bottom of snare polarity flip question

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andyhix

andyhix

:dank:
If I were to mic the bottom of the snare, I'd want to flip the polarity or whatever of that mic, correct? Am I remembering correctly that I can rewire an existing XLR to XLR cable to accomplish this? Can someone remind me which wires get moved to where? I know this is here somewhere, but I struck out with the search function.
 
You can make an XLR polarity flipping cable by wiring pin 2 to pin 3 and vice versa.

But you can also just flip polarity in your DAW, or possibly on your mixer, if it has a polarity button.

Also, it can sound good to not flip the polarity on the bottom mic. You should try both ways, and use whichever sounds the best to your ears.
 
Also, remember if you rewire a cable to only rewire it at one end and label it well. I reccomend rewiring at the male xlr end.
 
well, I was really hoping to just buy the parts at rat shack and build a few new cables, including a really short (like 1') "reverse polarity jumper", but the stupid store had nothing. No cable. No connectors. Nothing. I really hate that store.

Thanks for the tips guys. I think I got it now. Just a matter of deciding whether to hack up a good existing cable or order parts and build from scratch.
 
Does your recording program not have a polarity reverse on its channels? BTW, some time you might want to flip the top mic verses the bottom one. Do it in your recording program you will have many more options.
 
SRR said:
Does your recording program not have a polarity reverse on its channels? BTW, some time you might want to flip the top mic verses the bottom one. Do it in your recording program you will have many more options.
Click to expand...
It does. But I thought if it was determined (after trying both ways) that reverse polarity was the way to go (whether for snare or anything else for that matter - back of amp, etc.), it would be easier to just set it up with the special cable and forget it. Just one less thing to have to remember.

FWIW, I'm thinking about micing ONLY the bottom, as the OHs pick up the top pretty well, but I'm not getting enough snare rattle sound. Also I might try micing the side/shell too. I'll be tracking drums sunday, so I'll be trying the different options then.
 
It does. But I thought if it was determined (after trying both ways) that reverse polarity was the way to go (whether for snare or anything else for that matter - back of amp, etc.), it would be easier to just set it up with the special cable and forget it. Just one less thing to have to remember.
Click to expand...

yea, but then you're stuck with the polarity that the cable gives you...unless you of course just click the phase reverse button, in which case you ended up reverse-wiring an XLR jack in order to get out of something you still have to do
 
I rarely flip polarity while recording. I can see doing it if you have limited inputs and are bussing the top and bottom mics together (as many engineers do on analogue tape, or when you have a full band to record, and limited inputs.)

Also, keep in mind that putting very short delays on mics can do a lot to correct phase shift. The delay is about 1 millisecond per foot, so, you'd need a delay that would allow you to experiment in the .25-2 millisecond range...
 
Just so you know...

The other hidden agenda with this project was to hone my otherwise lame ass soldering chops. I did complete this project, and now I have a little 1' XLR to XLR cable with reversed polarity that I'm fairly proud of (never tried this type of thing b4). Couldn't have been done with out the "helping hand" gizmo though. (I know this cuz I tried w/o it, and ended up with shitty cold solder joints, shorts, and all sorts of problems). So anyway, whether I use it or not, I now know I can repair a busted solder joint in a pinch, a skill which all of us should have in our arsenal.
 
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