Topic: Smore MT Q's

[bewildered]

Ok i just got the thing, read the manual and all:

1. Im gathering that its a general rule of thumb to power the MT off when connecting and disconnecting plugs. Does this apply to USB connections & headphones? When pluggin phantom powered mics, does the phantom power just have to be off or the whole MT?

2. If a (1/4") stereo mic is connceted the L or R slot, will it only record as one channel, or is the purpose of the "Link L/R option" to record as dual channel?

3. are their two 1/4" slots for plugging in two mics? it doesnt make sense given how much power 1 mic drains out of the battery.

[jtessier]

1. There's really no reason that you'd have to turn the MT off to plug or unplug to any of the connections. Just have the Phanton power switch off when connecting or disconnecting to the 1/4" jacks.

2. Correct, each jack is one channel.  The Link L/R option just makes it so that the volume controls for the left and right move as one. So you can raise the volume on the left for instance and the right will also raise the same amount.  Unlink them and the controls operate independantly.

3. Yes, the two jacks are for connecting two Mics. As for power you could always get a little AA battery box to supplement the MT's battery or plug into a laptop or the AC power supply.

[dallman]

Also, There was some info in one of the firmware releases about mono recordings and the ability to record twice as long. It is probably in an earlier thread, but did not have any real impact for thoise who do stereo field recordings.

There have been problems with starting to record in S/PDIF mode without a signal. This is pretty common and that is where the power on power off issues probably stem from. I always make sure that my mics are live and UA-5 on before hitting the record button when recording through the S/PDIF input on the MT.

Also in the very first firmware release, you could not make changes between L/M/H without turning the unit off. This problem was solved a long time ago.

I recommend making sure you run the latest firmware version 1.4.3, as it seems to be the most stable and bug free. Some of the versions released just prior to 1.4.3 like 1.4.0 are virtually the same, but early releases of firmware are quite buggy.

Battery time is the weak link, and external battery packs are popular. You will get more time with a CF card than a micro drive, and I think that if you power down the unit between sets (If that is an option) it seems to give a little more life versus one continual long slow drain. I don't think 2 mics drain much more than 1 mic, but I may be wrong there.

Also it seems the amount of time the screen is lit has little effect on the overall battery time.

[bewildered]

So i need two mics to get left and right channel audio? I thought "stereo" meant two channel (L/R), so if i had a stereo mic plugged into one of the channels, shouldnt it give me two channels worth of audio?

[dallman]

So i need two mics to get left and right channel audio? I thought "stereo" meant two channel (L/R), so if i had a stereo mic plugged into one of the channels, shouldnt it give me two channels worth of audio?

No, you can set the recorder to mono. If you have one mic, it will record to both channels, but that is mono . You need two mics for stereo .
Having 1 mic record to two channels is different than having 2 mics record to two channels.
Hope this helps!

[jtessier]

So i need two mics to get left and right channel audio? I thought "stereo" meant two channel (L/R), so if i had a stereo mic plugged into one of the channels, shouldnt it give me two channels worth of audio?

Well if you really have a 'stereo' mic then you should be able to plug an adapter onto it to split the channels into two 1/4" plugs or adpater it to the 1/8" jack which is a stereo mic jack.

J.T.

[bewildered]

so the 1/4" ports are mono inputs and the 1/8" port is stereo.

Is their any advantage to using a splitter to utilize both 1/4" ports over just plugging it into one?

Is their a advantage or disadvantage to using the 1/8" stereo port (1/4" to 1/8" converter)  versus using the 1/4" ports?

Will phantom power work equally on both 1/4" & 1/8" ports?  Im assuming that phantom must be turned on reguardless of which port is used.

thanks for the help so far, this learning curve has been almost vertical at times.

[jtessier]

so the 1/4" ports are mono inputs and the 1/8" port is stereo.

Is their any advantage to using a splitter to utilize both 1/4" ports over just plugging it into one?

Is their a advantage or disadvantage to using the 1/8" stereo port (1/4" to 1/8" converter)  versus using the 1/4" ports?

