Bought and Returned a Brick

  • Thread starter Thread starter tkingen
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tkingen

tkingen

Djembes Rock
Picked up a Brick this evening and gave it a test drive. Wired a TLM103 into the Brick, and the Brick into a Delta 1010. With the gain knob at zero, I was pushing the meters in Sonar4 into the red with normal speech. My wife tried singing...we had to place the mic about 3 feet away...it was still redlining. Out of curiosity I started playing with the gain knob. It had no effect until about 3/4 of the way up and then it jumped BIG.
Thinking that maybe it was a defective unit I jumped in the car to exchange it. This time I tried the new one in the store. It reacted the same way. So, I got my money back.
Damn!

Terry
 
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Uhh... Well, it works great for me... I can put it into the line ins in the firepod or the direct line and in both situations I never have clipping. In fact if I ever have a problem, its with not having enough gain using it for a bass DI. (I record with gain 75% - 100% of the way up on the brick for vocals... no clipping ever)
 
Yeah, that is unusual. If anything, the brick is not as hot as a lot of pres (only +55dB). I think the gain is +25db with the knob at zero, though. How were you connecting it to the 1010 (or 1010lt?)? If you have the LT and connected it via XLR-XLR, you might be getting additional gain from the card's built-in preamp. I've noticed that when running it through my Tascam US-122. If I go in through the XLR (even with the Tascam's gain at 0), I get additional boost from the Tascam preamp, which makes it too hot. However, if I connect via the 1/4" TRS (via XLR-TRS cable), I don't get the additional boost and the gain is just fine. I don't know, just guessing.
 
Agreed, that doesn't sound right. Sure you had the output of the Brick patched to a line in input as oppossed to a mic in input?
 
Yes, that sounds like the Brick was plugged into another preamp. However, apparently the problem still occurred at the store, which is the part I don't understand.
 
Even on the regular 1010 you have a switch near each input for -10 / +4 input, maybe you had it set at too sensitive an input.
Terry,
I was sure hoping for adifferent review than that. Your set up is similar to mine, and I have also been interested in the Brick. I was waiting for you to be my guinea pig.

Tom
 
Hey Guys,

My Delta 1010 is the one with the breakout box, not the LT version. After posting the review last night I checked the input that the Brick was plugged into and it was set at +4. Obviously, it wouldn't have been as hot at -10...wish I would've thought of that before returning it. Still, isn't +4 what "pro" gear should be set at? My ATC-2 and Tampa's are set at +4, as was the DMP3 that tmix recently purchased from me. Never a problem.
In the store the sales guy plugged another brick into the mic input of a Mackie Onyx for testing. The Onyx gain was at unity. The gain knob on the Brick still acted the same.
So, I don't know. I'm happy for all you guys that are finding success with the Brick. Do you have your inputs set at -10 or +4?

Terry
 
tkingen said:
Hey Guys,

My Delta 1010 is the one with the breakout box, not the LT version. After posting the review last night I checked the input that the Brick was plugged into and it was set at +4. Obviously, it wouldn't have been as hot at -10...
Click to expand...

No, it would be hotter (in dBFS) at -10, since the 1010 would be expecting a quieter signal. If you had it set at +4 and it was still too hot :confused:
 
Both the Brick and the ditto have a really touchy, mild pain-in-the-ass gain knob. I'm assuming this is one of the compromizes one has to accept for something that good that sells for that cheap.
 
tkingen said:
In the store the sales guy plugged another brick into the mic input of a Mackie Onyx for testing. The Onyx gain was at unity. The gain knob on the Brick still acted the same.
Click to expand...
Well there's your problem with the in-store test. Looks like the salesman doesn't know a damn thing about what he's doing. He plugged the mic into a preamp (the brick) and then plugged that into yet another preamp (the mic input on the Mackie). No wonder it was redlining the meters...
 
Just what I was gonna say. You want to go from the Brick into the Line In of the soundcard, NOT the Mic Input.
 
It works best if you plug into the mic into a PA, then go out of the speaker jack into the brick, then of course into the mic input on the mackie and out to the recorder.



just kidding, obviously. DO NOT DO THAT. (for any newbies that might not know better.)
 
Isn't the TLM103 unusual in that its output is so hot that it can sometimes be used without a preamp?

Tim
 
Hey guys,

Like you, I wasn't impressed with shoving the cable from the Brick into the Onyx. But, in the salesman's defense, he did it for the sake of convenience and made sure the Onyx was at unity. Basically, it was a pass through so that he didn't have to climb around to the back of his display racks to plug the Brick in.
The main thing he was surprised about was the behavior of the gain knob...loud until 3/4 up, and then REALLY LOUD!!!!!!!!
I may just start saving up for a Sebatron :)
 
Tim,

The TLM103 does still needs a pre with phantom power.

Terry

Timothy Lawler said:
Isn't the TLM103 unusual in that its output is so hot that it can sometimes be used without a preamp?

Tim
Click to expand...
 
tmix said:
Even on the regular 1010 you have a switch near each input for -10 / +4 input, maybe you had it set at too sensitive an input.
Terry,
I was sure hoping for adifferent review than that. Your set up is similar to mine, and I have also been interested in the Brick. I was waiting for you to be my guinea pig.

Tom
Click to expand...

Glad I could be of service! I was hoping for a different outcome, too :(
 
In the brick's defense... anyone interested in it, try it out for yourself before denying it's sweetness over a mistake.
 
The TLM103 does still needs a pre with phantom power.
Click to expand...

What I meant about the TLM103 was just that it's not uncommon for it to overload the input of a pre. Simple solution would be to use an in-line pad to attenuate the signal voltage. And to keep the phantom level unaffected, just use an external phantom power supply.

Point is though that the TLM103/Brick mismatch might not be a relevant problem to most users of the pre.

Tim
 
Timothy Lawler said:
Isn't the TLM103 unusual in that its output is so hot that it can sometimes be used without a preamp?

Tim
Click to expand...


The 103 has a med/high output, but nothing like the M149. That puppy can be plugged right into a DI or line input.
 
Time to Insert Foot in Mouth and Eat Crow

Strave said:
In the brick's defense... anyone interested in it, try it out for yourself before denying it's sweetness over a mistake.
Click to expand...

Well, I DID make a mistake. This evening I fired up a flashlight and crawled in the back of my rack to check the settings on the Delta1010. The input that I was using for the Brick test was set at the -10 setting rather than +4. That explains the massive gain problem. At one time another piece of gear was plugged into it that required -10 and I neglected to change it back afterward.
Apologies for spreading half baked rumor and untruth. I screwed up. Now I'll have to give the Brick a try again, but in a little more "intelligent" fashion.

Terry
 
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