Topic: Sound Professional new pre SP-PREAMP-11 vs Church Audio ST-9100

[fatoldpig]

My 1st post though I've been reading the forums for a while.

Anyone used Sound Professional new pre SP-PREAMP-11 http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-PREAMP-11 ? How does it compare to Church Audio ST-9100? I'll be using with SP-CMC-8 (AT953) and iRiver H120. Same price but SP-PREAMP-11 is much smaller. TIA.

[stantheman1976]

I haven't used either, but I do have the SP-PREAMP.  I will go to bat for SP's quality.  It has +29 and +50dB settings.  +50 adds no noise to the recording.  The amp is $179 and well worth every penny.  You can easily find recordings with the CA preamp also.  Chris puts a lot of effort into his products and it shows.  I really don't think you'd be wrong going with either.

[Javier Cinakowski]

That SP-PREAMP uses those tiny 12v that are a pain in the ass to find.  I would stick with the regular SP-PREAMP as it uses the 9v

[pmonk66]

IMO - if possible go with the 3-wire ST-9100. It rocks!

[Kindguy]

I'll vote for the Church st-9100. 

[dennisrtyler]

I'll vote for the Church st-9100. 

ditto

[taper420]

I'll vote for the Church st-9100. 

ditto

tritto

[audBall]

$199 for the SP model?!?  Wow...

As a past SP customer (who is very happy with their products), I'd have to say go w/ the Church model pre.  Church is on the board all the time and seems more than willing to offer help/info on his products.  Plus, doesn't he offer some customizations?

[fatoldpig]

thanks for the replies. I only do stealth, so SP size is very tempting.

[Keyd]

So you like small...

http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,83535.0.html

[towanda]

Hey there, first post

I'm about to buy my first rig and was going to go with the ST-9100 but i noticed that it has a left and right input as opposed to the 9000 that just has a single input, also the mics (STC-11) have one output, so how does that work, do you use a cable in between the mics and the pre?

Sorry i'm a total noob

[Arni99]

Hey there, first post

I'm about to buy my first rig and was going to go with the ST-9100 but i noticed that it has a left and right input as opposed to the 9000 that just has a single input, also the mics (STC-11) have one output, so how does that work, do you use a cable in between the mics and the pre?

Sorry i'm a total noob

the 9100 is also available with a single 3.5mm input for the church cardioid mics. i had the 9100 pre with 3.5mm input. chris can do both ...1 x 3.5mm or 2 x mini-xlr depending on the termination of your mics(2 wire =>3.5mm input OR 3-wire=> 1 mini-xlr input for left and 1 for right mic).

you don´t need the 3 wire preamp since the church cardioids are 4.7k modded, which reduces distortion for loud shows.

[towanda]

Thanks for the reply.
A couple more questions.Is there any difference in quality between the two type of connections?
Secondly, i've already ordered a R-09 and was going to order the STC-11 and ST-9100 to use with it, no problems there right, this will all work together?I have looked into it and am pretty sure, but as i said i'm totally new to all this so i'd just like to ask that so that i'm certain

[Arni99]

tell chris church you need a 3.5mm input on your 9100 pre and NOT mini-xlr as mic-input-jack.
the preamp itself has a 3.5mm OUTPUT jack which needs to be connected to your edirol r-09´s line-in.
you need a short 3.5mm to 3.5mm(try to find one with 2 "90° angle-plugs" cable..it´s not being delivered with the preamp.

[towanda]

Thanks again Arni.There's no quality difference between the 2 types of input jacks right?
Is there a brand/type of the short 3.5 anyone would like to recommend?

[Arni99]

Thanks again Arni.There's no quality difference between the 2 types of input jacks right?
Is there a brand/type of the short 3.5 anyone would like to recommend?

with the mini-xlr(3 wire) you have -12dB decrease of mic-input-signal
with the 3.5mm you have about -15db(chris uses the 4.7k mod in his mics to reduce distortion at high SPL..sound pressure levels).

both are ok for loud shows with high SPL.
turn up your preamp to 50%(12 o clock position of the knob) and do the rest of level adjustment on your R-09 using LINE-in.

AVOID R-09 gain from 25-30 because of it´s noise!
I would choose 10-15(of max. 30) on the R-09 and the rest from the preamp.

[towanda]

That explains it very well.Thank You I'll probably be asking more obvious questions when i actually get this gear, hopefully you'll all be as understanding as you have so far

[Church-Audio]

Thanks again Arni.There's no quality difference between the 2 types of input jacks right?
Is there a brand/type of the short 3.5 anyone would like to recommend?

with the mini-xlr(3 wire) you have -12dB decrease of mic-input-signal
with the 3.5mm you have about -15db(chris uses the 4.7k mod in his mics to reduce distortion at high SPL..sound pressure levels).

both are ok for loud shows with high SPL.
turn up your preamp to 50%(12 o clock position of the knob) and do the rest of level adjustment on your R-09 using LINE-in.

AVOID R-09 gain from 25-30 because of it´s noise!
I would choose 10-15(of max. 30) on the R-09 and the rest from the preamp.

Actually with the 2 wire input there is no decrease in input levels.. It only depends on what mic you use with it with my Cardioid mics they all have the 4.7k mod in them, So there is a reduction of about 12.5 db with three wire ( mini xlr ) there is a reduction of about 10db. The difference is, I felt it was always better to have a 3.5 mm stereo jack simply because in some cases with my mics or any mics that are modded with my 4.7k 2 wire mod you get the same performance as 3 wire but you also get the added advantage of being able to use your mics with products like the edirol R-09 with out any preamp necessary for really loud shows. Its nice to have my preamp because it will reduce your signal to noise ratio since the self noise of my 9100 preamp is somewhere around -115  you can get the full 20 db of gain from my preamp and use the R-09's preamp levels less. This allows for the most amount of flexibility for stealth use. Where you might not want to bring a preamp or battery box to a show. Its nice to know you can in a pinch use just my mics or any mics modded with my 4.7k mod and not get distortion.

