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Kortwich Vorverstarker VCP-M3


Frogpole

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I just received a new mike preamp for the SD 633 from Kortwich ( Pro Sound, NYC).  I hooked up two Schoeps and a Neaumann, ran them in a quiet room for a half hour.  Everything sounded just fine.  The fader pots felt good.  And they are much easier to use then the native 633 knobs.

More abuse will give the final verdict, but so far, so good. We'll just have to beat it up a little more to see if it can stand bag work on the road.

 

 The unit has three mike/48v imputes (XLR to TA3) and three TA3 outs to the TA3s on the 633. It has a pass through Hirose DC in/out to power the 633.  The unit is light enough to velcro to the 633.  If I get some different out-put cables, I think I can use this on a Nomad 12. 

 

I Would like to hear from anybody else using this unit. 

 

Ciao,  Sully

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Evan,

 

Yes, this is the unit.  I have not made the cables for the Nomad yet.  But I don't see a big problem.  Right now, I use a Sonosax two pot preamp with the Nomad.  Now, I will be able to use the VCP-M3 and the Sonosax together to fill up all those line impute TAs on the Nomad.

If you get one of these unites, please, let us all know how it holds up.  I hate buying new gear without trying it out first.  This time I had to do it because of a job.

 

Ciao,  Sully

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Is this the item you bought? http://www.filmtontechnik.de/613.html

 

If this works in place of the Nomad's virtual faders, I'll buy one today...

 

Cheers,

Evan

 

 

Can anyone help me find a link to a manual (or more details) for this unit ... my german is too rusty beyond asking for a beer to navigate the site, but even a manual in german would do if it had pictures ... I guess from the 3 photos that the 'Mikrofon IN' must be round the back (somewhat surprising given its expected use as a +3 for the 633) and that the 'Pegelsteller' are on the right hand side whatever they might be???

 

How are the preamps? How much gain (and how do they sound next to the 633)?

 

I would have perhaps preferred stepped and marked gain (for easy gain matching) but realise I would be vastly outvoted on that count by everyone else just wanting nice easy faders - and could I suppose set a fixed gain of say 30dB and tape knobs in place.

 

I'm not in the market for one of these but it does look interesting and depending on the quality seems a reasonable price for 633 (or 744 etc) owners.

 

Jez

 

 

KORTWICH Mikrofon Vorverstärker

clear.gif

 

3x Mikrofon IN

3x PH 48V ON/OFF

3x OUT für z.B. SD 633 Line IN

3x Pegelsteller

2x Hirose DC IN und OUT 

598 € netto

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Can anyone help me find a link to a manual (or more details) for this unit ... my german is too rusty beyond asking for a beer to navigate the site, but even a manual in german would do if it had pictures ... I guess from the 3 photos that the 'Mikrofon IN' must be round the back (somewhat surprising given its expected use as a +3 for the 633) and that the 'Pegelsteller' are on the right hand side whatever they might be???

 

Wait, are those the inputs - on TA3 - on the RIGHT side? Where's the logic in that, using TA3s and not XLRs for mic ins (and putting them on the right ...)

I'm looking at the photos for the two channel version ...

Or am I completely mistaken?

 

Jez

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It should work with Nomad, but it still won't help with recording prefader isos unfortunately.

 

Ideally I would like to set the Nomad's input gain for 7/8/9 and use this Kortwich unit as a small fader panel to bypass the Nomad's virtual faders. I suspect I may be asking for too much from this unit….

 

If anyone on this forum has any real-world experience with this unit I'l love to hear from them. 

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The logic is just smaller box than with XLR. You just need Ta3-XLR3 connection.

 

 

jez: "  Where's the logic in that,... Or am I completely mistaken?... I'm not in the market for one of these :blink:

rascal: " yeah that's the idea "

yeah that's your idea, but maybe not Kortwich's..?

