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Gear / Technical Help => Microphones & Setup => Topic started by: Hman on March 13, 2007, 07:03:16 AM
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Hello tapers,
I have some questions for you all. I own a Microtrack 24/96, and planning to buy some new mics, the DPA4061 omni-directionals.
I'm doubting to buy the MPS6030 as well, or a SP-SPSB-6/8.
Thing is, I don't know if the MPS6030 also is a bass-filter.. I was wondering is someone here could help me with this matter??
Any other suggestions are welcome as well!
Greetings,
Maarten
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I'd go for SP box since it's cheaper and smaller (good for stealthing) but in any case you have to user a dual adapterfor the MT (depending on DPA mics termination)
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I'd go for SP box since it's cheaper and smaller (good for stealthing) but in any case you have to user a dual adapterfor the MT (depending on DPA mics termination)
Dual adapter for the MT? What's that? Please, help.. (I'm a rookie you know ;-)
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get the very clean, small, and affordable DPA mma6000, it has bass roll off, phantom power, and gain controls (right and left), it pairs perfectly with the DPA mics, runs about 450 new
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get the very clean, small, and affordable DPA mma6000, it has bass roll off, phantom power, and gain controls (right and left), it pairs perfectly with the DPA mics, runs about 450 new
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I use the MMA6000 and love it, but I have to say that the bass roll off is designed for speech applications and is way too high to be useful for music. It powers the mics correctly (as a batt box would do also) at 5v, but that is not technically 'phantom power' and uses the DPA microdot connectors which also rules out using it with other mics (that may require actual 48v phantom). That pre is dedicated to the DPA 406x mics alone and works a charm. Also keep in mind that it is larger than either a battery box or your MT if that makes a difference to you, though you can still pocket it. It has a standard 1/8" TRS line out.
[edit for grammy errors and detail]
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get the very clean, small, and affordable DPA mma6000, it has bass roll off, phantom power, and gain controls (right and left), it pairs perfectly with the DPA mics, runs about 450 new
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I use the MMA6000 and love it, but I have to say that the bass roll off is designed for speech applications and is way too high to be useful for music. It powers the mics correctly (as a batt box would do also) at 5v, but that is not technically 'phantom power' and uses the DPA microdot connectors which also rules out using it with other mics (that may require actual 48v phantom). That pre is dedicated to the DPA 406x mics alone and works a charm. Also keep in mind that it is larger than either a battery box or your MT if that makes a difference to you, though you can still pocket it. It has a standard 1/8" TRS line out.
[edit for grammy errors and detail]
OK, thanks for letting me know all this. I will use the bass-roll off mostly at indoor-arena's, so the MMA6000 doesn't seem to be an option.
I was thinking about MPS6030, or the SP-SPSB-6/8.. I know the SP is cheaper, but I'm looking for good results and something which is easy to use.
Does the MPS6030 have a bass-roll off filter??
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HI MAARTEN
YOU SHOULD ALSO CHECH OUT CA ST 9100 PRE AMP WHICH CAN COME WITH DUAL DPA DOT INPUTS IF ORDERED THAT WAY,
9V TO MICS ALSO + BASS FILTER OPTIONS & MORE, GIVE CHRIS CHURCH A PM & TELL HIM WHAT YOU WANT ...
I JUST ORDERED HIS 9100 PA THIS WEEK MYSELF..MR1 NEXT WEEK....
GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR CHOICES ....
GEORGE
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GEORGE
Hi George - no need to do the equivalent of YELLING IN YOUR POSTS WITH ALLCAPS. FYI, common netiquette encourages Proper Case for easier reading. :)
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THIS IS HOW I POST ALWAYS IN CAP ALWAYS..
NOT YELLING BY NO MEANS...I ALWAYS DO WHAT I WANT TO DO -- BRIAN DONT TELL ME TO STOP THE CAP.
LEARN TO ACCEPT ME AS A CAP POSTER.. LAZY TO CAP ON OFF ALL TIME..DO CAP SO I AT LEAST ADDRESS NAMES IN CAP..
IM A PLUMBER - TRADESMAN -- NOT YOUR SHCOOL A GRADE ACADEMIC TYPE, NOT MUCH CARE FOR ENGLISH RULES..
MY RULES ARE THERE ARE NO RULES-- RULES ARE FOR THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE BY THEM , NOT ONE OF THEM ..
DONT LET THE CAPITALS WORRY YOU BRIAN-- THEY ARE JUST LETTERS , THEY DONT MAKE ANY NOISE WHATSOEVER..
