New mic/hot signal - bal/unbal question

[sugarbee]

Hi,

I recently upgraded from the C1000s/ART-pre class of mics, to an ADK TC and ADK preamp - solid state with Jensen transformer.
I'm going into at m-audio Delta 1010, and then into Cubase. The 1010 has 1/4 inch balanced or unbalanced in's, with buttons for -6/+4dB.

I've had nice results testing with instruments and voice, but am having trouble recording Didgeridoo. I play pretty percussively, and even with the Gain turned all the way down on the preamp, I still am clipping the signal. I'm using a balanced cable from the preamp to the 1010 (XLR to TRS)

On voice and acoustic guitar, I like the preamp Gain turned up about halfway. It's seems to sound much better to my ears, but I'm not technical enough to know if that's just me "thinking" it sounds better using more Gain on the pre, or if it is really totally transparent, regardless of the Gain setting. (is there really a difference or am I just thinking there is?)

Anyway, my main questions are: If I get an unbalanced cable (XLR to 1/4 TS), will that bring the signal down a bit so I can "not" clip and even add a bit of Gain on the preamp? And if so, are there any cons to doing that (signal/quality loss?) It's only going to be a 6-10 foot cable.

The buttons on the 1010 didn't seem to matter which position they were in with the balanced cable, maybe the signal was too high for me to notice, but I think that would also give me an option as well, since I think it's just a pad, but I assume I should use the -6dB setting if it's cool to use the unbalanced cable. Thanks in advance to those who know much more than I do about this stuff.

 

[mshilarious]

I've had nice results testing with instruments and voice, but am having trouble recording Didgeridoo. I play pretty percussively, and even with the Gain turned all the way down on the preamp, I still am clipping the signal. I'm using a balanced cable from the preamp to the 1010 (XLR to TRS)

This is got to be a mic positioning problem. I'm guessing the mic is getting air blasts from the horn of the didge. Get the mic off axis to the didge, and back.

On voice and acoustic guitar, I like the preamp Gain turned up about halfway. It's seems to sound much better to my ears, but I'm not technical enough to know if that's just me "thinking" it sounds better using more Gain on the pre, or if it is really totally transparent, regardless of the Gain setting. (is there really a difference or am I just thinking there is?)

There may be a difference, and that might be the right setting, but it isn't proper procedure for gain staging.

If your preamp is +4 balanced out, then set the 1010 to +4, and set the gain where it needs to be so peaks don't clip in your software, with the software faders at unity (zero). Don't push it; shoot for -6dBFS to give yourself some cushion.

I wouldn't try to solve your problem with cables. If you have a source that still clips at minimum gain, use a less sensitive mic, the pad on the pre or mic (if it has one), or buy an inline pad.

 

[sugarbee]

Thanks for the info mshilarious... I'll play with the mic positioning. Maybe I was confused about what the "good" in a good preamp means, at least in terms of how much Gain is turned up on the pre. I figure I liked the response I got from the vocals and acoustic guitar with the Gain up about halfway, was because I actually did do proper gain staging on those, but obviously NOT on the didge.

So, in complete non-technical terms, in a good solid state preamp with a good transformer, should the Gain seeting be mostly transparent as far as the color of the sound, and be purely for raising the output level to match a 0dB or unity setting on what is next in the chain? I know different transformers in preamps can affect the tone (more bass response, brightness, etc) but wasn't sure if the Gain setting had much effect on what the transformer did to the signal. Or if the Gain simply just amplified the input signal more, and whatever magic that a particular transformer has, is always going to be there, regardless of what the gain setting is.

Hopefully this isn't too basic for this forum or in the wrong place, seemed like the right area.