DAT-heads Digest #662, Volume #7 Sun, 13 Nov 05 10:50:01 EST Contents: FT: Depeche Mode - 11/11/05 - Denver, CO ("popflier") Looking For An Old Friend (David Cipriano) (in need of) mixer recommendations (Kayvon Bahramian) How to use a preamp (Adam Smith) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "popflier" Subject: FT: Depeche Mode - 11/11/05 - Denver, CO Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2005 11:54:51 -0700 I taped the Depeche Mode show in Denver last night. Equipment: OKMIIr > A3 battery box > M1 I am looking for any non-torrented/uncirculated U2 2005 Vertigo shows. Please contact me here if interested: nico@popflier.com Thanks... ------------------------------ From: David Cipriano Subject: Looking For An Old Friend Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2005 11:06:27 -0800 I'm looking for an old friend of mine. I moved out of town, and we lost touch. I'd love to be able to contact him again! I know this is a long shot, but he used to be a taper years ago. So it's possible he might read this newsletter... Or someone who knows him might read it. My friend's name is Mike Eisenstein, and when I last saw him he lived in Bethesda, Maryland. He used to tape Grateful Dead concerts and other bands too... If anyone who knows Mike reads this, would please ask him to get in touch with me? It would be great to hear from him! Thank you! - David Cipriano ------------------------------ From: Kayvon Bahramian Subject: (in need of) mixer recommendations Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2005 17:55:30 -0800 (PST) I am in somewhat urgent need of mixer recommendations. I am responsible for setting up the recording equipment for a national oral history project. We have four recording booths, two in New York, and two in retro-fitted Airstream trailers that travel the country. We have been using Mackies (1202 VLZ) in all of our booths, with unsatisfactory results. Unfortunately, that was all our budget would allow for at the time of purchase. We are now ready to upgrade. Each booth is outfitted with three microphones on three channels (on the Mackie, the fourth channel is not used). Our stationary booths have Neumann TLM 103s and 127s. The mobile booths have Neumann KMS105s. We typically record for 6-8 hours a day, six days a week. We record only conversation level spoken word in sound insulated booths. We don't EQ at all. We sometimes use the low frequency filter to cut out rumbling trucks, airplanes, etc. Because of the volume of interviews, post-production filtering/compression/EQ'ing is not possible. The people working in the booths that record the interviews (called facilitators) are not hired for their technical expertise. The Mackie is simple and has levels that are relatively easy to read. Other than it's price, it doesn't have much going for it. We are looking for a mixer that is durable, user-friendly (i.e. levels easy to read), will help us get more out of our mics (quality pre-amps), and less than $2500. Obviously, it needs to have at least three channels. If it can sit on a table top that's great. If it must be rack mounted, then we would need some type of remote to adjust levels during the recording (if such a thing exists), as the facilitators can't reach the rack from where they sit. Any help would be greatly appreciated. The sooner the better. Thanks. Kayvon __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: Adam Smith Subject: How to use a preamp Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2005 18:21:52 -0800 I don't agree with the previous post on how to connect your pre amp and recorder. With analog pre amps like the V2 or the SX-M2 you want the signal as close to 0db as possible without clipping. This will give you the best signal to noise ratio. If you have the gain of the DAP1 set to 10, you most likely will be decreasing the gain of your pre amp past the optimum level and that will effect your s/n ratio. The best way to calibrate your pre amp to recorder is using a tone source. A tone generator if you can find one or from a CD or off the web. Set up your mic's, pre amp and deck close to a speaker. Play the tone through the speaker. Set the pre amp to 0db then set the recorder gain to 0db. I'm not 100% sure about the rca inputs either. I was always told a balanced line was the preferred connection method in most cases. Less chances of noise or hum. Perhaps you could explain further how the rca inputs of the DAP give you a cleaner sound and more headroom. I'd have to look at the schematic and signal path to see where it goes but my guess is the line level switch will bypass the mic pre amps and send the signal through an attenuator to the same gain stage. That's just a guess. As far as phantom powering goes it is just that. A potential that exists between a mic and the pre amp. It is there if you need it and not if you don't. It is switched off when using line and would not be part of the signal path anyway. Sometime I'll try doing a A/B test recording using the rca and XLR inputs and see what I can come up with. Adam ------------------------------ ** FOR YOUR REFERENCE ** To unsubscribe from this digest, please send email to dat-heads-unsubscribe@datheads.phish.net If your email address has changed, you may (optionally) send the message to dat-heads-unsubscribe-oldaddress=olddomain@datheads.phish.net and the old address will be removed. 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