John Blankenship

From a letter from Gordon H. Smith, President and CEO, on the official NAB SHOW website: "... We’ve already begun planning for our 2021 NAB Show in Las Vegas, which will take place April 11-14th, and we hope you’ll join us then, as well as this fall."

MicPlexer v.1 has a fixed 35mHz window, so needed to be ordered for a specific block. V.2 has a 35mHz window that can be tuned to any block, or even between blocks -- if that's what you're asking.

There seems to be a bit of circuit design misunderstanding in this thread. While block diagrams can be quite helpful in understanding signal flow within a device, they seldom shed light about how the nuances of each amplifier stage operates. In other words, a block diagram is intended to show you what the circuits do but not how they do it. That requires a full schematic diagram, and even then, there are times when the operating variables are not immediately obvious. Also, a given amplifier stage can be multipurpose depending upon how the operating parameters of that stage are adjusted by supporting components. A device that uses the same amplifier stage for both mic and line inputs is often far more complex than simply padding the signal prior to entering that stage. Here's a simple observational test: 1) Turn off phantom powering to the input being tested. 2) Plug in a shorting plug (e.g. pins-1, 2, & 3 connected together in an XLR connector). 3) Turn up the input level until you hear noticeable circuit noise in your headphones. 4) Switch between mic and line inputs and listen for any difference in noise. This should tell you more than uninformed speculation will. If you hear a large difference in the noise level, there is more going on with the circuit than just padding down a mic input.

I've seized the opportunity to test, recondition, and sort my Black Eneloop Pro and Powerex Imedion rechargeable AAs. The black Eneloop Pros are about five years old and have been used on a fairly regular basis. So far I've reconditioned 68 of my cache of 72. They are showing excellent results as over half of them report better than 99% of their rating of 2450mAh and more than 90% of them show better than 97% of their rating. Two of the 68 reported "HIGH." After reading the above posts I checked several of my reconditioned ones and they showed an open circuit voltage of 2.5 to 2.7v, so that range appears to be normal. Again, this is an "open circuit" test (no load). My supply of six year old Imedion rechargeables are now undergoing the procedure. I've been at this for more than a couple of weeks now as the Maha Powerex MH-C9000 unit takes over thirteen hours to cycle a set of four in REFRESH/ANALYZE mode at my chosen settings.

If it were me I wouldn't use a bare VU meter in this application without the benefit of a buffer amp.

I agree. That's the thing, the indicator doesn't help to understand exact levels, just a relative indicator of what's happening. Like you I don't like the sound of Lectro's limiting, so choose to not tickle the red very often. Of course, that's true of most limiting -- less is usually better.

Keep in mind, the receiver's Audio Level display is an indicator of the transmitter's modulation level, not the receiver's output level. Unlike when people offer meaningless hyperbole such as "giving 110%," wireless modulation can only go up to 100%.

The first thing to learn is that acoustics are about the acoustic space, not the microphone. There are mics that perform better in a live acoustic environment but they don't change what's happening to the sound waves in the room, just how well they're picked up. An example is the Schoeps 641, you'll still hear the room, but it'll sound more natural with less off-axis coloration. If you want the room to sound good, treat the acoustic properties of that room. Realize that background noise comes from background noise, not the mic. While the mic's pattern can make some difference (not as much difference in an untreated room) how the mic is "worked" plays a huge role. Among other considerations, your mic choice depends on what it's going to be used for, how it's going to be used, and the voice it's going to be used on.

I've seized the opportunity to test, recondition, and sort my 72 Eneloop Pro and 60 Powerex Imedion rechargeable AAs. The Maha Powerex MH-C9000 charger takes more than thirteen hours to cycle a set of four Eneloop Pros in REFRESH/ANALYZE mode (at 600mA setting). This seems like an ideal time for such a project.

NOTE: I updated my previous post with some description of the construction criteria.

The Greyhounds I've meet are sweet and gentle-spirited animals. Maybe it's just been my impression, but they seem to really understand and appreciate that they've been rescued.

Jim -- Part of the decision depends upon what you want in the way of suspensions -- that'll narrow your choice quite a bit as many of them are designed just to use a basic desk mount clamp and don't include any kind of physical isolation you might need if mic movement is a factor. Naturally, that movement is usually limited, as in most cases you don't want a constantly shifting stereo field, but nonetheless it's a consideration. I recently made my own rig from two existing suspensions fastened together, and designed it to accommodate two Schoeps mics with GVC swivels. Depending upon how I choose to position the mics, I can use it as either ORTF or XY. Note that I've left the windscreens off to better illustrate the rig: Here are some notes about the design criteria for this stereo rig. While I already have a standard stereo bar or two in my collection, this unit was the result of some specific needs. It was designed to:* Mount on a boom pole. * Use a quick release for speedy deployment. (Ambient QR) * Be easily pre-rigged. * Be able to aim down from the side to boom a two person interview with an easily adjustable XY configuration to have each person on-axis but with good mono compatibility. * Be quickly converted to ORTF stereo format. * Be able to adjust the boom angle for capturing stereo ambience. * Allow either hard-wired cabling or use of a stereo plug-on transmitter. Worked great for me as these are suspensions I already had lying around.

I certainly didn't mean my comments as a criticism of your situation -- only as praise for Pete.

I've said it in other threads -- as have many, many others -- Pete does top-notch conversations. He even nicely labels the mic so there's no confusion in the future about its powering.

Saturday and Sunday Jan's group often goes 'till about 10:30 to 11:00.

Individual members could post in this thread that they're hopping onto the Zoom group, then leave their connection open for ten minutes or so to see if anyone else shows up. Also, folks who personally know other users could text them that they're joining at a given time.

The best solution: a pair of experienced boom ops and a cooperative DP.

^ agreed.

Nowhere is the phrase, "It depends" more appropriate -- starting with the specs and operating parameters of both the specific heads and of the preamp circuits.

The listen part?

Start with reading what Lectro states about setting the transmitter's gain. Then... listen!

You don't learn mixing by reading. You learn mixing by doing and listening, and listening and doing. Reading can give you things to try, but until you submerge yourself in the important part of the equation you won't learn the craft. Don't even ask questions until you've experienced enough to know specifically what to ask. For instance, the answer to this particular question is, "Use whatever you have," -- which is obvious to anyone who has learned how to listen. It's not uncommon for newbies to criticize what they consider to be smugness on the part of many working pros, but those beginners don't yet understand that the problem isn't in the answers -- it's in the questions. This isn't all directed at the O.P., but applies in general to an increasing roster of beginners.

As the others have stated — D.C. blocking capacitors: PIN-1 ————————> 10uf / 50v. PIN-2 ———| |————> - + 10uf / 50v. PIN-3 ———| |————> - +

Standard for a barrel connector: Sleeve: Ground Center - Inside Barrel: + Voltage (9-18vdc) Switchcraft 761K connector or equivalent.

It's understandable if that's been your experience. What I hear you saying is, you simply don't do holds as most of us know them in the industry.