REVIEW: Schoeps miniCMIT

[OB1]

Same experience with CMIT in high humid environments (Costa Rica, Panama). Noise which appeared to simply be a highly elevated noise floor. Moved to a DPA and clean signal. Bagged the CMIT for the rest of the doc and took it out of my bag rotation.

[Valentine]

Happened to mine too. I sent it to get fixed and they said I could have it modified with a newer humidity resistant capsule for $$$. I didn't go for that, the mic was expensive enough, I wish it had just come with this capsule in the first place.

[Constantin]

On 2/15/2023 at 4:59 PM, Valentine said:

I wish it had just come with this capsule in the first place.

 Yeah, and it would have been great if my 788 had been a Scorpio right from the start, but things progress and that isn’t always possible. New Schoeps mics do come with this latest in capsule development and isn’t it kinda cool that you can retro-fit older mics?

[RadoStefanov]

On 2/15/2023 at 7:55 AM, OB1 said:

Same experience with CMIT in high humid environments (Costa Rica, Panama). Noise which appeared to simply be a highly elevated noise floor. Moved to a DPA and clean signal. Bagged the CMIT for the rest of the doc and took it out of my bag rotation.

I am dropping the mini cmit as well and getting a 4017.  I love the sound but my schoeps have been very unreliable.

[LuisT]

@RadoStefanov you can send it back to Schoeps for a humidity upgrade from now on.

 

I got a Minicmit with this new mod. Been shooting in humid places and under strong rain. No problem in 1 year.

 

I personnally prefer the sound of the Minicmit over the 4017.

Wanted to go the Dpa route before Schoeps annouced they modded the Minicmit.

[Dave Pullmer]

3 hours ago, RadoStefanov said:

I am dropping the mini cmit as well and getting a 4017.  I love the sound but my schoeps have been very unreliable.

I love my 4017b - I’m up in Vancouver so we’ve got Pacific Northwest weather of rain, cold temps, snow etc and it has never failed me.

[Michael Capulli]

I'll be sending my MiniCMIT in for a checkup and likely the upgrade. It has seen light use, is an earlier capsule and occasionally has some audible artifacts down in the noise floor.

[Staycation Sound]

Hello, 

 

I’m reviving this thread for other peoples thoughts on using the miniCMIT with 12v power vs 48v power. 
 

I just purchased the Shure SLXD3 plug on from Location Sound and found out it can do both 12v and 48v which is cool. I’ve always used 48v before so I’m going to power the miniCMIT with 12v Power and see how that sounds.

 

I have a friend who claims there’s more noise with some of his microphones when he uses 12v rather than 48v but didn’t say what microphones or how much. Has anyone else experienced this?

[inspire]

48V is standard, use this (if possible)!

[DHB]

Aaaarrrggghh!  10.5v maximum for the superCMIT!  ...Inspire, please don't give general advice if you haven't used that particular mic.

 

The XLR connector on the rear is NOT FOR straight phantom power: it's for attaching one of Schoeps' own power-supply modules; either the PSD U2 which needs supplying with only 10 volts or the MiniDA-42, for which Schoeps instruction manual says: "Power: DC 12 - 18 V / 200 - 500 mA, available through included AC adapter PSD DC with HIROSE plug. Operation is also possible with other AC adapter models or batteries / rechargeable batteries".

 

DO NOT PLUG 48v INTO EITHER THE 3-PIN XLR ON THE superCMIT ITSELF NOR INTO ITS LITTLE POWER-SUPPLY BOX! The XLR connector on the rear of the mic is a digital signal connection, and NOT a power connection.

[JesseF]

10 hours ago, Staycation Sound said:

Hello, 

 

I’m reviving this thread for other peoples thoughts on using the miniCMIT with 12v power vs 48v power. 
 

I just purchased the Shure SLXD3 plug on from Location Sound and found out it can do both 12v and 48v which is cool. I’ve always used 48v before so I’m going to power the miniCMIT with 12v Power and see how that sounds.

 

I have a friend who claims there’s more noise with some of his microphones when he uses 12v rather than 48v but didn’t say what microphones or how much. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

 

I use 12v phantom for my Schoeps CMC6 MK41 and miniCMIT using the ZMT PH2 and ADX3.  I hear no noticeable sound floor increase and I get ~20% more battery life out of my TX.

