Just got a pair of these for my cousin(getting him started) and i have read conflicting things on the AT831's(SOUND PROFESSIONALS SP-CMC-2 ), do they need the 4.7k high spl mod like the 853's or not with the single mini jack and powered by a battery box?
Hi darktrain, these mics are not "bullet proof" in terms of SPL handeling. I did get what I would call severe distortion when running SP-CMC-2 (AT831) > Sound Pro 9 volt battery box > iRiver H120, in an arena with a large band. No bass roll off (16 kHz) was used, and I was standing about 30 feet from a hanging speaker stack. (I can provide samples on request if you want to judge for yourself.) I used them on two other occasions, and did not get this type of sound, but the volume at these shows was much lower.
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Also, I finally got around to giving the AT8531s "battery packs" a try, with no phantom source behind them. "Very noisy" (hissy) best describes the results, and I was completely unimpressed. I tore one of them open, and the parts inside were really, really cheap. AT spared no expense on the $2 transformer.
Maybe they put better parts in the AT8532, I don't know.