ACCEPT ME AS A CAP MAN --------NOT YELLING BRIAN------THIS IS HOW I WRITE ALWAYS------
DIDNT DO IT THROUGH SCHOOL WONT START NOW... ALL THE BEST TO YOU BRIAN -- I HOPE YOU MEAN WELL---
BEST REGARDS
g.
:yack:
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Looking for some serious answers here, no fooling around about
CAPS or something like that ;)
Anyway, I already own a MM-EBM-1 batt. box. Can this one also been used in combination
with the MPS6030 and the DPAs??
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Looking for some serious answers here, no fooling around about
CAPS or something like that ;)
Anyway, I already own a MM-EBM-1 batt. box. Can this one also been used in combination
with the MPS6030 and the DPAs??
Why would you want to run two battery boxes? is it because of the high pass filter? I would honestly do the high pass filter thing in post because if you have a nice pair of DPA mics its not like they are going to overload. So filtering the bass out beforehand seems like waste. IMO..
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Why would you want to run two battery boxes? is it because of the high pass filter? I would honestly do the high pass filter thing in post because if you have a nice pair of DPA mics its not like they are going to overload. So filtering the bass out beforehand seems like waste. IMO..
True. I've had no problems with overloading using 4060's for this type of recording even with loud, bassy material. Your 4061's have a 10db higher max SPL threshold before they'll clip than the 4060's.
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Why would you want to run two battery boxes? is it because of the high pass filter? I would honestly do the high pass filter thing in post because if you have a nice pair of DPA mics its not like they are going to overload. So filtering the bass out beforehand seems like waste. IMO..
True. I've had no problems with overloading using 4060's for this type of recording even with loud, bassy material. Your 4061's have a 10db higher max SPL threshold before they'll clip than the 4060's.
Well yes indeed.. that's what I'm afraid of. I'm using a batt.box/bass-filter to prevent the recording from low-end distortion.
So if I'm right the MPS6030 powers the mics to such a level that low-end distortion won't be a problem any more? In other words,
when I use the MPS6030, I don't need a bass-filter anymore??
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Why would you want to run two battery boxes? is it because of the high pass filter? I would honestly do the high pass filter thing in post because if you have a nice pair of DPA mics its not like they are going to overload. So filtering the bass out beforehand seems like waste. IMO..
True. I've had no problems with overloading using 4060's for this type of recording even with loud, bassy material. Your 4061's have a 10db higher max SPL threshold before they'll clip than the 4060's.
Well yes indeed.. that's what I'm afraid of. I'm using a batt.box/bass-filter to prevent the recording from low-end distortion.
So if I'm right the MPS6030 powers the mics to such a level that low-end distortion won't be a problem any more? In other words,
when I use the MPS6030, I don't need a bass-filter anymore??
There is a big misconception that if you increase plug in power you decrease distortion. This is not exactly the case. Tests that I have done show that the difference between 5 volts of plug in power and 10 volts is about .05% less distortion, that is such a little improvement its hardly worth it. Your DPA mics can handle the low end.
I dont really like using HPF for live recording, because you have just lopped off a bunch of lowend and you dont really know what thats going to sound like until you get home. So I think its always better to do it in post when you dump it down to a computer, then you can take you time have a good listen and make some good choices. But once its done at the concert its done.
You can maybe boost the lowend again to get it back to a degree, but it's pretty much lost forever. There are always exceptions to every rule though. In a huge arena you need a high pass filter sometimes to cut thru the mud... But I feel in a big arena you should be using Hyper cardioid or at the very least cardioid anyway to reduce the effects of the reverberant room on your recordings.
By pointing your mics at the stacks to increase the SPL from the PA and decrease the SPL from the reflected surfaces of the arena. So No you do not need two battery boxes you need one. You can get someone to simply modify your battery box to add a high pass filter its pretty easy. There are many users here that do mods. Like Bussman. I dont know if he would do it but he might.
Good luck with your recordings..
Chris
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I had a similar problem with my DPA4060 and my MT24/96.
I posted what i did here:
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,76898.0.html
If you are willing to do a bit of DIY you could end up with a very small and cheap configuration.
I would recommend you either build a battery box (you need only two 6.2 Khom resistors besides the battery to do it) or the cross-feed dongle I built and am very happy with.
Hope this is of help.
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OK, thanks for letting me know all this. I will use the bass-roll off mostly at indoor-arena's, so the MMA6000 doesn't seem to be an option.
