Mostly) heavy rock, metal, very loud / bassy gigs: Sound Professionals CMC2 + battery box: $218 

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/

Both the above are flexible mics that are worth the slightly extra money above your budget. If you must stick to your budget try second hand from ebay or the Yard Sale here.

I'm sure others will chime in with their suggestions, and good luck.

[Evil Taper]

I've been experimenting with the JB3 and different rigs and what I can tell you is that if you plan on taping rather regularly SAVE YOUR MONEY!  With cheap mics your going to have decent result, you'll think your recordings are pretty sweet for a while.  Then you're going to say wow, this sounds pretty good but I know I can have much better recordings that this.  Now you're going to buy another set of mics and a decent power supply for them.  Then a bit later, your going to buy better gear and so on.  Save your friggin cash and buy at least decent mics to start with, the sound professionals cmc-8 mics are pretty sweet and there's alot of folks who are very happy with the results.  I'd stay away from the sp-cmc-4 (AT853) unless you can swing the cash for a phantom power setup (search for it and you'll find alot of info).  The JB3s weakness is definately it's ADC.  The recording levels are not as high as you'd want them to be but this can help if you're going to record friggin loud metal shows because you will not overload the jb3 ever without a preamp.  So decide how good you want your recordings to sound and then decide which mics to use.  If you can get the money buy a pair of DPA 4061 mics...best tiny stealth mics out there.  It'd also be a good idea to download some recordings made with the various mics that your looking at since each mic sounds different.

Now if you really want some cheap mics fast I do have a pair of Giant Squid Audio binaurals with a battery box attatched that I will sell you for $50 (these are the "pro" mics that they sell).  I paid $85 and only recorded with them twice.

[dklein]

Don't bother trying to use core sound mics and a JB3 without a preamp - you'll never get decent levels.

[BlackLab]

by 'core sound mics ' do you mean unpowered?

[Ray76]

by 'core sound mics ' do you mean unpowered?

by core sounds mics, he means well um...core sounds mics

www.core-sound.com/

Ray

[Humbug]

My ears tell me this works for Core-sound:

CSB>SPSPSB1>Nomad JB3

A friend (occasional poster on here) had low levels for his CSBs, borrowed my Sound Pro battery box, bought his own, and made some seriously nice recordings. Heres one of them:

http://db.etree.org/lookup_show.php?shows_key=216503

[Evil Taper]

Recordings will sound decent after your normalize them but really there's no way to get hot enough levels without an external a/d or pre when using the jb3.  If you tape really loud shows this shouldn't really matter since they're just playing loud the entire time anyway, you're not gonna lose much dynamic quality.

[Humbug]

I appreciate you've been playing around with different setups for the jb3, but I don't have problems with levels.

Mostly I record at 0dB gain on the Nomad.

I rarely have to add more than 3-4 dB to the recordings in post.

If I increase the gain on the Nomad from 0dB to 3 or 4 dB, sometimes I don't even normalise, besides balance the mics (right mic is around 1dB hotter than the left one).

I do mostly record loud rock shows though (loud enough to use earplugs most of the time).

Still not tempted to add a pre-amp at the moment for the setup below, plus its a very compact outfit for stealthing.

Humbug

[Evil Taper]

those core sound mics must run hot then.  every combo i've used has been weak on the signal.  if you use the jb3 gain you'll record harddrive noise and get electronic sounds in the background of all your recordings, you don't want that.

[Humbug]

No, like (I think) I said, my friend got low levels with the CSBs.

He ended up using a hybrid of CSB mics + Sound Pro battery box. This worked fine (although, if you like, I could ask him what his levels were like, although he's a busy chap).

Humbug

+t by the way, shouldn't we try and get you back to positive karma?

[Evil Taper]

Don't worry about the karma points...people are just easily offended or something.  I"ve been using everything with my sound pros batt box and have low levels so maybe it's my batt box but this is a common issue with jb3 users.  So now I'm trying to do this:

DPA 4061>SP-SPSB-7>(mod)SBM-1>JB3

I know folks who run that combo and love the results so I think that's the route to go.  Stealthing is FUUUUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dklein]

My ears tell me this works for Core-sound:

CSB>SPSPSB1>Nomad JB3

ok, could you be more specific about the lineage.  If you are getting levels within 3-4 dB of full scale, with the JB3 set at 0dB, then good for you.  We must be talking about different setups.

First off, are these the $260 CSBs or the low cost ones.  Reason I ask is that regular CSBs use an uncommon connector that won't readily interface with the SP-SPSB-1 battery box.
If you're using the low cost CSBs with the standard miniplug, then we are talking about different mics with different sensitivities, and a different powering scheme (SP box) that supposedly 'ups' the output a little.  The low cost CSBs don't have the mods that make them better (and unfortunately, drop the sensitivity).

Which mics?  Did you mod the connectors?

Also, are you using any bass rolloff - that would also cut the output levels (in a good way generally)?

[Humbug]

Not sure, I vaguely remember him telling me they weren't standard CSBs, but an older, higher spec model (not HEBs).

Perhaps they had a standard 1/8" plug.

I'll send him this link and see if he wants to comment.

Humbug

[kfrinkle]

I agree with the last two statements. CSB > SP bat box > JB3, at even the loudest of shows, my levels never got above -10dB.  This is the same with unmodded CSBs > CS bat box > JB3 setups as well.
Be aware that some Soud Professional mics do not handle high spl situations very well.  I have a pair of CMC-8 Cardiods, and they tend to have problems at really insanely loud shows, or really bass heavy show.  I wish I had a pair of CMC-2s, to see if they fair any better.