Topic: Review: Church Audio 3-wire batt box/pre amp

[M]

Before you read this you should take into consideration that I’m an amateur and that this review is imo.  I will provide samples along with a description of the circumstances of how I recorded them so you can generate your own opinion. 

So I just made my first couple tapes with my new church audio 3-wire batt box/pre amp.  I have the first one so I feel I should let you all know how my first field tests went. 

I used it with my mke2’s while recording my brother play his electric guitar & with my at853’s at a progressive rock concert.  I will provide samples upon request, just sent me a pm with your email.

I really don’t know what to say… I have used a sp batt box & a ps2 and I will no longer be using either (with the above mentioned mics).  I actually haven’t used a pre amp before.  I was going line in & boosting the levels in post if necessary.  So now I know what headroom is!!

Needless to say I am quite pleased with the functionality so far.  It sounds clean and has as much gain as I need or don’t need for that matter. 

To sum it up it is easy to use, compact and most importantly sounds good.

I owe Chris a big thank you for being so patient with me and building this handy little piece of gear.  Chris gets an A+ in my books for both craftsmanship & customer service.

For those of you that still don’t know what it does, it provides optimal 3-wire power,  offers 0db to 20db of gain & a selectable hpf @80hz. 

It sounds simple yet it is perfect for my recording purposes & no other retailers seem to make it.

[poorlyconditioned]

Before you read this you should take into consideration that I’m an amateur and that this review is imo.  I will provide samples along with a description of the circumstances of how I recorded them so you can generate your own opinion. 

So I just made my first couple tapes with my new church audio 3-wire batt box/pre amp.  I have the first one so I feel I should let you all know how my first field tests went. 

I used it with my mke2’s while recording my brother play his electric guitar & with my at853’s at a progressive rock concert.  I will provide samples upon request, just sent me a pm with your email.

I really don’t know what to say… I have used a sp batt box & a ps2 and I will no longer be using either (with the above mentioned mics).  I actually haven’t used a pre amp before.  I was going line in & boosting the levels in post if necessary.  So now I know what headroom is!!

Needless to say I am quite pleased with the functionality so far.  It sounds clean and has as much gain as I need or don’t need for that matter. 

To sum it up it is easy to use, compact and most importantly sounds good.

I owe Chris a big thank you for being so patient with me and building this handy little piece of gear.  Chris gets an A+ in my books for both craftsmanship & customer service.

For those of you that still don’t know what it does, it provides optimal 3-wire power,  offers 0db to 20db of gain & a selectable hpf @80hz. 

It sounds simple yet it is perfect for my recording purposes & no other retailers seem to make it.

Thanks for the review.  I agree, this product sounds like a winner.  (Sounds like the one I built... but was not able to make for others.)  I'm glad to see it here...

Anyway, can you tell me how the mics are wired?
- do they have "mini XLR" connectors (like the AT mics?), or are they 3.5mm plugs?
- which exact model of MKE 2-4 do you have?  I'm asking because some are 2-wire and some are three.  The way to test is to see if one of the two wires inside the cable are shorted to shield or not.

  Richard

[M]

I am using mini-xlr's & my mics are mke2-4 gold.

[M]

My pics aren't too great but you get the picture (no pun intended).  I used my md for scale. 

I think I saw Chris had a different sticker on one that he was selling in his store.









*edit to get pics right

[CHURCH-AUDIO]

Hi I do have a new lable for this preamp and its in my eBay store now for sale if anyone is interested. I love this preamp, but I am just a bit biased.
Thanks for the comments on my preamp, I have worked hard on it's design and I feel it makes a real difference for recording live shows.
For recording really quiet stuff it can actually be used in the mic input of any 3.5 mm recording device and will force the user to use less of the built in preamp and more of the external preamp thus lowering the noise of the recording because our preamp is so quiet, this is good for nature recording or 100% accoustic shows. When used in the line input you can use it for very loud shows. the pin config can be changed upon request at time of ordering to any standard you wish.
PS... I give 10% discounts to taper section members.

Chris Church

My pics aren't too great but you get the picture (no pun intended).  I used my md for scale. 

I think I saw Chris had a different sticker on one that he was selling in his store.









*edit to get pics right

[poorlyconditioned]

PS... I give 10% discounts to taper section members.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Chris Church

That sounds great.  Thanks for helping us out in the 'section.

  Richard

[capnhook]

Thanks for the comments on my preamp, I have worked hard on it's design and I feel it makes a real difference for recording live shows.
For recording really quiet stuff it can actually be used in the mic input of any 3.5 mm recording device and will force the user to use less of the built in preamp and more of the external preamp thus lowering the noise of the recording because our preamp is so quiet, this is good for nature recording or 100% accoustic shows. When used in the line input you can use it for very loud shows.

Chris Church

I've run one of Chris's ST-20 pre's for a couple of years now in front of every kind of cheap, single-point stereo mic i could get my broke-ass hands on -- super quiet, bullet-proof, stealthy, uncolored, and predictable.........thanks Chris for some nice tapes 

[Javier Cinakowski]

I own the Church Audio STC-9000 and am very happy with it.  Good Stuff!