universal audio 2-610 question.

  • Thread starter Thread starter xfinsterx
  • Start date Start date
X

xfinsterx

New member
i recently picked up this 2-610 and im a little confused on how to get the "mic input" to not be so damned noisy. the "line input" is rad, and its probabaly what most cats like it for, but theres gotta be SOMETHING cool about these mic inputs. any tips?
 
are you employing proper gain staging? it shouldnt be loud if your input gain is low.
 
well the stage is this, mic, to 2610 mic in, then to digi 002.

but im tellin ya the noise floor is JUST high, it seems like its just useless.

peace
 
xfinsterx said:
but im tellin ya the noise floor is JUST high, it seems like its just useless.
Click to expand...


You aren't alone in this observation.
 
The SNR is listed as "greater then 82db". That's about as good as a good casette deck. Most crappy CD players can do around 90db.
 
Just for a sanity check, is it possible you're hearing room ambience like a heater or refrigerator? I don't know your experience level, so forgive me if I'm way off base.
 
NOPE NO HEATERS OR FRIDGES IN MY CONTROL ROOM THERE GUY.
:rolleyes:
 
You didn't say you were recording in your control room. And I sincerely doubt there are "no heaters" in your control room. Do you record in a barn? That can't be good for your gear.

Anyway, like I said, I didn't know your experience level so I thought I'd try the obvious first. Then you had to respond like a jerk. Way to go.
 
I didn't know people recorded in their control room. i thought that was for controlling?
 
My recording room is adjacent to kitchen. My mics pick up the fridge.
 
ahh see, now thats makes sense to me.
yeah my control room is in my basement.
and the rest of the house (except two rooms on the third floor, the kitchen and bathroom) are various recording rooms, with different ambiences.
only room next to the fridge is the drum room so thats never an issue.
and its WAY too hot for the heater to be on.
my apologies if i offended you though.

peace.
 
I would double check that greater than 82 dB for the SNR, I recall it being less than 82 dB but i could be mistaken. Anyway, rather than blame the gear how about noting that gain staging does not have do to with the chain of devises but rather the relative input/output settings of each device.

On the 2-610, you have to balance between the impedance, the gain controll and the level control. The gain controll is the input and the level is the output. Balance those and get the impedance correct and the pre-amp should sound just fine and provide many useful tones, particularly with the polarity switch and the EQ.

For whatever it may mean to some I believe that almost any decent piece of gear can sound great if the initial sound going in, that is, the instrument, including but no limited to the voice, is great in the first place. It is then only a matter of capturing the essence of that sound. If you truly believe the 2-610 is useless than you also believe it is worthless and I will offer to take it off your hands for such value and even pay the shipping costs.
 
Correction it is greater than 82 dB. Just double checked. But the rest applies.
 
OF COURSE, the question really is what does the SNR number really mean.
.0 SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIOS
It is our recommendation that all audio systems be run at a maximum "nominal O VU" audio voltage amplitude of +4 dBu. As mentioned before, with ± 15 volt power supplies most op-amps will clip around +21 dBu (sine wave - RMS). This yields a headroom or overload factor of 17 dB, which we saw earlier is a bare minimum for live audio. Peak to average ratios of 16 dB have been measured on speech, and we at Benchmark have seen at least this high a ratio on percussive music. It is our design philosophy to take a 6 dB loss at the input of our equipment, thus yielding an input clip point of +26 to +27 dBu (up to +30 dBu with 20 volt supplies) and internally operating the circuits at a nominal average amplitude of -2 dBu, yielding a headroom factor of 23 dB. We then achieve the 6 dB gain makeup needed at the output stage. This allows both input and output clip points of +26 to +27 dBu and a more desirable headroom factor without much sacrifice in noise performance. The output noise floor of carefully designed equipment can reach -93 dBu or better. This yields an average signal-to-noise ratio of 97 dB and peak signal-to-noise ratio (dynamic range) of 120 dB. Many Benchmark products actually have a dynamic range of 131 dB. We recommend, therefore, that all of your equipment be capable of this high an input and output amplitude.
 
naw man, im not sellin it, and when i said it was useless, i was referring to the the mic channel being effective without being noisy, not the whole unit man. the unit is bad ass! its awesome as a bass and guitar di through the hi-z ins(1/4in) but the true bread and butter of this unit and the reason i bought it after i demoed it, is the LINE inputs! THeESE are the classic bread and butter that this unit is known for. but thanx for the SNR specs, that was interesting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top