 

Reply to all - the box looks big enough for XLRs, at least heightwise (and it would be a case of millimetres if it needed enlarging for them) - but whilst I can see a reason for having the outputs on TA3M since most users will be going into Sound Devices machines I see no (good) reason for having the mic inputs as anything but XLR ... it just means having to have three adapter cables always there. (Personally I would prefer also having the outputs on XLR too, since if one is using this as a Sound Devices addition you'll need 3 cables there anyway and they might as well be XLR3F-TA3F than TA3 hops, and you could then use it more easily in other scenarios, ie without there needing to be adapter cables when dealing with the common XLR format).

 

Aesthetically, the use of TA3s matches the abundance of such connectors on Sound Devices products - but is that a great reason?

 

Whilst I am not in the market for this it does, as I say, interest me (enough to ask questions, albeit ones partly answered, and make comments). If I owned a 633 I would almost certainly be in the market for one - and it's made me look again at the 633 - despite my surprise at the decision to use TA3s as mic inputs and hence the permanent requirement to have three cables which I consider unnecessary. They're not the first to deviate from the common XLR for reasons of space or otherwise and they surely won't be the last but in this case, at least as far as the inputs go, I believe they made the wrong decision.

 

I found only one mention so far on 'net (excepting Sully's) of the mic preamps, from a bloke in Berlin who says they're good. My "business" with recorders is FX etc recording (rather than production mixing) so another particular interest is in (quick and simple) gain matching and ganging. Despite there being several other contenders out at least for 2 channel small boxes to up the mic input of the 633 (the SD mixpre etc and the older sonosax pre) some which perhaps address my 'needs' slightly better I do really like the look of this unit - particularly in its (I expect) primary intention as a piggy back unit for the 633. Certainly more discrete than carrying a mixpre(D) or 302. Thanks Sully (and Malcolm and others having now looked through other posts) for pointing it out and I look forward to any reports to come. (I also look forward to the sudden and unexpected job which would throw me in the market for one after all but meanwhile I look on in interest).

 

Jez x

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I'll try and get some cables made for the Nomad 12 this coming week. I could, at the same time, try and get some "metrics" out of this unit.  But really, I don't care what the numbers are.  I use the Duke Ellington approach to technical data, "If it sounds good, it is good."  So far, this M3 sounds pretty good. Hopefully, the DC loop system works well. 

 

I agree that XLR connectors would be nice, but this box is small.  The TAs are light and tiny. And frankly, I never seem to have trouble with TAs, as long as I don't have to change them on the fly.  Permanent TA connections work well for me.  Having a TA pig-tail input is a good idea because (say 18 inch) the XLR-F connectors will allow me to keep the XLRs easily accessible somewhere in the bag.  To change a connection quickly, I don't have to crawl around in the bag (usually in the dark) to find a buried XLR-IN.

 

The "plan" is to use the M-3 to fill up virtual channels 7, 8, 9, and use 10 for an XLR input, whatever that might be. In effect the M-3 faders turn the Nomad virtual faders into semi-trim knobs. This gives me a fighting chance to quell an unruly signal much faster than the virtual search for correct level.

 

Ciao,  Sully

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'Pegelsteller' are on the right hand side whatever they might be???

 

Pegelsteller means your faders, and of course you know where they are situated.

 

It looks like a great little add-on.

 

Obviously the reason why they didn't use XLR ins is because they would make the unit "longer" (towards the rear end), not necessarily higher. But with the extra space the small unit attached to a 633 offers, it wouldn't be too hard to tape the XLR ins of your adapter cables to the top of the 633, wherever you prefer them.

 

Come to think of it, this unit (or the two-channel version) would be the perfect addition for cheap Zoom or other hand held recorders, as I suspect these preamps to be of comparable quality to SD's...

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yepp they ship abroad.

And if there is demand for a 4ch or 6ch version I would definitely ask them how chances are that they do that as well. 2ch and 3ch is already there. 

I think another reason for TA3 is that you would need that cable anyway if you go directly in 633 Ch4-6 or 664 Ch7-12. And it saves weight.

 

the online shop is not that great; they sell much more than that - throw them an email. I have best experience with them. Kortwich is beneath Ambient recording the second biggest company for our sound stuff in Germany (Gruppe 3 aside).

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