Technical question for the "geeks" out there. :)

[chessrock]

I've been noticing myself becoming a bigger and bigger fan of very close micing. This is partly due to less-than-ideal room accoustics, and also partly due to personal taste.

For certain vocalists and particularly on drums, I am worried about this becoming a problem when using hotter mics.

I'd like to get myself a mic attenuator to have handy, so as to avoid overloading my (unfortunately) middle-of-the-road preamps.

If this has already been covered, then I apologize, as I haven't had much luck using the search function on this one. Anyway, is there a cheap way of assembling one of these on my own? Is this something that could potentially degrade the audio signal significatly? Should I just wait and get a preamp with greater headroom?

Thanks!

 

[Tom Cram]

Other than the usual -20 dB pad?

Shure makes some in-line pads, is this what you are referring to? Chess, I guess I'm not sure what you mean.

Tom Cram
dbx Senior Technical Support
(801) 568-7530
tcram@dbxpro.com

If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.
-Noam Chomsky-

 

[AlexHerd]

Arn't all of us be geeks?

 

[Mark H.]

Chessrock,

Take a look at the ProCo Max10, Max20 or Max30 in-line attenuators to see if they'll work for you. Also, some companies offer attenuating cables. One issue that comes to mind is whether an in-line attenuator will let you use phantom power -- the Shure A15AS does.

http://www.shure.com/accessories/acc-problemsolvers.html

Mark H.

 

[chessrock]

Thanks Mark, that's what I was looking for.

Just curious, though, if there was an easy schematic where someone could whip one up in their spare time without shelling out the $50.

$50? For something to make your mic QUIETER? That's just outrageous. I may as well just get new mics that come with pads. There's gotta be an easier way to do it.

 

[Cave Dweller]

i close mic just about anything for similar reasons to yours, and have yet to have problems with overloading. however, i have - 30 Db pads on my mixer (allen & heath) and a +20 Db switch on my one and only stand-alone pre (art tube pac). i can handle any signal i have come across with no difficulty. the condensers i mainly use are AKG C391 and C535. i just close (about 3" away)miced a marshall cabinet today with no problem with my C391. the mic does have an attenuator built in, but i have never used it. i did use the attenuator on the 535 one time, but it was live vocals, and the singer's voice was of a massive volume. hope this helps you out a little