Studio projects B1

  • Thread starter Thread starter vactastic
  • Start date Start date
alanhyatt said:
So, anyone with direct questions…fire away :D

Alan Hyatt
PMI Audio Group
Click to expand...

Color codes...explain differences in sound please!

;)
 
Harvey

When you had the audiobuddy open, was you performing a mod of some type, if you were would you like to share that info with us in this thread?
 
No, I didn't take it apart at the time I posted that. That's the way phantom power works; there has to be a set of matched resistors hooked up to pins 2 and 3. But it did get me curious and so I went and dragged it out and looked inside. Pretty nice compact construction, but I'm confused now. Mine has a phantom power on/off switch on the back, labeled "PHAN". So what's the fuss about shutting off phantom power going into a TB-1? Simply turn the phantom power off at the audio buddy.
 
I think he wants run both the AT and the TB-1 through the Audio Buddy...one phantom powered, one not.

Here's another idea: get one of those dedicated phantom power supplies. That way you can turn it off at the Audio Buddy and still give the AT3525 phantom. Quality shouldn't matter too much since that's an electret and probably doesn't need much power.
 
Yeah,I did want to run both mics through the Audio Buddy.I do have other power sources I could run the AT through but I just like the Audio Buddy.The little guy is so quiet,the other phantom power sources I have are a small Behringer mixer,a small Peavy mixer and an Art Toob MP,none of them are a match for my little Buddy.

I think I'll have to take Harvey's first suggestion and take a look inside the power supply for the TB-1.I'm trying to keep my signal chain as clean as possible,from the preamp directly into either my VSR-880 or right into the Audiophile on my computer.If I can't do that I guess I could use the Behringer board going out from an insert for the other channel.Behringer has a bad rep but the little mixers pres are much quieter than the Toob MP's.
 
In that case, why not just make up a special cable for use between the Audio Buddy and the TB-1 PS? Simply put a pair of 10mdf/50V capacitors in series with the wires going to pins 2 and 3 inside the XLR housing.
 
Harvey,I'm not much of an electronics whiz but that sounds very logical to me.I would guess that those capacitors are available at Radio Shack?Excuse my ignorence but when you say in series with the wires going to pins 2 and 3 I'm not exactly sure what you mean.Does that mean to simply install the capacitors "inline" on those two wires?Sorry for being a dumbass(it comes naturally though:D )
 
Yup, real simple. Unsrew the shell of the xlr plug and slide it back about 5 or 6". Unsolder the wire from pin 2. Solder one end of a 10mfd capacitor to pin 2. Solder the wire you just removed to the other end of the capacitor. Do the same thing to pin 3 using another 10mfd capacitor. Keep the capacitor wires kinda short.

Make sure none of the wires can touch each other, or touch the outside shell of the xlr plug, and button it up.

Mark the cable so you don't get it confused with other cables. (It won't hurt anything if you accidently use it with another mic; it just won't pass phantom power to a condenser mic.)
 
Thanks Harvey.That sounds like the ticket for me.Off to Radio Shack this weekend!
 
alanhyatt said:
On each B Series box on the front side up near the top there is a small colored sticker. It is either Red, Black or Green. This 3 micron capsule is different than our 6 micron so we shoot every capsule with a B&K, then code them. So if you need a matched pair, the color dots need to be the same color.
Click to expand...


Alan, is this ONLY true on the B Series ? I purchased a C1 a few months back(sn 13611), I loved it ! (know you hate when that happens) I just ordered another C1 so I would have a matched pair. I do a lot choirs and live events in an XY type micing situation.

I just received the second C1 today(sn 14426). I came in a nice pretty orange and red box with a Green dot. My first C1 didn't come in a pretty box, just the carrying case wrapped in plastic so I don't have any idea what color dot it was coded with. Both are the new style with the 10db pad and bass roll off.

Alan, sorry to hear you have been sick. I use to travel a lot and being on planes a lot especially long international flights is a good way to wear yourself down.

Thanks for all of your help and your dedication to making yourself available in forums like this is an example of "real" customer service. Regardless of what some of the other bozos say about your presense.

Lee
 
Origanally posted by Randy Yell-

"I taped a woman doing "Crazy"by Patsy Cline and the vocals were right there in your face but they were still as smooth as a baby's bottom."

One of my all time favorite songs,you have to post it,pleeeeze!
I promise to say great things about this young ladies voice if you do.

Everyones dying to hear the TB-1 too!

Best to you,
Pete
 
Muzeman,I would love to post the clip I got but just last night the woman was telling me to trash that recording.She hadn't really recorded before and she was very of intimidated by the process.Even for "CRAZY"I had to do some editing as she stopped for like 30 seconds at one point.Also I didn't use a pop filter(I bought one since)and at when she had just started singing there is a big wind blast.It was the only time during the song that I got wind noise but it bugs the hell out of me.