I was thinking about MPS6030, or the SP-SPSB-6/8.. I know the SP is cheaper, but I'm looking for good results and something which is easy to use.
Does the MPS6030 have a bass-roll off filter??
The mps6030 does NOT have any rolloff filters. I run this exact same rig (dpa406x > mps6030 > mt2496) with great success. I actually have a paid of both dpa4060 and dpa4061. For quiet (acoustic) shows the 4060s are much more suited IMHO. I ran the 4061s at an acoustic show once, and found the noise floor to be way too high for my liking.
The mps6030 is good, but a little large IMHO. Still very stealthable. The sp-spsb-6 is also a good choice, although obviously you'll need to terminate your mics in 1/8" stereo plug.
The mt2496 takes two 1/4" mono sockets as line input, so whichever battery box you choose, you will need suitable cable/connector/harness to hook up to the mt2496.
Oh and while we're talking about dpa (go team dpa!) I have a question about the mma6k... been toying with the idea of buying one for a while, but I have a concern as to the robustness. The switches on the front look a little... fragile. Considering I'll be mostly stealthing and the thing will be shoved deep in a trouser pocket... any mma6k owners care to comment on robustness? Will I be able to accidentally knock the gain knobs?
Hope this helps, and sorry for the threadjack :D
regards,
stephen
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Oh and while we're talking about dpa (go team dpa!) I have a question about the mma6k... been toying with the idea of buying one for a while, but I have a concern as to the robustness. The switches on the front look a little... fragile. Considering I'll be mostly stealthing and the thing will be shoved deep in a trouser pocket... any mma6k owners care to comment on robustness? Will I be able to accidentally knock the gain knobs?
the mma6k is built like a tank. you could probably drive over it with a car and it would still function. the switches and gain knobs are not "easy" to change, even when stealthing. the pre is a great bargain for ~450 new. the microdot connectors are what suck.
For the mma6k, rig something up to protect the microdot inputs on the front of the unit when shoved in a pocket or bag, like taping two short pieces of angle aluminum to the edges or a flat plastic plate to the bottom with a lip sticking out the front (could do the top too). The gain knob adjustment is detented can't really be accidentally adjusted at all. What ever you do to protect the microdots will protect the power & low cut switches too..
Unless you have a Dremel in your pocket.
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... I actually have a paid of both dpa4060 and dpa4061. For quiet (acoustic) shows the 4060s are much more suited IMHO. I ran the 4061s at an acoustic show once, and found the noise floor to be way too high for my liking...
Have you found other applications where the 4061's performed better? Ever have the 4060's overload?
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Have you found other applications where the 4061's performed better? Ever have the 4060's overload?
My 4060s have overloaded a couple of times, yes. Only a handful of times, mind you... maybe 5 or 6 times out of 150 or so? Always always due to excess bass. Off the top of my head I lost Ambulance Ltd, Low Frequency In Stereo, Mogwai, Doves, Elbow due to overloading. Lost a couple more to brickwalling (had gain set too high).
I specifically bought the 4061s when I taped mogwai last september. Was really sitting on the fence with that one, left it til the last minute to order the mics (they arrived the morning of the show!), but glad I did - I thought the band were louder than ever...
best regards,
stephen
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the mma6000 is indeed a tank, with a tough metal housing, and the gain is controlled in fixed positions, which are indeed fixed and require some effort to reduce or increase to the next fixed position, so they will not be accidentally moved during taping; at first, I was not a fan of the fixed positioning at all, because it does not allow for slight increases or decreased, but as I taped with it stealthily I began to become a fan of it since once the levels are set and the gear is stowed away I do not have to worry about the levels accidentally being changed
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i also use the MMA-6000, i had the 6020 before also modded w/ bass-roll-off before, but compared to the MMA-6000 the 6020 p/s sucks big time.
Also i hate the DPA 4060 for loud concerts. For more silent acoustic concerts they're grand - but when it gets louder they just too bassy. Id like to get some cardioid mics for this purpose - maybe someone can make me a good suggestion - they should be stealthable price does not really matter.
Or i'll get a set of DPA-4061, but i dont think the 10db will be the big improvement compared to the sound of the DPA-4060?
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Thanks to everyone for the mma6000 comments (t's all round). I've been thinking about getting one for a while. I know I've seen other people speak highly of it in other threads, moreover I don't seem to recall anyone talking negative about it. So I said "why the hell not" and ordered one earlier today :D the only downside being I've got no shows lined up til next month... can't wait to play!