[DHB]

11 hours ago, Staycation Sound said:

"..I just purchased the Shure SLXD3 plug on from Location Sound.."

But the Shure SLXD3 plug on expects to receive an analog  signal from whatever XLR connector it's plugged onto.

 

The superCMIT delivers a digital  output, which will just sound like mush to the SLXD3 plug on. Shure say "..SLXD3 sends 24-bit digital audio from any XLR source to an SLXD4 or SLXD5 Digital Wireless receiver via rock-solid RF connection.." so it's sending OUT its own variant of a digital signal ..but that's not necessarily the AES standard of digital which the superCMIT sends out, and the digital  out from the superCMIT is NOT what the Sure add-on is expecting to receive, and may not understand how to interpret it (..the Schoeps sends out TWO CHANNELS of output down that standard-looking 3-pin XLR on the end of it).

 

Shure's own spec for the SLXD3 says "..

• Audio Input:
  • Connector: 3-pin female XLR
  • Maximum Input Level 1 kHz at 1% THD:
    • Pad (-12 dB): 20.5 dBV
    • 0 dB: 8.5 dBV
    • Boost (+12 dB): -3.5 dBV
  • Phantom Power:
    • +48 V (7 mA maximum)
    • +12 V (15 mA maximum)

 

Their spec doesn't say anything about the SLXD3 understanding a digital AES input, and jamming 48 volts into the Schoeps may completely kill it.

 

Schoeps own spec about connectivity says:

 

"Input / Powering:

The SuperCMIT's output is digital, complying with AES42, Mode 1. It requires digital phantom powering (10 V), which is supplied via the signal cable as with analog microphones. Because it operates in Mode 1, the micro- phone provides its own clock (48 kHz). Thus the input of the interface device or recorder must provide sampling rate conversion if the microphone is to be operated synchronously with other equipment.

AES42 Mode 1 inputs are available on cer- tain equipment, e.g. the 8-channel DMC-842 interface from RME and the Sound Devices 788T 8-channel portable recorder. For further information please see www.schoeps.de/ digital and www.hauptmikrofon.de/aes42.

The SuperCMIT can also be used with AES3 inputs if digital phantom powering is supplied (e.g. by the PSD 2 U – see ”Accessories”) between the input and the microphone."

 

Note that it says "..It requires digital phantom powering (10 V)".

 

I think you may severely damage it if you power it up with that Shure SLXD3 transmitter!

[DHB]

Staycation said "..I have a friend who claims there’s more noise with some of his microphones when he uses 12v rather than 48v but didn’t say what microphones or how much".

 

12v will usually do for Electret mics (those are condenser mics, usually with small diaphragm capsules which have permanently charged diaphragms ..usually many older, cheaper mics ..including, for example, many AKG '3000' series).

 

48v is generally needed by large-diaphragm condenser mics which are NOT permanently charged, so-called 'true condensers', which need a higher voltage to charge up the capsule, besides running the pre-amp didgeridoos inside the mic which boost the signal to give a strong enough output to send it down the cable. If you try running one of those on just 12v, then you will indeed get "..more noise with some of his microphones when he uses 12v rather than 48v".

 

It pays to know whether a mic is an 'electret' or 'true condenser' ..if using a true condenser with 12v, or with a very low wattage (that is current) then you'll soon find out whether it works without noise ..or not..

 

 

[inspire]

https://schoeps.de/en/knowledge/knowledge-base/technical-basics/phantom-power-p48p12.html

[RadoStefanov]

On 9/24/2023 at 2:31 PM, RadoStefanov said:

I am dropping the mini cmit as well and getting a 4017.  I love the sound but my schoeps have been very unreliable.

Update... after my minicmit failed and was sent to Germany I got the new capsule. Had some rainy shoots in Utah and the new capsule was rock solid. 
But I don't use the minicmit or the cmit5 as much anymore because I use the mk41 almost exclusively. 

2 hours ago, JesseF said:

 

I use 12v phantom for my Schoeps CMC6 MK41 and miniCMIT using the ZMT PH2 and ADX3.  I hear no noticeable sound floor increase and I get ~20% more battery life out of my TX.

If the manufacturer of the front end keep  the standard specks there  should not be any noticeable difference. 