We talked last night and we are going to do a cd of kid's songs for our grandchildren to help her get used to recording.After that I'll try and get her to put a collection of country tunes(she is a big country fan)and I'd like her to do "Crazy"on it.I'm not a big country fan but I do love Patsy Cline,Hank Williams,Johnny Cash and of course my fellow pothead Willie.I'd like to do a sort of "classic"country compilation cd.It will probably take a week or so for the children's songs cd and I will try to post a clip from that so people can hear the mic.When we record "Crazy" I'll post a clip somewhere so you can get a taste.
 
Tube Mikes and Phantom Power

Provided that the TB-1 has a typical output transformer found in a tube mike (i.e. no grounded center tap) the presence of phantom power at the mike input you're plugging it into should pose no problem whatsoever. Every tube mike schematic I've run across shows a transformer secondary with no center tap; the two legs of the xfmr are wired to pins 2 and 3. Phantom power appears equally on pins 2 and 3, so both are at the same DC potential with respect to ground, and since there's no center tap and hence no ground path, no current flows. The transformer, for lack of a better term (coffee hasn't kicked in yet :D ), "floats".

This was one of the reasons the phantom powering system was designed the way it was, so that a non-powered mike would, in effect, not "see" the power at all. Some early ribbon mikes had to be rewired to keep the phantom power from blowing the ribbon, but dynamics and tube condensers are plugged into "hot" phantom-powered consoles and preamps every day. Even "oldsters" like U47's and U67's work fine, as their transformer secondaries "float". Dynamic mikes like the SM57 and SM58 have an output transformer (you can see it by taking the barrel apart) and they're unaffected by the presence of phantom power. Ditto for modern ribbons from, say, Beyer and Royer.

Alan can say for sure whether or not the TB-1 would be affected by phantom power. As modern as its design is it very well shouldn't be. I would be quite amazed if the TB-1 would suffer any effects whatsoever from being plugged into a phantom-powered mike input, or that its transformer had a grounded center-tap in the secondary that would short the preamp's power supply...that would, IMHO, be a very serious design oversight.

TP
 
I Should get my B1 tomorrow, I'll try to post a sample

jason
 
trew said:




The second B1 that I tested has a very slight deficiency in the low-mid to low range when compared to the first one. However, they both have the same "character"...... Is it a coincidence that the one with a scratch is slightly less robust? I don't know.
Click to expand...

What was the color dot on the package of the one that was slightly more robust please? If you can remember which box each came in ;) .

FWIW below I've pasted the exact e-mail reply I recieved from Alan Hyatt when I inquired about the dot's.

"The color codes do not affect the sound, they only categorize the capsules sensitivity ratings, so that you can match up the mics so they record as close as possible. It does not matter if you use any color, the sound is the same, it is just the input sensitivity where you want them to be very close for matched pairs, even though they are not matched exactly, they are within 0.05dB when you get the same color codes".

He had stated in an earlier e-mail to me that the 3 colors were black, blue & red but perhaps the blue was just a mis-statement since he stated earlier in this thread that the 3 colors are black, green & red, also concidering that 'crazydoc ' has stated that he recieved a green dot unit. Unless there are more than 3 colors.
 
knowdoubt said:


What was the color dot on the package of the one that was slightly more robust please? If you can remember which box each came in ;) .
Click to expand...
My mic also has a dot of dark green ink inside the XLR connector - I would think all the mics are marked there to have corresponding code dots put on their boxes.
knowdoubt said:
FWIW below I've pasted the exact e-mail reply I recieved from Alan Hyatt when I inquired about the dot's.

"The color codes do not affect the sound, they only categorize the capsules sensitivity ratings, so that you can match up the mics so they record as close as possible. It does not matter if you use any color, the sound is the same, it is just the input sensitivity where you want them to be very close for matched pairs, even though they are not matched exactly, they are within 0.05dB when you get the same color codes".

He had stated in an earlier e-mail to me that the 3 colors were black, blue & red but perhaps the blue was just a mis-statement since he stated earlier in this thread that the 3 colors are black, green & red, also concidering that 'crazydoc ' has stated that he recieved a green dot unit. Unless there are more than 3 colors.
Click to expand...

Thanks for clarifying it. I was worried about the lack of a green color code.

So my understanding is that the capsules are matched for sensitivity, and then all similar ones within the above specs are given the same arbitrary color.

So I guess what we are wondering is which color corresponds to the most sensitive capsule?
 
Thanks for the info, guys. I think the likely answer is that you will find tonal differences among a group of B1's, but they just aren't testing to match response. I don't think you could expect that sort of QC at this price, but if I was getting a stereo pair, I would want to listen to several mics with matching "dots" and pick the best sounding/matching pair.

I would also guess that differences in sensitivity/output level are more due to electronics rather than the capsule. The different color dots might even represent different hardware revisions.

BTW, where has Alan been? He's missing out on some marketing opportunities here... ;)
 
Alan is not posting here anymore. He got tired of getting harrassed everytime he made a post.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top