SP B1 some thoughful help...please?

[bigj]

Hi people, im new in the forums and been lurking around for a bit. I ordered the Large Condenser Mic from Studio Projects "B1"

I was wondering if anyone has bought this mic recently. I ask because when it arrived today, i noticed that the shell of the mic was a lil different from the hundreds of pictures i have seen in online stores and on www.studioprojects.com site.

In what way...for starters the images don't show any type of buttons on the mic...the B3 from SP has the buttons im talking about. This B1 i got has one in the front (im guessing is for lowering the db, just because the extra 2 positions in the button say "-10db" and "-20db") and a 1 in the back (that one has a line going horizontal for the default position and "75" and "150" on the other 2 positions.

The button or switch if you may, is the one i really have no idea of what it does...BTW this is my first and most expensive mic i ever bought.... Since i like to know what everything does even if i dont use it, i wanted to ask if anybody has seen this "B1" with front and back switches and if so...for what the heck are they, specially the one in the back.

Thanks for the replies!!!!

[SRR]

-10dB and -20dB are what you would call pads, for when you are micing a very loud source it helps control the volume when recording. The other switch is a bass roll off switch or HPF (high pass filter). Here you can use it on sources that don't have or that sound better with the bass rolled off.

[bigj]

Originally Posted by SRR

-10dB and -20dB are what you would call pads, for when you are micing a very loud source it helps control the volume when recording. The other switch is a bass roll off switch or HPF (high pass filter). Here you can use it on sources that don't have or that sound better with the bass rolled off.

Thanks SSR...so you just know this from other mics or you have seen the B1 im talking about with switches and stuff? I find it weird when i got it...for a moment i thought they sent the wrong one cuz i knew the B3 had them switches...apparently they have upgraded it or im such a newbie that i didn't know it was that way to begin with...

[scrubs]

Originally Posted by bigj

Thanks SSR...so you just know this from other mics or you have seen the B1 im talking about with switches and stuff? I find it weird when i got it...for a moment i thought they sent the wrong one cuz i knew the B3 had them switches...apparently they have upgraded it or im such a newbie that i didn't know it was that way to begin with...

There have been a couple mentions of this on the board. I'm not sure if SP added these features to the current batch, or what. You might want to shoot an e-mail to Alan Hyatt or Brent Casey at SP just to confirm that they're the real deal.

[Han]

The B1 has a high pass filter and a pad now, the older B1 doesn't have these features.

[bigj]

Han , what gets me is that even on SP's website all the pictures of the B1 are without any switches at all!!! Weird!

BTW: I have the mic plugged in to a M-Audio Firewire Solo, when putting the mic away, do i turn off the phantom power or shut down the pc completely before unpluggin the mic?

Should it be safe if i just turn off the Phantom Power switch? thanks

[Han]

Yesterday I got a newsletter from a gearpimp about the new B1, with images of the switches.

Weird that there's nothing about it on the PM audio website.

[kid klash]

Originally Posted by bigj

Han , what gets me is that even on SP's website all the pictures of the B1 are without any switches at all!!! Weird!

BTW: I have the mic plugged in to a M-Audio Firewire Solo, when putting the mic away, do i turn off the phantom power or shut down the pc completely before unpluggin the mic?

Should it be safe if i just turn off the Phantom Power switch? thanks

Yes - turn off the phantom power before unplugging the mic. Be sure your monitors are turned off before turning off the phantom power, to avoid a loud thump.

[simpleybass]

Yeah, I just ordered a B1 and a B3 direct from PMI Audio, both b-stock items. They both have new controls. I was suprised when I saw them as well.

I think they are nice features to have.

The B3 always had a switch on the front: pattern selector for cardioid, figure eight, or omni. The new switch on the back of the B3 has three settings, the first is -10bD pad, the second is flat, and the third is a bass roll-off, but it does not indicate the frequency.

For certain applications I have used the bass roll-off settings on both mics with good results. I haven't needed to use the pads because I'm not recording very loud sources.

Have fun with that B1, it's awesome for the price. Amazing for recording acoustic guitar!

[bigj]

Im using it to record "Spanish Reggea" vocals. U know, fiddling around me and my daughter. I know you guys are mostly acoustic and "Real music with real instruments", but maybe sometime i will upload a vocal track in the net so you can atleast tell me what im doing right or wrong or maybe something i need to do to the vocal track.

Sounds good?

Im getting a reverb on the vox just because im on the basement and haven't really messed with anything to atleast decrease the room sound. "I'll put up the quilts whenever i find time" lol

[PHILANDDON]

bibj,

the studio projects b1 are GREAT!!. I had a couple and traded them in to go to a more "upscale" mic. The b1's I had had no switches at all. Guess they changed it since then. For the kinda music you're doing I recommend either not engaging the switches at all or rolling off a little bass. (Of course, you could always roll off bass on your DAW once you've recorded).

By the way, one thing I noticed when I had the B1 was that it really benefitted from a bit of brightening during the mastering process. Really made the music come alive.

[bigj]

PHILANDDON, I'm pretty RAW/NEW at this recording thing, I have been recorded in a semi-profesional studio, and have lots of ideas, but the terminology of the mixing/mastering process is not really there.

Therefor, when you say "that it really benefitted from a bit of brightening during the mastering process. " you mean after i have mixed all my vocals and have 1 vocal track i should play with the high freq's in small steps? brightening? did i understood that correctly??

Since we are on the subject...Anybody knows how to "Merge" let's say a few tracks into 1 in Cubase SX3? I have been so spoiled with Acid Pro interface when i wasn't as serious with my music as i am now!

[travelin travis]

select the tracks, file, export, audio mixdown

[bigj]

Doh! Man it was right in my face!!! I feel stupid now...been using that to export the whole project so i can burn it and check how it sounds on different equipment and didn't even think of what you say.

Thanks! I guess then you would import the exported track and delete the track it's replacing, right? by deleting them from the project, that doesn't mean they will be deleted from the Hard Disk? does it!

[travelin travis]

you got it. you might want to save your project before deleting the tracks, just in case.