C
CyanJaguar
New member
for those interested in this pre,
I just saw this post by David Satz on R.A.P
==================================
M Audio recently sent me a unit to play with. It does
have proper 48 Volt phantom powering as far as I tested,
which was with ca. 4.5 mA current drain per channel, both
channels active simultaneously.
According to the IEC standard 10 mA should be available
per channel. I didn't attempt to verify that, and some
microphones do need more current than my Schoeps CMCs--
for example, CAD Equitek and certain Earthworks mikes.
Thus your mileage may conceivably vary.
Apart from the marginal phantom powering in the DMP2, my main
gripes had been with its poor overload margins and the near
uselessness of its overload indicator. Those have both been
greatly improved in the DMP3. The DMP3 has a pushbutton
control for each channel which reduces its overall gain by
about 27 dB. With that button in, even a 2 Volt signal won't
overload the mike inputs--nor is there the risk of first-stage
overload occurring without the "Clip" LED being triggered.
I measured the unit's frequency response only within the
audio band. It was less than 1/2 dB down at 30 Hz, and
about +/- 0.1 dB the rest of the way from 50 to 20,000 Hz.
The signal polarity from input to output is correct. And
the balanced output circuit is symmetrical, delivering the
same voltage (in opposite polarity, of course) on the two
modulation leads for each channel.
So all in all, it seems to be designed much better than its
predecessor for live recording with modern studio condenser
microphones. I got good-sounding results from my DMP2, but
I had to pad its inputs 20 or 30 dB to record opera singers
at close range with condenser microphones. Now I'm looking
forward to trying the DMP3 on a real recording "with the
gloves off."
Another new feature is the pair of small, illuminated level
meters which display the output voltage of the two channels
(0 dB = ca. +12 dBu out). They could be helpful when lining
up the level settings prior to a recording, if you bring
along a tone generator as I usually do. Most A/D converters
and CD or DAT recorders have some type of level indicator
that's usable on steady tones, but often the metering is
digital and has coarse indications and/or is misleading
(e.g. the meters in Sony DAT Walkman units which under-read
peak levels by as much as 5 dB sometimes). So this is good.
The one thing I'd quibble with is that the outputs are on
1/4" phone jacks instead of XLRs. However, for people who
have to connect to unbalanced equipment often, I suppose the
phone jacks make life as much easier as they make life harder
for people like me. Also, the phone jack next to each input
XLR socket is the direct (musical instrument) input for that
channel, not the output; that may not be the layout that
everyone would expect at first glance.
Any other questions?
--best regards
I just saw this post by David Satz on R.A.P
==================================
M Audio recently sent me a unit to play with. It does
have proper 48 Volt phantom powering as far as I tested,
which was with ca. 4.5 mA current drain per channel, both
channels active simultaneously.
According to the IEC standard 10 mA should be available
per channel. I didn't attempt to verify that, and some
microphones do need more current than my Schoeps CMCs--
for example, CAD Equitek and certain Earthworks mikes.
Thus your mileage may conceivably vary.
Apart from the marginal phantom powering in the DMP2, my main
gripes had been with its poor overload margins and the near
uselessness of its overload indicator. Those have both been
greatly improved in the DMP3. The DMP3 has a pushbutton
control for each channel which reduces its overall gain by
about 27 dB. With that button in, even a 2 Volt signal won't
overload the mike inputs--nor is there the risk of first-stage
overload occurring without the "Clip" LED being triggered.
I measured the unit's frequency response only within the
audio band. It was less than 1/2 dB down at 30 Hz, and
about +/- 0.1 dB the rest of the way from 50 to 20,000 Hz.
The signal polarity from input to output is correct. And
the balanced output circuit is symmetrical, delivering the
same voltage (in opposite polarity, of course) on the two
modulation leads for each channel.
So all in all, it seems to be designed much better than its
predecessor for live recording with modern studio condenser
microphones. I got good-sounding results from my DMP2, but
I had to pad its inputs 20 or 30 dB to record opera singers
at close range with condenser microphones. Now I'm looking
forward to trying the DMP3 on a real recording "with the
gloves off."
Another new feature is the pair of small, illuminated level
meters which display the output voltage of the two channels
(0 dB = ca. +12 dBu out). They could be helpful when lining
up the level settings prior to a recording, if you bring
along a tone generator as I usually do. Most A/D converters
and CD or DAT recorders have some type of level indicator
that's usable on steady tones, but often the metering is
digital and has coarse indications and/or is misleading
(e.g. the meters in Sony DAT Walkman units which under-read
peak levels by as much as 5 dB sometimes). So this is good.
The one thing I'd quibble with is that the outputs are on
1/4" phone jacks instead of XLRs. However, for people who
have to connect to unbalanced equipment often, I suppose the
phone jacks make life as much easier as they make life harder
for people like me. Also, the phone jack next to each input
XLR socket is the direct (musical instrument) input for that
channel, not the output; that may not be the layout that
everyone would expect at first glance.
Any other questions?
--best regards