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Kortwich M3 preamp (for 633)?


Philip Perkins

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Don't know about the Kortwich one, but Pinknoise in the UK sell such a 633 add-on preamp (slightly more expensive), made for them by Marenius: https://www.marenius.se/audiodesign/sd633.htm . Haven't heard it, but a very reputable manufacturer and seller. There's a video of John from Pinknoise showing the preamp here: https://www.newsshooter.com/2016/08/14/excellence-in-sound-16-event-pinknoise-sound-devices-633-3-channel-expander/

 

Cheers,

 

Roland

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3 hours ago, Philip Perkins said:

It's not for the sort of job it would be used on mostly (not doco DX).  The 633 has limiters on all channels. 


The 633 lacks analogue limiters on channels 4/5/6, one of many many many reasons to get the 833 instead 😉

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1 hour ago, IronFilm said:

The 633 lacks analogue limiters on channels 4/5/6, one of many many many reasons to get the 833 instead 😉

Off topic; it appears to me that so many people see (analogue) limiters as a deal maker or breaker these days. All I can say is if that indeed is so important, are you actually proper gain staging on set? How hot are you running your mics? Also, since we typically (not this topic, but again, sorry for being slightly off topic..) run 1 or mics wired and the rest wireless, the limiting and gain staging has to happen in the TX, and if a limiter in a recorder is crucial for you in those occasions, your settings are really "far from home".

 

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4 hours ago, Vincent R. said:

Off topic; it appears to me that so many people see (analogue) limiters as a deal maker or breaker these days. All I can say is if that indeed is so important, are you actually proper gain staging on set? How hot are you running your mics? Also, since we typically (not this topic, but again, sorry for being slightly off topic..) run 1 or mics wired and the rest wireless, the limiting and gain staging has to happen in the TX, and if a limiter in a recorder is crucial for you in those occasions, your settings are really "far from home".

 

Nicely put. 633 far from being obsolete in the context of recording speech for motion pictures. 

5 hours ago, IronFilm said:


The 633 lacks analogue limiters on channels 4/5/6, one of many many many reasons to get the 833 instead 😉

😩

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Regardless of the importance of limiters, analog or digital, I think IronDave gets at a useful point: On the 633, channels 4/5/6 don't have prefader limiters, only post-fader. That's a useful reminder. 

 

Beyond that, I can't recall the specifics, so here's a bit from the 633 user manual.

633_input_limiters.png

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52 minutes ago, IronFilm said:

All good, I just wanted to correct that bit of false info being shared which implied the 633 has limiters across all its channels. 

 

The 633 does have limiters on all channels. Just so we're clear and on the same page, my reading of the 633 manual is that it provides input limiters across ALL channels, but inputs 1-3 have pre- AND post-fader limiters, while 4-6 only have post-fader limiters. See the clip from the manual in response #12 a bit up.

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1 hour ago, IronFilm said:

All good, I just wanted to correct that bit of false info being shared which implied the 633 has limiters across all its channels. 

The only false info here is about the 633 NOT having limiters across all channels.  It does have them, on all 6.  As Jim says, ch 1-3 pre+post limiters, ch 4-6 post limiters only.  I use these all the time.   A goal of good recording is to stay out of artificial or semi-automatic gain control in any case.  This is called "mixing".

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7 hours ago, Jim Feeley said:

633_input_limiters.png


So is that the correct terminology? A post-fade input limiter? Input really does sound like it’s part of the preamp or adc. But once it’s post fader it’s not really part of the input anymore. Or is it?

 

Sorry, this once more is irrelevant to the original question. But I was just curious...

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6 hours ago, Constantin said:

So is that the correct terminology? A post-fade input limiter? Input really does sound like it’s part of the preamp or adc. But once it’s post fader it’s not really part of the input anymore. Or is it?

 

Yeah, when someone in casual speech says "has a limiter" they don't usually mean post fader and operating purely in the digital domain (as once it has clipped, it has clipped). Imagine if all the limiters on anything (be it a 788T / Scorpio / F8n / 888 / 633 / or whatever) worked identical to the so called "limiters" on channels 4/5/6 of a 633! And the manufacturer tried to claim it has great "limiters"? The outrage!

And that is what I was attempting to express, perhaps not too well though.


But sure, if someone wants to get all word lawyerly and argue the pedantics, then yes, technically the 633 has "limiters" (with air quotes) for all the inputs as per the manual. I knew that already before this thread started. 

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11 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Yeah, when someone in casual speech says "has a limiter" they don't usually mean post fader and operating purely in the digital domain (as once it has clipped, it has clipped). Imagine if all the limiters on anything (be it a 788T / Scorpio / F8n / 888 / 633 / or whatever) worked identical to the so called "limiters" on channels 4/5/6 of a 633! And the manufacturer tried to claim it has great "limiters"? The outrage!

And that is what I was attempting to express, perhaps not too well though.


But sure, if someone wants to get all word lawyerly and argue the pedantics, then yes, technically the 633 has "limiters" (with air quotes) for all the inputs as per the manual. I knew that already before this thread started. 

There is nothing "lawyerly" about exactly what SD states re: limiters in the manual for the 633.  I don't find reading manuals "pedantic", I find doing so (and then testing the gear in question) necessary for accurate and informed use of the equipment I make my living with.   I invite you to engage with SD about whether their "so-called" 633 limiters are real limiters?  I find my "so called" 633 limiters limit quite well, and usefully, thanks.

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  • 1 year later...

I didn't get it, the use I had for that prospective 6 preamp portable rig (portable music recording) morphed into something different needing more tracks, so I passed on the Kortwich and went to a different recorder entirely.  It still seems like a cool thing, but as ever I find that I either need just a few pres or more than 6 so I doubt I'll ever go that way.

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I also use my 688 for portable battery powered music recording.   So having the 6 extra mic pres gives me a total of 12 mic inputs and is very useful.  Anything more than the 12 inputs will move me into using Reaper and my Digital board.   I am going to take a chance and buy the Kortwich MicPres even though I have yet to find anyone who has actually used them.  

 

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Audio Daddyo said:

I also use my 688 for portable battery powered music recording.   So having the 6 extra mic pres gives me a total of 12 mic inputs and is very useful.  Anything more than the 12 inputs will move me into using Reaper and my Digital board.   I am going to take a chance and buy the Kortwich MicPres even though I have yet to find anyone who has actually used them.  

 

 

 

 

I needed more pres for my current DC-music rig too, but found I liked the big-iron sound of an old 552 on direct outs better than other boxes-'o-pres I could afford and that were small enough and DC-powered for this purpose....  I know, 5, not 6 chans but I have other 1-chan pres I can use with this rig if that last input even needs to be other than line-level.  I'll be very interested in your take on the Kortwich box, esp how it sounds vs your SD pres.

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  • 1 year later...

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