Will phantom power work equally on both 1/4" & 1/8" ports?  Im assuming that phantom must be turned on reguardless of which port is used.

thanks for the help so far, this learning curve has been almost vertical at times.

The 1/4" jacks are the only ones that supply phantom power (albeit at lower voltage than 'standard' phantom power voltage). If your Mic's require phantom power than you'll either need to use the 1/4" jacks or supply voltage thru other means if you try to use the 1/8" jack.  The 1/8" jack does have what's called plug-in power. Here's a whole bunch of info on Mic powering: http://www.epanorama.net/circuits/microphone_powering.html The different jacks do have different audio quality specs (see the M-Audio website) but most importantly for most is the 1/8" jacks range of acceptable levels is different than the 1/4".  I think it's the 1/4" that can take a higher level signal than the 1/8".

[dallman]

so the 1/4" ports are mono inputs and the 1/8" port is stereo.

Is their any advantage to using a splitter to utilize both 1/4" ports over just plugging it into one?

Is their a advantage or disadvantage to using the 1/8" stereo port (1/4" to 1/8" converter)  versus using the 1/4" ports?

Will phantom power work equally on both 1/4" & 1/8" ports?  Im assuming that phantom must be turned on reguardless of which port is used.

thanks for the help so far, this learning curve has been almost vertical at times.

The 1/4" jacks are the only ones that supply phantom power (albeit at lower voltage than 'standard' phantom power voltage). If your Mic's require phantom power than you'll either need to use the 1/4" jacks or supply voltage thru other means if you try to use the 1/8" jack.  The 1/8" jack does have what's called plug-in power. Here's a whole bunch of info on Mic powering: http://www.epanorama.net/circuits/microphone_powering.html The different jacks do have different audio quality specs (see the M-Audio website) but most importantly for most is the 1/8" jacks range of acceptable levels is different than the 1/4".  I think it's the 1/4" that can take a higher level signal than the 1/8".

Using the 1/8 input, the levels are much more sensitive and will distort easily with loud environments. MT (and others) offer a -10db attenuator that helps, but is often still not enough.

I do not see any advantage to using two jacks as opposed to one, if it is one mic. Just set the controls for mono.

If using 1/4 jacks (TRS), make sure themic is plugged in before turning on Phantom power and make sure the mics are designed for phantom power.

[bewildered]

Ok im almost getting this. Why do they call a mic a "stereo mic" if one mic by itself only records one channel (mono)? Wouldnt all mics be mono mics? If a mic were a true stereo mic, wouldnt it be that when i open the wav file up in a sound editor that i get two tracks of information?

[Brian Skalinder]

Ok im almost getting this. Why do they call a mic a "stereo mic" if one mic by itself only records one channel (mono)? Wouldnt all mics be mono mics? If a mic were a true stereo mic, wouldnt it be that when i open the wav file up in a sound editor that i get two tracks of information?

Stereo mics are basically two mics packaged together into a single unit / body, and they record two channels.  Examples:  Studio Projects LSD2, AKG 426B, Audio Technica 822.  The upside is they can sound mighty fine and are easy to set up.  The downside is they're restricted to coincident recording techniques (e.g. XY, Blumlein, Mid-Side) and do not support near-coincident (ORTF, DIN, DINA) or split configurations (split omnis, Jecklin disc).

[dallman]

Ok im almost getting this. Why do they call a mic a "stereo mic" if one mic by itself only records one channel (mono)? Wouldnt all mics be mono mics? If a mic were a true stereo mic, wouldnt it be that when i open the wav file up in a sound editor that i get two tracks of information?

One mic that only records one channel is a mono mic. It could have a stereo (1/8") jack attached, but it would still be mono. Stereo mics exist, just as Brian has explained in the quote above. Usually for the most flexibility, you (or I) record using two (mono) mics. The 1/4" jacks are referred to as TRS jack which stands for Tip Ring Sleeve. These can be configured many ways:
 
            Unbalanced             Balanced                      Stereo
Tip:       Signal                    Positive/"Hot"              Left channel
Ring:    Not present             Negative/"Cold"           Right channel
Sleeve: Ground/Return             Ground                      Ground

[silentmark]

Amazing what the 'search' function and some reading will get ya