« Reply #14 on: June 16, 2006, 05:03:42 PM »
I agree.. The Church Audio preamp is small and quiet and would work like a champ on the 853s... We must remember what Richard (poorlyconditioned) has taught us... Phantom power provides 48V... tho most mics only need 9 at the capsule. Plus Chris is one of us and if you can get past the Canadian Post Office (their motto.. "Maybe Tomorrow, Eh") His customer service is perfect.
Only 'need' 9 at the capsule? My schoeps wont run optimally at 9 volts. Many run them at 48v. I run them at 60v (with the nbox that is) That is where schoeps states they run at optimum performance. I find it hard to believe that running a microphone at 9v will provide the same results as running one at 48v. I dont know much about AT mics and I dont have any idea which pre will sound best.
I believe that Chris is a great guy and his opinions on this forum are excellent and valued. Its always good to work with someone who is into this hobby. Remember, a close friend of mine builds the nbox and I love it. I have used every pre except the portico on my schoeps and I still love that box. In open opportunites though I enjoy the sounds of other boxes too. Better is a difficult word when you are talking about sound.
Is it better or is it just different? It very much depends on the playback system and the individuals ability to critically evaluate sound.
If you need a 3 wire preamp, I make the st-9100 as far as sonics go that preamp is flat from 15 Hz to 40 kHz. Not that frequency response is everything, but its something the distortion is less then 0.05%
Chris Church
Frequency response is pretty important. Transition between frequencies is critically important.
PM sent to Chris Church....
The Scheops are *externally polarized* condensors. That means they need higher voltages (like 48 or 60V on the capsule). I believe that is why "phantom power" was developed in the first place, but I'm not sure. Nowadays, most high end mics have a step-up circuit to generate the 60V or whatever more reliably.
The other option is electret mics that are called *pre* or *self* polarized. They have a small charge in the mic element. The battery or phantom is only to power the FET (field effect transistor) and possibly a line driver circuit.
The confusing thing comes when mics like AKG Blueline, AT853, Shure SM81, etc use phantom power, but are really electrets inside. There is a small step-down circuit in there to get 9V or 6V or whatever the FET/line driver needs.
Of course, there is great debate whether electrets or true condensers are better. But that is another story...
Richard
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Mics: Sennheiser MKE2002 (dummy head), Studio Projects C4, AT825 (unmodded), AT822 franken mic (x2), AT853(hc,c,sc,o), Senn. MKE2, Senn MKE40, Shure MX183/5, CA Cards, homebrew Panasonic and Transsound capsules.
Pre/ADC: Presonus Firepod & Firebox, DMIC20(x2), UA5(poorly-modded, AD8620+AD8512opamps), VX440
Recorders: Edirol R4, R09, IBM X24 laptop, NJB3(x2), HiMD(x2), MD(1).
** This individual has moved to user "illconditioned" **