Topic: Schoeps Tubes Question

[ianstone]

so when using the schoeps tubes, you must connect the microphone body to the nt222 box via a 5pin schoeps cable.

what i want to know, is there any harm in plugging the body directly into the nt box, and running kc5 active cables?

I borrowed a set of tubes for phish at red rocks, and don't want to risk damaging them by turning on the nt box with the mic body plugged in unless I am positive that it will not damage the mic.

the body does seem to 'click' in to the nt box.

also - if anyone has a short pair of the schoeps 5-pin cables in the denver area, and would be willing to lend them to me for the 4 nights of phish, please PM Me.

[DSatz]

The shape of the housing tubes that Schoeps has used for the past 20 years or so has been deliberately redesigned just so that you (yes, you personally!) could plug the bodies directly into a recorder, preamp or power supply without a cable.

However, Colette active extension cables and other such active accessories are unbalanced, which makes them less resistant to noise from radio frequency interference and/or radiation from lighting cables, etc., than balanced signal cables would be. Unbalanced connections should be used only when necessary, and the cables should never be much longer than necessary. Schoeps originally introduced Colette cables in 10 and 20 meter lengths, but nowadays the standard lengths are 5 meters and 10 meters if that tells you anything. (Mine are all 3 meters.)

Times have changed since this type of equipment was first designed in the 1970s. There were no cell phones, pagers, Blackberries, etc. back then, but nowadays it's a fair bet that the majority of the people within 10-20 feet of your equipment at a concert will have such devices either sitting in their pockets or else in actual use, transmitting. So I would really recommend a balanced hookup.

--best regards

[ianstone]

The shape of the housing tubes that Schoeps has used for the past 20 years or so has been deliberately redesigned just so that you (yes, you personally!) could plug the bodies directly into a recorder, preamp or power supply without a cable.

However, Colette active extension cables and other such active accessories are unbalanced, which makes them less resistant to noise from radio frequency interference and/or radiation from lighting cables, etc., than balanced signal cables would be. Unbalanced connections should be used only when necessary, and the cables should never be much longer than necessary. Schoeps originally introduced Colette cables in 10 and 20 meter lengths, but nowadays the standard lengths are 5 meters and 10 meters if that tells you anything. (Mine are all 3 meters.)

Times have changed since this type of equipment was first designed in the 1970s. There were no cell phones, pagers, Blackberries, etc. back then, but nowadays it's a fair bet that the majority of the people within 10-20 feet of your equipment at a concert will have such devices either sitting in their pockets or else in actual use, transmitting. So I would really recommend a balanced hookup.

--best regards

Mr Satz,

I was hoping you would chime in here.

I will use kc5 cables to connect the body with the mk41 capsules. so that's not the issue.

what i want to do is plug the body (m222) DIRECTLY into the tube pre (elvo nt222 dc)

i already checked, and yes it does fit - it clicks in. i just want to be sure this is kosher before i turn it on and fry the mic (which i'm guessing is HIGHLY unlikely, i just want to be safe rather than sorry).

Thanks,
ian

[Bri]

I can't think of a reason it would not work, but before you break it, ask schoeps...

mailbox@schoeps.de

[NOLAfishwater]

don't think plugging into the nt222 will make any difference other than you might risk scratching the body.

[ianstone]

bernard vollmer confirmed that it is ok. and as louie said, he did state the mic body may get scratched.

-ian

[DSatz]

Sorry if my reply was unclear. You can safely plug the microphone directly into your power supply, but then that forces you to use unbalanced extension cables which you wouldn't otherwise need to use--and so I don't particularly recommend it in this day and age.

Personally I've never had hum or buzz or RF pickup in a Colette cable, so it's not as if I'm the guy at the end of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" who has seen the impending doom of mankind and can't get anyone to listen to him; I'm just saying that this isn't a game of chance that I would choose to play very often.

(You know, it really is hard to project a moderate concern over the Internet--it comes across far more readily if you're either screaming or if you don't care at all. But this is truly somewhere in between.)

--best regards

[shaggy]

FWIW, I have been using the kcy250/0 with a 1.8m K extension in cell phone wearing crowds for the past 4 years.  So far, I have had no RF interference related maladies.

OT: My worry has been what does 60V of polarization charge in a cable do when it runs along your spine?

[H₂O]

OT: My worry has been what does 60V of polarization charge in a cable do when it runs along your spine?

It causes you to dance!

You can plug the m222s directly into the nt222's - C.Fox does this all the time.

FWIW - I have always ran the KS5Us between the m222 and NT222 and never had an issue - The Schoeps cabling is pretty small and doesn't take up too much space.

Also per Bernard at Schoeps if you want to have pure Tube sound you shouldn't run KC cables between the caps and bodies as they introduce a FET into the signal path.

[NOLAfishwater]

OT: My worry has been what does 60V of polarization charge in a cable do when it runs along your spine?

Also per Bernard at Schoeps if you want to have pure Tube sound you shouldn't run KC cables between the caps and bodies as they introduce a FET into the signal path.

I will keep that in mind. Next time I will run full bodies on stage to see how that sounds.

[Bri]

if your taping in the section, why do you need kc cables?

[steve4134]

I was thinking the same thing............


Steve

[NOLAfishwater]

I pretty much always run on stage, so keeping the visual impact to a minimum is what I am trying to achieve. Plus I have a stereo mount for every pattern and they only work with the KC5's. In the future I when I get to mic a piano or another instrument directly, I will take the KC5's out of the chain. It would be nice to do a comparison from the section with and without the KC5's.

[ianstone]

if your taping in the section, why do you need kc cables?

for all the reasons louie stated

smaller, more compact, etc

especially when running FOB or clamping on a mic tree with other rigs

[jerryfreak]

interesting that active cables are unbalanced. this is one of the biggest criticisms people have with the cmr setups, but really, weve been using kc5s for years and nobodys noticed an issue.

if the cmrs had a noise problem my preamp-less setup would likely be the first one you'd notice it on due to the low levels, and i certainly have never noticed any sort of rf interference with them.