Switches on AT4040

O

oboedrew

New member
Hello, everyone. I'm new here, and relatively new to recording too, so I hope you'll bear with me and answer a couple of laughably newbie-ish questions about the AT4040 mic. It has a switchable 80 Hz hi-pass filter and 10 dB pad. Can somebody explain what exactly all that means? What do these switches do, and which way is on/off?

Thanks,
Drew
 
there is no on or off....if you switch the pad to the -10db side...you cut the signal by....you guessed it 10db...do this when you are recording really loud sources...

the other switch is the low cut...by setting it to the side OPPOSITE of the flat line, you will cut the low end from the source you are recording...
 
Contrary to the belief of a lot of people, the -10db pad is in fact a necessary switch. One time a guy asked me: why do mics have a pad on it, if i can use the pad on the pre-amp?, well the thing is this, condenser mics actually have an amplifier in it, think of it as a pre-pre-amp, the pad is between the capsule and this amplifier, so when you are recording a high SPL signal you may use the pad to avoid saturation of this internal amplifier, if the internal mic amplifier is saturated and you only use the pad on the pre-amp you may be padding an already saturated signal.
 
Thanks for the answers so far. And now a couple more questions:

Just how loud is loud enough to call for the -10db pad? Should it ALWAYS be switched on? If so, why is there a switch at all? Why not just build it into the mic? I'm an oboist, so I'm wondering specifically if I need it for recording the oboe at a distance of 2-4 feet from the mic. If unsure, would I be better off using it just to be safe, and then turning up the gain on my audio interface?

As for the low cut switch, would it have any effect recording a treble instrument like the oboe? Just how low of frequencies does it eliminate? And does it eliminate them completely, or just reduce their volume? Would it have any effect on the actual sound of the oboe? Or would it perhaps be useful for minimizing background noise and hum and such?

Thanks again for any tips you have!

Cheers,
Drew
 
you won't need the pad for your oboe

as for the hi-pass i would experiment with it. often i find it isn't really dependent on the actual material being recorded so much as it is the space that is being recorded in. as home recordists we are rarely going to have perfect spaces and the hi-pass on the mic can help if you are getting wierd sounds in the low end. otherwise leave it and EQ later.
 
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