Topic: Pre-amp battery issue? *NOW WITH AUDIO SAMPLE*

[powermonkey]

Right. This is going to be an odd one.... I don't yet have an audio sample, so bear with me.

Taped a band called Helsinki last night at Dingwalls in Camden. Great set, not the best venue sound. Checked the recording outside afterwards, and it sounded GREAT. Really pleased.

However... listening to the full show on the way home, and halfway through the quality dips really obviously. It's still listenable, but half-way through a song the dynamics are gooooooooone and it's suddenly flat for the rest of the show, all muddy.

 

I've had a quick mic check, all seems fine. Cables seem fine too. Checked the R09's line in, seems fine - I believe if my i/p had given up the ghost I'd have noise and/or drop-outs. None of those.

Volume is consistent, and I'm positive I've not changed settings midway, on either the pre (my FEL BMA1) or the R09.

My question, therefore, is - does this sound like the pre battery might have started running out mid-show? I'll get a sample up tomorrow, but I'm taping again tomorrow night so I'm desperately hoping that a simple battery swap will fix it.

Does a preamp battery run out gradually or would it explain the sudden change? Could I have a bad battery? I've used the same battery for 4 shows now, and it's the only thing I can think of that could be at fault at this point.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Cheers folks.

[bugg100]

Check the voltage of the battery with a cheap multimeter......  if you don't have one, swap batteries saving your old battery to test later.   If the next show comes out ok, find someone with a m.m. to check this old battery.  That will give you the idea of the baseline of when to pitch the batteries in the future.  A cheap meter is all you need. Maybe ebay......

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-SLIM-PORTABLE-LCD-HANDY-DIGITAL-MULTIMETER-DMM_W0QQitemZ150224963543QQihZ005QQcategoryZ25412QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/DIGITAL-MULTIMETER-Voltmeter-Ammeter-Ohmmeter-LCD-NEW_W0QQitemZ200207182406QQihZ010QQcategoryZ25412QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-LCD-HANDY-DIGITAL-MULTIMETER-AC-DC-OHM-VOLT-METER_W0QQitemZ150224958709QQihZ005QQcategoryZ25412QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I know you are in the UK but those are some cheap examples....

Good Luck!  Let us know how it turns out.

Joe

[powermonkey]

Cheers for that. I'll get me to the local electronic spare parts shop asap.

I've uploaded a sample - only mp3 but it's 320k (my upload wasn't letting me put a whole 1 minutes worth of flac up).

The change in the sound occurs at 30-31 seconds in.

http://www.savefile.com/files/1439881

Having checked my gear again, I've got a pile of brand new 9V batteries, and I can but hope for the best at this point.

[Dede2002]

Cheers for that. I'll get me to the local electronic spare parts shop asap.

I've uploaded a sample - only mp3 but it's 320k (my upload wasn't letting me put a whole 1 minutes worth of flac up).

The change in the sound occurs at 30-31 seconds in.

http://www.savefile.com/files/1439881

Having checked my gear again, I've got a pile of brand new 9V batteries, and I can but hope for the best at this point.

Hi,

Hope everything is OK now. Have you tried those? Looks amazing!

http://www.felmicamps.co.uk/products/fel3.5series.html

Take care

[yousef]

Cheers for that. I'll get me to the local electronic spare parts shop asap.

Around Christmas time, Maplin were doing two for the price of one on their £5 model - not been in since so I don't know if the offer still stands.

[jeromejello]

based on the information provided, i would say it sounds like a battery issue.

when you open the wave file in your editor, does it drop in volumn consistantly?  still having the peaks, but instead of at -3dB they start to hit around -6dB and then -12dB?

[powermonkey]

based on the information provided, i would say it sounds like a battery issue.

when you open the wave file in your editor, does it drop in volumn consistantly?  still having the peaks, but instead of at -3dB they start to hit around -6dB and then -12dB?

Nope. Apart from a small dip in volume when the problem occurs (36 minutes in) it seems OK.

A pic:

[DaveG73]

Yeah sounds like a battery issue.

I had the same problem 2 nights in a row, with brand new batteries each night, in August last year.

Not been able to recreate it so, I have to assume it was battery related.

Dave.

[powermonkey]

Thank gawd it's not something more serious... *crosses fingers*

Need my R09 to keep running until the new R09HR comes along (and until I can afford MK4s and an Nbox).

 

At least I'm taping the same folks again tonight, so I can make up for being a tool and not changing batteries.

[bugg100]

But without getting our stupid asses out into the field, and making these mistakes for ourselves, how would we know.......

+T for learning

[powermonkey]

Well that's me learning my lesson.

New batteries, off to tape Helsinki again last night - and the magnificent Kid Harpoon. Problem very much solved, and I've got another two tapes that I'm really pleased with.

T+ to everyone who's helped out in this thread!
 

[bugg100]

Go get that multimeter and share some of those preamp samples......

[DaveG73]

Glad to see you got things sorted with minimal fuss.

Got any links (MySpaz etc) to either of the bands in question?

Dave.

[powermonkey]

Helsinki:

http://www.myspace.com/drewhelsinki

Kid Harpoon:

http://www.myspace.com/kidharpoon

Will try to get some samples up this evening if the old internets allow.

*wanders off to listen to recordings on iPod*

 

[powermonkey]

Helsinki: (full show)

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SHXRPZ9X

Kid Harpoon:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FJLGLDT5