Interpeting microphone sensitivity spec's..

[BillnShell]

I'm wondering how to understand a comparison of different sensitivity ratings on mic's. Does a lower number mean the mic produces a lower output for a given input, etc?

Thanx,

Bill

[Son of Mixerman]

Go to the microphone forum and look for a sticky referring to the big thread. It will answer all of your questions.

SoMm

[BillnShell]

Darn,

I've read that through twice, guess I missed it.. The great thing is reading it again is always a good thing

Bill

[mshilarious]

Originally Posted by BillnShell

Darn,

I've read that through twice, guess I missed it.. The great thing is reading it again is always a good thing

Bill

Well I'll cheat and tell you. Those numbers are negative, like -54dBV for example. A lower number is more negative, like -58dBV, meaning it is 4dB quieter at a given source SPL--usually 94dBSPL, or 1 Pascal. Sometimes, especially in old specs, they used 74dBSPL, or 0.1 Pa, so be sure to compare apples to apples.

Here's more:

http://www.shure.com/support/technot...sensitive.html

Note even though Shure says they use 74dBSPL, they lie Actually it's probably an old article; all their current mic manuals I've read are all 94dBSPL.

[BillnShell]

Thanx MSHilarious for the reply and link.

I have 2 mic's, a Rode NT1 and an ADK A-51V that I bought recently. Before I bought the ADK I thought there was something wrong with the Rode, because I have to turn my mixer's channel gain to around 2 o'clock in order to see 2 or 3 led's lite up on the main mix display while speaking into the mic in a normal voice, 6" away ( channel fader at 0, channel EQ's at 12 o'clock, main mix faders at 0 ) . I can go higher on the channel gain, but figured I should be seeing the display closer to yellow..

As it turns out, the ADK has similar results, so it's not the mic's. OK now, don't laugh too hard.. the mixer is a Behringer MX1604A. I'm guessing the B's pre doesn't have enough gain to get the meters into the yellow at my gain setting, right? going much higher than 2 o'clock on the channel gain brings in some background noise, some of which very possibly is my room, but a good portion IMHO is from the gear ( Behringer? ).
Would a pre amp before the mixer solve my problem?

Many thanx,

Bill

[mshilarious]

I don't think you necessarily have a problem. A normal talking voice is going to be about 74dBSPL--much quieter than a singing voice, so in that test you will need more gain than normal. If turning the gain up more gets you noise, yes I would suspect your room. Rooms are noisy, and those are sensitive mics. The Behri doesn't have the greatest pres ever, they probably are a little noisy, but you shouldn't notice that with a condenser mic as much as you would a dynamic.

[BillnShell]

Well now, that makes sense.. Thanx!

Bill