Chris

[pool]

Thanks again Arni.There's no quality difference between the 2 types of input jacks right?
Is there a brand/type of the short 3.5 anyone would like to recommend?

with the mini-xlr(3 wire) you have -12dB decrease of mic-input-signal
with the 3.5mm you have about -15db(chris uses the 4.7k mod in his mics to reduce distortion at high SPL..sound pressure levels).

both are ok for loud shows with high SPL.
turn up your preamp to 50%(12 o clock position of the knob) and do the rest of level adjustment on your R-09 using LINE-in.

AVOID R-09 gain from 25-30 because of it´s noise!
I would choose 10-15(of max. 30) on the R-09 and the rest from the preamp.

Actually with the 2 wire input there is no decrease in input levels.. It only depends on what mic you use with it with my Cardioid mics they all have the 4.7k mod in them, So there is a reduction of about 12.5 db with three wire ( mini xlr ) there is a reduction of about 10db. The difference is, I felt it was always better to have a 3.5 mm stereo jack simply because in some cases with my mics or any mics that are modded with my 4.7k 2 wire mod you get the same performance as 3 wire but you also get the added advantage of being able to use your mics with products like the edirol R-09 with out any preamp necessary for really loud shows. Its nice to have my preamp because it will reduce your signal to noise ratio since the self noise of my 9100 preamp is somewhere around -115  you can get the full 20 db of gain from my preamp and use the R-09's preamp levels less. This allows for the most amount of flexibility for stealth use. Where you might not want to bring a preamp or battery box to a show. Its nice to know you can in a pinch use just my mics or any mics modded with my 4.7k mod and not get distortion.

Chris

So is there a decrease in input levels with 2 wire CA cards (with 4.7k mod in them)?

[Arni99]

Yes, every 4.7k modded mic is less sensitive compared to an unmodded mic of the same brand.
That´s why a preamp is cool for compensating this loss of db and for silent or moderately loud shows.

[Church-Audio]

Yes, every 4.7k modded mic is less sensitive compared to an unmodded mic of the same brand.
That´s why a preamp is cool for compensating this loss of db and for silent or moderately loud shows.

I also make a 9100 with a switchable 4.7k mod built in so you can run your mics with out the mod and with the mod when needed.. That way you can use this setup for acoustic shows and very loud rock shows.
Chris

[Arni99]

Yes, every 4.7k modded mic is less sensitive compared to an unmodded mic of the same brand.
That´s why a preamp is cool for compensating this loss of db and for silent or moderately loud shows.

I also make a 9100 with a switchable 4.7k mod built in so you can run your mics with out the mod and with the mod when needed.. That way you can use this setup for acoustic shows and very loud rock shows.
Chris

Chris, put all this into a cell-phone-box with a true gain-knob and I´m sure you´ll get lotsa new customers.
That would be the perfect stealth-preamp! Nothing to hide anymore .

[BJ]

Yes, every 4.7k modded mic is less sensitive compared to an unmodded mic of the same brand.
That´s why a preamp is cool for compensating this loss of db and for silent or moderately loud shows.

I also make a 9100 with a switchable 4.7k mod built in so you can run your mics with out the mod and with the mod when needed.. That way you can use this setup for acoustic shows and very loud rock shows.
Chris

Chris, put all this into a cell-phone-box with a true gain-knob and I´m sure you´ll get lotsa new customers.
That would be the perfect stealth-preamp! Nothing to hide anymore .

http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,73100.0.html

[Arni99]

Yes, every 4.7k modded mic is less sensitive compared to an unmodded mic of the same brand.
That´s why a preamp is cool for compensating this loss of db and for silent or moderately loud shows.

I also make a 9100 with a switchable 4.7k mod built in so you can run your mics with out the mod and with the mod when needed.. That way you can use this setup for acoustic shows and very loud rock shows.
Chris

Chris, put all this into a cell-phone-box with a true gain-knob and I´m sure you´ll get lotsa new customers.
That would be the perfect stealth-preamp! Nothing to hide anymore .

http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,73100.0.html

i knew this cell-battery box and that chris stopped producing it but I said a PREAMP would be great .

[Church-Audio]

Yes, every 4.7k modded mic is less sensitive compared to an unmodded mic of the same brand.
That´s why a preamp is cool for compensating this loss of db and for silent or moderately loud shows.

I also make a 9100 with a switchable 4.7k mod built in so you can run your mics with out the mod and with the mod when needed.. That way you can use this setup for acoustic shows and very loud rock shows.
Chris

Chris, put all this into a cell-phone-box with a true gain-knob and I´m sure you´ll get lotsa new customers.
That would be the perfect stealth-preamp! Nothing to hide anymore .

http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,73100.0.html

i knew this cell-battery box and that chris stopped producing it but I said a PREAMP would be great .

Its very time consuming to build and I never had a lineup of customers for it so I stopped that project.

[nasarius]

Its very time consuming to build and I never had a lineup of customers for it so I stopped that project.

That is a really good idea, but yeah, I guess the number of people who need super-stealth enough to spend 2x the price of a normal battery box is fairly low. Wish I'd thought of that before ordering a couple plastic enclosures today. eBay is a goldmine of dead electronics.