AT933 setup and bass rolloff ?'s

[caymanreview]

just got a set of at933's and have a few questions

how will i need to place these to tape, il be in a small bar here locally for a jamband

and i dont have any idea how the bass rolloff box works

there are 2 different things with 4 switches per side

can anyone explain the at bass rolloff box to me?

[blu666z]

I bet we have the same box.  You should have a sheet that shows you what dip switches to flip to set it to different roll-off levels.  The 2 banks are left and right.  I normally run mine at 69Hz unless the room has real shitty acoustic and then I will bump it up to 95Hz.  Don't remember ever running it anywhere above or below those levels.  If you can not find the 'legend' for the settings, let me know and I can send you what I have.  Do you have a SP-SPSB-7?

-Kevin

[caymanreview]

i think my box is the SP-SPSB-1, but i cant find any info on the SP-SPSB-7, whats the difference?

i dont have any of the info on them, i got them used today and all the was in the package was the mics, 3 sets of caps and the battery box

[blu666z]

Mine has a stereo level control.  I am in the middle of a conversion, I will post the settings later tonite.

-Kevin

[Brian Skalinder]

Hey Dustin --  there should be a small legend taped to the outside of the battery box listing which jumper settings apply to which rolloffs.  Shipped, it should be set for effectively no rolloff (basically so low it doesn't have an impact).

Orient the box like this, where each group of Xs are the jumpers themselves, the first group of four is the left channel, the second group of four the right channel:


|--------------|
|               |
|   XXXX  XXXX   |
|               |
|               |
|               |
|               |
|               |
|               |
|               |
|               |
|               |
|--------------|


The jumpers in this perspective can either be flipped "up" (0), or "down", 1.  Now look at the legend.  Flipping the jumpers to match the legend should give you a particular rolloff.

For example, let's say the legend for a 95Hz rolloff looks like this:

0011

This means the jumpers in the above diagram would look like this:

First jumper flipped "up".
Second jumper flipped "up".
Third jumper flipped "down".
Fourth jumper flipped "down"

Does this make any sense?  lol  I think I'm confusing myself.  Give me a call if this is too confusing in my crappy post and we'll work through it so it makes sense.

Brian
330-338-4363

More to follow about setting up the mics for your show on Sat...

[zhianosatch]

Nice job, Brian...

[blu666z]

I had to use a label maker to put my settings inside the box.  Numbers are the switch that should be set to 1/Open/Down for that level.

16Hz: 2,3,4
69Hz: 1,4
95Hz: 1,3
107Hz: 1,3,4
160Hz: 1,2
195Hz: 1,2,4
888Hz: 1,2,3

Hope that helps and your settings should be the same as mine.

-Kevin

[caymanreview]

the guide is on the box and i understand that i think

so basically, brian, you said i wont actually need to use the rolloff for the show?

should i use the rolloff on off and use it to power the mics and go line in

or use the plug in power on my M1 to power the mics alone?

if im going to use the box to power the mics, how do i set it to not have any rolloff, all of them closed?

thanks for the help everyone

[blu666z]

Just for my own curiosity are the settings the same?

-Kevin

[caymanreview]

also, one more ?...

would i be better of with the card or hyper caps?

its a small room, maybe 100-125 capacity at max, and will be fairly loud im assuming, alot of drunks yelling most likely since its at a bar

i can set up my mics real close, but il check out the room and figure out where the best location will be

i dont have a stand, so im going to constuct sometghing to use once i get in there and check out the place tomorrow afternoon before the show at 9pm. itys been a few years since ive been there

[Brian Skalinder]

so basically, brian, you said i wont actually need to use the rolloff for the show?

Without knowing the venue, the sound system, the band, and the sound engineer, I can't make a call one way or the other.  One thing I do know:  if you use the bass rolloff and it removes too much of the bass, you can't get it back.  If you don't use the bass rolloff and it's too bass-heavy, you can always roll it off in post-processing.  I'd err on the side of no rolloff.

should i use the rolloff on off and use it to power the mics and go line in or use the plug in power on my M1 to power the mics alone?

if im going to use the box to power the mics, how do i set it to not have any rolloff, all of them closed?

I would use the battery box to power the mics, with no rolloff, line-in.  "No rolloff" in this case means the lowest rolloff available on the settings, which I think is 16Hz.  The mics have a range only down to 20Hz.  So, since you're rolling off at a point lower than the mics can actually capture, it's the same as no rolloff.

would i be better of with the card or hyper caps?

Same answer as the question about whether to use rolloff or not.  Try cards one set, hypers another - it'll give you an initial feel for how each set sounds in the circumstances under which you'll be recording.

Experiment, try things out - I think this is part of the fun.  Keep in mind:  not every tape is going to be perfect, so you might as well have fun trying things out - rolloff levels, caps, mic config and location, etc. - to see which works best for you in particular venues, with particular bands, etc.

[caymanreview]

thanks for the help guys

the show is at 9pm today and the soundcheck is around 2-3, and il be allowed to tape that and then check out what is souns like before the show, il probably do some of the soundcheck with hypers and part with cards and decide then what il use for the show

[Brian Skalinder]

Have fun!!  

[ducati]

Every show is a learning experience...  When I'm testing new equipment or mic configs, I like to try different things each set (for bands that play more than one set).  It really helps you learn your rig.  As Brian said, there's never "one answer," the fun is finding "the best answer"

[caymanreview]

well i got some good news today about the show, they moved it from that small crappy bar to a larger place in a country club here locally, we are expecting in excess of 250 people now, should be fun

thanks for the help everyone