[DHB]

Inspire ..although that article is about 12v and 48v phantom power in general - and some of its history - the only mics mentioned are straightforward non-powered ribbon and dynamic mics, and condenser mics in general. It is a very broad overview. There is no mention of Schoeps' digital  mics. Powering options for, for example, Schoeps' CMD42, are quoted as:

 

Powering standard / Valid range

AES42, 24 bit / 6-12 V

 

Note that this means that it's not powered by straight 12v or 48v standard phantom power, but by the AES42 (Audio Engineering Society, Standard number 42 "for digitally interfaced microphones") at the 24-bit digital standard.

 

Schoeps says "The connection standard of the CMD 42 [a digital  amplifier of theirs for microphones] is AES42, which basically is a combination of AES3 (a non-powered digital standard) plus a 10 V digital phantom power" (my emphasis). You'll see that Wikipedia explains that.. "Digital microphones complying with the AES 42 standard may be provided with phantom power at 10 volts  [my emphasis] impressed on both audio leads and ground. This supply can furnish up to 250 mA to digital microphones. A keyed variation of the usual XLR connector, the XLD connector, may be used to prevent accidental interchange of analog and digital devices".

 

NOTE: 10 volts. Do NOT try this with 48 volts.

[Johnny Karlsson]

5 hours ago, DHB said:

Inspire ..although that article is about 12v and 48v phantom power in general - and some of its history - the only mics mentioned are straightforward non-powered ribbon and dynamic mics, and condenser mics in general. It is a very broad overview. There is no mention of Schoeps' digital  mics. Powering options for, for example, Schoeps' CMD42, are quoted as:

 

Powering standard / Valid range

AES42, 24 bit / 6-12 V

 

Note that this means that it's not powered by straight 12v or 48v standard phantom power, but by the AES42 (Audio Engineering Society, Standard number 42 "for digitally interfaced microphones") at the 24-bit digital standard.

 

Schoeps says "The connection standard of the CMD 42 [a digital  amplifier of theirs for microphones] is AES42, which basically is a combination of AES3 (a non-powered digital standard) plus a 10 V digital phantom power" (my emphasis). You'll see that Wikipedia explains that.. "Digital microphones complying with the AES 42 standard may be provided with phantom power at 10 volts  [my emphasis] impressed on both audio leads and ground. This supply can furnish up to 250 mA to digital microphones. A keyed variation of the usual XLR connector, the XLD connector, may be used to prevent accidental interchange of analog and digital devices".

 

NOTE: 10 volts. Do NOT try this with 48 volts.

Right, but you are talking about the SuperCMIT. This thread is about the MiniCMIT, which can be operated at 12v or 48v Phantom.

 

I can say that I hear no difference with 12 or 48, with this mic, which is spec’d for either. 
However, some mics do need the 48v setting to sound right, like a 416, or a CS3e.

[RadoStefanov]

22 minutes ago, Johnny Karlsson said:

Right, but you are talking about the SuperCMIT. This thread is about the MiniCMIT, which can be operated at 12v or 48v Phantom.

 

I can say that I hear no difference with 12 or 48, with this mic, which is spec’d for either. 
However, some mics do need the 48v setting to sound right, like a 416, or a CS3e.

The cs3e needs a miracle to sound right. 🙂

[DHB]

13 hours ago, Johnny Karlsson said:

Right, but you are talking about the SuperCMIT. This thread is about the MiniCMIT, which can be operated at 12v or 48v Phantom.

 

 

I apologise: you're absolutely right! For some reason I must have had a brain seizure, and thought this was about the superCMIT. My mind's going...

Please ignore all that I've written here.

 

[Constantin]

Schoeps do specifically advertise their mics (most of them) to work with 12V. 
Interestingly, you can power the MiniCMIT with 12V, but you can’t power the CMIT with 12V. 
However, they do state that the dynamic range is reduced when  using only 12V, top spl is only 115dB as opposed to 130dBspl when powering it with 48V. 
 

21 hours ago, DHB said:

48v is generally needed by large-diaphragm condenser mics which are NOT permanently charged, so-called 'true condensers',

This is not wrong on its own, but in this context perhaps a bit misleading. Many small diaphragm mics need 48V as well, such as the regular CMIT. Then there’s the MiniCMIT another small diaphragm mic, which is somewhat fine with 22V.
On the other hand the DPA 4017, also a small diaphragm mic, is actually an electret mic, but it too requires 48V