Mic Pads?

[BurnBarfield]

I always tend to overload my MXL603s as overheads when recording drums. Neither of my pres have pads, DMP3 and Soundcraft 10. So what should I get for a pad? Should I get a cheap pre with a pad like the BLUETUBE? I have about two hundred to spend. Well, I just got offered a TwinTrak Pro for 300... Does it have pads?

[Henri Devill]

Get a couple of "inline" pads..You can also get "variable" pads I have one and I think it was like 30 or 40 bucks..Good luck

[Scottgman]

I think the Shure A15AS are what Henry is suggesting. They work great. You can find them on Ebay every now and then. I got three of them off Ebay for about $40. But it took a couple months of watching for them.

I was having the exact same problem with my DMP3 and 603s. These inline pads solved the problem. I recently got an RNP and have been using it for OHs without needing any pads.

These Shure attenuators are kind of clunky sticking out the back of the preamp and make the footprint larger. You may want to use two XLR cables and stick the attenuator in the middle.

[tollbooth]

had a feeling that studiospares (www.studiospares.com) in the UK used to do a handy little XLR based -20dB pad that you just switched in when needed.

the same company used to make a really handy little in-line XLR preamp as well which was very cool to have around for mobile jobs.

i'll try and check if they still do it.

can't get my head round whether there are any consequences of doing this in-line - i guess not - i often find myself mixing whether i do it at the mic or the pre - usually dependent on what the source is and how bad the clipping is.

i'll see what i can find out

regs

paul d

[tollbooth]

hey there

was thinking about this earlier while in the studio and suddenly looked at my Behringer DI100 DI boxes and thought - 'hang on - these have a perfectly good 20dB attenuation switch!'

i've used it in the past and it works quite cleanly.

sorry i didn't think of it earlier